• AOL and Time Warner to Merge in $166 Billion Stock Deal
  Time: 17:50 EST/22:50 GMT News Source: New York Times Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Time Warner, the world's largest media and entertainment company, is being acquired by America Online for about $160 billion in stock in what would be the biggest corporate merger ever.

  The deal announced today raises the stakes in the consolidation scramble in the media industry and comes just four months after another blockbuster media merger, the proposed combination of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc.

  The merger unites the biggest name in the traditional media world with the biggest name in the new media world, marking the most ambitious bet yet that the Internet will be one of the most dominant features in the media landscape of the future.

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• Court lets Microsoft stock ruling stand
  Time: 14:56 EST/19:56 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Byron Hinson

  WASHINGTON--The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected Microsoft's appeal of a ruling that thousands of temporary and contract workers were eligible to buy discounted stock in the software giant.

  The justices let stand a federal appeals court ruling that greatly expanded the number of past and present workers who can participate in a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft over its lucrative employee stock purchase plan.

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• Microsoft preparing for Caldera antitrust case
  Time: 14:56 EST/19:56 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft is sharpening up its defenses for yet another legal battle, this one set to commence on Feb. 1. While negotiations continue in Microsoft's landmark antitrust trial with the federal government and 19 states, the software maker's lawyers have been preparing to take on Caldera in a private antitrust case.

  This next legal battle will bring some of Microsoft's top executives to court, including Steve Ballmer, Paul Maritz and Brad Chase. Of the two trials, the stakes could be much higher in the civil case than the one brought by the government, legal experts say.

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• MS loses temporary worker ruling
  Time: 14:53 EST/19:53 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  The U.S. Supreme Court Monday rejected Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) appeal of a ruling that thousands of temporary and contract workers were eligible to buy discounted stock in the software giant. The justices let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that greatly expanded the number of past and present workers who can participate in a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft over its lucrative employee stock purchase plan.

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• Microsoft and FastLane Technologies Announce Licensing Agreement
  Time: 10:01 EST/15:01 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft Corp. and FastLane Technologies Inc. today announced that Microsoft has licensed technology from FastLane, which enables administrators to migrate files from Novell's NetWare to the Microsoft^® Windows^® 2000 Server operating system quickly and easily. Microsoft will incorporate the technology in the Microsoft File Migration Utility (MSFMU) component of its upcoming Services for NetWare version 5 product, expected to be available shortly after the launch of Windows 2000.

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• Study Reports Exchange Server 5.5 Dramatically Outperforms Domino R5
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft Corp. today announced that a new study, conducted by ZD Labs, demonstrates that Microsoft^® Exchange Server 5.5 dramatically outperformed Lotus Notes/Domino R5 in critical e-mail tasks. This study is the first head-to-head performance comparison of the two leading messaging and collaboration systems available today. Calling Exchange Server 5.5 "far more responsive and productive" in its tests than Domino, the study shows that Exchange Server 5.5 significantly outperformed Domino:
  

  • Exchange Server 5.5 provides faster e-mail message delivery: Its maximum message throughput is up to 277 percent higher than that of Domino R5.
  • Exchange 5.5 reduces system delays and increases user productivity: Its response time is up to 23 times faster than Domino R5 during periods of peak system loading.
  • Exchange 5.5 decreases total cost of ownership: Its scalability was three times that of Domino R5 (based on the number of users the system was able to adequately serve during peak loads).
  • Exchange 5.5 reduces administration costs: It took six minutes to create 15,000 new user accounts, compared with 25 hours for Domino R5.

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• Success of Microsoft Money Continues to Grow
  Time: 09:59 EST/14:59 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  The popularity of the Microsoft^® Money product line - now represented at retail by Money 2000 Standard, Money 2000 Deluxe and Money 2000 Business & Personal - has grown dramatically among consumers, retailers and financial institutions during the past five years. Since 1995, Money has achieved a number of significant milestones:
  
  

  • The product line's year-to-date unit share at retail grew from 6.1 percent in 1995 to 21.4 percent in 1999 (Source: PC Data, October 1999).
  • More than 1 million copies of the Money trial edition have been distributed since 1995.
  • The number of financial institutions supporting Money to connect to their customers has grown more than 4,000 percent - from 21 in 1995 to 875 in 1999.
  • An estimated 4.4 million people are now using Money to manage their finances (Source: Media Metrix, September 1999).
  • Money 2000 was named by PC Magazine in early December 1999 as one of the best software products of 1999; it was the only personal financial management software product to be cited for excellence.

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• Flink Ink: Story of the Week: Developer's ASP
  Time: 09:55 EST/14:55 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Charles has posted a new editorial called Story of the Week: Developer's ASP. Here is a snippet:

  Many editorialists will say the week's top story was the Y2K disaster that didn't happen.  Those that previously claimed that Y2K would be a big deal will naturally say their warnings were well-heeded and thus claim victory.  Those that questioned Y2K hype will question once again the tendency for profit-driven paranoia to distort the truth.  I wish I had the courage to say what I thought about Y2K in my "Stop Foolish Paranoia!" article.  If I had, I'd be crowing now!  But in a veiled way, I guess I did by pointing out that every InfoSec story has elements of true risk that have to be balanced against the tendency to exploit unreasonable fear.  But Y2OK is already a wimp of a story.

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• Microsoft Completes Acquisition of Visio
  Time: 19:14 EST/00:14 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq "MSFT") today announced the completion of its acquisition of Seattle-based Visio Corp. for approximately $1.5 billion in stock.

  Under terms of the acquisition, originally announced on Sept. 15, 1999, Visio will become the Visio Division operating within Microsoft's Business Productivity Group led by Microsoft Group Vice President Bob Muglia. The Visio Division will retain its offices in downtown Seattle.

  "We are thrilled to officially welcome Visio, a pioneer in delivering unique diagramming solutions to business and enterprise customers, to the Microsoft family of business products," Muglia said. "Together, Microsoft and Visio will bring visualization and diagramming software to a broader range of customers while improving the ways knowledge workers can present their ideas."

  "This is an exciting day for all of us at Visio," said Jeremy Jaech, president and chief executive officer of Visio Corp. "We look forward to being a part of Microsoft and to many opportunities and challenges as we focus on increasing and expanding the value that diagramming software can add to knowledge workers around the world."

  Jaech will become a vice president at Microsoft, managing the Visio Division and reporting to Muglia.

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• Sony and Microsoft Collaborate on Advanced IEEE 1394 Support For Windows-Based PCs
  Time: 19:14 EST/00:14 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Alex Harris

  Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. today announced that they have collaborated to ensure a simple and reliable connection between IEEE 1394 devices, such as digital camcorders and recordable CD drives and PCs running Microsoft® Windows® operating systems. Specifically, Sony and Microsoft cooperated on the implementation of the digital video (DV) software included with Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 98 Second Edition. In addition, the two companies worked together in the testing of IEEE 1394 storage devices with those operating systems.

