Background article on how XUL has been developed and its design goal of easing the creation of cross platform user interfaces.

Draws a distinction between open source advocacies and the promotion of public standards, warning against the confusion of these two initiatives.

Benefits of the development of open specifications for audio and video formats. By Rich Mavrogeanes.

News on the slowly developing e-book hardware devices market. [CNet]

The e-book market is hampered by immature, expensive technology and a limited number of people willing to consider reading books on electronic devices. [CNet]

News and implications analysis of the lawsuit between Random House and RosettaBooks. [CNet]

Harcourt College Publishers inks a deal with e-book company goReader to offer electronic college textbooks. [CNet]

Electronic books have been slow to catch on among consumers, but big Internet companies are betting that the time for e-books has come. [CNet]

The maker of software that lets computers run several operating systems simultaneously says Microsoft is using its application to simplify product demos.

Download full MicroSPARC-IIep design for free under terms of Sun Community Source License. [CNET News.com]