A recent Accenture survey finds almost 40 percent of respondents planning to migrate mission-critical workloads to open source software within the next year. Will open source software overtake proprietary apps, and is there room for both in the marketplace?

The latest time line in fixing security vulnerabilities is a whopping 11.6 days. Why does it take vendors such a long time to recognize and detect new viruses, and is there anything you can do to protect your server OSes?

Anyone paying attention to Oracle's acquisition of Sun had a keen sense that a culture clash was inevitable for the open source software OpenSolaris. This week's launch of Illumos reveals the time might be now.

The latest security research from Secunia shows security vulnerabilities among the major vendors increasing as much as fourfold in the past four years. Apple may think it stands apart, but its record is spotty, and with iPhone jailbreaks now 'legal,' its security woes may only be beginning.

The Unix server world was abuzz last week with IBM kicking off the public beta of AIX 7, and HP launching a no holds barred offense to persuade former Sun customers to abandon SPARC/Solaris environments in favor of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on ProLiant servers.

Microsoft gives the Russian Federal Security Service access to source code for Windows Server 2008 R2, Office 2010 and SQL Server, thus bringing the 'more eyeballs, more secure code' argument back to the surface. Only this time, it isn't about Windows vs. Linux. And that's not the only recent twist out of Redmond: Azure will come in more than one shade.

Microsoft is taking a page from SCO's playbook, suing Salesforce.com over nine CRM-related patents on which it claims the CRM vendor is infringing. Clearly, both companies believe cloud computing is critical to their future. With the cloud landscape still forming, is Microsoft prepared to do whatever it takes to be chief kingpin?

For many enterprises, the choice of a server OS is a difficult one. While many companies don't want to pay too much for an open source server, they also want their vendor to remain in business. Unfortunately, the current model seems both unsustainable and unchanging.

OS Roundup: When it comes to OS patches, Apple's model of 'ignorance is bliss,' is not the way to go; nor is Microsoft's regularly scheduled blitz. What is the best approach for both users and vendors?

OS Roundup: Was it exclusion or exclusivity that fueled Apple's journey to being the world's biggest technology company? Or perhaps it's Apple's understanding and ability that when the producer names the tune, the consumer must dance.

It's ironic -- Sun took great pains to license its open source OS, OpenSolaris, and with it ZFS, under the ostensibly home-grown CDDL license. Now, with the plug pulled on OpenSolaris, the future looks grim for the popular and highly regarded ZFS. Unless it can be absorbed into the Linux kernel that Sun carefully positioned it to avoid.

OS Roundup: And found the sum of its parts is worth more than the whole. Despite claims to the contrary, Novell has put itself up for sale. Will anyone want its Linux OS?

OS Roundup: Linus blesses a new kernel. Are you ready to test drive it on your Linux servers?

OS Roundup: Despite the noisier iPhone or Blackberry debate, the OS still matters. When it comes to mobile, Windows is losing ground to Linux and other OSes. Will the release of Windows Phone later this year enable Microsoft to prevail?

OS Roundup: Despite the growing popularity of the myriad Linux OS and cloud computing options, HP-UX retains a strong, albeit leaking, presence. Now, with Sun's UNIX ecosystem in turmoil, HP is seizing the day as it packages and sings the virtues of its Big Iron OS.

OS Roundup: As Apple fades from relevance, Canonical's Linux OS, Ubuntu, seems to be stepping into its shoes. Is Lucid Lynx everything Mac OS X could have been but isn't, and does it have what it takes to trounce Snow Leopard?

OS Roundup: Will the open source server OS from what was once Sun Microsystems soon be known as the project formerly known as OpenSolaris? It's beginning to seem like it.

OS Roundup: Microsoft appears to have woken up to the fact that free open source Office clones may be the thin end of a very slippery wedge. Its response is loud and clear: When it comes to operating systems, Microsoft intends to be a formidable competitor for some time to come.

OS Roundup: Are we heading back to an era where the OS is once again tied to the hardware? Seems unlikely in this age of commodity x86 servers, yet increasingly, ISVs and OEMs are limiting what can run where.

OS Roundup: Is Oracle closing the door on Solaris in favor of Linux servers? Recent actions imply the company is determined to drive potential customers away from the UNIX offerings it acquired from Sun and into the arms of Red Hat and other enterprise Linux vendors.

OS Roundup: Stockholders in the Linux OS company are dissatisfied with its performance. Can Novell remedy the situation, or is a sale its best option?

OS Roundup: What does an enterprise server OS look like in your perfect world? Find out how some real-world options -- from Linux to Unix to Windows to Mac OS X -- might stack up in a dream universe.

OS Roundup: A New York hedge fund has made an offer to buy Novell. Is it paying $2 billion just for the Linux OS, or is there more to it? And, more importantly, will the offer bring other players to the fore? Perhaps Microsoft will end up the white knight in this strange tale.

OS Roundup: So says the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a group of trade bodies that includes the MPAA and the RIAA. In its eyes, countries that encourage the use of open-source software are in the same league as those with rampant copyright piracy.

OS Roundup: When it comes to Linux server management, if your Red Hat Enterprise Linux distro isn't supported by Red Hat, is it still Red Hat Linux, or is it 'Frankenstein Linux'?