• Microsoft buys into Internet Gold
  Time: 16:47 EST/21:47 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Israel's leading Internet service provider Internet Gold (Nasdaq:Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to jointly establish a Hebrew language Web portal called MSN Israel.

  The news sparked a sharp rise in Internet Gold's stock traded on the Nasdaq.

  The Israeli company's stock was up 10-9/16, or nearly 75 percent, at 24-13/16 in afternoon trading after earlier rising as high as 26-7/8. MSN Israel, which is scheduled to be up and running by January, will offer Hebrew-reading users such features of Microsoft's MSN Web services as news, Hotmail free e-mail, instant messaging, an Internet search engine, business services, and e-Commerce services, Internet Gold said. Internet Gold will hold 50.1 percent of the new company, and Microsoft will hold 49.9 percent. Microsoft will provide the technology and distribution rights to the MSN brand

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• Linux community scores coup in Hotmail outage retakes top spot from Microsoft
  Time: 16:39 EST/21:39 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft owes a small debt of gratitude to a lone Linux programmer.

  The software giant confirmed today that its popular Hotmail email network was partially paralyzed over the Christmas holiday when it failed to pay a $35 registration fee for the domain name Passport.com.

  As previously reported, the oversight was remedied by Linux programmer Michael Chaney, who covered the payment with his personal credit card. Within hours, Hotmail was back online.

  Deanna Sanford, lead product manager for Microsoft's online service, MSN, said that the company is "profusely grateful" to Chaney. She said the company has offered to repay the $35.

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• Microsoft Rediscovers, Retools MSN
  Time: 09:02 EST/14:02 GMT News Source: Techweb Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft's MSN-branded Web properties may have sputtered and stalled while the company recruited a division chief, but a new focus and new top brass have breathed life into the combination Internet access service, content provider, and portal.

  In four months since hiring a consumer-focused executive at MSN, a firestorm of activity, underscored by unprecedented partnerships with consumer-friendly retailers, has vividly marked the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant's renewed emphasis on MSN.

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• The Linux monkey on Microsoft's back
  Time: 08:58 EST/13:58 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft continues to find itself caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the-little-operating-system-that-could.

  While Microsoft execs seem to have been hoping that if they ignored Linux it would just go away, that's not going to happen. Not when Microsoft's other/better half, Intel, continues to throw investment money at just about every Linux distribution company. Nor when any white-box vendor that attaches its star to Linux sees its valuation rise nearly 800 percent on its IPO day.

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• Readers Sound Off on the Microsoft Case
  Time: 08:57 EST/13:57 GMT News Source: PC World Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Do not pass Go. Do not collect $2 billion. Do not charge different PC vendors different prices for Windows. As the antitrust case against Microsoft nears its end, we recognize that Microsoft and the Justice Department aren't the only players in this grown-up Monopoly game: Every Windows user has a stake in it.

  If you could decide Microsoft's fate, what would you do? We surveyed PC World readers to learn their views. Despite all the media saber rattling, fewer than a third of the people who responded to our poll favor breaking up the company. And 29 percent would give Bill Gates a get-out-of-jail-free card.

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• Irimajiri & The X-Box
  Time: 16:45 EST/21:45 GMT News Source: Sega Otaku Posted By: Byron Hinson

  According to news reports from Japan, Sega's President, Mr. Irimajiri actually inspected a demonstration of Microsoft's X-Box system. Considering Microsoft's ties with Sega and the role they played with the Windows CE inclusion into Dreamcast software, it is possible that Sega might play some sort of future role with the X-Box.

  There have been rumors stating that the X-Box will be marketed more as a cheaper PC unit instead of a true gaming console. If this is the case, than could Sega possibly be supporting it with software down the road? This certainly provides quite a bit of interesting speculation. It should be very interesting to see what happens with the X-Box.

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• Site News: Final One Of The Year
  Time: 15:08 EST/20:08 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  We hope that your Christmas celebrations are still continuing, just like ours are (Although some of us are back to work as of today). With the Millennium on the horizon we will be having some time off for a few days around the 31st/3rd Jan just like most of you guy/girls will be too.

  We have decided to delay the launch of our news engine indefinitely - we expect it early next year if all goes to plan, this is due to a slight redesign of all our sites expected to come online January/February 2000 along with a few new sites early in the year.

