In print: What's eating Microsoft? Fingerprinting at schools, the GPL's lawyer, mobiles vs the iPod and much more

This week's print edition of the Technology supplement is online too..

• What's eating Microsoft?
  Delays to the release of its Windows Vista and more structural changes hint at a general malaise afflicting the computer giant, report Jack Schofield and Charles Arthur.
• Is school fingerprinting out of bounds?
  Obtaining biometric data from pupils, often without parental knowledge, shows how far this technology has already infiltrated society, writes Wendy M. Grossman.
• 'A lawyer who is also idealist - how refreshing'
  Eben Moglen, the legal guardian of the free software movement explains why, after 12 years, the time is right to release version 3 of its constitution for public comment.
• Why a £5m mapping project had to double up on data
  Free Our Data: the campaign continues. How the restrictive data practices of the Environment Agency and Ordnance Survey cost Norwich Union £5m when it decided to draw up a flooding map.
• Secondhand gadgets win reprieve from Japan's "worst law ever"
  The proposed banning of pre-owned electrical goods spelt disaster for Japan's retro games and music sales before an unprecedented U-turn.
• Will musical mobiles hit the iPod's figures?
  Victor Keegan: The rise of user-friendly music phones is bound to make more people question whether they need to carry two devices rather than one.
• Technobile
  If you're a woman who dares enter a videogame shop, be prepared to be chatted up, patronised and met with cool indifference, warns Laura Parker.
• Read this week's letters
  Send your letters, comments, questions and rants to tech@theguardian.com, and please include your address and post town.
• 
  Newly asked questions
  • Can anything save the high street video rental store?
    Probably not. The DVD rental market is in freefall and the traditional bricks-and-mortar rental store is the hardest hit.
  • Will a Desperate Housewives videogame pay off?
    Perhaps if it can find some desperate housewives with a few spare hours.
  Gadgets
  • Samsung YP-Z5
    iPod rival looking to call the tune
  • Nikon S6
    Nikon's camera lights up the market
  • Nabaztag
    Wireless bunny could be geek toy of the year
• Developers go organic to milk a future cash cow
  Prototyping - allowing game concepts to evolve via natural selection - is a more sensible approach than trying to create products by brainstorming, says Keith Stuart.
• Transform government - but get it to join up first
  Michael Cross: "Common infrastructure" could cut the cost of running the government machine, but expect it to run into plenty of opposition.
• Hackers bring host of troubles
  Be it a company or home user, attackers show no prejudice when there's a security lapse to exploit. Karlin Lillington found her phpBB boards hacked
• Ask Jack
  Send your questions and comments to Jack.Schofield@theguardian.com. Published letters will be edited for brevity, but include full details with your query. Please visit our Ask Jack weblog for daily updates.
• NewsBytes
  News in brief: Avie Tevanian unexpectedly quits at Apple, and more