As we went to press, news reached us that Alpha Processor Inc, Samsung's Alpha subsidiary, has joined Linux International, the Linux umbrella group for commercial operations. That is likely to give a huge boost to Alpha processors and to Linux enthusiasts. And, at the same time, will boost the 64-bit chip. Readers have reported to The Register that companies are shifting in droves to the Linux platform because NT BackOffice licences are extremely expensive. Alpha implementations of Linux are no doubt the source of some angst for Microsoft, given that they display MS' latest enemy to advantage on a high-powered platform, and that they're likely to cause further embarrassment as NT struggles to achieve 64-bitness. ®