  As most of you already know, we plan to launch http://www.activelinux.net at some point next month. My plan is to switch the front-page of that domain to a Linux news page sometime early next month instead of the template that is up now. The site will contain all of the news, reviews and tips that you expect from us.

  We have begun our regular daily updates of ActiveSci-Fi, so those of you who are interested in science fiction - check it out. As you know we take your feedback seriously here - so if you have any comments on the Sci-Fi site just let me know.

  As usual it is also time to mention our MSN Community, we are currently still the leading Operating System community on MSN and we are yet again the main site featured in the Windows 95/98/NT/2000 area, so make sure you check us out - our next chat will be early next year. Here is a list of our upcoming reviews:

  Hardware: Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer, SoundBlaster Live! Platinum, Microsoft Force Feedback Steering Wheel, Microsoft Force Feedback Joystick
  Software: Tomb Raider 4, Quake 3, Gabriel Knight 3, SWAT 3, Interstate 82, Star Trek: Hidden Evil, Ultima 9, Asheron's Call (Ongoing Monthly), Unreal Tournament, Wheel Of Time (Sometime this week), Delta Force 2, Flight Simulator 2000 (Next week), Driver (Sometime this week), Encarta Africana
  Applications: Corel Suite 9, Vizact 2000
  DVD's: Inspector Gadget, The Last Broadcast, The Iron Giant, Wild Wild West, The Haunting, The Thin Red Line

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• Microsoft Windows 2000 Section Updated
  Time: 14:37 EST/19:37 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Robert Stein

  We have just released the massive update of our new Windows 2000 Section. The new section is updated for the final RTM release of Win 2000; the new section includes full pricing, system requirements, upgrade information, performance data, installation problems, build history, hardware and software compatibility, server and professional list of features and much more! Be sure to check it out!

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• Microsoft Windows 2000 FAQ Updated
  Time: 14:37 EST/19:37 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Robert Stein

  We have also just released the latest update of our Microsoft Windows 2000 FAQ. This provides quick and easy to read answers for simple questions without browsing tons of different information about Windows 2000.

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• Merchants Affiliated With MSN eShop Record E-Commerce Growth And Traffic Gains During 1999 Holiday Shopping Season
  Time: 14:37 EST/19:37 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Microsoft Corp. today announced that MSN™ eShop (http://www.eshop.msn.com/) paid off for merchant members during the 1999 holiday season by delivering Web-savvy consumers who embrace e-commerce. According to traffic numbers compiled for the first week of December, MSN eShop recorded a 474 percent increase in shopping page views over last year's MSN Shopping traffic. In addition, MSN eShop merchants, including wine.com, eBags, ephones, 800.COM and TooHome, reported attracting significant percentages of new customers via their eShop affiliations.

  Read The Entire Article

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• PC Prices Rise As Sales Slow
  Time: 12:25 EST/17:25 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Cliff Palmer, Jr.

  The monthly growth of retail desktop sales nose-dived to 11 percent, down from a 21.5 percent growth rate in October, according to researcher PC Data. Similarly, notebook computer sales only grew by 18.2 percent in November, down from 43 percent the previous month, PC Data said.

  Read The Entire Article

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• The PC has come a long way in 20 Years
  Time: 12:20 EST/17:20 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Cliff Palmer, Jr.

  On Dec. 2, 1980, a small team of engineers from IBM's Boca Raton, Fla., laboratory made a trip to Microsoft Corp., then based in Bellevue, Wash., to deliver a prototype of the first PC. They had no idea what they were about to begin.

  Read The Entire Article

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• ActiveWindows Server Goes Down ?
  Time: 20:32 EST/01:32 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  We would like to apologize to all our readers for the problems we had this morning with out server. Apparently with many of you enjoying an extended weekend we were overwhelmed with readers. Unfortunately even on the best of sites these problems do sometimes happen.

  From all of us here at ActiveWindows have a safe and happy holiday.

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• Re-release of Microsoft Security Bulletin MS99-046)
  Time: 20:23 EDT/01:23 GMT News Source: E-mail Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  In November, Microsoft withdrew a previously released patch that improved the randomness of TCP initial sequence numbers in Windows NT 4.0. The patch was withdrawn because it contained the same regression error that was present in Windows NT 4.0 SP6. They have eliminated the regression error and re-released the patch. The security bulletin has been updated and is available at http://www.microsoft.com/Security/Bulletins/ms99-046.asp; the FAQ also has been updated and is available at http://www.microsoft.com/Security/Bulletins/ms99-046faq.asp.

