More tools and good support options are just some of the highlights of this server package.

Despite various attempts at Windows Desktop alternatives, Linux is still best suited to servers, for which Red Hat is by far the most popular choice. With this in mind, it came as no surprise when in May 2002 Red Hat split its product line in two: Linux and Enterprise Linux.

Red Hat's latest offering is a finely tuned offensive into the lucrative corporate desktop market. With the Linux steamroller on a collision course for Redmond the last year has seen a number of major wins for the open source upstart with corporations such as IBM and governments that include Germany, France, China, Japan, Russia and Britain either already making the switch or considering it. And not just for servers, but on workstations too.

The first problem you face when reviewing a Linux reference title is that you know youre on to a loser.

Mandrake Linux is a popular and user-friendly distribution and it offers a choice of window managers.

An informed account of what Linux is, why its free, what Red Hat is, the differences between it and Windows and so on.

Linux is slowly becoming an acceptable choice as a mainstream desktop operating system but some users do not like the applications which are part of the system. The hunt has thus been on to find the best way of running Windows applications from within Linux.

Our pick of the low-cost office suites has had a much-needed overhaul, and now battles Microsoft in terms of features, not just price.

A familiar face with a new name, and it offers support for a wider range of systems than before.

Being enterprise software, one usually needs considerable expertise and time to obtain optimal performance and functionality. This is especially true for a product as comprehensive and feature rich as Lotus Domino 6.5 which is fully programmable and can provide workflow, knowledge management, document management, archiving, database and collaboration services via a client-server or browser based thin client model.

Easy to set up and administer; has all the advantages which Linux offers.

Recognising that the Linux desktop market is only going to grow, and that there's money to made in the corporate arena, Sun's Java Desktop 2003 is squarely aimed at companies looking for a cheap, easy, and compatible alternative to Microsoft's (often expensive) dominance.

A phone that's bursting at the seams with extras; possibly too many for its own good.