Meeting IT needs on a startup budget can be a challenge for new e-commerce companies.

When developing LoanUPDATE, a product that enables collaboration between mortgage lenders and borrowers, NetUPDATE banked on Microsoft® BackOffice® Server 4.5 and a single Windows® 2000 Server to meet the challenge. This combination has enabled NetUPDATE to allocate more funds to the LoanUPDATE technology while reaping the benefits of internal efficiency, manageability and scalability.

"The struggle is to provide IT services reliably using the minimum hardware we can manage," said Tom Gonser, CEO of NetUPDATE. "We have been able to meet this challenging requirement by using intranet technologies and a single-server installation of the Microsoft BackOffice Server suite."

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XML is the way to go when it comes to building interoperable applications, according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Speaking at the FOSE 2000 show Tuesday, Ballmer also spoke of the company's focus on technology for disabled users. But the outspoken executive made nary a mention of the legal battle the software giant faces.

Ballmer, in a keynote address titled "ReinventingGovernment," said XML "will be the key to getting the world of e-business and e-government to the next level." Ballmer described XML as a way of wrapping the semantics of information in a way that can be passed from one source to another, from platform to platform, "from agency to agency, or from state government to the federal government."

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NVIDIA development team members recently went on record in Japan regarding the 'X-Chip,' the graphical heart of Microsoft's X-Box. According to company representatives, the finished chip will feature approximately 65 Million transistors; nearly 23 Million more than the Sony's Graphic Synthesizer. In terms of pixel fill rate, the X-Chip is capable of 4.8GB/second, whereas the Graphic Synthesizer is capable of 2.4GB/second.

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Julien has posted his review of Microsoft's SideWinder Plug & Play Game Pad. Here is a snippet from the review:

A few years ago Microsoft released its first Game Pad simply named the Microsoft SideWinder Game pad. It was a real success in the gamers’ world. After releasing the newer and more innovative Game Pad Pro last year, Microsoft has just unleashed the Microsoft SideWinder Plug & Play Game Pad. Wanting to take advantage of the novice gamer and with the possibilities of packaging with new systems - Microsoft succeeded in making this device one of better creations coming from Redmond. This is a “basic” USB game pad – and one of the cheapest on the market.

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CPU Review have posted their Athlon/P III price comparison showing that you can get an Athlon 700 for $2 less than a P III 550. They have included tables and charts for the comparison. To read more then click here.

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3D Spotlight have released their Windows 2000 Modem Tweaking Guide. In this Guide they talk about updating drivers, MTU, TTL Port Settings and has it go on for 7 pages.

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3dfx have released some new beta drivers for their Voodoo 3 2000/3000 cards in Windows 9x. You can download them from here and here is a list of what they fix:

- Contains new Driver installer.
- Contains New edge tools - 1.5.7.77
- Force Commander fix
- Incorrect texture sizes reported from Glide fixed

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For a company that prides itself on the quality of its software development prowess, Microsoft Corp. has encountered a rough patch of late, racking up two security holes as well as committing a major faux pas in the space of less than a week.

One of the security holes could allow an attacker access to pages on a Web hosting service. The other hole could enable malicious code to be run. All the while, a message in the code crowed that "Netscape engineers are weenies!"

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Given the guilty verdict handed down here against Microsoft Corp. earlier this month in its landmark antitrust case, it would be understandable if Steve Ballmer, the company's president and CEO, wanted to stay as far away from this town as possible.

Then again, the government is Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) biggest U.S. customer.

So a rainy Tuesday morning found Ballmer here at the FOSE 2000 conference for government IT leaders, talking about how Windows 2000 and XML can help reinvent their business. During his keynote speech, the lively Ballmer talked about e-government, empowering knowledge workers, and the many administrative efficiencies that will ensue once federal and state agencies convert everything to work in a digital world.

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Today at Windows World 2000-COMDEX/Spring 2000, Microsoft Corp. announced the general retail availability of Microsoft^® Project 2000, the next generation of the world's best-selling project-management software. The company also announced the availability of Microsoft Project Central, a new Web-based companion product that delivers a flexible and scalable way for knowledge workers on teams of any size to manage projects collaboratively.

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Microsoft has learned its lessons the hard way in the market for handheld systems.

Tomorrow the company will launch Pocket PC, a new operating system for handheld devices intended to carve a place for itself in a market dominated by Palm. Hoping to avoid previous mistakes, Microsoft will launch Pocket PC along with device makers Compaq Computer and Hewlett-Packard at an event in New York.

The stakes are high for Microsoft, analysts warn: Pocket PC could be the company's last hope of erasing the dismal sales and frequent customer complaints of previous handheld software efforts.

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The European Commission said on Tuesday it had received the information it requested from Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) in its investigation into whether the company's Windows 2000 breaks European Union antitrust laws.

The EU's executive also said it had given Microsoft extra time to provide data for a separate Commission probe into its pricing policy in France.

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At his keynote address today at FOSE, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Corp. president and CEO, discussed solutions Microsoft has created that help the government take advantage of the enormous advances in technology and improve the delivery of its services. In his remarks, delivered to an audience of government IT professionals, Ballmer outlined four areas where strategic information technology will help redefine the government: information and technology that is accessible to everyone, personal constituent services, empowered government knowledge workers, and efficiency through digital operations.

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Billionaire Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news), sold 24 million Microsoft shares last month in a transaction worth about $2.26 billion. Allen sold his shares in the first week of March at prices ranging from $90 to $98.44, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The value of Microsoft shares plummeted April 3, when a federal judge ruled that the company had repeatedly broken federal and state antitrust laws. The share price hit a 52-week low on Friday, but finished regular trading Monday at $75.871/2, up $1.75, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Had Allen waited until Monday to sell, he would have gained only $1.82 billion.

Allen spokeswoman Susan Pierson-Brown said the sale was a routine part of Allen's ongoing plan to diversify his holdings. Allen is one of the world's richest men, with estimated holdings of $46 billion as of last September, according to Forbes magazine.

