The Inspiron Mini 12, Dell's biggest netbook, is now available to order!  Almost one month ago, CMS Report was the first to break the news that Dell was readying their site for the release of the Mini 12.  Current prices of selected configurations range from $549 to $649 which is about the expected price of this netbook.

Microsoft's Vista Home Basic is currently the only operating system available for the Mini 12.  However, Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP on the Mini 12 are expected by the end of the year.

For the OS-minded shopper, the Mini 12 currently comes with Windows Vista Home Basic, but expect Ubuntu and Windows XP versions by the end of the year.

With a starting weight of only 2.72 lbs. and only 0.92 in. thick, current standard features on the Inspiron Mini 12 include a built-in webcam, 1GB of RAM, built-in Bluetooth and 802.11b/g wireless, a sharp 12.1‑inch WXGA display and an ample keyboard.

I will personally be waiting for the Ubuntu version of the Mini 12 to be released before I make my order.  I will be curious though how users will review the Vista version of the Mini 12 as I would worry about performance issues.  More curious is when we'll see the first hacked Mini 12 running Mac's OS 10.x similar to what we saw with the Mini 9.

A recent blog post from Sarah Parez tries to answer some "want-to-know" questions on the upcoming Microsoft Office Web Applications.  With software as a service becoming more popular, Google has quickly become a competitor of Microsoft's Office Suite with its Google Docs.  Microsoft is aggressively fighting back by making its Office software available via the Web browser.

According to Perez's post, Microsoft's Office Web Applications will not only be available in Internet Explorer, but also Safari and Firefox.  Office Web will also be compatible on the Linux and Mac platforms.  Some of the specific answers Sarah Parez gives in her blog post:

Q: Do the Office Web Applications require Internet Explorer?

A: No! Office Web applications will work across multiple platforms and browsers including Safari and Firefox, too.

Q: Will the Office Web Applications work on the iPhone?

A: Yes, in the Safari web browser.

Q : Is Silverlight required in order to use the Office Web Applications?

InfoWorld: Linux users worry that Sun's purchase of MySQL will mean a de-emphasis of Linux and the LAMP stack in favor of Sun's Solaris ecosystem

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"At day's end, what I found was that Vista SP1 really has not improved that much from Vista. The Linux desktop, on the other hand, has improved since I first compared MEPIS 6 to Vista. It's not so much Linux has improved its performance as it has increased its ease of use and hardware compatibility. The Linux desktop of early 2008 is clearly better than the Linux desktop of early 2007. The same cannot be said of Vista."

- Steven J. Vaughan-Nicholas, "Vista SP1: Still lagging behind the Linux desktop", DesktopLinux.com, March 4, 2008

I have a long history of using Windows and Linux systems at my place of work. I'm not into Windows bashing as the operating system and other Microsoft software historically has been a much needed standard for the business world. When my workplace had a choice of either installing a Windows 2003 server or a Linux server to support administrative functions, I chose Windows over Linux. However, as much as I wanted to see Windows Vista succeed in the office, I just don't see a future with Vista. Vista reminds me too much of Windows ME.

Alfresco Software released a press release on the results of a survey by them intended to help determine "how companies evaluate and deploy open source and proprietary software stacks in the enterprise". There is some very interesting numbers summarized in the press release that should be of interest to not only using those Alfresco products, but to almost anyone using enterprise software. Some of the more interesting numbers and statistics pulled from the study:

• 
  Operating system: “Users evaluate on a Windows
  laptop and deploy on Linux” – 41% of evaluations were on Windows,
  dropping to 26% for deployments, whereas 51% of deployments were on
  Linux.
• 
  Linux: “Ubuntu and Red Hat pull away, SUSE remains flat by comparison in the US” – Ubuntu 24%, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 21%.
• 
  Windows: “Users stick with XP and 2003, Vista lags at 2%” – XP 63%, Windows 2003 28%.
• Databases: “Sun still shines on MySQL” – MySQL 60%, Oracle 14%, MS SQL Server 13%.

I especially find it interesting that while open source MySQL is the dominate database used on the enterprise, two propriety database systems (Oracle and MS SQL) follow. I wonder where PostGresSQL falls on the list? But wait, there are two points I want to make about this study.

"Firm's predictions should have Microsoft worried. It sees Apple's
market share doubling, open source rising, and laptops being left at
home."

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"I have been asked to review the XO computers from the One Laptop Per
Child project. This is the first in a series of blog posts about my
experiences, as well as those of some children with whom I will be
working. I could easily gush over it or complain about how small the
keyboard is in a single article, but I think the XO requires a more
in-depth review than that. So I hope you'll join me as I explore these
interesting tools aimed at children."

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