  " Microsoft Windows and Sony's 1394 peripherals are a great combination for letting consumers do cool and fun new things with PCs," said Keiji Kimura, vice president, Personal IT Network Co., Sony Corp. "These products work great together because Sony and Microsoft have been collaborating on driver software for DV and storage products. Sony' s VAIO PCs with i.LINK (a trade name for IEEE 1394) ports, Digital Handycam and CD-RW drives will be a choice for customers seeking greater integration of their PC and AV appliances."

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• SETI Upgrades ET Search
  Time: 19:12 EST/00:12 GMT News Source: Wired  News Posted By: Alex Harris

  The search for little green men will get a boost next week when the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project releases SETI@Home 2.0, an overhaul to its screensaver that scans radio signals from space for signs of alien life.

  The SETI@Home project was launched in May as an effort to harness the idle CPU power of Internet users. It asked people who left their computers running when they weren't in use to leave the client running, which operates as a screensaver.

  The SETI Project, run at the University of California at Berkeley, hoped to snare 150,000 users. Instead, it has 1.5 million users, more than 500,000 of whom are active at any time. The result is that it has the most users of any distributed computing project in the world. It's also the world's most powerful computer, providing more than eight teraflops of processing per day, according to SETI@home director David Anderson.

  "A supercomputer to do that would cost [US]$100 million, and we've done that out of essentially nothing," he said.

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• eHome puts roof on real estate e-commerce business in just one week with Windows 2000
  Time: 19:09 EST/00:09 GMT News Source: Microsoft Daily News Posted By: Alex Harris

  For an Internet start-up, time is a precious commodity.

  Real estate e-commerce company eHome felt a big time crunch when launching its business. The company only had a week to set up 12 workstations for its real estate agents. The company made its deadline thanks to the stability and plug-and-play configuration of Microsoft® Windows® 2000.

  "We got up and running fast with Windows 2000 Professional because we didn't have to spend a lot of time configuring machines on the back end," said Patrick Husting, chief technology officer and co-founder of eHome. "It was just plug and play."

  California-based eHome offers home sellers both real estate agent services and an online marketing presence. People who visit the eHome site can view homes, access tools for selling a home and talk with agents in real time. Although currently limited to the San Francisco Bay Area, eHome plans to expand to markets throughout the United States.

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• Newsletter from CPU Review
  Time: 19:07 EST/00:07 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Alex Harris

  Last but by no means least, CPU Review would like to mention that they are starting a weekly newsletter that will cover the news from their site and from hardware sites from around the net, include ActiveWindows. To sign up then head over to http://www.cpureview.com and fill in the form that can be gotten to from the left hand navigation bar.

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• 0.13um Copper chips next year?
  Time: 19:05 EST/00:05 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Alex Harris

  CPU Review have posted an article that talks about some interesting developments with UMC that may impact processors and memory in the next year. To read the article click here

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• Performance of Scientific Code on Athlon, P2, P3, Celeron and SGI
  Time: 19:01 EST/00:01 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Alex Harris

  CPU Review have updated the benchmarks and have posted a pile of new results for running scientific code on P2, P3, Celeron, Athlon and a couple of SGI workstations. To read the article, click here

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• Microsoft Internet Keyboard - Review
  Time: 18:55 EST/23:55 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Bob has posted his review of the Microsoft Internet Keyboard. Here is a snippet from the review:

  As if our lives weren't easy enough, Microsoft has just made our lives a tad bit easier. With the Introduction of the new Internet Keyboard, browsing the Internet has been made quicker, more efficient, and more relaxing. Now, get one-touch access to the Internet, your e-mail and more. With its customizable Hot Keys and powerful IntelliType Pro software, the Internet Keyboard gives you a high-quality design with the tools and easy web access to help you work efficiently. With a detachable palm rest, a zero-degree slope for a relaxed wrist position and posture, and a high quality key switch for quick and consistent action, the Internet Keyboard promotes a comfortable typing position.

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• DirectX 8.0 Technical Beta Program
  Time: 18:52 EST/23:52 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft are looking for beta testers who are either developing games with DirectX or are just hard core gamers. Their #1 requirement is that during the beta cycle you immediately install and use the beta releases to help expose bugs prior to our final release. They also request that you actively participate in newsgroup discussions and chat sessions during the beta cycle.

  Interested? try signing up for the DirectX 8 beta.

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• MSN Announces Temporary Suspension of its MSN Internet Access Rebate Program in California and Oregon
  Time: 15:11 EST/20:11 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  MSN is temporarily suspending its popular MSN™ Internet Access rebate program in two states -- California and Oregon. The program was developed on a national basis to provide consumers an easy and affordable way of accessing the Internet and MSN and all that it has to offer. To date, the program has been very successful for consumers and the retail partners of MSN.

  Due to recent reports of some individuals abusing the rebate program, MSN has decided to temporarily suspend the offer in the states of California and Oregon while taking steps to ensure the program continues to meet its goal of helping people access the Internet easily and affordably.

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• Microsoft and Audible Will Bring eBooks to Life With Audio Content for Microsoft Reader
  Time: 10:27 EST/15:27 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Audible is the leading provider of digital spoken audio for PCs and mobile devices. More than 20,000 hours of audio from www.audible.com™ will be available to Microsoft Reader customers. With the integration of Audible's audio playback capabilities, Microsoft Reader will provide users with a single application that can be used to hear or read book titles in electronic form. Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates demonstrated this integrated text and audio capability at CES during his keynote address on Wednesday.

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• barnesandnoble.com and Microsoft to create eBook Superstore
  Time: 10:27 EST/15:27 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  barnesandnoble.com Inc. (Nasdaq "BNBN") and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq "MSFT") announced today that they will take a major step into the digital content future with the creation of a barnesandnoble.com eBook superstore using Microsoft^® Reader software. The eBook initiative, announced at the 2000 International CES, will provide barnesandnoble.com's millions of customers with access to thousands of eBook titles through Microsoft Reader, a new software application designed to deliver an on-screen computer reading experience rivaling that offered by traditional paper-based text.

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• Microsoft Announces Reader for ClearType for Pocket PCs
  Time: 10:27 EST/15:27 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  The world's first pocket eBook with Microsoft^® ClearType™ display technology was unveiled today at the 2000 International CES, where Microsoft Corp. announced that Microsoft Reader with ClearType will be featured in the new family of Pocket PCs. Microsoft Reader is designed to deliver an on-screen computer reading experience that for the first time approaches the convenience and quality of reading text printed on paper.

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• DirectX Developers Day
  Time: 07:34 EST/12:34 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  You’re about to take the ride of your life. Side effects such as faster game development, better graphics and enhanced audio are common. Attend our developer day to learn more; it's all about the latest version of the DirectX application programming interface (API) - the fast, easy way to create powerful games. Sounds like all hype, no content? No way. It's under NDA! and it's taking place in San Jose on March 8th. Find out more and register now at http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/directx/.