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Motive Communications, Inc. (www.motive.com), a leader in online customer-care solutions, today announced that it has been working with Microsoft Corp. and its industry-leading hardware vendor customers to maximize the support automation capabilities of the forthcoming Millennium Edition of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Windows Millennium Edition (Me) will feature a Support Automation Framework to provide e-support enabling technologies to PC end users. Motive's comprehensive support of this new technology will let current and future Motive-powered service providers take full advantage of these new capabilities when they support their customers. From the earliest stages of Windows Millennium Edition development, Motive has worked closely with Microsoft and leading hardware vendors to ensure that Motive's line of server products fully support and utilize this new generation of Windows technology, as soon as it becomes available.

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Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) and Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL - news) today announced a joint initiative designed to further provide Internet service providers (ISPs), application service providers (ASPs) and Web-hosting companies with the training and resources they need to quickly and easily meet increased customer demand for new next-generation hosting services based on the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 platform and Dell(TM) PowerEdge(TM) server, PowerApp(TM) appliance server and PowerVault(TM) storage products.

As one of the first efforts in this initiative, Microsoft and Dell this week kicked off a 16-city road tour called the Internet Data Center Tour. The tour's goal is to provide smaller ISPs, ASPs and Web-hosting companies across the United States with a road map for delivering reliable, scalable and manageable Web services.

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Tod Nielsen, vice president of the Platform Group at Microsoft Corp., today addressed the Windows^® World 2000 and COMDEX/Spring 2000 audience and announced that Microsoft has licensed over 1.5 million copies of Windows 2000 Professional, Server and Advanced Server in the two months since launch, four times the rate of Windows NT^® 4.0.

This milestone includes estimates from channel resellers, retail outlets and PC manufacturers but doesn't include licenses acquired through enterprise agreements from Microsoft's largest customers around the world. Even with so many customers using Microsoft^® Windows 2000, product support volume is remaining low, and the number of support calls per unit is the lowest in the history of Windows operating systems, evidence of the high quality and reliability of the products. In addition, Nielsen announced that the latest data from Netcraft reveals that more than 64,000 Web sites are using Windows 2000 as their hosting solution, surpassing operating systems such as AIX, HP-UX, MacOS and NetWare, and representing more than triple the 20,000 sites that were running the operating system at the launch on Feb. 17.

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98lite III moves virtually every component, subsystem and applet in Windows 98, 98SE and ME to Add/Remove. Internet Explorer, MediaPlayer, MDAC, Connection Manager, MAPI, over 58 Components, Subsystems and Applets including the Explorer Shell are yours to Add/Remove for astonishing improvements in Performance, Stability and Security.

98lite III adds no code overhead to your Windows installation; using Windows built in setup and configuration APIs and mechanisms; 98lite does its work and modularizes Windows superfluity of "features" right into the "Add/Remove Programs" Control Panel Applet where all components can be completely and cleanly "Removed" and "Added" back in as needed. The entire 98lite interface is as easy to understand and use as your Add/Remove Programs Dialog.

· uses Windows built APIs & mechanisms to "modularize" & "componentize" Windows 98, 98SE, and ME

· dis-integrate or completely removes Internet Explorer from Windows98, 98SE, and ME

· totally eliminates substantial security issues in undocumented IE browser code

· dramatically improves Windows performance and stability

· enables installation of Windows on small form factor, emended, PC/104, SBC and older legacy hardware

· uninstalls components heretofore not removable from Windows

· all components may be installed/uninstalled; added/removed on the fly as needed

· eliminates system resource, association and configuration conflicts

Get Linux like modularity and configurability with Windows! Download our FREE "No Nags, No Time Limit" Final Release Candidate Preview Edition http://www.98lite.net/preview.html that puts Internet Explorer, System Information and the slew of Readme files into Add/Remove, and offers you Three Shell Options. Or, register and try the 98lite III Professional Edition Final Release Candidate today and get the Final When it ships.

Now the most ubiquitous Operating System is the most configurable Operating System.

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Caring, sharing Microsoft is giving away shares, promoting folks left right and centre, and even inventing new job titles for people who don't want to be promoted. In a move reminiscent of a Moonie mass wedding, the Beast of Redmond has just created 30 new vice-presidents and handed them options on up to 200,000 shares - worth a cool $14.5 million even after the carnage on Wall Street over the last few days.

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Microsoft hardware have sent over a couple of extremely large photos (Which we have reduced) of their new upcoming Trackballs - the Explorer and Optical. You can checkout the full size versions over on our Hardware section.

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It's happened again: A test copy of Whistler, a future Microsoft operating system for consumers, has leaked onto the Internet. Last month, an earlier prototype of Whistler, the code name for a future version of Windows, was posted to the Web. Another newer prototype was leaked today, according to Bob Stein of Active Win, a Windows enthusiast site, which first reported the earlier breach.

Whistler is expected to be the next major Microsoft operating system release after Windows Me, an update to Windows 98 due out later this year

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What's big and red and glows when you touch it? Two burly new Microsoft Trackball mice: Trackball Optical and Trackball Explorer, scheduled to be available in October.

Unlike a standard mouse, which uses a ball and rollers to track movements, these mice implement Microsoft's IntelliEye technology. IntelliEye uses a digital signal processor to take 1500 digital snapshots per second of the surface on which you're mousing. Then the digital signal processor tracks the changes between images and translates them to movements on the screen.

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Microsoft has decided to include software in its Windows Me operating system that will allow consumers to hook their PCs into networking software from two competitors after all, an about-face prompted by customer and industry complaints.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant last month decided not to incorporate a "networking client" for Novell and Banyan networking software in Windows Me, its upcoming operating system for home PC users. News of the decision prompted a rash of complaints. The company now has reversed itself and will put the software back into the OS.

"Based on feedback from partners and customers, we'll put it back in," said Shawn Sanford, a product manager at Microsoft. The third beta version of Windows Me, released to testers last week, included support for Novell Netware, he said.

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Microsoft has issued a press release stating that Red Storm Entertainment's 3D accelerated mission page, Rogue Spear: Urban Operations, and LucasArts' 3D accelerated real-time strategy game, Force Commander, are now fully supported by the MSN Gaming Zone. Here's the skinny: Microsoft today announced that Rogue Spear: Urban Operation, by RedStorm; and Force Commander, by LucasArts, are now available for multiplayer matchmaking on the MSN Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com).

