NEWS HEADLINES FOR: THURSDAY AUGUST 24, 2000
	JOLAP - Fund Cuts - Win Me - Game Voice

• Microsoft Glitch Leaves MSN MGS Contact List Vulnerable
  Time: 15:29 EST/21:29 GMT | News Source: CNet | Posted By: Julien

  Microsoft is investigating complaints that its MSN Instant Messenger usernames and contact lists can be taken over through lapsed Hotmail accounts.For the past week Microsoft has been "thoroughly investigating" a scenario in which expired Hotmail accounts are thought to provide an avenue for either malicious or unwitting appropriation of existing IM usernames and contact lists, according to a company representative. A recent complaint followed a general warning about the problem, which surfaced more than a year ago. Hotmail suspends accounts that are idle more than three months and deletes those accounts after another three months elapse. James Nelson, a systems administrator for Cisco Systems, says he lost his Hotmail account because of inactivity, and when he created a new account with the same name, he found that his old IM contact list lingered with the cleaned-out account.

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• Game Voice: Avid Gamer Helps Launch Latest Version of Gaming Product She Helped Devise
  Time: 09:40 EST/14:40 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  When Isabella Carniato told her college classmates and professors she was going to work for Microsoft’s SideWinder gaming device group, they were shocked. After all, Carniato, a senior at the time at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, was studying architecture and political science. And, of course, she’s a woman. How did she win entry into the traditionally male-dominated world of computer games? And why would she want to?

  The answer is Microsoft SideWinder Game Voice, the latest incarnation of an online gaming product that she helped develop and that promises to change the way people play their favorite computer games. The first device of its kind, Game Voice allows online gamers to talk and play over a single Internet connection, as well as control games with voice commands. It also offers a control pad to organize voice chats and includes the built-in software to operate all of these functions.

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• Windows Me Delivers Updated Home Networking Features
  Time: 09:39 EST/14:39 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  At Larry Norris’ house in Stanwood, Wash., the computers are networked to enable the whole family -- Norris, his wife, his mother and his three children -- to share Internet access, printers, software and games. "We can all use the Internet and email without having to tie up all the different resources," Norris says. "Home networking is ideal for people who have more than one computer in the house."

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• Sun Counters Microsoft .NET
  Time: 06:15 EST/11:15 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Julien

  Sun Microsystems is leading the development of an open-systems competitor to Microsoft .NET, Bill Gates' sweeping initiative to deliver software as a set of services over a wide range of Internet-connected devices. Gates claimed in June to be betting his company on Microsoft .NET, a move he deems as important to Microsoft as the transition from DOS to Windows. At the core of Sun's counterplan is StarOffice, the Microsoft Office competitor that Sun acquired one year ago. But Sun's success also depends on its ability to forge relationships with key members of the open-source community, which can help supply additional technology and create an infrastructure for developers to continue improving it. "Microsoft .NET is bigger than the Win32 application programming interfaces--it's the biggest thing Microsoft has ever done," says Marco Boerries, who founded StarDivision as a teenager in Germany and became Sun's VP for Web-top and application software after Sun acquired his company. "If Microsoft .NET wins, Microsoft will take over the Internet. It's a bit of a revival of what they tried to do with MSN." Full story here.

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• Server Flow? Read the manual says MS
  Time: 06:10 EST/11:10 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Julien

  Microsoft has posted guidelines to system administrators on how to close an apparent security hole in MS SQL Server 7.0 -- read the instruction manual! The problem, which has been blamed for several UK and American government sites being hacked into in recent weeks, results from a default blank system administrator login that some administrators have failed to change. Microsoft denies the default blank password is a vulnerability and suggests it is more a case of system administrators not following its recommended best practices and installing their own complex password. The company has posted guidelines on the Bugtraq site on how to do that. The problem first came to light on Bugtraq last month when it was revealed that not only SQL Server 7.0 but several programs that ran a light version of it, called Microsoft Data Engine, had the same blank password. Full story here.

