The field of commercial relational database vendors is a lot less crowded than it used to be, and it's no surprise, considering the players have to contend with a massive software juggernaut like Oracle. According to the latest numbers from research firm IDC, Oracle still ruled the roost in databases in 2007, capturing in excess of 44 percent of the overall market.

Not even Oracle can afford to rest on its laurels, however; not when the database market remains this competitive. In addition to pressure from the other two top proprietary vendors -- IBM and Microsoft -- Oracle must contend with increasing competition from open source software. For example, last week Sun Microsystems, which acquired MySQL in January, announced an aggressive new pricing structure that allows customers to install as many instances of the open source database as they want, including enterprise-class service and support, for a single, flat rate.

Is that spin I smell? Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, Microsoft seems now to be standing firm behind a 2010 release date for the next-generation version of Windows, currently known as Windows 7. Nobody is being too specific just yet, but a letter sent by Microsoft senior vice president Bill Veghte reiterated that the new OS would ship "approximately three years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista."

The really amazing part, however, is Veghte's explanation for the date. "You have told us you want a more regular, predictable Windows release schedule," he writes. Ask and ye shall receive -- but I wonder, exactly how does Microsoft plan to pull that one off?

My Dear Old Mum phoned the other day to ask my advice on a computer problem. Ever since she got broadband, she said, whenever her PC started up it would nag her about installing some Windows security update or another. She'd press cancel but it would just nag her again later. Then she'd restart and it would nag her yet again. It was driving her crazy. "Hey Mum," I said. "Instead of pressing cancel, did you ever think to just let it install the updates?"

Don't laugh. It's always easier to pick on those less computer-literate than ourselves. But my Mum's predicament actually points to a problem of much greater significance. As it turns out, failure to install security updates isn't limited to individual home users. According to recent research by security vendor Sophos, an alarming number of business desktops are out of date, too.

The Mozilla developers are still racking up downloads since Firefox 3.0 was released on June 17, but the early adopters are already putting it to good use. For starters, Tipping Point has already spotted a vulnerability in the software.

One of the more interesting third-party efforts, however, is the "portable version" of Firefox 3.0 from PortableApps.com, which shipped the same day as the main branch. Portable, in this context, doesn't mean that the code runs on multiple operating systems -- the Firefox developers have taken care of that already. Instead, it literally means that you can take this version of Firefox anywhere. All you need is a CD-R, a digital memory card, or a USB keychain drive to store it on.

For many of us, running Linux as our full-time desktop OS sounds appealing, but there are always those one or two Windows-only programs that we simply can't do without. Sure, you can switch to Windows using a dual-boot system, or run Windows inside virtualization software such as VMware; but that means filling up your hard drive with two separate operating systems, both of which require regular maintenance. Worse, you'll still need to buy a copy of Windows.

Wine is different. It allows you to run Windows software on your Linux desktop as if it were native Linux software. You don't need a virtual machine; in fact, you don't even need a Windows license. The Wine software is so unusual that the first stable version -- Wine 1.0, released today -- was a full 15 years in the making.

Most of the attention to the recent Google/Yahoo partnership has focused on the two companies' search advertising plans, but the deal has implications for instant messaging, too. "In addition," reads the companies' press release, "Yahoo and Google agreed to enable interoperability between their respective instant messaging services, bringing easier and broader communication to users."

So far, exactly what that means is anyone's guess. But the IM market could certainly benefit from a little more interoperability. Despite the fact that IM use is on the rise among home users and businesses alike, each separate IM network remains a walled garden, independent of all the others. Getting them to work together -- similar to how e-mail works -- would benefit everyone.

After an extensive beta program and two release candidates (or three, if you use a Mac), the final version of Firefox 3 is now officially set for release. The Firefox developers insisted they would only release it "when it's ready," and now the word is that it will be ready at last on Tuesday, June 17.

Expect this release to go off with a bang. Firefox developers and fans are eagerly anticipating the new browser, and they've already cooked up a number of ways to celebrate.

Ping! Ping! Ping! If you use instant messaging, by now you should be used to the sound of friends, coworkers, and even strangers leaping onto your desktop with random messages, sometimes at the least convenient times.

Popular wisdom says that these interruptions divert your attention away from your other tasks, sapping your productivity. Some companies have even installed special Internet filters to control the amount of time employees spend on IM. But now a new study claims that the exact opposite is true -- IM does no harm, and in fact it might even improve communications for Internet-enabled workers.

Is open source software a part of your daily computing life? Now is your chance to sound off about it. Sourceforge.net, an online community that hosts open source projects, is accepting nominations for its annual Community Choice awards.

Make no mistake; these awards are more than the usual self-congratulatory love-fest. Buried among such predictable categories as "Best Project for the Enterprise" and "Most Likely to Be the Next $1B Acquisition" are some interesting categories that are designed to highlight some of the unique issues and challenges faced by open source developers.

We're saved! Or rather, Windows XP is -- at least for the time being. Microsoft announced this week that it is extending the cut-off date for sales of the older edition of Windows until 2010, specifically to serve the needs of customers who are planning to buy one of the new wave of low-cost laptops due to arrive this summer.

It's not hard to see why. The mini-laptop that started it all, the Asus Eee PC, shipped with Linux pre-installed, and many of the new machines are likely to take the same road. In fact, some PC makers are reportedly so enamored with Linux that the news of an XP option might fall on deaf ears. This is a fascinating development, and with any luck it could be the start of a promising new trend.

This week, Adobe announced details of the next iteration of its Acrobat line of products, due in late June or early July. Perhaps the most prominent new feature of Acrobat 9 will be the ability to embed live Flash animation and video directly into PDF documents.

But while this capability sounds appealing, I can't help but be skeptical. PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It seems to me that this new direction that Adobe is taking in some ways flies against the original idea of what PDF is all about.