The Rogue Spear add-on pack is a counter-terrorist team's worst nightmare: an urban setting. In Rogue Spear: Urban Operations, team Rainbow now faces its most dangerous missions yet with every stray bullet putting innocent lives at risk. Due to the public nature of these missions, the secrecy of the Rainbow organization is also at stake as the team fights against the most deadly terrorists the world has ever seen. Urban Operations includes new spaces with new game types for each one, all set in famous cities around the world.

In LucasArt's strategy offering, Force Commander, gamers take command of either the Empire or the Rebellion and field armies of the vehicles they know and love. Players can order TIE Bomber runs against Rebel bases, sortie snowspeeders against advancing Imperial armor, or lead a platoon of formidable AT-AT walkers to crush the Rebel resistance. Gamers must keep a level head and command their troops carefully, or they'll find their once-powerful forces left strewn and smoldering on a planet far, far away.

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IBM has developed a postage stamp-sized hard drive for use in PocketPC hardware. IBM will initially offer a 340MB micro-miniature hard drive for use in PocketPC hardware, and it will introduce later this year a 1GB hard drive, according to industry sources who have tested early models of the PocketPC.

The PocketPC is a handheld unit to rival the PalmPilot. It is being developed by several vendors and is powered by a version of Microsoft Windows CE. It is scheduled for introduction next Wednesday.

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Gamers Central have posted a preview of Zipper Interactive/Microsoft game, Crimson Skies. Here is a snippet of the preview:

The software mogul realized that there was plenty room left for improvement and they took appropriate action. By contracting promising and able game developers with interesting ideas, it now has become more interesting than ever to go to Microsoft's games directory. One of the possibly interesting games Microsoft has in store for the game playing public is Crimson Skies.

Crimson Skies is a game that's currently in development by Zipper Interactive, who are not a bunch of newcomers to the market, as they've proven themselves with titles such as Mech Warrior 3 and Recoil. In Crimson Skies the player will not enter a big mechanical robot or steer a customizable maneuverable tank but the vessel will nevertheless be armored, armed and potentially dangerous.

You can read more of the preview here.

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Building on its vision for Web Services, Microsoft Corp. today announced at the Visual C++^® Developers Conference key feature enhancements in the Microsoft^® Visual Studio^® 7.0 development system - a single unified development environment, ATL Server, Attributed Programming, and Web Services Support - designed to simplify the development of scalable enterprise Web applications. These enhancements enable the 1.2 million developers using Visual C++ to more easily utilize the power and performance of C++ to build the applications that drive the Web. Following closely on the heels of Microsoft President and CEO Steve Ballmer's February keynote address at the Visual Basic^® Insiders Technical Summit (VBITS), this announcement continues to deliver on the Microsoft vision for Web Services and to reinforce the company's deep commitment to developers.

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Microsoft Corp. today announced that Workout.com Inc., a leader in online graphical fitness programs and workout information products for consumers and health clubs, is keeping itself in peak condition by relying on the Microsoft^® Windows^® 2000 platform. The Milpitas, Calif.-based e-business - which is rapidly becoming the Internet portal for the athletic and fitness club industry - joins the fast-growing list of companies choosing Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server for its Web hosting and development efforts.

"Workout.com is one of the growing number of e-commerce companies using Windows 2000 to exploit the power of the business Internet today," said Tod Nielsen, vice president of the Platform Group at Microsoft. "Windows 2000 delivers the reliability and scalability that Workout.com needs to create and maintain a powerful Internet portal. And it supports fast, flexible Web development using the popular and industry-standard tools with which developers are already familiar."

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CNET (Nasdaq "CNET"), the source for computers and technology, today announced the signing of an online advertising agreement with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq "MSFT") on the MSN™ network of Internet services, one of the top three Internet portal sites.

Through this agreement, MSN will promote the daily online newsletter offered by CNET News.com (http://www.news.com/) by offering it free to subscribers of the MSN Hotmail^® Web-based e-mail service through the WebCourier^® HTML newsletter distribution service, a free online newsletter subscription program exclusive to Hotmail members. CNET News.com's daily online newsletter offers readers late-breaking Internet, computing, intranet and technology business stories, as well as product and gaming information.

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On April 14, 2000, Microsoft issued the original version of this bulletin, to discuss a security vulnerability affecting several web server products. Shortly after publishing the bulletin, we learned of a new, separate vulnerability that increased the threat to users of these products. We updated the bulletin later on April 14, 2000, to advise customers of the new vulnerability, and noted that we would provide additional details when known. On April 17, 2000, we updated the bulletin again to provide those details.

A procedure is available to eliminate a security vulnerability that could allow a malicious user to cause a web server to crash, or potentially run arbitrary code on the server, if certain permissions have been changed from their default settings to inappropriate ones. Although this bulletin has been updated several times as the investigation of this issue has progressed, the remediation steps have always remained the same – customers running affected web servers should delete the affected file, Dvwssr.dll. Customers who have done this at any point in the past do not need to take any further action.

Frequently asked questions regarding this vulnerability and the procedure can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-025.asp

You can read more here.

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Let's take a look at where we're going.  As engineers, website builders and Internet entrepreneurs, we'd be more efficient in building our technology and industry if we had an idea of the type of Internet we expect to have in 2005.  If you're a lawyer trying to figure out how to modify the industry's behavior to ensure the maximum advantage for the consumer in the future, I'd think you'd want to read along also.  Certainly, if you're any type of active participant in the information revolution, this article is for you!

What I'm going to do is provide a suggestion of where the next "stable point" in our industry will be found.  I predict (boldly, as only fools like myself dare to) that this "plateau" in Internet development is achievable over the next 5 years.  I believe this point will represent a plateau in the evolution of the Internet:  innovation will become relatively incremental and slow for years after this plateau is reached.  Any product designed and built over the next few years is likely to slip silently into oblivion as the rush to this stable-point draws all of the Internet and electronic industry energy into a race to build:  the Two ULTIMATE Internet Appliances.