  All versions of the original patch were affected by the regression error, although the error only manifested itself in certain situations. When applying the new patch, it's not necessary to uninstall the original patch first. Just install the patch as normal. Here's how to determine which patch to apply:
  
  - If you are running Windows NT 4.0 SP4 or SP5 on an Intel machine, go to http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=16763 and select q243835sp5i.exe.
  - If you are running Windows NT 4.0 SP6 on an Intel machine, go to http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=16764 and select q243835i.exe.
  - If you are running Windows NT 4.0 SP4 or SP5 on an Alpha machine, go to http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=16763 and select q243835sp5a.exe.
  - If you are running Windows NT 4.0 SP6 on an Alpha machine, go to http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=16764 and select q243835a.exe.

  Microsoft is very sorry for any inconvenience caused by the regression error, and will do our best to prevent similar problems in the future.

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• Microsoft market cap tops $600 billion
  Time: 20:32 EST/01:32 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft's market value rose above $600 billion amid investor optimism that its new operating system for businesses will boost sales next year.

  Microsoft shares rose 1.25 to 117.125 in late U.S. trading, giving the software giant a market value of more than $600 billion for the first time. Microsoft is the most valuable U.S. company, worth almost $100 billion more than the second-largest U.S. company, General Electric.

  Microsoft shares have risen more than 29 percent this month as investors snapped up the Redmond, Wash.-based company's shares amid optimism that the kick-off in February of its most ambitious software upgrade, Windows 2000, will boost sales and increase revenue growth.

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• ICQ 2000a Alpha Page Opens Download Page - For Real
  Time: 19:18 EST/00:18 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  In a story we first reported on Monday, ICQ is proud to present this new alpha version of the ICQ program. They have redesigned the user interface, added many exciting new features and kept the goodies that you already know !

  Only advanced ICQ users i.e. users who have installed and used previous versions of ICQ will be able to use ICQ 2000a Alpha. It is recommended to remember your ICQ# and password for use of later versions of ICQ 2000a Alpha.

  If you wish to change the secondary and old Email addresses entered for this ICQ account or view such addresses for other users, please do so before installing this ICQ 2000a alpha version. An attempt to change, add, delete or view secondary and old Email addresses on this ICQ 2000a alpha build 3060 ver. 4.18 is restricted.

  Download ICQ 2000a Alpha - build 3060 ver. 4.18

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• Crazed Microsoft antagonist runs for president
  Time: 19:05 EST/00:05 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Andy Martin, who first came to some modest attention in IT circles when he founded a pressure group five years ago called the Committee to Fight Microsoft Corporation, is campaigning in New Hampshire to become the Republican party candidate for US President next year. He's a Florida-based public interest lawyer, legal activist and the self-dubbed "first consumer activist of cyberspace".

  Yesterday he released a proposed statute to protect privacy, which he claimed was in response to a Washington Post article drawing attention to how telemarketers could obtain telephone information from blocked and unlisted telephone numbers. Martin favours the breakup of Microsoft and the banning of contracts between the divested enterprises. Despite Martin's frequent press releases, his CTFM has been shunned. Martin announced that he had mailed consumer fraud charges against Microsoft to all 50 state attorney generals, because Windows 95 did not work with 4Mb of RAM, as Microsoft had claimed, but it is unlikely that this affected the decision of 20 of them to join the DoJ in its action against Microsoft.

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• Top MS exec charged over in-vehicle firearm innovation
  Time: 19:00 EST/00:00 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  It's Christmas in Seattle, and the good folks of Washington State are engaging in traditional festive activities. Like blazing away at wildlife from the comfort of your own four wheel drive, apparently.

  Hello Microsoft OEM chief, star of subpoenaed emails and antitrust trials Joachim Kempin. Also now, it would seem, a noted gunslinger who is helping local Redmond police with their enquiries. In Texas we believe good old boys grab a six pack, a flatbed truck and quantities of hardware and blaze away at road signs as they go by. In Redmond even the software guys have hardware, and shoot at... Well, we're not sure about this, yet.