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• The readers speak: Netscape and Microsoft
  Time: 06:05 EST/11:05 GMT | News Source: Mac Central | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Mac users may not like Microsoft's business practices, but many agree with columnist John C. Welch's recent assertion that Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are better Mac clients than the alternatives from Netscape (see "Netscape's woeful Mac support"). However, Netscape does have a few defenders among our readers. Here's what they had to say.

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• Fund firms cut Microsoft holdings in second quarter
  Time: 06:04 EST/11:04 GMT | News Source: Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Many of the biggest mutual fund families, including Fidelity Investments, Janus Capital and Putnam Investments, cut their holdings in Microsoft sharply in the second quarter, according to recent regulatory filings. Fidelity cut its holdings by 36 percent -- to 119 million shares from 185 million -- as the software maker was hit with a federal court decision that the company had abused its monopoly power in the software market and should be broken up.

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	NEWS HEADLINES FOR: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 23, 2000
	Microsoft Home Advisor Snags $100M  in Funding

• Microsoft Releases Windows Me Compatible DDK
  Time: 17:39 EST/22:39 GMT | News Source: WinInformant | Posted By: Julien

  Microsoft announced this week that it had released the long-awaited Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) Device Drive Kit (DDK), which will enable software developers to write drivers for the new OS. Unlike previous versions of the DDK, which were OS specific--Microsoft used to supply different versions for Windows 2000 and Windows 98, for example--the new Windows DDK supports all current versions of Windows, including Win2K and Windows Me. The Windows DDK specifically addresses Windows Driver Model (WDM) modem driver development, DirectX 7.0, and other driver issues that affect both Windows Me and Windows 2000.

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• Will Windows Me Pricing Confuse Consumers?
  Time: 17:31 EST/22:31 GMT | News Source: CNet | Posted By: Julien

  Windows 95 users will have to pay $30 more than their Windows 98 counterparts to upgrade to Microsoft's new consumer operating system, in a promotional strategy that could end up confusing customers instead of simply rewarding them. Microsoft announced earlier this month that it will sell its new operating system for home PC users for $59 through January. This promotional pricing represents a new strategy for the software maker, which typically sells upgrades to its operating systems for $89. In a break with its own tradition, Microsoft confirmed today, it will sell the upgrade under the name Windows Me Promotional Step-Up for $59 to people who have Windows 98 or Windows 98 Second Edition. Windows 95 users will have to pay the full $89 for their upgrade to Windows Me, or Millennium Edition. After January, everyone will pay the full price. But the company's decision to sell the promotional upgrade under a separate name could cause confusion among consumers over possible differences--if any--between the $59 and $89 upgrades, according to Paul Thurrott, editor of the WinInfo newsletter, which tracks Microsoft software news. Full story here.

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• Microsoft Disses Jolap Initiative
  Time: 16:39 EST/21:39 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Julien

  Microsoft Corp. has declined to participate in the so-called JOLAP initiative, led by Hyperion Solutions Corp., IBM, Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc., deriding it as an "anti-Microsoft marketing effort." The JOLAP initiative, announced Monday, calls for the development of a standard Java-based interface for creating, storing, accessing and managing data and metadata in OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) servers. Full story here.

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• Microsoft to Unveil a Chip for Net, TV
  Time: 16:37 EST/21:37 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Julien

  Software giant Microsoft Corp. and its subsidiary, Mountain View-based WebTV Networks, have been quietly developing a sophisticated communications chip, a sliver of silicon that holds a key to Microsoft's future in the Internet age. The chip, set to make its debut this fall, will control the forthcoming version of WebTV's interactive television service. But the chip can also be used to power other next-generation devices and services over the Web. Microsoft sees the Internet-linked TV service as only the beginning of a new wave of services and software it hopes to deliver to consumers over the Web in coming years. Full article can be read by clicking here.