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Microsoft on Friday downplayed a security bug reported in the company's FrontPage Server Extensions. The bug, called "weenie," exists only in the FrontPage Server Extensions on Windows NT 4 Option Pack, which was released in 1997, and the earlier Visual InterDev 1.0, which shipped in 1996. Websites must be running that software to be vulnerable, said Steve Lipner, manager of Microsoft's security response center. Neither are believed to be widely used since several subsequent versions have been released.

Moreover, to be a threat, users must already have administrative access to a website running on the NT server. In such instances, the user could exploit the bug to gain access to other, shared websites on the same server. And the bug can't be accessed using the existing FrontPage client; instead, the hacker must write code that spoofs the FrontPage client, Lipner said.

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Yet another internal release of Whistler (Windows 2001) has leaked out onto the internet. This time showing that the operating is as expected moving ahead with the beginnings (Very early beginnings) of a newer Graphic User Interface and many UI enhancements are coming into the fray. Build 2223 was released onto the internet over the weekend.

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Julien has posted his review of Symantec's TalkWorks Pro 3.0. Here is a snippet from the review:

Symantec, the yellow box software manufacturer, has the commitment to provide users with advanced software that will help them to better communicate with the “Work Virtually Anywhere” range of products. Symantec TalkWorks 3 is in fact an enhanced version of WinFax Pro 9. This release adds phone features to WinFax 9 such as an answer phone, free hand phone and many more.

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Today at the Retail Systems 2000 Conference and Exposition, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the first four Retail Business Information schemas (RBIs), designed to enable retailers to easily integrate software applications from different vendors at the store and enterprise levels. The Sales Transaction, Time and Attendance, Pricing and Item, and Payment RBIs, available at http://www.biztalk.org/, are platform-independent software-interface definitions that use XML schemas. These RBIs are an important component of the Microsoft^® ActiveStore™ retail technology architecture - a worldwide collaborative initiative that focuses on application integration - and are the first of several RBIs that will deliver ease of integration and reduce overall cost of ownership for retail businesses, regardless of which operating system they use.

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Exodus Communications™ Inc. (Nasdaq "EXDS") and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq "MSFT") today announced they are working together to help speed the deployment of customers' mission-critical Internet operations. This effort between Exodus^® and Microsoft is part of a shared vision to provide e-commerce companies with the core network infrastructure and resources they need for acceleration, scalability and growth of new online services.

"Exodus' skills in providing Web hosting solutions, integrated tightly with Microsoft's products and the Microsoft^® Windows^® DNA 2000 platform, creates a powerful combination of expertise and technologies," said Thomas Koll, vice president of the Network Solutions Group at Microsoft. "It is this kind of integrated infrastructure that will enable businesses to quickly and easily deploy end-to-end Web-hosting solutions that fully leverage the capabilities of Microsoft's leading applications and e-business platform."

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Balls - trackballs, that is - are making a glowing comeback in Microsoft^® hardware with today's announcement of two new trackballs at COMDEX/Spring 2000. Microsoft Trackball Explorer and Trackball Optical are aglow with the revolutionary IntelliEye™ optical technology that turned the mouse world on its ear at last year's show by throwing out the mouse ball. Now Microsoft brings the superior precision and durability of IntelliEye to trackballs, bringing the ball back and making it bigger and brighter than ever.

"We wanted to create the ultimate trackball experience for users, and we think people will have a 'ball' using these new products," said Christine Kerr, product manager of the Hardware Division at Microsoft Corp.. "People use trackballs because they want better control and more accuracy. By putting IntelliEye into trackballs, we have created the most accurate trackballs available today."

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MSN™ eShop, continuing its momentum in the marketplace, today announced its marquee sponsorship for Shop.org's E-Retailing 2000, April 16-18 in San Jose, Calif. The conference, titled "Back-End Solutions: Building a Better Customer Experience," addresses a broad range of operational and business issues geared to help retailers succeed in the fiercely competitive, burgeoning online marketplace. Microsoft^® Commerce Server, Microsoft Passport, the Microsoft bCentral™ small-business portal and MSN eShop will exhibit the products and services that deliver Microsoft platforms for back-end Web site solutions and MSN Web properties that attract customers.

"We are proud to be the marquee sponsor of this year's E-Retailing 2000," said Jim Kinsella, vice president of MSN Sales. "We have worked with many Shop.org merchants to create our soon-to-be-launched advertising packages that better connect online merchants with consumers when they are ready to buy. Unite MSN eShop with Microsoft bCentral efforts to grow online businesses, Microsoft Passport's e-wallet and Microsoft's Commerce Server, and e-retailers will see Microsoft's ability to deliver a true platform-to-portal experience."

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Microsoft Corp. today announced a $2.75 million digital divide donation aimed at improving the technology infrastructure and instruction at eight tribal colleges across the western United States. The announcement will take place in Shiprock, N.M., as part of President Clinton's third New Markets tour, which is focused on creating digital opportunity for youth, families and communities. During his time in Shiprock, the president will tour Diné College, one of the recipients of the Microsoft donation.

"The best digital divide solutions will create a continuum of education and economic opportunity, taking into account cultural and geographic needs," said Steve Ballmer, president and CEO, Microsoft. "This program enables tribal college graduates to put their new skills to work in the community, expanding the impact of the technology and expertise exponentially."

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Microsoft Corp. today announced the free* online availability of the award-winning Microsoft^® Encarta^® World English Dictionary, located at http://www.encarta.com/. Providing any time, anywhere access to quick, easy-to-understand definitions that actually talk to users through human-voice audio pronunciations, the dictionary is available to the public at no cost.*

A dictionary created for the Internet age, the online version of Encarta World English Dictionary features thousands of global English references, making it one of the definitive sources on the evolution of English worldwide. Encarta World English Dictionary on CD-ROM - and now online - captures the differences in English as it is spoken around the world, with definitions written in language that people use every day.

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Microsoft introduced new employee rewards in an attempt to retain its top executives, according to reports.

