Attention XP'ers -- your wildest fantasies are coming to fruition. Word on the street is that Service Pack 3 is now available for download all over the World Wide Web. When we say "all over" what we really mean is via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center, though we doubt it will stay in one place for too long. Apparently, the new pack offers 1,100 hotfixes and patches, so maybe your obscure, cheapo soundcard will now function in stereo.

Update: Apparently due to a "glitch" in the latest SP, Microsoft has delayed the release of the update, now aiming for a May 2nd street date. Thanks commenters and tipsters, and no thanks to you, Microsoft.

What do you know? The former OLPC head of software and content did indeed resign at least partially over NickNeg's growing fondness of Windows XP. In a recent soul-spilling interview with xconomy, Walter Bender made clear that he resigned his post at the non-profit due to the general de-emphasis of "radical projects like Sugar," the innovative XO user interface which Mr. Bender was unsurprisingly neck-deep in during his stay. Essentially, he felt as if the outfit had stopped trying to "be disruptive" and started "trying to make things comfortable for decision-makers," hence Walter darting out "to do his own thing." Needless to say, the lead developer of Sugar isn't satisfied with seeing his work forgotten, and while details have yet to be worked out, he is looking to "find a new central home for the community of educators and software developers who have been creating Sugar-compatible applications."

[Image courtesy of The New York Times]

Don't act like you didn't have April 24th circled in your day planner -- heck, you probably stayed up all night hoping Hardy Heron 8.04 would be launched as the 24th dawned in Australia. Regardless of your level of fanaticism towards the OS, the latest flavor of Ubuntu is finally ready for mass consumption. You know what's waiting for your torrent manager right down there, so why on Earth are you still reading rather than downloading? Get!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, image courtesy of doninside]

Though we originally expected (read: hoped) that Microsoft would dish out Service Pack 3 for Windows XP late last month, it seems the deed may actually get done before May dawns. According to an "internal schedule" fetched over at Neowin, OEMs, volume license, Connect, MSDN and TechNet subscribers will have access to the update on April 21st, while most average joes / janes won't notice it until April 29th when it hits the Microsoft / Windows Update download center. For folks too busy carrying on to worry over which SP their XP is running, they could very well overlook the automatic update scheduled to land on June 10th. (Re)mark your calendars, won't you?

[Via InformationWeek]

After a week full of Red Bulls, Fruit by the Foot and dreams of In-N-Out, the mighty Sony VAIO loaded with Linux stood as the only machine unhacked by the end of the PWN 2 OWN hacking contest at CanSecWest. As you're well aware by now, the MacBook Air on display was seized in two minutes by the presumably well prepared Charlie Miller, and after two full days of work, Shane Macaulay and a few of his 1337 associates managed to crack the Vista rig on Friday. Reportedly, Shane and his pals weren't expecting to do battle with the extra protected SP1 version of Vista, and while the exact loophole won't be divulged, we are told that it was a cross-platform bug that "took advantage of Java to circumvent Vista's security." In the end, it was reported that some folks on hand had discovered bugs in the Linux OS, but many of them "didn't want to put the work into developing the exploit code that would be required to win the contest."

[Image courtesy of TippingPoint]

And just think -- last year you were singing Dino Dai Zovi's praises for taking control of a MacBook Pro in nine whole hours. This year, the PWN 2 OWN hacking competition at CanSecWest was over nearly as quickly as the second day started, as famed iPhone hacker Charlie Miller showed the MacBook Air on display who its father really was. Apparently Mr. Miller visited a website which contained his exploit code (presumably via a crossover cable connected to a nearby MacBook), which then "allowed him to seize control of the computer, as about 20 onlookers [read: unashamed nerds] cheered him on." Of note, contestants could only use software that came pre-loaded on the OS, so obviously it was Safari that fell victim here. Nevertheless, he was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement that'll keep him quiet until "TippingPoint can notify the vendor," but at least he'll have $10,000 and a new laptop to cuddle with during his silent spell.

Last year's PWN 2 OWN contest at the CanSecWest security conference went over way better than expected (read: exploits were glorified), so this year, organizers have spiced things up by letting hackers have their way with three separate machines. The Linux, OS X and Vista-based rigs were all setup as similarly as possible in order to "make sure the attack surface was the same on all of them." For attendees in Vancouver, there sits a $20,000 top prize -- which dwindles with each passing day as restrictions on attacks ease up -- but it can only be acquired if an all new zero-day cyber roundhouse kick is used. Anyone here going to give it a go? You get to keep the freshly victimized laptop too, you know.