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• Windows 2000 - More Tips & Tricks
  Time: 06:43 EST/11:43 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  We have added four more Windows 2000 tips and tricks to the Windows 2000 tips section, we will be adding four tips each day as we have quite a lot to post. So keep checking back daily for more updates.

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• NorthPoint, Microsoft expand relationship
  Time: 06:22 EST/11:22 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Byron Hinson

  NorthPoint and Microsoft have expanded their joint plans to offer high-speed Internet service with RadioShack, marking a significant coup for the small broadband Net company. The duo agreed last November to create a series of "store within a store" outlets promoting digital subscriber line (DSL) service and Microsoft products. At that time, NorthPoint was on tap to provide the broadband service underlying the Microsoft Network (MSN) connections.

  The two companies have now expanded that relationship tenfold, NorthPoint said today. Once slated for just 100,000 lines, the San Francisco-based company is now under contract to provide up to 1 million broadband lines over the next four years, a spokeswoman said.

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• Y2K bug lurking in Microsoft VB, Access
  Time: 06:16 EST/11:16 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Some of the problems Web sites had ticking over successfully from 1999 to 2000 are likely to be caused by a Y2K bug in Visual Basic 3.0, as evidence emerges of Y2K problems with old versions of Microsoft Access 2.0.

  Although Microsoft has upgraded Visual Basic several times since version 3.0, the program was used for many years in large, medium and small businesses, as was Access.

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• Awards - Page Updated
  Time: 06:08 EST/11:08 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  We have finally gotten around to updating our awards section, this area covers some of the awards and acknowledgements that ActiveWindows has gotten both on the internet and in the printed press.

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• Flink Ink: Developing a Priceless Product: Free Software
  Time: 16:00 EST/21:00 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Charles has posted a new editorial called Developing a Priceless Product: Free Software. Here is a snippet:

  In our free-market society, the price of something usually reflects it's value.  Charging what the market will bare has been the cornerstone of success for many market leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries, giving rise to the history of 'cornering the market' and the invention of  the first (and real) game of monopoly.  This value/price relationship was there at the founding of the Software industry and served that industry well through most of it's life.  But it's time for a change. 

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• Windows 2000 - Tips & Tricks
  Time: 15:59 EST/20:59 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  We have finally started on our Windows 2000 tips and tricks section, we will be adding four tips each day as we have quite a lot to post. So keep checking back daily for more updates.

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• MS Gets Behind Mac OS X
  Time: 15:23 EST/20:23 GMT News Source: Wired Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft Corp. will release its latest Macintosh-based Internet browser by early March and bundle it with the next version of Apple's operating system later this year, the software giant said Wednesday.

  Microsoft will also bundle its Outlook Express email product with Apple's new OS X when it debuts in the second half of 2000, as well as an OS X version of its Office package including Word, Excel and Powerpoint plus, a Microsoft executive said.

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• Gates to CES: Less is more -- for MS, too
  Time: 14:39 EST/19:39 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  When you think of convergence, you think of consolidation, right? Less is less. But Bill Gates sees it the other way around: When it comes to the combination of computers, TVs and telephones, less is really more. During his keynote address to the giant Consumer Electronics Show here Wednesday evening, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Gates claimed that the ever accelerating and much vaunted digital convergence will actually create more devices, more opportunities -- and more companies.

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• Windows 2000 banned by Chinese government
  Time: 14:37 EST/19:37 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  Software giant Microsoft has run into more bad publicity in China with a newspaper reporting that its latest Windows 2000 operating system will be banned throughout the government.

  Microsoft and Chinese officials today denied the report, which appeared in yesterday's edition of the Yangcheng Evening News. But a Ministry of Information Industry official, who declined to be identified, said the government was advocating that users bought domestic software.

  The newspaper offered no evidence to back up its report that Windows 2000 had been blacklisted in China even before its formal launch in March. Microsoft is reeling from a stream of negative publicity in China, fueled by a vitriolic book written by its former Chinese general manager, Wu Shihong, who accuses her former employer of arrogance and insensitivity to China's needs.

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• Democratic National Committee patches security hole
  Time: 14:35 EST/19:35 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  The Democratic National Committee has fixed a security hole on its Web site that could have displayed private information collected about visitors.

  The DNC regularly polls its users on political issues via its Web site. Earlier today, the Center for the Study of Technology and Society, an online security watchdog organization, said the DNC site keeps a log of users' Internet protocol (IP) addresses, which could be read online by anyone with a Web browser. An IP address is a unique string of numbers that identifies a computer on the Internet.

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• Computer glitch causes havoc at Northeast airports
  Time: 14:33 EST/19:33 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  A computer problem grounded planes in the Northeast this morning, potentially snarling air traffic for the remainder of the day.

  A Federal Aviation Administration representative said the problem does not appear to be related to the Y2K computer bug. The problem occurred about 6:15 a.m. EST at Washington Center in Leesburg, Va., which handles much of the air traffic for the Northeast. The problem was related to communications between the main computer at Washington Center and an unidentified peripheral device. As error messages mounted, they overloaded the main computer, forcing the operations center to shift to a backup system.

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• Microsoft Lends a Hand to Lefties With Launch of First Ambidextrous Optical Mouse
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release/ActiveWindows Posted By: Robert Stein

  Active Windows Exclusive!! We have just added to the above article an exclusive image of this new mouse sent to us directly from our contact at Microsoft. Be sure to check it out! Now, back to the Press Release:

  IntelliMouse Optical, unveiled during CES in Las Vegas today, is the newest in Microsoft's family of ball-free Mouse products that use digital optical tracking technology. Sporting the silver detailing, signature red taillight and glowing underside made popular by IntelliMouse Explorer, IntelliMouse Optical features a smaller design that is comfortable for both left- and right-handed mouse users.

  "With the introduction of Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical, the more than 33 million 'lefties' in this country no longer have to feel 'left out' from having a cool, five-button optical mouse," said Tim O'Brien, product manager in the Hardware Division of the Hardware Group at Microsoft. "Regardless of which hand they favor, consumers can benefit from the comfortable design, IntelliEye™ technology and five customizable buttons that make using their computer less cumbersome and more fun."

  • ActiveWindows Intellimouse Explorer Review
  • ActiveWindows IntelliMouse Featuring IntelliEye Review

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• Microsoft Pocket PC Software Previewed at Annual Consumer Electronics Show
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Today at the 2000 International CES, Microsoft Corp. previewed the next-generation Windows^® CE-based Palm-size PC software and gave the devices a new name: Pocket PCs. Hardware vendors that include Casio Computer Company Ltd., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Symbol Technologies Inc. plan to support Pocket PC software in upcoming products expected to be available in the first half of this year. The Pocket PC software, previously code-named "Rapier," puts the best of the PC into a small device, providing users with the freedom to better manage their work and their life anywhere, any time.

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• Phillips Electronics and WebTV Networks to Deliver New Personal TV Hardware and Services to Consumers
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Today at the 2000 International CES, Philips Consumer Electronics, one of the world's largest electronics companies, and WebTV Networks, Inc., a subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., announced their plans to develop and deliver a set-top box incorporating the new Microsoft^® WebTV Network™ Personal TV service featuring digital video recording (DVR) capabilities, Live TV Pause and optional Internet services. Philips will manufacture and market the hardware, which will be based on WebTV^® services.

