Windows XP, oh how we hate to see you go. For many Windows users, this release provided an alternative to the endless frustrations seen with Windows 98 and Windows Me. Built with Windows 2000 Pro stability in mind, XP has won over more than just a few fans.

Not all that along ago, I was hearing rumors that the release of Windows 7 will spell the death of Linux on tiny notebook type computers called netbooks. At the time the argument was that people expected Windows on their PCs and that familiarity would win out over anything that desktop Linux distributions can dispense in response.

One of the most touted advantage of Windows 7 over Windows XP and Linux is improved battery life. This may be trues for newer netbooks that would be optimized for Microsoft new operating system, but don't expect any gain from installing Microsoft's latest release on you current netbook! Many people have actually reported reduced battery life on their netbooks after an upgrade to Windows 7.

Microsoft might be betting big on Windows 7, the next version of its flagship operating system, but to Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth, the upcoming release is really an opportunity for Linux to shine.

Ubuntu has finally eclipsed Windows XP in terms of popularity. -- This is according to the most recent data from Google Trends. You may say that Windows XP is too old that’s why it’s loosing its appeal and is going downhill. So how about we will compare Ubuntu with the most recent Windows Vista. Or with the upcoming Windows 7.

Windows of opportunity, that is. No one can predict history, but when we look back to today, we may see through these windows more clearly. These are windows of opportunity for Linux -- windows, ironically, at Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) expense.

VirtualBox may be free, but you still have to own a copy of Windows. If you’re not willing to shell out a few hundred dollars to Microsoft but still want to run Windows on your Intel-based Mac, there is one more alternative: CrossOver from CodeWeavers costs $40 and runs Windows applications on Mac OS X — without Windows.

It’s official: Windows 7 will be on the shelves just in time for the Christmas season. From an Open Source perspective, this is nothing ground-breaking: It’s just the same old Windows.

If you told me two years ago that Linux would have 10% of the hottest new PC category, over Windows, I might have called you crazy. If you had added that in order to keep Linux at 10% Microsoft was practically giving its Windows XP away, hoping only for upgrades that will likely never happen, I would say you had too much penguin juice.