The perks, which include stock option grants to buy as many as 200,000 shares and extra vacation time, are being given to "high-level executives" and software engineers, while the title vice-president has recently been given to more than 30 managers, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

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It was bizarre enough when Netscape hired Viagra spokes-Senator Bob Dole as an anti-Microsoft spokesman four years back. Now Microsoft has done something just as strange, hiring conservative Wunderkind Ralph Reed as a consultant to lobby the George W. Bush campaign on its antitrust woes.

But after the New York Times revealed the arrangement, Reed backed down. The Washington Post reported later in the week that the former head of the Christian Coalition -- who, unusually, is also a Bush campaign consultant -- says he made a mistake in accepting the gig.

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Microsoft® Windows® 2000 speaks the language of multinational and multilingual organizations. The operating system is available in 24 languages and a MultiLanguage Version—representing the fastest localization effort in Windows history. The multilingual capabilities of Windows 2000 have increased user productivity and lowered IT costs for multinational businesses such as Credit Suisse First Boston, as well as organizations like the Swiss Federal Assembly that need to operate in multiple languages. With Windows 2000, users can work in the language they prefer, even if they switch workstations. Companies can roll out one operating system worldwide using the MultiLanguage Version. All that reduces administrative time and expense.

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Silicon Valley Internet entrepreneur Jim Clark plans to bring his start-up touch to the networking industry. SmartPipes, a start-up in stealth mode, aims to solve an age-old problem for corporate customers: how to link their remote offices with the advanced services they need via the fewest number of communications providers as possible. Although details remain sketchy, the SmartPipes service is intended to manage and link the complex systems of separate competing service providers.

The company already has gained the financial backing of an impressive list of investment heavyweights, including former Netscape Communications and Silicon Graphics co-founder Jim Clark; Excite@Home chairman Tom Jermoluk; Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers venture capitalists John Doerr and Will Hearst; and David Roux, founder and managing partner at Silverlake Partners.

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Japan has slapped export controls on Sony’s new PlayStation 2 video game console because the machine is so sophisticated it could be used for military purposes. The popular gaming machine, which includes a digital video disc (DVD) player and will eventually offer Internet access, is Sony's most profitable product. The company said it had shipped 1.4 million in the month after the game's March 4 launch in Japan.

The console and its memory card have been designated as ``general-purpose products related to conventional weapons'' because they contain components that could be used for military devices such as missile guidance systems, the Kyodo news agency quoted industry sources as saying. PlayStation 2 is the first game console to face export controls under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, according to the Kyodo report.

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MSN Mobile is ready to go. At http://mobile.msn.com/pocketpc/home.asp you can see the layout and the page for what will be the content for MSN's mobile service.

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Although we cannot give out too many details on our new upcoming file site, we thought we would give you an insight into what is going on. Firstly we have been working for about 4 months on File Explorer so that we can finally get rid of our out of date file sections on ActiveWin and go to a site that is updated throughout the day with downloads from across the web. File Explorer will contain all of the downloads you expect from our group of websites, and a whole lot more besides, including file reviews, your comments and much, much more. If you are interested in working with us on File Explorer as a reviewer, as a poster (Someone who searches the net for downloads and then posts about them) or as someone who would be interested in helping us host files then feel free to e-mail us.

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Microsoft has long been a distant second to Palm in the handheld market - and the company just hates to be second place in anything. Next week, Microsoft will launch its most assertive attack yet on Palm when it unveils Pocket PC, the next generation of its Windows CE handheld operating system.

In one of the highlights of the April 19 event, Microsoft is expected to introduce wireless Internet services for Pocket PC. Microsoft will announce MSN Mobile for Pocket PC, with wireless Internet access services to be provided by Verizon Wireless, according to an executive familiar with the company's plans.

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3dfx has posted some beta drivers for their Voodoo3 2000/3000 video cards running under Windows 95/98. You can download them here.

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Just weeks after a federal judge assailed the company's integration tactics, Microsoft is preparing to tie even more functions to Windows. With the introduction of its upcoming Next GenerationWindows Services (NGWS) planned for this spring, Microsoft (stock: MSFT) is looking to remake the company in the image of the Internet -- or by some accounts, remake the Internet in its own image.

NGWS is Microsoft's effort to let e-business services built on Windows 2000 be accessed by multiple classes of devices, ranging from smart phones to handheld computers to PCs. NGWS will be a set of enabling technologies that enables seamless communication between applications and server platforms from multiple vendors.

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Benefits enrollment can be a headache, but the Web could be a cure.

 Just ask HealthAxis.com, a provider of software applications that streamline the administration of employee benefit plans. HealthAxis.com knew that offering a self-serve, Web-based method of benefits enrollment would slash costs and processing times while improving accuracy and customer service. The application needed to be responsive to the individual benefits programs, tight on security and easy for enrollees to use. Its solution was Insur-Enroll, a Web-based enrollment service built on the Microsoft® Windows® DNA platform. HealthAxis.com knew that the powerful Windows DNA platform was the right prescription.

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Creative has updated the FAQ.

Q19. Is there going to be a "Live!Ware 3.0 for Windows 2000"? If so, when? 
A. Yes, Creative is working hard on "Live!Ware 3.0 for Windows 2000" . We expect it to be ready Mid-May.

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It is a boring day for most news so I thought I would post the best bit of news I have heard today. George Lucas has announced that ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) are working on The Phantom Menace DVD. Here is the blurb from The Force.net

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Computer software company Microsoft today announced that they have brought forward plants to open a large scale research center in Cambridge, UK. The research center was not due to open for another two years, but today Microsoft started to advertise job opportunities in the major UK newspapers.

Read related article: Microsoft Research Announces £50 Million Investment To Establish Research Lab in Cambridge, U.K.

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New analysis of a security hole refutes a report that a Microsoft employee put a "back door" in a module installed by Microsoft Corp.'s Web server software, an expert says. Russ Cooper, editor of Microsoft-software security site NTBugTraq, said it's just a bug, not a back door -- albeit one that Web site hosting services should quickly fix.

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Software giant Microsoft Corp acknowledged its engineers included a secret password in some of its Internet software that could be used to gain access to Web sites globally, the Wall Street Journal said Friday.

The article said the manager of Microsoft's security-response centre Steve Lipner ``acknowledged the online-security risk'' and said such a backdoor password is against the company's policy. The employees had not yet been identified. There have been no reports that the alleged security flaw has been exploited, the article said.