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• Microsoft Previews New Devices Using Windows CE for Automative 2.0
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Today at CES, Microsoft Corp. previewed new devices from Visteon Corp. and Clarion Corporation of America built on the second version of the Microsoft^® Windows^® CE for Automotive operating system that was released to manufacturers this summer. The devices bring the benefits of interactive speech technology, mobile connectivity, information on demand and enhanced entertainment within the automobile to new levels.

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• Microsoft Windows Media Closes the Gap on Competition
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  According to Media Metrix Inc., the leader in Internet audience measurement, WindowsMedia.com leapt forward in its number of unique visitors - up 909 percent from January through October 1999, marking its position as by far the fastest-growing Web site for digital audio and video content on the Internet.* WindowsMedia.com attracted 3.9 million unique visitors in November 1999, reinforcing the strong demand for audio and video in the Windows Media format.

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• MSN Takes Another Step Forward in Enabling the Everyday Web
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  At the 2000 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today, Microsoft Corp. announced a number of enhancements to the MSN™ Mobile Service and MSN-based Web companions that will further the company's commitment to make the Web accessible any time, anywhere and from any device. As the first fully customizable wireless information service offered by a major portal, MSN Mobile will now be extended as an MSN megaservice, allowing third parties to offer MSN Mobile Service to their customers who purchase wireless devices. In addition, MSN Mobile Service 2.0, which the company plans to release in the coming months, will allow users of Web-enabled cellular phones to pull customized content from the Internet in real time. And MSN-based Web companions will include additional features to make it even easier to surf the Web, communicate with others and accomplish everyday tasks online.

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• Microsoft Unveils Windows Media Player for Palm-Size PCs
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Today at 2000 International CES, Microsoft Corp. unveiled the Windows Media™ Player for Palm-size and Pocket PCs, giving consumers access to CD-quality music on Palm-size and Pocket PC devices. The Microsoft^® Windows Media Player for Palm-size PCs is scheduled to be available for download in February 2000 for Casio Cassiopeia E-100 and E-105, the Compaq Aero 1500 and 2100 Series, and the Hewlett-Packard Jornada 430SE Palm-size PC model owners. The Windows Media Player will support Windows Media and MP3 formats. Consumers selecting the Windows Media format will get two hours of CD-quality playback on a typical 64MB device and one hour of playback using MP3. Demonstrations of Windows Media Player on these and other Palm-size PCs will take place in Booth 626 at CES.

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• Microsoft Debuts Concept Home
  Time: 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Microsoft Corp. today announced the debut of its new Microsoft^® Home, located on the company's Redmond, Wash., campus. The concept family home was designed to showcase the company's vision of the role new software will play in improving people's quality of life. The Microsoft Home brings together under one roof a broad range of technologies, products and services that work together to make home life easier and more enjoyable for all family members.

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• Independent Aberdeen Group says Windows 2000 Server, Windows NT Server enterprise-ready
  Time: 05:04 EST/10:04 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Enterprises need IT systems that are reliable, manageable, scalable and secure.

  And according to independent research firm Aberdeen Group, the Windows platform can meet those requirements. The firm said its research shows that Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server and Windows NT® Server are suitable for running enterprise-class, mission-critical applications. Aberdeen Group cited the successful deployment of the operating system by enterprise customers and improvements in both hardware and the Windows platform.

  "This report shows that the Windows operating system can succeed in the most demanding computing environments," said Karan Khanna, lead product manager at Microsoft. "And with Windows 2000 Server, enterprises will see dramatic improvements over Windows NT Server in the key areas of scalability, availability, manageability and security."

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• Microsoft, Barnes & Noble in alliance
  Time: 04:58 EST/09:58 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft said it's entered into an alliance with Barnes & Noble and Barnesandnoble.com to use the software company's product for reading books on portable computing devices.

  Craig Mundie, a Microsoft senior vice president, said the Redmond, Wash., company reached an agreement with the No. 1 U.S. bookseller and its Web-based business, the No. 2 online bookseller.

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• AMD scores HP notebook win, readies 800-MHz debut
  Time: 03:13 EDT/08:13 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  AMD sought to counter a groundbreaking Intel initiative with an expanded relationship with Hewlett-Packard, and tomorrow will announce an 800-MHz processor that matches the giant's fastest chip.

  As expected, AMD will release an 800-MHz Athlon processor at the Computer Electronics Show tomorrow in Las Vegas. Both IBM and Compaq will be on hand to announce computers incorporating the new chip, according to sources familiar with the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's plans.

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• Gates touts new version of CE, hints at Windows update
  Time: 03:11 EDT/08:11 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates isn't giving up on software for handheld devices, tonight describing a new version of Windows CE in a trade show address.

  In a keynote speech long on gee whiz predictions about the home of the future, and short on details of how Microsoft hopes to participate in a connected world, Gates kicked off the Consumer Electronics Show here with several announcements. As expected, he touted an updated version of Windows CE called Pocket PC and several other technologies.

  Notwithstanding Gates' musings on convergence, though, the big question is whether Microsoft can make a go at fast-growing handhelds, popular information appliances that are increasingly figuring in high-tech companies' plans for online goods and services. Despite Microsoft's marketing heft and predictions that its arrival into the market would decimate rivals, Windows CE has failed to gain much momentum.

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• Windows Update: Updated
  Time: 18:15 EDT/23:15 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Windows update has had a few new bug fixes added to it today. Including one called Windows 98 Second Edition 1394 Storage you can download this component to install a Safe Removal utility that allows you to safely stop a Plug and Play storage device prior to physically unplugging the device. This component also includes an update for 1394 drivers, to resolve issues related to the surprise removal of peripheral devices.

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• Microsoft Windows 2000 Launch Contest
  Time: 15:52 EDT/20:52 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft have opened a new site, http://www.windows2000contest.com where entrants can win a Grand Prize of an expenses paid trip to the live Windows 2000 launch in San Francisco, also a weekly prize of a copy of Windows 2000 Professional from January 3rd to February 17th. It is also possible to register to attend the event and have a chance to win a Palm PC or Microsoft Windows 2000 polar-fleece pull-over.

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• Working with Windows 2000
  Time: 15:45 EDT/20:45 GMT News Source: Windows NT Magazine Posted By: Alex Harris

  I recently received an IBM ThinkPad running Windows 2000 Professional (Win2K Pro). It's my first real hands-on experience with Win2K, if you discount a quick training course I attended a few months ago. Like many of you, I pay more attention when I’m connecting a new system to my network than I do when I'm taking a class. In any case, the Win2K notebook had no trouble joining my Windows NT 4.0 domain on the first boot, and it correctly browsed all the network resources.

