Top 10 IT News Stories of the Week: Microsoft Partnerships, E-Voting, Laptop Batteries and More

CIO —

1. "Microsoft, Novell Team in Linux Deal,"
CIO.com, 11/3
Hell didn’t quite freeze over, but times sure have changed. Only five years ago, Steve Ballmer likened the open-source Linux operating system to a cancer and a virus, but this week the Microsoft chief executive officer announced a tie-up with Novell whereby Microsoft will support Novell’s Suse Linux on machines that also run Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Ballmer said the move was all about bridging the gulf between open-source and proprietary software, though he stressed that Microsoft hasn’t become a huge Linux proponent overnight and still wants users to buy its Windows OS instead.

2. "Microsoft, Zend Boost PHP for Windows,"
InfoWorld, 10/31
And the open-source thaw continues with Microsoft also teaming up with Zend Technologies to encourage user adoption of Zend’s PHP open-source Web scripting language on Microsoft’s Windows Server platform. The two companies are collaborating to fix previous performance issues that deterred organizations from running PHP on Windows Server. At the heart of their development work is FastCGI, a new interface between PHP and Microsoft’s Internet Information Server. Both vendors are also mulling over whether to develop integration between PHP and Microsoft’s Visual Studio development platform.

3. "Will Oracle’s ‘Unbreakable Linux’ Break the OS?"
Computerworld, 10/31
Now that the dust has settled from last week’s major upset in the open-source world, industry watchers are considering the ramifications of Oracle’s move to offer full enterprise support for Red Hat Linux, which Oracle is calling "Unbreakable Linux." Some experts believe Oracle’s cloning of the source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is likely to cause major problems, as the Oracle and Red Hat versions diverge from each other, and Oracle ends up effectively creating its own separate Linux distribution.

4. "Former CA CEO Sanjay Kumar Gets 12 Years In Prison,"
Computerworld, 11/2
Aiming to send a strong message to corporate America that accounting scandals won’t be tolerated, a judge sentenced Sanjay Kumar, the former CEO of software vendor Computer Associates (now known as CA), to 12 years’ jail time and a US$8 million fine. Kumar will be free on bond until the judge determines restitution to the victims of the crime, the investors in the company who lost more than US$400 million. The FBI characterizes Kumar as presiding over one of the largest accounting fraud schemes on record involving misstatements of US$2.2 billion of Computer Associates’ revenue.

5. "Voters in Fla., Texas Complain of E-Voting Glitches,"
Computerworld, 11/1
As the United States gears up for Tuesday’s nationwide Election Day, early voters in Florida and Texas have reportedly experienced problems in using electronic voting machines. One alleged issue was vote flipping, whereby the machine registered a different candidate from the one chosen by the voter. Officials have mostly denied any problems with the e-voting machines, adding that they have measures in place to quickly respond should any glitches occur next week. Critics of e-voting recommend that voters be extra vigilant when using the machines to ensure that the vote they cast is properly recorded.

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