  A story involving somebody called Kempin was published on MSNBC (relation) on 17th December. It now seems to have gone away, but it's left trace at the MSNBC database here, which is the most recent MSNBC story covering somebody called Kempin.

  The search result summary tantalisingly reveals "MS exec cited for hunting from car." Some other Kempin who works for Microsoft, perchance? We think not: "December 17 - A top Microsoft executive who figured prominently in the government's antitrust case against the software company has been charged with..."

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• Microsoft CFO leaves for start-up
  Time: 18:45 EST/23:45 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft said today that chief financial officer Greg Maffei will resign, effective Jan. 7, to accept a position with Worldwide Fiber, a privately held firm that specializes in building fiber optic networks.

  The software giant said Maffei will be replaced by John Connors, who has been with Microsoft for nearly 11 years. His most recent position was vice president of the worldwide enterprise group. Connors previously was vice president and chief information officer at Microsoft.

  "Greg's contributions have been outstanding," said Microsoft chief operating officer Bob Herbold in a statement. "His strong financial management abilities have helped Microsoft's finance organization to be recognized as world-class."

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• Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-060) - Patch Available for "HTML Mail Attachment" Vulnerability for Macintosh systems
  Time: 17:12 EDT/22:12 GMT News Source: E-mail Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft has released a patch that addresses two issues:

  - It eliminates a security vulnerability in the Microsoft(r) Outlook Express mail client for Macintosh systems. The vulnerability could allow attachments to HTML mails to be automatically downloaded onto the user's computer.

  - It provides replacements for several digital certificates that are included in Internet Explorer for Macintosh, and will expire on December 31, 1999.

  Read more

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• Site News: Final One Of The Year
  Time: 17:08 EST/22:08 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Well now, Christmas is almost upon us so this will be our final Site News of the year, so this will go on quite a bit. As you would expect, we will all be taking some time off from around the 23rd of December till the 27/28th so don't expect many/any updates during that time and with the Millennium on the horizon we will also have time off for a good few days around the 31st/3rd Jan just like most of you guy/girls will too.

  We have decided to delay the launch of our news engine indefinitely - we expect it early next year if all goes to plan, this is due to a slight redesign of all our sites expected to come online January/February 2000 along with a few new sites early in the year.

  As most of you already know, we plan to launch http://www.activelinux.net at some point next month. My plan is to switch the front-page of that domain to a Linux news page sometime early next month instead of the template that is up now. The site will contain all of the news, reviews and tips that you expect from us.

  We have begun our regular daily updates of ActiveSci-Fi, so those of you who are interested in science fiction - check it out. As you know we take your feedback seriously here - so if you have any comments on the Sci-Fi site just let me know.

  As usual it is also time to mention our MSN Community, we are currently still the leading Operating System community on MSN and we are yet again the main site featured in the Windows 95/98/NT/2000 area, so make sure you check us out - our next chat is on December 17th Here is a list of our upcoming reviews:

  Hardware: Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer, SoundBlaster Live! Platinum, Microsoft Force Feedback Steering Wheel, Microsoft Force Feedback Joystick
  Software: Tomb Raider 4, Quake 3, Gabriel Knight 3, SWAT 3, Interstate 82, Star Trek: Hidden Evil, Ultima 9, Asheron's Call (Ongoing Monthly), Unreal Tournament, Wheel Of Time (Sometime this week), Delta Force 2, Flight Simulator 2000 (Next week), Driver (Sometime this week), Encarta Africana
  Applications: Corel Suite 9, Vizact 2000
  DVD's: Inspector Gadget, The Last Broadcast, The Iron Giant, Wild Wild West, The Haunting, The Thin Red Line

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• Microsoft Raises Linux Enthusiasts' Ire -- Again
  Time: 16:35 EST/21:35 GMT News Source: TechWeb Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  An article on Microsoft's personal online support page discussing how to remove the Linux operating system and install Windows NT or 2000 has Linux users talking. About 500 comments about the guidelines poured into a Linux discussion site. Some were flattered by the attention. Many were not amused.