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• Driver Signing and File System Verification
  Time: 15:45 EDT/20:45 GMT News Source: Windows NT Magazine Posted By: Alex Harris

  In an article last month, I wrote about Windows File Protection, a Windows 2000 (Win2K) feature that protects your crucial system files by preventing other applications from overwriting them. By default, Windows File Protection lets other applications replace system files only when you use Windows Update, perform OS upgrades using winnt32.exe, install service packs with Windows Update, and install hotfixes.

  Microsoft has digitally signed Win2K system files to ensure that the OS will run smoothly. A digital signature is Microsoft’s assurance that no other software installations have altered the files and that Microsoft has tested the files and approved them for use with Win2K. If someone accidentally or intentionally replaces a system file or a device driver, Windows File Protection automatically replaces the offending file or driver with Microsoft’s digitally signed file. This week, I discuss the driver signing concept and the File System Verification utility.

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• What Microsoft Hasn’t Told You About Deploying Win2K
  Time: 15:43 EDT/20:43 GMT News Source: Windows NT Magazine Posted By: Alex Harris

  After we get past any Y2K problems, the challenge for many systems administrators will be deploying Windows 2000 (Win2K). Although Win2K’s deployment technology is new, not a lot has changed. Fortunately, third-party tools are coming to help administrators tackle even the toughest implementations.

  Traditionally, administrators have taken two approaches to deploying Windows in the enterprise. Perhaps the best known method for large-scale Windows deployments uses an imaging product, such as Symantec’s Ghost, to create an image of a successfully installed OS. Ghost reformats the targeted hard disks and copies the imaged files to those drives. That method works fine when you support various machines with identical hardware configurations, but it breaks down when you need to create images of several types of configurations.

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• G4 vs. Athlon: Photoshop & LightWave
  Time: 15:33 EDT/20:33 GMT News Source: CPU Review Posted By: Alex Harris

  CPU Review have posted an article sent in by one of their readers where the reader has benchmarked an Athlon 600 machine and a G4 based machine doing photoshop tasks. Here is a snippet of the article:

  The Athlon and the Macs won some tests and lost some tests to the other side, respectively, but the G4/450 beat the Athlon by about 18% overall, though (138.7sec vs. 117.6sec). Based on these figures, I'm guessing an Athlon 700 running NT can achieve parity with or slightly exceed the G4/450, and the new Athlon 750 comes close to, but not quite catch the nowhere to be seen G4/500.

  Read more

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• J.D. Edwards improves communication, cuts training costs with Exchange 2000 Server
  Time: 15:25 EDT/20:25 GMT News Source: Microsoft Daily News Posted By: Alex Harris

  When a company's employees and customers are dispersed across the globe, effective communication can be a challenge.

  But communication is no problem at J.D. Edwards. Thanks to the Microsoft® Exchange Server platform, staff at the enterprise software supplier can easily share and access information. J.D. Edwards improved internal and external communication and reduced support and training costs by adopting Exchange 5.5 Server and Exchange 2000 Server. And the company expects to lower its total cost of ownership and reap other benefits by fully deploying Exchange 2000 Server.

  "Since messaging has become a mission-critical application at J.D. Edwards, Exchange 2000 Server will provide many enhancements allowing our company to better meet our service-level agreements," said Jeffrey Andersen, messaging service manager at J.D. Edwards.

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• RealPlayer 7 Goes for Gold
  Time: 15:21 EDT/20:21 GMT News Source: PC World Posted By: Alex Harris

  The future of music is the Internet, and RealNetworks just brought it a step closer. On Wednesday, RealNetworks announced the final release of its RealPlayer 7 for Windows streaming media player. RealPlayer 7, which had been available in a beta version for two months, focuses on improving both the video content and audio playback capabilities of earlier versions.

  RealPlayer 7 is available in either a Basic or Plus format; both are immediately available for download from www.real.com. The Basic version is a free download, while the Plus version costs $29.99. RealPlayer 7 Basic is offered in three options: Minimal, Standard, and Complete, which offer increasing levels of functionality.

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• 800MHz Athlon storms CES
  Time: 15:18 EDT/20:18 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Thursday will crank up the juice on its Athlon processor. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company, as expected, will introduce an 800MHz version of its Athlon processor at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The chip will be AMD's fastest Athlon, replacing the 750MHz Athlon, which was released in November. The chip will be available immediately in PCs from manufacturers including Compaq Computer Corp. and IBM Corp.

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• Ramping up Rambus memory
  Time: 15:15 EDT/20:15 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  After devastating delays, production of Rambus memory will ramp up significantly this year, accounting for 16 percent of PC memory.

  According to a study conducted by Nikkei Market Access, and reported today by Nikkei BP AsiaBizTech, memory makers will ship about 270 million 128MB/144 MB Rambus DRAM chips in 2000, with four companies accounting for 75 percent of production.

  After several false starts, Rambus may finally be finding its footing. Intel's unexpected September delay of the 820 chipset, also known as Camino, caught many PC makers by surprise and nearly brought RDRAM production to a temporary halt.

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• Intel to enter Web appliance market
  Time: 15:13 EDT/20:13 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  Intel will further expand its horizons beyond the microprocessor today when it details plans for selling Linux-powered Internet appliances that make phone calls, surf the Web and send and receive email.

  The new appliances, which will come out toward the middle of the year, will essentially combine a phone with a limited but upgradeable Internet PC. Prices will range from $300 to $700 with monthly service starting at $25 to $30, said Claude Leglise, general manager of the home products group at Intel, although actual pricing and service packages will depend upon the communications carrier offering the service.

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• Microsoft preps new Office, IE for Macs
  Time: 15:11 EDT/20:11 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Alex Harris

  The big number in Microsoft's vocabulary for the new millenium is the Roman numeral X, as in Mac OS X.

  Today, Microsoft finally officially announced software support for the upcoming version of the Macintosh operating system, called Mac OS X, a move that should help solidify further software development as well as soothe fears customers may have about migrating to the new operating system.

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• Flink Ink Launches
  Time: 14:57 EDT/19:57 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

  We have a new addition for ActiveWindows this week, a new special editorial section called "Flink Ink". From here you will be able to read a number of weekly editorials written by our main editorial writer Charles Flink. Here are some of his qualifications. Here are Charles first four editorials.
  
  

  • Themes for a New Year ....and Beyond
  • Rotten Software: What's the right policy?
  • Microsoft's Big "Crime"
  • Stop Foolish Paranoia! (Know what you SHOULD be paranoid about!)

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• Microsoft Windows 2000 Certified Program List
  Time: 10:54 EDT/15:54 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Robert Stein

  We have posted the Windows 2000 Certified Program List. All of these programs have been independently tested to meet a standard technology for Windows 2000 by Microsoft. Surprisingly, none of Microsoft's software has been certified - only "in progress."

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• MSN CarPoint Unveils Sneak Peek of Unforgettable Cars As Official Web Site of the 2000 North American International Auto Show
  Time: 10:22 EST/15:22 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  As the official Web site of NAIAS for the third consecutive year, CarPoint offers streaming video, surround videos and editorial reviews from the show floor, as well as a preview of the 60 hottest new cars as they are unveiled during the auto show's exclusive media days. In addition, all the action can be viewed via the virtual show floor map on CarPoint, which streams live views of the show floor onto the Internet.

