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Speaking of operating systems (see below) there’s big news coming from the Ubuntu Developer’s Conference in Barcelona: Developers are busy working on getting Android apps to work on computers running Ubuntu Linux.

That could mean a potentially huge, new audience for both Android phones and applications as well as Linux.

Ubuntu is a form of the Linux operating system made to run on many different hardware platforms. Linux is open software. That means you can use it, change it and improve it – as long as you share with everyone else.

In the past, the best part of Linux was that it’s free. But, the people at Canonical who oversee Ubuntu have created a wonderful operating system. I have been running Ubuntu on a number of different hardware platforms (old and new) for more than a year and remain amazed at just how well everything works.

The latest Ubuntu release is version 9.04 (codenamed Jaunty Jackalope). It’s for desktops, laptops, servers and even netbooks. All come with what you need to work and play – including an office suite, games, photo and music programs and even an app for Palm devices.

Ubuntu is a free download or you can have them send you a live CD (run it off the CD and if you like it press a button and it installs automatically).

Try it on an older, slower laptop or PC. Who knows? You might love it too.

Microsoft has just released a mega-upgrade, this morning, for Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit) as well as Windows Server 2008.

These large software packages are called Service Packs (this one is SP2) by Microsoft and include hardware enhancements OS updates, enterprise, set-up and deployment improvements — most notably Windows Search 4.0, improved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and Blue-ray disc support.

In the past, installing Service Packs has been time consuming. Plus, they’re huge source hogs. Usually after about an hour of waiting your computer would (might?) be usable again. The Vista SP2 upgrade is a completely different story.

Installation was 100% painless. On a nearly new Asus laptop (running Windows Vista Business edition) SP2 took a total of 23 minutes to download, install and restart the computer for use.

The best part of all is that the upgraded computer is running perfectly. So far, everything seems to be performing just fine, thank you. Actually the Asus might be working a drop faster than before.

We’ll let you know when or if that change.