7-Zip, Notepad++, TrueCrypt, UltraVNC

It seems like Linux Mint takes the current stable version of Ubuntu and just makes it feel... tighter. It also helps that they write some of their own software to make administering the system easier.

I think that the majority of tech savvy users won't see the point in integrating Picasa and Blogger into the Google+ platform because we're already use to using these services and know how to navigate around them. But for people like my grandmother who think Google is just the search page and GMail, this could help to bring them to a place where they feel more comfortable using other Google services. If Blogger and Picasa look more like something that my grandmother uses every day, she's going to be more likely to explore the service to see what it can do. I think Google is on the right track here. Having a common user interface among all of their products and services can only help to make it easier for users to start using new services that they never tried in the past.

I think this has been blown out of proportion a bit. Sure, Microsoft is going to support getting Linux running, but so what. If they support Virtual Server, they have to be able to support everything that can run on it. I don't see what the big deal is other than Linux purests saying "OMG, Micr0$0ft i$ $upp0rting Linux! LOLz0rz! HAHA". Come on, it's stupid, it's annoying, and no one cares.