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• Microsoft Opens Austin, Texas Facility
  Time: 10:22 EST/15:22 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Robert Stein

  Microsoft Corp. today announced the opening of its first permanent office facility in Austin, Texas. The office will provide customer service support to local customers of Microsoft as well as facilities for product demonstrations and training. As part of the company's Houston-based Gulf Coast District, this facility will provide services for several Texas cities, including Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and El Paso.

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• Gates to unveil new Windows CE
  Time: 05:21 EST/09:21 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates will unveil his firm's newest software for handhelds during a keynote at a trade show tonight, sources said, in one of the most visible attempts at repositioning the faltering operating system.

  Gates will demonstrate the long-awaited update to Windows CE in his speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Code-named Rapier, sources close to the company said the newest version of the scaled-down operating system will be launched under a new name: Pocket PC.

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• Leading trade show may reveal AOL's set-top plans
  Time: 05:19 EST/10:19 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  PC makers, online service providers and consumer electronics manufacturers will be showing all manner of products designed to access the Internet this week at a trade show in Las Vegas, each hoping to capture the public's imagination.

  Among the possible showstoppers on tap: America Online is expected to finally join the information appliance game, showing off TV set-top boxes and Web terminals designed specifically for its online service. Microsoft has been displaying both for months.

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• Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-001) - Patch Available for "Malformed IMAP Request" Vulnerability
  Time: 19:29 EDT/00:29 GMT News Source: E-mail Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-01) : Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a vulnerability in the Microsoft(r) Commercial Internet System (MCIS) Mail server. The vulnerability could allow a malicious user to remotely cause services on the server to fail, or cause arbitrary code to run on the server.

  Read more

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• Microsoft patches Hotmail hole
  Time: 18:46 EST/23:46 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft confirmed today that it has fixed another JavaScript bug that could have posed a security risk to users of its Hotmail free email service.

  The security exploit is a JavaScript applet that poses as a Hotmail login dialog box. When the applet is loaded, a box pops up resembling a Hotmail login request. This could fool a user into entering his or her screen name and password, which the perpetrator could then use to access the customer's Hotmail account.

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• Frequently Asked Questions - Updated
  Time: 16:43 EDT/21:43 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Robert Stein

  We have updated various Frequently asked questions such as DirectX and Windows "Neptune". Check them our in our FAQ section.

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• Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer - Review
  Time: 15:41 EDT/20:41 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Robert Stein

  We have posted our review of the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer. Here is a snippet from the review:

  Well, It looks like Microsoft has done it again. The latest creation coming from Redmond is not like the rest - it is a completely new advance in technology. In the last five to ten years, how often have you changed or upgraded your monitor, CPU, printer, etc. but kept the silly old white mouse? Not only does this mouse have a new stylish look, but also works different as well. IntelliMouse Explorer is Microsoft's most advanced mouse. IntelliMouse Explorer combines the accuracy and reliability of Microsoft IntelliEye optical tracking technology, the convenience of two customizable function buttons, the efficiency of the scrolling wheel, and the comfort of expert ergonomic design.

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• Microsoft Windows 2000 Hardware Compatability List Updated
  Time: 15:41 EDT/20:41 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Robert Stein

  We have posted Microsoft's update of the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatability List. The file size is 455 KB so be careful!

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• HypersnapDX 3.53 Released
  Time: 15:12 EST/20:12 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  A new version of HypersnapDX has been released over at Hyperonics. This is version 3.53. Hypersnap is an excellent utility which allows you to take screenshots from any game (including DVDs) even those without screenshot functions. Here are some of the updates:
  
  

  • Corrected DirectX/Direct3D game capture code - it would sometimes not capture games using DirectX 6 interfaces, if DirectX 7 was install on the system.
  • Corrected to not forget the file name, if the image was edited (e.g. cropped, resized etc.)

  You can download the new version from the Hyperonics web site.

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• Microsoft Introduces the Perfect Game to Go With a New PC
  Time: 15:03 EST/20:03 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  With the rush of the holiday season over, new PC owners may be looking for products that will provide fun and entertainment at an affordable price. Microsoft Corp. delivers with the powerful, true-to-life-action soccer game for the PC, "International Soccer 2000," affordably priced at an estimated retail price of only $19.99 (U.S.). Soccer enthusiasts and gamers alike are sure to enjoy the intensity and movement of real-life gameplay as the action on the PC screen is rendered in fluid and sophisticated graphic detail. The superior gameplay design, unique one-touch controls and world-class graphics make the game intuitive, responsive and rewarding to play.

  Read our review of International Soccer 2000

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• Cimetrix speeds development of factory automation tools with Windows NT Embedded
  Time: 02:58 EST/07:58 GMT News Source: Microsoft Daily News Posted By: Alex Harris

  Thanks to its move to Microsoft® Windows NT® Embedded, Cimetrix Incorporated is helping its customers build robotic factory automation tools in less time.

  In 1995, the Salt Lake City-based company developed the Cimetrix Open Development Environment (CODE), open-architecture motion control software development tools for factory automation systems. Originally, CODE ran on UNIX-based real-time operating systems (RTOS's). UNIX-based RTOS's were fast, but Cimetrix had concerns about their reliability and the lack of development tools. So Cimetrix moved its entire product line to run in concert with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and Windows NT Embedded.

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• Swedes hit by certificate expiration
  Time: 02:56 EST/07:56 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  Tens of thousands of Swedes were unable to access their bank accounts over the Internet following the turn of the year because they were using outdated browser software with expired digital certificates, banks said Monday. Bank spokesmen said the problem affected some 100,000 people, about 10 percent of Sweden's online banking customers, who had not upgraded their Web browsers to the latest versions.

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• Y2K knocked out spy satellite
  Time: 02:54 EST/07:54 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  The United States Monday recovered full use of a critical spy satellite system, its most significant known casualty of the Year 2000 computer glitch. The ground link that processes the satellites' feed 'returned to full operational status this morning' after repairs were wrapped up overnight, Defense Department spokeswoman Susan Hansen said.

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• Y2K: The Non-Event
  Time: 02:52 EST/07:52 GMT News Source: CPU Review Posted By: Alex Harris

  There are a few reports of minor glitches (corrected within minutes) at some power plants; but as far as I know not one city was left without power, water, communications, sewer or any other services.

  The world breathed a collective sigh of relief.

  Some people are beginning to question if Y2K was hyped up beyond reason, and even if any remediation (Y2K fixes) were required at all.

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• Report: Windows 2000 Power Management
  Time: 02:50 EST/07:50 GMT News Source: Cool Computing Posted By: Alex Harris

  As the release of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows 2000 nears, the small number of available applications certified to run with the operating system is causing some IT managers concern. Today, only five applications are certified to run on Windows 2000 Professional, and only one on the Server version. While Microsoft officials in Redmond, Wash., say that number should grow to about 40 applications for Professional by the time the operating system ships on Feb. 17, that's still far fewer than certification programs for other operating systems.

