If you read my last post, you know that - temporarily - I'm hosting Windows XP on one of the four computers plugged in here at the igloo, due to a donated computer. This post marks the 72 hour mark since I once again saw the Windows splash screen on a monitor in my home for the first time in seven years.

I've been reading around different stories about how we're not making our systems enough "grandma"-proof (that is to be "easily" used by grandmas. Sorry grandpas, you're probably not too appealing for the cause).

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s decision last month to sell desktop PCs with Linux installed on them in Australia is giving hope to Linux advocates at the Encompass HP user group that a similar system may be on its way in the U.S.

Cartoon depicting a conversation during a shift change at a Debian Phone Hotline

As Microsoft moves to open source it is still holding Linux at arms length.

In the wake of the Windows Update fiasco, LinuxInsider quoted Stephen O'Grady's explanation of why users trust GNU/Linux more than Windows where the auto-update features are concerned. His explanation really hits the nail on the head - it all comes down to trust.

Nautilus, the official file manager for the GNOME desktop, can help you perform tasks from browsing the filesystem to accessing Samba shares on your local network or FTP sites on the Internet -- and more. Here are a couple of tips and tools that will allow you to open a terminal window from Nautilus and resize and rotate images without opening any other program.

With Microsoft trying to horn in on this one laptop per child program I can see two things happening. One I already mentioned and that is the price will rise. Not just because of the operating system that Microsoft seems intent on forcing on everyone but the cost of the hardware will rise too as windows will not run on hardware that Linux can happily run on.