Open Source

After being delayed seven times due to reported problems with the new installer, Fedora 18 has arrived.

WordPress may be a popular CMS, but its built-in backup isn't ideal. Here are 10 plugins that can help you keep your entire site safe.

Samba's open source alternative to Microsoft's domain controller is a good start, but not ready for prime time

There used to be a time when Microsoft Windows ruled the operating system world. But in recent years, the free and open source Linux operating system has taken a big bite out of Windows' dominance. But Linux has always had an image problem of seeming too difficult and unwieldy to install and learn, with a steep learning curve attached.

They're incredibly small and surprisingly powerful: We tell you what these devices are capable of, and how well they perform.

DD-WRT, Tomato, OpenWRT, M0n0wall, PfSense, and Vyatta suit a wide range of devices and networking needs

A Start menu substitute can greatly reduce the shock of using Windows 8. Here are three alternatives that produce a reasonable experience.

Running games during the DOS era was trouble enough, and today exploring those old games can be a nightmare. Sound card issues, memory management and other peculiarities of early PC gaming amplified as OS technology progressed and passed these titles by, leaving many of them orphaned and unable to run on modern systems. Today's answer to this problem isn't digging up an old system or rooting around for special drivers, it's emulation: free and open-source DOSBox.

With Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as its underpinnings, Linux Mint 13 (Maya) was recently released in three versions, KDE (new), Xfce, and Gnome-Cinnamon. We tested each version separately and while we still like Mint, we're accumulating a nagging list of bugs -- some of which are the fault of Ubuntu, and some are the twists that Linux Mint takes on its own.

Claws Mail is a great basic email client on its native Linux platform, and the Windows port I looked at is done very nicely. It lacks automatic account configuration à la Outlook, but it supports multiple accounts, filters, and has a threaded view of messages. It's attractively simple, but could use a better way to import existing email and addresses.

With Ubuntu 12.04, Canonical has delivered a much improved product that spans desktops, servers and the cloud in a bid to become the cross-platform mainstream product that Apple's Mac OS might have been had Apple not abandoned the server market.

Reviewing HijackThis is like talking to an old friend for the first time after a lengthy communications hiatus. I lost track of the program's development shortly after Trend Micro took it over. Not that I or my repair colleagues ever stopped using it--it's too darn handy when it comes to spotting malware and removing detritus from your system. Now, Trend Micro has placed the program in open source, so perhaps development will continue beyond the version 2.0.4 that it's been stuck at for a while.