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• Win 2000 short on certified apps
  Time: 15:06 EST/20:06 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  As the release of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows 2000 nears, the small number of available applications certified to run with the operating system is causing some IT managers concern. Today, only five applications are certified to run on Windows 2000 Professional, and only one on the Server version. While Microsoft officials in Redmond, Wash., say that number should grow to about 40 applications for Professional by the time the operating system ships on Feb. 17, that's still far fewer than certification programs for other operating systems.

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• Microsoft Year 2000 fails to impress
  Time: 10:44 EST/15:44 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Alex Harris

  The long-awaited launch of Microsoft Year 2000(tm) turned out to be a damp squib, according to most industry watchers.

  Despite a development spend of well over $3Bn and an intensive, five-year marketing campaign; MSY2K has failed to live up to expectations.

  The feature list for the new product included aircraft falling from the sky, worldwide thermonuclear war, unfeasibly large gas bills and a return to a feudal society.

  "There are always problems with the first release of a major new product, said a Microsoft spin paramedic. "We confidently expect a full feature set in the next release, Year 2000.1, but there will also be a service pack available later in Q1. However, we are proud to have delivered on time, even if the product doesn't yet function as advertised."

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• Microsoft's Bill Gates to Keynote Annual J.D. Edwards User Group Conference
  Time: 08:48 EST/13:48 GMT News Source: Yahoo! News Posted By: Alex Harris

  J.D. Edwards & Company (Nasdaq: JDEC - news) today announced that Microsoft founder and industry visionary, Bill Gates, will keynote FOCUS 2000, the annual user conference sponsored by Quest, J.D. Edwards Users Group. FOCUS, under the theme ``Emerge,'' will take place June 19-22 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The annual user conference will offer a forum for customers, prospects and partners from around the world to exchange information, solutions and business perspectives.

  Gates will address the conference the afternoon of Tuesday, June 20, following J.D. Edwards president and CEO, Doug Massingill's opening remarks that morning. Massingill is scheduled to discuss doing business in the new millennium, including current and future technology strategies.

  ``J.D. Edwards is excited to have Mr. Gates at FOCUS,'' said Massingill. ``This is a great opportunity for our customers to meet and hear from one of the most influential technology visionaries of our time. Our two companies have long partnered to provide innovative and technology solutions to organizations worldwide. As we move into the 21st century, we will continue to focus our joint development efforts on offering the most agile e-business solutions for our customers.''

  Over 8,000 attendees are expected to come to Denver from around the world for educational and professional development, networking and introductions to new technologies, services and business issues. Details about FOCUS 2000 are posted on the Internet at www.questnet.org as they become available. FOCUS registration will open to J.D. Edwards users, prospects and the media in early 2000.

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• Y2k Virus Information
  Time: 08:08 EST/13:08 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Alex Harris

  As we reported earlier about the different Y2K Viruses, I thought it would be good to see if I could find more information on what these different viruses were and how you could know if you were infected by them, also what they do to your PC. Here is the information I have found so far. This information can also be found at the Computer Associates Website

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• Japanese electronics makers report over 50 Y2K glitches
  Time: 08:08 EST/13:08 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  Japanese economic newswires say more than 50 Y2K glitches have been reported at six major electronics manufacturers in Japan as of Monday, but none of them is serious, industry officials said, adding that all of the problems have since been fixed. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. reported 24 instances of Y2K-related difficulties, Toshiba Corp. 10, Fujitsu Ltd. nine, NEC Corp. seven, and Hitachi Ltd. one, while several occurred at IBM Japan Ltd. The glitches at NEC included one that hit a radiation alarm system at a nuclear power plant in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, and another that affected data related to an e-mail service for cellular phones sold by NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo), an NEC official said. The power plant glitch did not affect the plant's operation according to an official.

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• Y2K glitch adds 100 years to jail sentences
  Time: 08:06 EST/13:06 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  Millennium bug computer glitches added a century to some Italian jail sentences and knocked 100 years off others on Monday, forcing court officials to close administrative offices while the problems were solved. Officials in a court in the southern city of Naples found that prisoners looking forward to release next Monday had, according to their computer records, been detained 100 years too long and should have been released on January 10, 1900. Others whose sentences were due to have ended in December 1999 could look forward to another century behind bars, while those awaiting hearings also had an extra 100 years to wait.

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• Reviews and Previews around the Net
  Time: 07:17 EST/12:17 GMT News Source: Various Posted By: Alex Harris

  Here is a listing of some reviews and previews that are around the net:

  Driver - ActiveWindows - Review
  SoundBlaster Live! Platinum - ActiveWindows - Review
  Rogue Spear - Voodoo Extreme - Review
  B-17 Flying Fortress II: The Mighty Eighth - CGO - Preview
  Final Fantasy VIII - Game Arena - Preview
  Elsa Erazor X2 - Sharky Extreme - Review
  Asus V6600 Deluxe - Gamers Depot - Review
  Cougar TNT2 M64 - AnandTech - Review
  PlexWrite 8/4/32 - Tech Review - Review
  Urban Chaos Review - Damage Gaming - Review
  Star Trek: Hidden Evil - AVault - Review
  Age of Wonders - AVault - Review
  Odium - AVault - Review

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• AOL and Microsoft: Goliath vs. Goliath
  Time: 07:17 EST/12:17 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  Having won the battle for the desktop and the browser, Microsoft lost no time in moving against its next big target, bringing America Online into its sights throughout much of 1999.

  The confrontation has so far  developed as a classic game of copycat and one-upmanship between the two technology giants.

  It was a year that saw Microsoft take shots at AOL's dominance in the instant messaging and Internet service provider markets. In addition, both companies rushed into partnerships with offline retailers in a bid to bring the Internet to Main Street.

  Entering the new year, the companies are poised to continue their mad scramble in hopes of rounding up Internet newbies looking for an unthreatening way to get online. They also are expected to release new services such as wireless access aimed at freeing users from the PC.

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• Beginners GUI Guide for Windows 98
  Time: 07:05 EST/12:05 GMT News Source: Windows 98 Central Posted By: Alex Harris

  Win98Central has brought up a 'Beginners GUI Guide' for Windows 98.  Which is a pretty extensive page that discusses how to customize Windows 98 and such. Here is a snippet of it:

  After Windows 98 has been installed you are basically staring at a blank screen with a Start button located in the lower left hand side of the screen and a few icons on your desktop. Now before you get started playing around with the desktop there is one place you need to look to verify your setup was successful. 