The computer code, part of which was the comment that rival Netscape rivals ``are weenies'' was discovered by two security experts. Lipner said in the article that the software giant will warn the largest Web-site providers in the U.S. directly about the flaw. A Microsoft spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Shares of Microsoft closed Thursday at 79-1/4.

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Just went into town here in the UK to double check on the release of Asheron's Call. It was released today and is priced at £29.99 in most stores. There are a few other deal going on in Game stores if you have a member card. In the meantime a new event has taken place on Asheron's Call:

Microsoft announced today that the "Thorns of the Hopeslayer" event is now well underway, having launched last week in the dynamic world of Asheron's Call. However, Dereth's citizens, fearful that another invasion may soon shatter their world once again, have put out a call to arms to repel the sinister Shadow creatures.

Last weekend, the Shadows that had been gathering for months in the wilderness began a massive, coordinated attack. Led out of the Direlands in the West by three Shadow Captains, the undead monsters moved toward the inhabited lands of northern Osteth. Dereth's heroes checked the advance just on the edge of civilization. However, there is little call for rejoicing, for as the last Shadow Captain fell, he promised there would be a sequel to the invasion, involving even more powerful minions of evil.

For a recap on the previous invasion, please point your browser to:

http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ashenewsthorns3.asp

Asheron's Call is a massively multiplayer role-playing game playable exclusively on the MSN Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com) that draws together thousands of players within a dynamic, 3-D online world. Players can create truly unique characters by choosing between extensive combinations of visual appearance, attributes and skill sets. Asheron's Call immerses players in an intense role-playing environment where they must compete or cooperate with thousands of other online players. An extensive system of allegiance and influence greatly enhances social interaction. The online nature of the game facilitates an evolving and dynamic adventure inside a consistent universe. The game will never be solved because there will always be more areas to explore and quests to complete.

For more information about Asheron's Call, please visit:

http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/

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MSN Gaming Zone and Turbine have found a bug in their massively multiplayer online 3D accelerated role-playing game, Asheron's Call. Here is the note from The Allegiance Hall:

Important Note ! All allegiance rankings have been frozen as of April 12 , 2000 . A bug has been found that allows characters to attain ranks without the proper distribution of followers . Once we've fixed this bug , hopefully during the May update , we will once again accept ranking updates by e - mail . Please do not send any rank updates until we give notice that the bug has been fixed.

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I have posted my review of Sierra's game Gabriel Knight 3. Here is a snippet of the review:

At the beginning of the game Gabriel Knight accepts an invitation to visit Prince James of Albany in Paris. Prince James is the heir to the throne in Scotland. Gabriel accepts the invitation, with some reservation though, and Grace and Gabriel set out to investigate an unusual disease plaguing Prince's family. On the first night of the watch an unknown visitor enters the house and kidnaps the baby. Gabriel pursues the intruder and eventually leads to a train. Gabriel is knocked out by someone and wakes up the next morning in a small rural French hotel.

As per usual with the Gabriel Knight series, this game is huge. The story line that unfolds through out the game is done be the master story teller, Jane Jenson. This story revolves vampires and links in the Templars and the Holy Grail mystery. The way Jane Jenson mixes history and fiction and the comparisons she makes is quite good.

You can read more here.

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CounterEntropy Strategies LLC announced today that Microsoft Corporation has signed on as a platinum level sponsor of their primary event, COFES2000, which will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona May 17-20 this year.

``We are delighted to announce that Microsoft has become a Platinum Sponsor of COFES2000,'' said Conference Director W. Bradley Holtz. ``Participation of the leading software company in the world confirms the importance of this event, which will be attended by professionals from every part of the engineering software industry.''

This unusual event has been inspired by the ``e-revolution.'' Designed by noted engineering industry consultants Brad Holtz, Joel Orr, and Evan Yares, COFES2000 will bring together decision makers (CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, presidents, vice-presidents, directors, etc.) from the vendor, user, press, academic, VAR, investment, consulting, and research communities.

Unlike typical tradeshows and conferences, where the overall goal is to show products and make sales, the goal of COFES2000 is to bring clarity, vision, focus, and definition to the issues facing the engineering software community, and to speculate about what is just over the horizon. The Congress on the Future of Engineering Software will be held May 17-20, 2000, at The Scottsdale Plaza resort, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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Windows 2000 has a few surprises for everyone, and most are not that pleasant. First, don't expect to be able to deploy the new operating system to corporate desktops using the usual software distribution tools. Traditional desktop management suites, including Intel's LANDesk Management Suite 6.3, don't officially support distribution of Windows 2000.

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When Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates goes on national television to say his company is reinventing itself, he's not kidding.

After buying pieces of advanced service providers for months and preparing to turn its software business into a services-delivery company, Microsoft (stock: MSFT ) said Tuesday that it has purchased 60 percent of Japan's second-largest cable operator, Titus Communications, based in Tokyo.

Microsoft bought the shares from MediaOne Group (stock: UMG) Englewood, Colo., which is itself being bought by AT&T (stock: ). The value of MediaOne's stake in Titus is estimated at $934 million. That MediaOne has decided to shed its international properties is Microsoft's gain in allowing it one more avenue to deliver applications over a high-speed broadband infrastructure.

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Lawmakers showered mostly praise on the Justice Department's antitrust chief as he defended his agency's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp during a House hearing. But a few also tossed in some barbs.

Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., said he refused to participate in the House Judiciary Committee's ``love fest'' over the way Assistant U.S. Attorney General Joel Klein handled the case against the software giant.

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At the Donor Network of Arizona, information technology helps save lives.

The Donor Network has a truly mission-critical job: recovering organs and tissue for transplantation for the state of Arizona. To coordinate that process, the organization uses a system built on Microsoft® BackOffice® Server 4.5 running on Windows® 2000 Server. Microsoft technology helps the Donor Network exchange and manage information critical to helping people get the transplants they need. BackOffice Server provides a comprehensive solution the Donor Network says is reliable and cost-effective.

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Within the high-tech industry, it is known as "getting Netscaped."