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• Systran Professional Standard 3 -- Review
  Time: 16:35 EST/21:35 GMT | News Source: ActiveWin | Posted By: Julien

  Are you on the look for a translating software? If yes, read our complete review on the most popular translating software: Systran Professional Standard 3! Here is a snippet of the review:

  Technology has brought human kind many advantages throughout this last century and one of the major results of these technologies is the fact that the world became a small village where communicating is paramount to survive or to have the feeling to exist. Among this philosophical observation, we can easily note that man’s thirst for communication has lead to the growth of innumerable and various exchanges between countries and is able to communicate in one universal language: (most of the time) English. However if English is certainly the most used language all around the world businesses also need to be able to understand and translate messages, business letters, etc. written in various major languages like German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, etc. into English. Before this would require the services of an interpreter, now everyone can now translate letters from various languages to English using a dedicated translator software. The one we’ll review is Systran Professional 3 that allows to translate Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese to English and likewise English to the above languages.

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• Microsoft Japan Workers Accused of Tax Evasion
  Time: 13:26 EST/18:26 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Julien

  About 150 current and former employees of Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Japanese unit failed to declare income of roughly seven billion yen gained through stock options, a Japanese newspaper reported on Wednesday. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau notified the Microsoft employees, including its former president, of the tax avoidance and is seeking back taxes and penalties of about three billion yen, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun financial daily reported. 

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• Microsofts HomeAdvisor Snags $100M in Funding
  Time: 13:06 EST/18:06 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Julien

  Microsoft Corp.'s online home-buying and financing service, HomeAdvisor Technologies Inc., has snared more than $100 million in funding from two big mortgage companies. The equity investments from Chase Manhattan Mortgage, part of Chase Manhattan Corp., and GMAC-Residential Funding Corp. will be announced Wednesday, HomeAdvisor said. The money should help HomeAdvisor move forward with its ambitious -- and still unproven -- plans to automate many aspects of the home-buying process, analysts say. The company, formed five months ago after Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) decided to reposition its existing HomeAdvisor real-estate site, competes with online lenders, back-end software providers and entrenched sites like Homestore.com Inc. 

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• Microsoft takes Acquisition Route to Bolster Project 2001
  Time: 05:48 EST/10:48 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Julien

  On Wednesday Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) will announce an alliance with eLabor.com as a next step in evolving Project 2001, the upcoming workgroup data management tool that is due in the first half of next year. The Redmond, Wash., company will acquire eLabor.com's Enterprise Project, which provides project and resource management functions including time-sheet reporting for projects, scheduling, resource allocations, project planning and budgeting. Enterprise Project will likely be incorporated as a member of the Project family along with Project Central, a Web-based application in the current version of Project that allows team members to collaborate on projects, officials said. "[Enterprise Project] adds the ability to view all resources in a centralized way across all projects in an organization," said Todd Warren, general manager of Microsoft Project. "Plus, it gives organizations the capability to assign and manage skills associated with those people and then links it with project management information that's in Project and Project Central." Microsoft also will establish broader business alliances with eLabor.com, of Camarillo, Calif., which will become an application service provider for Project and Project Central as well as a provider of time and attendance services on bCentral, Microsoft's portal for small businesses. Further, Microsoft will invest an undisclosed amount in eLabor.com's second round of equity financing, which is valued at more than $30 million, according to eLabor.com officials. eLabor.com will continue to sell and support Enterprise Project until it is bundled with Microsoft Project 2001. Customers who purchase it now will receive a free migration tool and upgrade to the Microsoft version.eLabor.com provides workforce management services through its Hosted Workforce Portal. Services comprise labor management, contractor management and project management. Notice that we'll have a complete review on Microsoft Project 2000 very soon: be sure to often check our reviews area!

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	NEWS HEADLINES FOR: TUESDAY AUGUST 22, 2000
	Competition

• Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-059) Patch Available for "Java VM Applet" Vulnerability
  Time: 14:53 EST/19:53 GMT | News Source: Microsoft | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in the Microsoft® virtual machine (Microsoft VM). If a malicious web site operator were able to coax a user into visiting his site, the vulnerability could allow him to masquerade as the user, visit other sites using his identity, and relay the information back to his site.

