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Gmail is a great webmail service, with features rivaling standalone clients. But since it runs in a browser, if you're not on the site, you won't be notified of new mail. Spiffy (free) fills this gap. It runs in the system tray and periodically checks up to five Gmail accounts, displaying alert boxes for new messages.

With all the many reasons to use Linux today--particularly in a business setting--it's often a relatively easy decision to give Windows the boot. What can be more difficult, however, is deciding which of the hundreds of Linux distributions out there is best for you and your business.

When Canonical broke the news recently that Ubuntu 10.10 will include uTouch 1.0, a multitouch and gesture stack, it caused a flurry of excitement about the Linux release's potential for use in tablets.

Neglected by Oracle, the OpenSolaris operating system has now lost its external governing body

The newly updated VIM now supports Lua and the latest versions of Perl and Python

Organizations hoping to streamline their deployments of Linux have two new options for running the open source OS remotely.

A Microsoft security expert asserts that Windows 7 is every bit a secure as Unix and says Vista helped paved the way.

You don't need to shell out big bucks for software. These free apps are great alternatives to popular software for any small business using Linux, Windows or Mac OS X.

Apple's version 5 of its Safari browser for Windows (free) debuted in June with a new Reader feature for news stories, some speed tweaks for its JavaScript engine and URL lookups, an improved address bar, and sundry nice but not earth-shattering improvements. Its most significant update, support for user-made extensions à la Firefox, won't fully bear fruit until Apple opens the doors to its in-the-works extensions gallery.

Let's be perfectly honest. Linux isn't for everyone -- yet.

Jolicloud, which is being promoted as the cloud-based Linux distro for non-Linux users, has promise -- but it still needs work.

Did you know that you have a choice of something other than Windows for that computer on your desk?

Enterprises can use the free appliance to try out cloud application deployments on Amazon's EC2.

Live CDs, DVDs or USB drives let you run Linux without actually installing it. Here are five reasons why you should.

Dell, through its Kace unit, is making available free Web browser security software that works by creating a protective "sandbox" on the desktop to isolate the user's desktop from malware or other harmful actions that might be encountered browsing the Web.

Frustrated by what they consider poor treatment and lack of interest from Oracle, members of the OpenSolaris Governing Board are essentially delivering an ultimatum to the vendor, asking that it appoint a liaison to the group or the board will be disbanded.

Online music streaming provider Spotify has announced a native application for Linux operating systems.

Ad-Aware Internet Security Free, one of the most popular spyware killers on the planet, just got better: It's not just an anti-spyware killer any more. The newest version adds anti-virus capabilities to its already very good job of detecting and killing spyware while keeping a low profile.

The problem with Web-based e-mail is that Windows doesn't understand it. Right-click a file and select Send to and then Mail recipient, and Windows will open up whatever e-mail client happens to be installed as the default on your computer--even if you never use it. The same thing happens if you try to mail a file from Word, WinZip, or any other program with a similar feature. That is, unless you've installed and set up Affixa (free), which becomes Windows default mail program.