  Read this article

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• Lessig moves reveal MS fears over IE-Win98 tying
  Time: 11:15 EST/16:15 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft quietly filed a brief on 9 December asking Judge Jackson to fire Lawrence Lessig as an amicus curiae (friend of the court), following his invitation on 19 November. On Monday, the judge ordered that the objection be overruled. Close examination shows that Microsoft is evidently rattled by the Lessig re-appointment, despite being allowed to produce its own amicus curiae brief. The DoJ and the States are also allowed to nominate one amicus to act for them both.

  Microsoft did not post the text of its brief on its Web site until after it had become known that it had objected, and there appears to be a special reason for this. Its main argument cites an opinion in another case by Judge Posner, the mediator, in which an amicus did not satisfy three conditions specified. Judge Jackson said in his memorandum that Lessig's CV showed he was "uniquely qualified to offer advice on a subject few other academics in the country are sufficiently knowledgeable to address at all..." Moreover he had "no financial or professional interest in the outcome", and although he had been invited by the Court to address issues of his choice, "he has advised the court (as Microsoft has been informed) he will submit his views exclusively on the issue of technical tying". So there we have it: Judge Posner's Opinion in another case did not help, and Microsoft's concern is that it will take the fall for technological tying of Windows and IE.

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• MS moves for dismissal of Priceline's shakey patent suit
  Time: 11:00 EST/16:00 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Expedia, the Microsoft travel subsidiary, has asked a federal judge to dismiss the patent suit brought by Priceline.com in October. Earlier this month, Expedia added a name-your-price feature for airline tickets similar to the disputed hotel room service that Priceline wants shut down. The basis for Microsoft's request is that it says the ownership of the patent is disputed, and that Priceline has "failed to include a necessary party [Marketel International] to the case".

  Bill Gates is personally involved, since he is claimed to have told Priceline CEO Jay Walker that "he would not allow patents to stand in the way of his business objectives" and that many companies were suing Microsoft for patent infringement, so "Priceline could get in line with the others". William Perell of Marketel challenged the August 1998 Priceline patent in January this year, before Priceline's action against Microsoft, and says that he came up with the idea and showed it under NDA to Walker in 1988.

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• Microsoft Offers Award-Winning MSN Internet Access Service To Consumers Via Significant Promotions
  Time: 10:42 EST/15:42 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  New Agreements With Office Depot and OfficeMax Designed to Increase Internet Adoption And Further the MSN Everyday Web Experience for Consumers.

  Microsoft Corp. today announced agreements with Office Depot Inc. and OfficeMax Inc. to deliver major rebates on personal computers when combined with a subscription to MSN™ Internet Access. Consumers who sign up for a 36-month contract with MSN Internet Access may receive a $400 rebate to apply toward the purchase of a personal computer system or other merchandise. This is the latest in a series of alliances between Microsoft and leading PC retailers and OEMs designed to further the MSN vision of the Everyday Web, which provides consumers with easy access to the information and services they want any time, anywhere and on any device.

  "This is an extremely affordable way for families and small businesses to purchase a new PC through trusted hardware retailers and get online through our award-winning MSN Internet Access service," said Deanna Sanford, lead product manager for MSN Marketing in Microsoft's Consumer Group. "A key to achieving our Everyday Web vision is to bring the benefits of the Internet to everyone. The Office Depot and OfficeMax offers provide the perfect means for consumers to get connected to the best of the Web."

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• Microsoft Product Support Resources Help Keep the Spirit Bright
  Time: 10:33 EST/15:33 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  While Santa Claus may be generous with gift giving, he doesn't stick around to handle the nitty-gritty technical support questions that may arise on Christmas Day. Luckily, Microsoft has a number of resources designed to help customers resolve their support issues throughout the holiday season. The expanded support resources are all part of Microsoft’s commitment to complete customer satisfaction, according to Denise Rundle, director of Online Support at Microsoft. "No one wants to struggle with technical support issues over the holidays," said Rundle. "Our resources are designed to help customers get the answers they need quickly and easily."

  A special holiday Web site located at http://support.microsoft.com/support/holiday/ provides home users with an easy and convenient starting point for resolving their product-specific technical questions. The site features troubleshooters, answers to frequently asked questions, links to the latest downloadable updates, as well as live and on-demand webcasts hosted by Microsoft support professionals. Customers seeking assisted support from Microsoft can submit incidents via the Web at http://support.microsoft.com/support/webresponse.asp.

  For additional support information and phone numbers, please visit the Support Options page.

