My review of Open Solaris 2008.05 was a rant of a dissatisfied Linux user, who found the fresh new Open Solaris desktop edition to be too messy and difficult for daily usage. I decided to try the latest release, Open Solaris 2008.11.

If you use Solaris or Solaris Express, you may want to also use Wine to install Windows programs. There are few ways, but I will write about my favorite - one that uses SFE repository, which enables you to use other fantastic open source programs not packaged for Solaris yet.

For some strange reason, I keep going back to Open Solaris. Maybe it's the beautiful Gnome desktop, well arranged and streamlined. Maybe it's the belief that Sun, one of the great technology leaders in the past 30 years, can deliver a usable operating system intended for the home market. And maybe it's my desire to crack open the frightening secrets of UNIX, for Linux, Open Solaris is not.

Recent changes to Solaris licensing could further encourage Solaris 10 users to consider Linux -- and result in fewer new users considering Solaris at all. If you're a Solaris customer, don't overlook this license change.

An internal Oracle memo that was released last week provides a detailed summary of the company's plans for the Solaris operating system, which Oracle obtained when it acquired Sun. The memo offers a mix of good and bad news for Solaris enthusiasts.

For this article we have taken NVIDIA's latest display driver for Linux and Solaris (v100.14.11) and ran it on both operating systems. Specifically, we had used Fedora 7 with the Linux 2.6.21 kernel and on the Solaris side had used both Solaris Express Developer Edition 5/07 and Solaris Express Community Edition Build 66 "Nevada".

Recently, the executive director of the Linux Foundation, came out basically saying that Solaris, Sun's recently open-sourced operating system, will never go anywhere. He even took a shot at it being open-source, saying that open-sourcing it was 'too little and too late'

Back in August we shared that Sun would be discontinuing SXCE, or formally known as Solaris Express Community Edition.

I have come across Solaris a few times. Sun makes its own Unix operating system, called Solaris. I have heard and read many good things about Solaris, especially on Sun hardware and in big enterprise environments.