The damning label is applied to companies that have dared to cross swords with Microsoft since its well-documented campaign to take the browser business away from Netscape Communications. And many industry veterans say RealNetworks risks suffering a similar fate in multimedia, a situation exacerbated by a particularly acrimonious history with its arch enemy.

This week, RealNetworks marks the five-year anniversary of its breakthrough RealAudio software for Web streaming, a technology that was key to the Internet's multimedia expansion. Coincidentally, the company is facing perhaps the most difficult challenges in its short history as it confronts unprecedented competition from a software empire just a few miles away from RealNetworks' Seattle headquarters.

Those familiar with both  companies say a licensing deal signed last month with Microsoft is an ominous sign for RealNetworks' dominance in streaming. At present, RealNetworks says it has no plans for wide adoption of Windows formats, but the broad agreement leaves the door open to possible use of Microsoft's technology in all of the streaming company's products.

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Does Bill Gates deserve the credit for the growth of the Internet economy? That question will evoke plenty of guffaws in Silicon Valley, but I think the answer may be yes.

Hear me out on this one. Of course Bill Gates didn't invent the Internet any more than Al Gore did. And it's true that Microsoft did its best to ignore the Net until 1995. But since judging Bill Gates is the favorite political sport right now, let's judge him the way that anyone deserves to be judged--on results, not intentions.

What had to happen for the Internet to move from being a niche tool for university researchers to the phenomenon that it is today? You can say that the killer application of the Net was e-mail, and I agree with that, but if e-mail alone was the crucial ingredient, why didn't half of Americans buy computers for their homes in the early 1970s? I think we have to say that the crucial ingredient was the widespread use of personal computers. There's no value in a global network to connect the world's PC's if nobody owns a PC, right?

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Microsoft has released 2 new Security Bulletins.

Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-023): Patch Available for "Myriad Escaped Characters" Vulnerability
Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in Microsoft(r) Internet Information Server. The vulnerability could allow a malicious user to slow a web server's response or prevent it from providing service altogether for a period of time.

Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-024): Tool Available for "OffloadModExpo Registry Permissions" Vulnerability
Microsoft has released a tool that installs tighter permissions on a Windows NT(r) 4.0 registry key. The default permissions could allow a malicious user who can interactively log onto a Windows NT 4.0 machine to compromise the cryptographic keys of other users who subsequently log onto the same machine.

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* Motocross Madness 2 sneak preview CD and manual
* Access to the Motocross Madness 2 MSN Gaming Zone sneak preview lobby for multiplayer gaming
* Exclusive private chat with members of the development team to discuss gameplay tips and tricks

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Saw a note on VE that this page over on nVidia's site mentions that they're in need of a few good 3D software programmers to work on/with the X-Box. Here's the job description:

WANTED: 3D Software Developers for Windows & XBox
We have immediate openings in Developer Engineering for 3D Software Engineers with DirectX and OpenGL experience. Developer Engineering works with external software developers to help them create great content. We provide code examples, demos, technical papers & presentations, tools, and technology and give it all away. If you're really smart, totally grok 3D, and want to work for the greatest 3D graphics company on the planet, send your resume to hr@NVIDIA.com.

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A top Justice Department official Wednesday declined to rule out seeking a breakup of Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) as a remedy in the Microsoft antitrust case, saying he was keeping all options open.

``We are considering a variety of options,'' Justice Department antitrust chief Joel Klein told reporters when asked about a published report that the federal government and 19 states, that brought the case, were leaning away from any breakup of the software giant.

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Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) shares, already battered by a judge's ruling that the software giant was an abusive monopoly, were hit by more bad news on Wednesday when a Wall Street analyst trimmed his revenue forecast for the company, citing a sluggish PC market.

Shares in the Redmond, Wash.-based company slid 3 ^7/8, or more than 4 percent, to 80 shortly after midday on the Nasdaq stock market. Volume was high, with 45 million shares changing hands compared to a daily average of about 37 million.

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Since its genesis, the development of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer technologies have been focused on providing customers with the best Internet browsing experience possible. Web standards are very important to our work in advancing these technologies and Microsoft will continue to work towards improving and expanding standards support within the Windows Internet technologies. Microsoft is proud that the Internet Explorer 5.0 technologies in Windows are the most standards-compliant browsing technology shipping today. This underscores the importance that standards have in the development of Internet browsing technologies.

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Microsoft Corp. today announced that the multilingual capabilities of Windows^® 2000 are helping multinational customers such as the National Swiss Parliament and Credit Suisse First Boston do business more effectively and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) for their IT administrators. The fastest localization effort in the history of Windows software development culminates in not only the availability of Windows 2000 in 24 languages in 66 countries, but also the availability of the Microsoft^® Windows 2000 MultiLanguage version.

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Michael Capellas, president and CEO of Compaq Computer Corp., Thomas Glocer, chief executive of Reuters America Inc., and Steve Ballmer, president and CEO of Microsoft, will discuss challenges faced by the financial services industry as consumer and business activity continues its move to the Internet in the new millennium at a Financial Summit on April 19. This one-day conference, demonstration and exposition for Wall Street will feature industry leaders discussing the driving forces behind the new technologies that enable global transaction capability, business intelligence analytics, customer relationship management and creation of Web-based business for financial services companies.

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IBM's enthusiasm for Windows 2000 has cooled somewhat, according to an company internal memo obtained by US publication Smart Reseller. According to the memo, which is said to have been sent to all employees, "IBM employees are not permitted to directly or indirectly connect Windows 2000 to the IBM production network infrastructure".

IBM's enthusiasm for Windows 2000 has cooled somewhat, according to an company internal memo obtained by US publication Smart Reseller. According to the memo, which is said to have been sent to all employees, "IBM employees are not permitted to directly or indirectly connect Windows 2000 to the IBM production network infrastructure".

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As expected (and announced last week) Microsoft today released Windows Me Beta 3 (2499.7) to their selected testers, confirming our story last week that Beta 3 was signed off on Friday. There isn't much more to add about Windows Me that you don't already know except to say, expect our preview of Windows Me Beta 3 in the next 2 weeks once Microsoft PR get a copy out to us. Windows Me is set to be in stores early August.

