Like the pushcarts of old, you can't traverse a shopping district in Israel - these days, known as malls - without tripping over a cell phone sales/upgrade station. They're everywhere, showing off their displays of the latest and greatest 3G and beyond phones with cool data services, MP3 players, super-sophisticated still and video cameras, and anything else phone manufacturers can throw in to

There were two big pieces of tech news these past few days. One involved a product yet to be introduced that is being heralded as "the next big thing," the sexy you-gotta-get-one product of the decade - but which actually just rolls up and duplicates (rather nicely, it should be noted) technology already on the market.

 

The other piece of news was a lot less sexy, and got a little bit lost in

Relationships. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em, apparently.

 

Take me, for example. I just managed to get out of a long-term relationship, and it wasn't easy; it was a "divorce" that was a long time coming, from a relationship that had turned into an expensive, technical burden.

 

Before you get the wrong idea, understand that I'm talking about my now-former VOIP service provider,

In the market for a new laptop? Don't pull out your credit card just yet; if you wait just a wee bit longer, you might find yourself catching a real bargain!

 

How does $500 (NIS 2000, give or take these days) sound for a fully loaded (well, probably almost) Dell laptop? Too much? Okay, how about $300 or so for a less fully loaded but Internet and word processing capable laptop that runs

I thought I was done with this whole Windows vs. Linux thing, but as fate would have it, Microsoft officials (who apparently read my column last week praising Open Office) chose last week to announce that the whole Open Source movement - Linux, Open Office, and the whole FOSS gang - was a ripoff of MS code. And the company, mad as hell, isn't going to take it anymore.

 

In an interview with

After singing the praises of free operating systems, it is now time to pay tribute to free office software suites. Specifically, OpenOffice.org (aka as OO), the "substitute," open source "replacement" for Microsoft Office.

 

"Substitute?" "Replacement?" We believe it to be so, but we know, deep down, that it cannot be; if it were, in the sense that proprietary Microsoft code were used in order

"While Linux is an alternative to Windows, it is not cheap Windows. Linux has its own strengths, and users should want it because of those strengths and not because it's a cheap copy of Windows." These words, by Ubuntu (and publisher Canonical) CEO Mark Shuttleworth, are definitely a good example of the Linux credo - and an idea promoters of the (re)remerging OS would like current users of

I'm taking a big chance writing this today. Howso? I'm writing it on my Macbook. And therein lies a story.

 

 

And it does

Lesson to aspiring tech writers out there: If you want lots of feedback, write about Linux. Besides plenty of talkbacks on the Jpost site, I got a bunch of e-mail messages, each with something to say about my thoughts on Linux vs. Vista.

 

And the readers had plenty to say on the subject of if, when and how Linux will finally come into its own, grabbing a significant share of PC desktops. It

One day, soon, possibly maybe,  you might find yourself using a form of Linux. Even if you're a diehard Windows user. It's the Next Big Thing.