  Frequently asked questions regarding this vulnerability and the patch can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-059.asp

  Issue

  The Microsoft VM is a virtual machine for the Win32® operating environment. It runs atop Microsoft Windows® 95, 98, or Windows NT®, or Windows 2000. It ships as part of each operating system, and also as part of Microsoft Internet Explorer. The version of the Microsoft VM that ships with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x and Internet Explorer 5.x contains a security vulnerability that could allow a Java applet to operate outside the bounds set by the sandbox.

  By design, an applet should only be able to communicate with the web site that hosted it. However, this vulnerability would allow an applet to bypass this restriction. If a user visited a web site operated by a malicious user, the site could start an applet that would be able to establish a connection with another web site and forward any information from the web session to the malicious user’s site.

  The session would be established in the guise of the visiting user, rather than that of the malicious user. Thus, the vulnerability could be used to access an intranet site located behind a firewall, access information in the guise of the user, and relay it to the malicious user. The only prerequisite is that the malicious user would need to know or guess the name of the intranet site. Although the applet would be able to make use of the user’s credentials to authenticate to the site, this vulnerability would not provide a way to compromise them.

  Affected Software Versions

  Versions of the Microsoft VM are identified by build numbers, which can be determined using the JVIEW tool, as discussed in the FAQ. The following builds of the Microsoft VM are affected:
  • All builds in the 2000 series.
  • All builds in the 3100 series.
  • All builds in the 3200 series.
  • All builds in the 3300 series.

  Patch Availability

  • All 2000 series Microsoft VM customers:
    Install Microsoft VM build 2446
  • All 3100 series Microsoft VM customers:
    Upgrade to build 3309 and install the 3314 security patch
    
  • 3200 series Microsoft VM customers should do one of the following:
    
    • All 3200 builds:
      Upgrade to build 3309 and install the 3314 security patch
      
    • Builds 3229–3234:
      Install the security patch from Bulletin MS00-011 before installing this new 3314 security patch
      
    • Build 3240:
      Install the 3314 security patch
      
  • All 3300 series Microsoft VM customers should install the 3314 security patch

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• Windows Me special upgrade version - Update
  Time: 11:37 EST/16:37 GMT | News Source: Microsoft | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  A number of people have been writing in asking questions about the new Windows Me "Special Upgrade Version" that Microsoft announced a week or so ago. You will be able to do a clean install with this version but ONLY if you have a Windows 98/98SE CD as proof of purchase, we hope this helps some of you come to a decision over it.

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• Microsoft .NET for Manufacturing Enables Users to ’See.Use.Act’ on Information Throughout Their Operations and With Customers and Suppliers
  Time: 11:37 EST/16:37 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Production lines at Delphi Automotive Systems’ Packard Electric division run day and night, producing 40 billion parts annually in 36 countries. Coordination is more than important. It’s critical. "You need to know you are producing the right part number for the right customer at the right time," said Frank Ventura, Delphi Packard Electric manager of manufacturing information systems.

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• Gates Receives ISA’s Top Honor at Annual Gathering, Microsoft Helps Build Homes for the Needy
  Time: 11:37 EST/16:37 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  ISA, the international society of industrial measurement and control, presented Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates its highest award this week for his company’s contributions to the instrumentation industry.

  Gates received the ISA Honorary Member Award at this week’s ISA Expo 2000 in New Orleans. Andrew Hoover, Microsoft’s director of manufacturing and engineering, accepted the honor for Gates, who was unable to attend the event.

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• Microsoft Files Reply Brief with U. S. Supreme Court
  Time: 10:28 EST/15:38 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Julien

  Microsoft has announced that they have today filed a reply brief in the government's antitrust case, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the government’s direct appeal and remand the case to the Court of Appeals. You can read it by clicking here.

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• Microsoft Office 10 Beta 1 Preview
  Time: 07:55 EST/12:55 GMT | News Source: WinSuperSite | Posted By: Julien

  Paul Thurrot has just posted its Microsoft Office 10 preview with some exclusive shots of the new software. Here is a snippet of it:

  The recent release of Office 10 Beta 1 has unearthed a slew of new features, including a subscription software service, voice control, and numerous simplification improvements that will help shape this release into a compelling upgrade over Office 2000. Office 10 Beta 1, which Microsoft now says will be called Office 2001 or Office 2002 when it ships, includes the client software, an Office Web Server, the Office Resource Kit, two Language Packs CDs, and a ClipArt CD; it's not clear which of these products will be separated out from the main Office product.

