In an era when the next edition of Microsoft Windows is pushed back more than a year, and popular GNU/Linux distributions are almost expected to have their release dates delayed by weeks or months, it's nice to know that at least one operating system releases on schedule without all kinds of showstopping bugs and problems. OpenBSD 4.0 was released on November 1 with its usual mix of new hardware support and enhanced operating system features. Read on for the full report.

The Lenovo ThinkPad T60p is the first ThinkPad to officially support GNU/Linux. Unfortunately that support is not quite as broad as some would like -- you're more or less forced to install and use SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED 10). The good news is, SLED 10 is a highly usable, stable, and configurable operating system. Officially you're supposed to buy a support contract from Novell if you need help installing the operating system on a ThinkPad T60p, but if you'd prefer to do it on your own, this guide will walk you through the process.

MandrivaLinux (formerly MandrakeLinux) built its name and reputation on its consumer desktop products, but over the past two years its newer enterprise-grade GNU/Linux operating systems have been gaining momentum in a market traditionally dominated by Red Hat. Mandriva Corporate Server 4.0, released on September 19, is a major step forward not only for Mandriva, but for GUI-based server operating systems in general. It won't sway any sysadmins who are comfortable with the CLI, but if you don't have the budget to hire a good GNU/Linux sysadmin, you'll have a much easier time with Mandriva Corporate Server 4.0 than pretty much any other server operating system.

In one respect, Gentoo Linux 2006.1 is the same as it's always been, except with newer software on the installation media. Beginning with version 2006.0, though, a graphical environment was added to the live CD along with an installation program that rarely worked properly. The good news is, the installer works reasonably well in Gentoo 2006.1; the bad news is, it's still quicker and easier to install by hand via the command line.

I've tested and/or reviewed every version of this operating system (now on its third name) since the first version, and each time I start out impressed but end up walking away disappointed. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 is not an exception to this tradition. While it may be a decent desktop operating system, I can't possibly recommend that sysadmins rely on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 in a production environment.