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Communications company, NTL, today announced the launch of its genuinely free and unlimited PC-Internet service – available throughout the UK. Called ntlworld, the new free service goes live today - ahead of its scheduled 17 April launch. The PC-Internet service is available to all NTL residential telephony customers, and has attracted hundreds of thousands of registrations since it was unveiled last month. ntlworld features no ISP subscription charge, no call connection charge and no Internet call charges.

NTL also announces the next stage in its plan to bring free Internet to everybody – targeting the 18 million UK homes with a TV but no PC. The new TV-Internet initiative is the UK’s first service to offer free and unlimited Internet and email access – via ordinary TV sets. Customers can sign up from Monday 17 April by calling 0800 952 43 43.

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Earlier today, AOL released the final version of its popular instant messaging service, AOL Instant Messenger 4.0. The new version includes some new features, along with some minor bug fixes. AIM allows over 50 million of its current users to communicate privately and instantly.

Some features in the latest version include Instant Images, stock alerts, buddy alerts, e-mail alerts, AIM Talk, automatic upgrades, a docked Buddy list, and more.

Be sure to get the latest version from FileForum, or from the AIM Web site.

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The consulting firm founded by Ralph Reed apologized today for encouraging ``a small number of individuals'' to express their views about the Microsoft case to George W. Bush (news - web sites), the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. The firm said it would halt the contacts.

Century Strategies, which was founded by Reed, was never ``retained for the purpose of influencing Governor Bush,'' according to a statement released by the political consulting group. Although Reed is a senior consultant to Bush's campaign, he has never asked Bush to take a position on the government's anti-trust case against Microsoft, the statement said.

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Microsoft has retained Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition and now "senior consultant" to the George Bush presidential campaign. The reason, if it needs to be spelt out, is to persuade Bush to speak against the DoJ case.

Bush has previously said that Microsoft was "an engine of growth" and that he favoured "innovation over litigation" which has been taken by many to suggest that he would take Microsoft's side if he became president. Bush has also said recently that he would not discuss specific aspects of the Microsoft case because of the ongoing litigation, which must make him a lonely politician.

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Julien has posted his review and benchmark tests of Intel's Pentium III 800EB processor. Here is a snippet from the review:

One of the major new features of the Pentium III is that it has a new instruction set to enhance 3D performance; it’s a kind of "MMX2", designed to beat AMD’s ‘3D now’ technology. The Pentium III always included the good old MMX 57 instruction set. The new 70-instruction set is named streamed SIMD, and is designed to increase the 3D, video, audio, games, speech recognition speed, but only optimized software will take benefits of this new instruction set. Latest Pentium III processors are now available in different models designated by the letters E & B. It concerns the "Coppermine" chips that are now engraved in 0.18 micron. In fact a Pentium III CPU B runs at the front side bus speed of 133Mhz and Pentium III E has got 256Kb of L2 advanced transfer cache that runs at the full speed of the CPU. Pentium III EB processors contain a FSB of 133Mhz and a cache of 256Kb.

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We have just posted Microsoft's latest update of the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List - This comprehensive list vitally lists all the hardware components that will work with Windows 2000. Check it out! The list is large - 1.4 MB in text format.

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We have updated our Microsoft Windows 2000 System Tools Page to our Windows 2000 section; it has all the latest Microsoft supported tools to perform a variety of different tasks on your Windows 2000 operating system - including diagnostic indicators, upgrade utilities, and more. Very handy information.

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Microsoft Corp. today announced it has enhanced its TechNet resources and has begun delivering new technical content designed to provide IT professionals with in-depth education on Microsoft^® products and technologies. Microsoft also unveiled a TechNet User Group Program to provide technical content and resources to user groups and help increase user group memberships. In addition, Microsoft introduced a new search engine and a DVD version for TechNet subscribers.

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Microsoft Corp. today announced public availability of the Microsoft^® BizTalk™ Server 2000 technology preview. Building on the BizTalk initiative announced last year, this preview release provides the next step in Microsoft's comprehensive solution for Internet application integration via industry-standard XML. Internet application integration embraces a single integration methodology for both traditional enterprise application integration scenarios inside the organization and business-to-business e-commerce scenarios between trading partners over the Internet. BizTalk Server 2000 will unite in a single product secure and reliable delivery, routing and transformation of business documents, as well as development tools and application adapters to XML-enable existing applications.

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Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has selected Compaq Computer Corp. as a key technology provider in the newly expanded Microsoft^® Partner Solution Center (MPSC), a facility designed to bring together world-class technology companies dedicated to the rapid development of secure, end-to-end network solutions needed by network service providers to maintain a competitive advantage in today's marketplace.

Compaq was selected by Microsoft to provide core computing infrastructure at the new MPSC by supporting development labs and training labs as well as addressing the infrastructure needs of other MPSC partners, including Lucent Technologies Inc. and Intel Corp.

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Companies championing the Linux computer operating system as a challenger to Windows are meeting in Montreal this week, hoping last week's antitrust ruling against Microsoft Corp. will revive their flagging stock market fortunes.

A string of Linux heavyweights -- including Corel Corp., Red Hat Inc. and VA Linux Systems Inc. -- will highlight their achievements at Linux Expo 2000, which opens on Monday, wishing, no doubt, that Microsoft's pain will mean a gain for companies that sell Linux open-source software or services.

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Microsoft Corp. on Monday refused to either confirm or deny a videotaped statement made by Chairman Bill Gates last week that the software giant had bought a 60 percent stake in Japan's No. 2 cable network.

Microsoft spokeswoman Julie Pennington declined to comment on whether the company had bought the stake in Titus Communications Corp. from U.S. entertainment company MediaOne Group Inc.

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Microsoft Corp said it sees growth potential in Japan's broadband market after buying a 60 percent stake in Japan's number two cable network firm, Titus, from U.S. entertainment company MediaOne Group Inc.

``We are very excited about the opportunity to participate in the tremendous growth potential for broadband convergence and advancement of the Japanese cable business through our investment in Titus Communications,'' said Hank Vigil, vice president of Consumer Strategy and Partnerships at Microsoft Corp.

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