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• Exchange 2000 To Lag Behind Windows 2000
  Time: 04:52 EST/09:52 GMT News Source: TechWeb Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft is telling customers and system integrators that Exchange 2000 Server won't be generally available until the second half of next year, though the vendor says it's on track to sign off on the product's final code by the end of June.

  The upgrade to Exchange Server 5.5 could vault Microsoft's groupware platform into the same league as Lotus Notes for companies building collaborative applications for delivery over the Web, according to users who've tested the product.

  Microsoft has promised to release Exchange 2000 to manufacturing during the first half of next year, but customers and developers say the software won't be available for rollout until August or September, six to seven months after the Feb. 17 release date of Windows 2000. Exchange 2000, running on the Windows 2000 operating system and used in conjunction with Office 2000, constitutes a key piece of Microsoft's emerging knowledge-management strategy.

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• Microsoft to Introduce Hindi in Windows 2000
  Time: 04:49 EST/09:49 GMT News Source: Yahoo Daily News Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft Corp's Windows 2000 software platform, due to be launched in February, will be able to carry programming applications in Hindi and eventually in other Indian languages, company officials said.

  They told a news conference late on Tuesday that the operating systems software, representing the next version of the company's NT series of network computing platforms, would be ''completely Hindi and Tamil enabled.''

  Though the platform will not immediately match all the features offered in the Japanese and Chinese versions of Windows, the software will offer APIs, or application programming interfaces, which serve as hooks or roadmaps for developers making end-use software.

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• Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-058) - (MS99-061)
  Time: 03:37 EDT/08:37 GMT News Source: E-mail Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft has released 2 new security patches

  Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-058) : Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a vulnerability in Microsoft(r) Internet Information Server and other products that run atop it. Under certain conditions, the vulnerability could cause a web server to send the source code of .ASP and other files to a visiting user.

  Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-061) :  Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a vulnerability in Microsoft(r) Internet Information Server and products that run atop it. The vulnerability could allow files on a web server to be specified using an alternate representation, in order to bypass access controls of some third-party applications.

  Read more

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• MS loses Lessig challenge
  Time: 14:38 EST/19:38 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  For the second time, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has rejected Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) requests to remove Lawrence Lessig as a "friend of the court" expert in the antitrust case. Microsoft argued unsuccessfully that the Harvard computer science professor was biased against the company and therefore unfit to provide expert advice to Jackson. Lessig is on the advisory board of Red Hat, a Microsoft competitor, and has been quoted in the past as saying Microsoft poses a threat to innovation on the Internet. Jackson disagreed. "The court is confident of its ability to assess Professor Lessig's submission critically without being affected by any occult bias of which he might be possessed," the judge said.

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• Win2000 to fuel Taiwan memory growth
  Time: 14:36 EST/19:36 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Byron Hinson

  A bright future is being predicted for Taiwan's DRAM makers as the industry emerges from a three year slump. "Next year will be very good for the DRAM business, simply because demand will be much higher than supply," said Hander Chang, assistant vice president and spokesman for Winbond Electronics. Winbond, Taiwan's largest DRAM maker, holds roughly 5 per cent of the global market.

  DRAM memory chips are used in all personal computers, and in many other electronic devices. Taiwan currently holds around 12 per cent of the worldwide market, which was worth over US$16 billion this year. In 2000, with global market value expected to exceed US$20 billion, Taiwan's share will rise above 20 per cent, analysts say.

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• Report: Judge rejects Microsoft's objection to Lessig  
  Time: 13:11 EST/18:11 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft's latest objection to a Harvard Law School professor's testimony in its antitrust case was rejected by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who said he can find no evidence that the Internet expert is biased against the software maker, according to reports.

  The company excerpted a brief radio interview in which Lawrence Lessig is quoted as saying Microsoft's control of the "architecture of cyberspace" is a "threat to innovation," in its second filing protesting Lessig's participation in the case.

  Microsoft also complained that Lessig was associated with an advisory group connected to Red Hat, which promotes the Linux operating system, a competitor to Microsoft's dominant Windows software in some markets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

  Microsoft and its Expedia online travel service yesterday filed to dismiss a patent infringement lawsuit filed by rival Priceline.com, arguing that an earlier suit against Priceline.com must be settled before the newer suit can.

