Peter Galli

About

Peter Galli has been a technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise. He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.

Microsoft Gives Some Early Access to Vista SP1

Microsoft has made Windows Vista Service Pack 1 available to its TechBeta customers, and will release the English version of the service pack to its volume licensing customers Feb. 15. MSDN and TechNet subscribers will get access to the service pack later in February, while general availability is still planned for mid-March, Mike Nash, Microsoft’s […]

Open-Source Movement Turns 10

This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of the “Open Source Definition” and the public announcement of the formation of the Open Source Initiative. The decade has been marked both by enormous achievements and serious setbacks. “This was the first time that the general public heard what open source was about. Friday, Feb. […]

Microsoft Upbeat about Windows on the OLPC’s XO

Microsoft is conducting field trials to ensure that a modified version of Windows XP SP2 will be able to run well on the One Laptop Per Child’s XO machine and that it will be able to support customers with a good experience on that hardware. “We are encouraged by what we have seen of Windows […]

Open Source Gets a Wall Street Boost

An increasing number of Web 2.0 companies are turning to user-generated financial and investing content to give them a strategic advantage in the cutthroat equity trading business. The commoditization of equity trades means the technology driving online trading platforms no longer provides a strategic advantage to financial firms. This is good news for the providers […]

Are Open Source and Capitalism Worlds Apart?

NEW YORK – Is the concept of open-source finance a contradiction in terms? That was the question posed to a panel at the O’Reilly Money:Tech conference here Feb. 6. The question spawned a discussion as to whether open-source technologies were fundamentally at odds with the zero-sum world of capital markets and whether it is possible […]

Yahoo Zimbra Unit Unveils New Web Client

Facing an uncertain future as Microsoft bids for Yahoo, Zimbra, the open-source messaging and collaboration software company that was acquired by Yahoo for $350 million last September, will release the next version of its Web client, Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0, on Feb. 5. ZCS 5.0, is available in 15 languages and now offers native e-mail, […]

Windows Server 2008 Finally Released to Manufacturing

Microsoft has hit the final milestone in the long and rocky road to Windows Server 2008, announcing Feb. 4 that it has released to manufacturing the final code for that product. The software maker will also issue customer advice and guidance about upgrading, as well as consolidated information on the upgrade tools it will offer […]

Windows Vista SP1 RTMs, with a Catch

Microsoft released the final code for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to manufacturing Feb. 4, and the final product will be made available to its volume licensing customers in March. But if users want to install it, there is a catch: there are still issues with a small set of drivers, which need to be […]

Microsoft’s Bid for Yahoo Faces Challenges

While Microsoft is hoping to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion in stock or cash, the software maker has a long and difficult road ahead to not only make the deal a reality, but also make it work. The deal, which was announced Feb. 1 and will be priced at a 62 percent premium on Yahoo’s […]

Microsoft Moves to Buy Yahoo

Microsoft has offered to pony up $44.6 billion to buy Yahoo, an offer the Internet and search company said was unsolicited, but which it did not reject. Microsoft’s bid on Jan. 31, of $31 a share, which was offered to shareholders in the form of cash or stock, was a 62 percent premium on Yahoo’s […]