Jabber users can now communicate with members on other public IM networks thanks to Jive Software and the XMPP.

Akonix this week introduced a new series of instant messaging appliances that feature a hardened operating system and a version bump.

Antepo will integrate Akonix L7 to boost the security and compliance features in its OPN offering.

The latest version of ChatBlazer provides a managed IM platform for providers and a Flash-based client for end users.

Akonix has added Microsoft management tools, more flexible user archives, and support for Google's new IM network to its flagship product.

Jabber and Macromedia will be integrating their IM and Web conferencing products in pursuit of business with the DoD and other federal agencies.

After a year of head-bobs and little action, Red Hat's alarm clock jolted it awake at this week's LinuxWorld. Worried about things on your network going bad? RANCID records network device configurations, and tracks and alerts you to changes.

OSCON traditionally emphasizes trend, not product. By placing Solaris panels in the Linux track, could the conference be on to something? For spring cleanup on HTML docs, HTML Tidy is cross-platform and simple to deploy.

Sure, Sun rotated Linux out of its desktop lineup, but that shouldn't stop Linux advocates from declaring victory. Plus: Jetty provides all you need in the way of a lightweight, embedded Web server.

Progeny and friends are elbowing for a place at a table everyone assumes is set for Red Hat and Novell. Will it succeed, or will it be the next UnitedLinux? FreeNX is ideal those seeking remote access to a Linux machine for a graphical environment.

Sun withdraws its Linux-based desktop product and introduces a workstation available for purchase on a rent-to-own plan. With apachetop, you get a real-time snapshot of everything the Apache server is doing, in a top-style format.

Will SCO bat OpenServer 6 out of the park? Looking for a fast and easy-to-use groupware app? Lucane is a good place to start.

Sun put OpenSolaris on the menu this week, hoping to attract developers to the table. Rootkit Hunter makes it easy to detect rootkits on Unix and Linux systems.

Is the Apple-on-Intel hysteria warranted? If you're looking to get your feet virtually wet, virtual machine monitor Xen is an inexpensive way to do so.

If you haven't yet drank the Kool-Aid, consider this week's flavors: Sun's Share campaign, featuring Bono, and the gospel according to Red Hat, delivered at the Red Hat Summit. To cure filename hangovers, Detox converts nonstandard characters to lower ISO 8859-1.

We scope out the latest trends at the New York City LinuxWorld Summit and discover it's really not about Linux anymore. ZABBIX rivals commercial network and system monitoring offerings with its alerting, reporting, graphing, and mapping capabilities.

Sun will miss its target date for ZFS and Janus, but its employee blogs sure are spiffy. Sys admins faced with rapidly growing and changing data storage needs will applaud the Enterprise Volume Management System.

With Tiger out of its cage, Apple is hoping its use of Samba 3, a slick NT migration tool, and reputation for ease of use will woo the low-end market. With dmidecode, admins can identify hardware based on system BIOS, and keep the box closed.

Sun's noisy product, pricing, and customer win announcements at its quarterly networking event left room for much head scratching. With Synergy, a single keyboard and mouse can control multiple computers running different operating systems.

The latest kerfuffle in the Linux community puts its pragmatists in the unique position of learning from one of its most vocal idealists. The distributed and redundant PowerMail may be the solution to your inbound mail woes.

Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005 software will run non-Windows virtual machines, including Linux. Is the vendor giving heterogeneous server rooms their due? MaraDNS is designed to use a minimum of system resources and be as simple and secure as possible.

Even as more conservative analysts say enterprise Linux is here to stay, the spread of open source software may be undermining one of its oldest institutions. Plus ... if you're looking for a high-performance DNS server, PowerDNS might be the ticket.

Sun names the OpenSolaris Community Advisory Board, and the second annual Open Source Business Conference generates a thundering buzz. Does corporatization equal maturity? CUPS and Samba make setting up a print server a piece of cake.

Sun's support for XMPP in its Java System Instant Messaging application makes it the latest participant in the jabber about Jabber. Xtraceroute displays both a visual and text representation of the route packets travel when moving around the planet.

Now that Novell is a full-fledged Linux company, has its annual BrainShare become LinuxWorld southwest? With Red Hat Kickstart you can replicate and automate mass deployments of a customized installation.