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• Nader slams MS pricing, licences, demands Office ports
  Time: 07:58 EST/12:58 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate who brought General Motors to its knees over car safety failures ("Unsafe at any speed"), has been talking and writing about Microsoft's "poorly designed products" that were "prone to crash" at the Bazaar, an open source software event in New York. He drew attention to the narrowness of the DoJ case, which ignored "a plethora of issues" relating to the desktop monopoly, MS Office, and licensing issues. Nader has previously arranged two conferences on Microsoft which focussed public attention on the company. Nader is much admired by Microsoft president Steve Ballmer's mother, who was concerned that her son was doing something that was criticised by her hero.

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• Athlon performance on scientific code
  Time: 05:44 EST/10:44 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Alex Harris

  CPU Review have posted some more benchmarks for the PIII 500, Athlon 600 and an older SGI system on some scientific code. Here is a snippet:

  You can never have too many benchmark results. That's why I was interested when I got an interesting e-mail this morning. The e-mail contained results for a 500Mhz P3, a 600Mhz K7 and an older SGI system for some scientific code - what better way to judge the relative performance of the P3 and K7 for computationally intensive tasks?

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• Taiwan DRAM Makers Expect Harvest in 2000
  Time: 05:44 EST/10:44 GMT News Source: Asia Biz Tech Posted By: Alex Harris

  Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) companies have increased purchases from contract manufacturers, many of which are in Taiwan.

  Because local manufacturers have received handsome orders for next year, and bacause prices are sliding in a limited way, DRAM makers in Taiwan are expected to enjoy a booming business at the turn of the year.

  Most of the world's DRAM makers have formed strategic alliance with Taiwan manufacturers, under which the latter focus on research and development and release most of the manufacturing to the region.

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• Red Hat posts loss, sets 2-for-1 split
  Time: 05:42 EST/10:42 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  Red Hat today posted a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and set a 2-for-1 stock split.

  Red Hat, the leading seller of Linux operating systems, said its third-quarter net loss was $3.6 million, or 5 cents a share, compared to net income of $100,000 in the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by First Call projected the company to post a net loss of 4 cents a share.

  Red Hat's stock closed up 15.06 to 267.94 today.

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• Intel forms wireless group
  Time: 05:40 EST/10:40 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  With competition heating up in the PC processor world--and wireless all the rage on Wall Street--Intel today announced the formation of a group dedicated to wireless and cellular communications.

  The new group will manufacture and design flash memory, used extensively in cell phones; the StrongArm microprocessor; "embedded" microcontrollers and digital signal processors. Vice president and general manager Ron Smith will be charged with developing products for cell phones and related services, according to a company spokesman.

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• Gates Foundation gives $30 million to Seattle United Way 
  Time: 05:19 EST/10:19 GMT News Source: Nando Times Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  The foundation started by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and his wife has donated $30 million to the United Way of Washington's King County, the charity announced Monday.

  In addition, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match up to $5 million a year over the next 11 years to build up the United Way chapter's endowment so that it can cover its operating costs.

  "This gift is a long-term investment in the financial integrity of United Way, and is designed to free up more of our annual campaign dollars to help people in need in our community," said Joanne Harrell, president and chief executive officer of the United Way chapter.

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• Microsoft adds chat software to TV offerings 
  Time: 04:49 EST/09:49 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Last week at the Western Show in Los Angeles, the company unveiled one of the first chat applications for the television, developed by The Kiss Principle, a Silicon Valley interactive media firm. Designed as an application for Microsoft's TV suite of enhanced television services, TV chat allows viewers to carry on virtual discussions via the remote control or a wireless keyboard.

  Similar in concept to features already offered on Microsoft's WebTV, TV Chat will allow television viewers to create communities around their favorite programming, much like Web sites and Internet portals foster discussion groups according to popular topics, according to Microsoft.

  Microsoft TV is a client and server software suite that the company markets to cable and satellite providers, encompassing both the back-end nuts-and-bolts software residing with the television provider and the client-side software that operates a TV set-top box.

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• Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-059) - Patch Available for "Malformed TDS Packet Header" Vulnerability
  Time: 00:00 EDT/05:00 GMT News Source: E-mail Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in Microsoft(r) SQL Server(r) 7.0. The vulnerability could cause a SQL server to crash.

  Read more

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Read more of the past months news in our News Archive for October and Previous November News.

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