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• Inprise/Borland Joins IBM and Microsoft to Support New Intel(R) Itanium(TM) Processor Platforms
  Time: 07:52 EST/12:52 GMT | News Source: Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Today at the Intel Developer Forum, Inprise/Borland (Nasdaq: INPR - news) announced that Inprise/Borland will port its awarding-winning Borland® JBuilder(TM), Inprise(TM) Application Server(TM), VisiBroker® for Java® and JDataStore(TM) for platforms based on the Intel® Itanium(TM) processor. The software will be ported to the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 64 bit and Red Hat(TM) Linux 64 bit operating systems running Java 2 v1.3 runtime from IBM. All of Inprise/Borland offerings on Intel IA-64 architecture (IA-64) -- including Intel Itanium processor-based systems -- will be compatible with what are available on IA-32 today. This will enable companies who use Inprise/Borland's integrated Java tool set to easily move their applications running on IA-32 based systems today to IA-64 based systems of tomorrow. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000117/SFM040 )

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• Vertigo Software Launches First Microsoft .NET-Based Application With Data Return
  Time: 07:51 EST/12:51 GMT | News Source: Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Data Return Corporation (NASDAQ: DRTN - news), a leading global provider of managed hosting services, today announced it is hosting IBuySpy.com from Vertigo Software, Inc., unveiled at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Orlando, Florida last month. This educational site shows developers how to utilize the next generation Microsoft .NET platform to rapidly create e-commerce applications, and includes all source code in either Visual Basic or C#, the new development language from Microsoft.

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• ActiveWin Competition
  Time: 07:50 EST/12:50 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  A new silent revolution is hitting the streets right now: while actual PCs are now almost everywhere, power users start using various handheld PCs to help them stay organized & connected... Maybe some day these small new PCs will replace our cumbersome ones... Who knows?

  Want a free Windows CE computer to enter tomorrow's world right now? Dream to have it but can't afford it? Wanna be a precursor? If you can answer a simple question you may have a chance to win the NEC PC we are offering to our faithful readers.

  Enter Here

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• DirectX 8.0 Beta 2 nears
  Time: 07:50 EST/12:50 GMT | News Source: BetaNews | Posted By: Byron Hinson

  According to Betanews, it seems that Microsoft has sent word to applicants that Beta 2 of DirectX 8.0 will be released shortly and chance for participation will soon close. Version 8.0 was expected for release this summer and inclusion in Windows Me, however delays have been extending the test and final release date alike. DirectX 8.0 will feature a new graphical input device control panel in DirectInput along with a multitude of other enhancements to its rendering capabilities. Along with the Beta 2 announcement, Microsoft today released an interim build of version 8.0, Build 0145, however details are unknown. 

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• Norton Personal FireWall 2000 2.0 -- Review
  Time: 07:50 EST/12:50 GMT | News Source: ActiveWin | Posted By: Julien

  I've just reposted my review of Norton Personal FireWall 2000 2.0 software with a new test topic that details the exact performance of this software to protect your PC from hackers. Here is a snippet of the review:

  Every Internet user is aware that their Internet connection is a potential risk source that grows if he stays online a lot of time. That’s why Symantec released last year its Norton Internet Security range of software dedicated to protect every Internet user. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0 is in fact a lighted version of Norton Internet Security 2000 and doesn’t include any account management feature to protect family members nor Norton AntiVirus. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0 is –only- a software firewall based on the WRQ’s AtGuard software. The aim of Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0 is to protect users from every kind of internet threat: hackers, malicious activeX or Java code, cookies,…. So here’s my complete review of this great product that works at least with Winndows 2000.

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You can read more of the past months news in our News Archive for July and Previous August News.

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