Now, we know the official story on the CeBIT Meizu shutdown was related to MP3 codec licensing, and not the M8's iPhone-like UI. Still, it does seem strangely fortuitous that more pictures of the phone's interface have just appeared that seem to showcase a move away from Apple's familiar look. The Chinese site CNMO has new shots of the device's music player, which now appears to incorporate song info, EQ display, lyrics, and volume / tracking controls all on one screen. The pictures also show a couple of different music browsing options, both in landscape and portrait mode. Is this a signal that the company is putting some distance between the M8 and the iPhone? Only time will tell.

Update: Some commenters here and on the MeizuMe forums are claiming that these renderings are fake / fan art. So it might not be healthy to get too excited about the above screenshots.

[Via PMP Today]

It's been in development for nearly half a decade, but this year at Microsoft's R&D extravaganza TechFest, the company finally lifted the curtain on its research-oriented Singularity OS. Let's just be clear from the get-go, though: while it's available for immediate use, Singularity is nowhere near anything you'd replace your desktop OS with. The sole intention here is to test out futuristic new concepts in application interaction, microkernel architecture, and so on, so don't expect to hear that Microsoft is hanging up the Vista apron or anything. But for the turbo-geeks in the crowd, the Singularity Research Development Kit (RDK) 1.1 is now available for download for academic non-commercial use. And for the rest of us, well, we'll just see what the year 2011 holds in store.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Brush up on your Singularity theory
Read - Download that biz

If you've seen our shots of Samsung's Armani redo, the F480, you might have noticed it's running a new OS. The UI -- called TouchWiz -- is based off of the company's Croix interface (which apparently was rushed out to compete with the iPhone), and will be used on all of the upcoming finger-touch phones from the manufacturer. The cats over at Phone Scoop had a chance to go one-on-one with TouchWiz at Mobile World Congress, and they've put together a pretty informative video that shows off the UI doing its thing. The inclusion of a new widget system, expanded menu options, and overall speed bump make this OS a notable step up from Samsung's previous offering. Take a look at the video after the break to see the system getting all funky-fresh.

[Thanks, Martijn]

Early last year, we polled the grand audience and found out just what you liked (and disliked) about Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 for PS3. Fast forward 13 months, and those still waiting on the sidelines have yet another option for jumping in. As of now, Terra Soft Solutions is offering up Sony's 80GB PlayStation 3 with YDL 6.0 pre-installed for $549.95, and yes, that includes the DVDs containing the OS. Interestingly, it seems as if you'll still have to pony up for a component or HDMI cable, but at least the option's there, right?

[Thanks, Fiddlesworth]

Details are still fuzzy at this point, but according to an e-mail received by numerous tipsters, Microsoft is indeed offering up a free copy of Vista in exchange for their privacy. Yeah, even though it claimed otherwise late last year. According to the note, Redmond is viewing these folks as "registered members" of the Windows Feedback Program, and if they keep their guard down for the remainder of a three month period, they will seemingly receive a copy of its latest OS gratis. So, any others out there finding an unexpected message from the Big M regarding said offer? Let us know in comments below, particularly if you get any free wares or previously analyzed keylogging reports.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

While it looked like Mac users couldn't wait to get their hands on the latest version of Apple's operating system, their Windows counterparts seem to have been a little more reticent about picking up Microsoft's oft-delayed Vista upgrade -- so much so that Redmond decided to both extend XP's shelf life by six months as well as offer an unprecedented "downgrade" service on select SKUs. Well with the June 30th cutoff fast approaching, PC World decided to take a look at your options for procuring an XP license after that date, but unfortunately, the picture isn't too pretty. Basically, personal users looking to purchase less than 25 licenses but not a new machine have almost no recourse; your only surefire move is to buy a new box pre-installed with Vista Business or Ultimate from an OEM opting to continue with that downgrade service. Still, caveat emptor: support for consumer versions of XP ends on April 14, 2009, and with it, the end of your Patch Tuesday celebrations.

Obviously a lot of people cried fake when those screenshots purporting to show Windows 7 Ultimate popped up -- possibly because they looked a lot like rebadged Vista screens -- so the blogger who originally posted the images has followed up with a video for proof. And we do have to say, if this is fake, someone put a hell of a lot of work into pulling it off, from creating a new bootup screen to hacking the source code to adding fresh Media Center options. ThinkNext tells us that this release -- known as Milestone 1 -- expires in May of this year, although if Redmond and its team of crack Enemy of the State-types have anything to say about it, this particular blog will not be getting another preview copy next time around. Video after the break.

[Via Softpedia, image courtesy of ThinkNext, thanks Joshua]

It was but a few months ago that Apple trumpeted the fact that two million copies of Leopard had been sold in its first weekend. As of Macworld 2008, you can add three million more to that figure. According to Jobs, it's the "most successful release of OS X ever," and nearly 20-percent of the install base has made the leap to 10.5. Oh, and just in case you were wondering about Office Mac 2008, it is indeed shipping today, which means that all the "big apps" for OS X are finally Intel native.