  They have also posted two documents which discuss what to do once you have Windows 98 installed. One is for the more advanced user, and the other for the beginner (first timer). They can be found at:

  http://www.win98central.com/setup/ (middle of the page)

  or download directly at:

  http://www.win98central.com/setup/docs/win98setupadvanced.zip (137k) 
  http://www.win98central.com/setup/docs/win98setupbeginners.zip (125k)

  Windows 98 Central also has poll: "What is the top story of 1999" which can be found at http://www.win98central.com/poll/

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• Y2K bug causes huge late fee
  Time: 05:50 EST/10:50 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  The Y2K bug hit a video store customer with a near six-figure late fee, the Associated Press reported. At the Super Video rental store in Colonie, N.Y., a computer calculated an overdue tape as being 100 years late, and called for a $91,250 fine. The store owner calculated the real fine by hand, the AP reported.

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• Say hello to Feliz.Trojan and Armagidon
  Time: 05:48 EST/10:48 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  It's already been a busy new year for virus watchers at Computer Associates International Inc., which used the weekend to issue the first virus warnings of the year 2000. CA (NYSE: CA) followed up two earlier warnings with two more on Sunday, issuing releases warning of Feliz.Trojan and Armagidon, a new Word macro virus. Both are potentially destructive. Feliz.Trojan can cause PCs not to boot, and Armagidon can cause documents to print with incorrect characters. Armagidon will also replace the Windows mouse pointer with a Red Cross symbol on May 8, which is Red Cross Day.

  CA officials were not immediately available to assess the potential virulence of these new viruses. There was no mention of them on other virus sites. The other viruses CA issued warnings of were not considered very dangerous.

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• Samsung extends Rambus capacity
  Time: 05:46 EST/10:46 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  Samsung Electronics Co. said it has developed a 288 megabit Rambus DRAM chip, doubling the capacity of its chip. Rambus chips use a high-speed memory technology format developed by Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS). Samsung said it would start shipping the new chip in the 2nd quarter of 2000.

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• White House, Bill Gates Eye-To-Eye on Y2K
  Time: 05:44 EST/10:44 GMT News Source: Yahoo! News Posted By: Alex Harris

  The White House joined software titan Bill Gates on Sunday in predicting Year 2000 computer ``snafus'' may become a nagging headache despite the surprisingly glitch-free Jan. 1 rollover. But President Clinton's top Y2K aide, John Koskinen, voiced confidence that U.S. financial markets and banks would sail into the 21st century's first business day Monday without systemic failures.

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• Gates Sees Some Y2K 'Snafus' to Come
  Time: 05:42 EST/10:42 GMT News Source: Yahoo! News Posted By: Alex Harris

  Bill Gates, chief executive of software giant Microsoft Corp. , said he expected some relatively minor year 2000 computer glitches to crop up in the coming weeks, even though no major disaster followed the changeover to the new year. ``There is still a little mess that will have to be cleaned up,'' Gates said during an interview on Saturday evening on Cable News Network's ``Larry King Live'' program. ``It's not going to be catastrophic, but there will be a lot of snafus.''

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• Site News: First Of The Year
  Time: 16:47 EST/21:47 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Byron Hinson

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

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

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

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

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

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• Unreal Tournament vs. Quake III Arena Review
  Time: 07:44 EST/12:44 GMT News Source: WindowPlanet Posted By: Alex Harris

  WindowPlanet has posted a review of Unreal Tournament vs. Quake III Arena. Here is a snippet of the review:

  While UT consists of various themes (City, Gothic, Future, historical sites ect), Q3A heavily depends on gothic-style levels we all know from Q1. But there is also a bunch of future-orientated maps we all loved in Q2. It's not hard to see that ID meshed up both styles, the gothic from Q1 and the future theme to one new level design Q3A is based on. Q3A´s textures are superb, though they lack originality/realism. It seems like it's all about the curved surfaces. The maps are often very crowded, gameplay is very fast and bloody. During deathmach - no matter what map you´re playing - you have virtually no chance to camp around. Your enemies are screaming fast and don´t give you time to breath. It´s non-stop action the way we like it. The weapons and items are very simple and easy-to-use. This makes Q3A the best deathmatch game ever.

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• Script virus looks to ring in new year
  Time: 07:34 EST/12:34 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  The first virus to get its own press release in the year 2000 appears to be little more than a nuisance. Meanwhile, pirate-killer Trojan.Kill also quiet.

  It might not be the first virus of the new millennium, but it's the first to have its own press release.

  On Saturday, Computer Associates International Inc. (NYSE:CA) released an alert warning users of Wscript.Kak, a worm that spreads via systems that use both Microsoft Windows 98 and Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 e-mail client.

  "From a risk perspective this is fairly low. You have to send an e-mail for it to spread," said Simon Perry, security business manager at CA in an interview with ZDNN on Saturday. "A self-propagating virus, like Melissa, will spread itself to several others automatically and by the nature of the propagation you get a threat."

  While the Melissa macro virus, which struck thousands of companies last March, required the user to open an attachment, one that had occurred, the virus spread exponentially.

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• Microsoft fixes two Y2K glitches
  Time: 07:32 EST/12:32 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) had to scramble to fix a Y2K problem late Friday night, the company told the Associated Press. Starting at about 11 PM PT, Microsoft had to work with Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU), which makes Quicken, to fix a glitch in the data feed between Intuit and Microsoft's MoneyCentral Web site. The glitch caused some customers' portfolios to appear larger than they were, the AP reported. The glitch was fixed by midnight. Also, on Saturday Microsoft engineers were fixing a Hotmail problem that caused e-mails from before October 1999 to appear as though they were sent in 2099. Microsoft officials told the AP that no e-mails were lost.

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• Wal-Mart opens doors to new online store
  Time: 07:29 EST/12:29 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  Wal-Mart today launched a new online store, marking its boldest foray into e-commerce and posing a greater threat to Internet giants such as Amazon.com.

  Wal-Mart's new e-commerce site shows 24 categories, including appliances, a garden shop, pets, toys and travel. It lists many of the same categories that Amazon launched last year in its bid to expand beyond "Earth's biggest bookstore."

  Wal-Mart's site also includes a personalization service dubbed "My Wal-Mart" that promises quicker checkout and keeps track of a customer's purchase history. The online store also includes features such as an automated gift and toy finder to help in buying items.

  The travel site lets users book flights, hotel rooms and rental cars. A "photo center" lets customers post photos online to share them with frends.

  The site--launched on New Year's day, as expected--is another sign of the move toward the Web by brick-and-mortar retailing giants. Many traditional retailers have stumbled on the Internet, however; Wal-Mart's own site had been expected sooner.

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• Review - SoundBlaster Live! Platinum
  Time: 07:19 EST/12:19 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Alex Harris

  I have posted my review of Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! Platinum PCI audio card. Here is a snippet of the review:

  The card itself is quite an easy operation to fit into the computer by just rocking it back and forth gently into the free PCI slot. Once in place I found it is a lot easier to connect the cables up to the drive bay before screwing the drive bay into place, just because once the bay is screwed into place, it can be difficult to get the cable that connects the bay and the card into place, mainly down to the fact that the cables that are inside the PC get in the way. Obviously this is down to the manufacturer on how neatly they are organized. Once all the cables are connected it is just a simple step to put the 4 screws, that are provided in the package, in to secure the drive bay.  Once all the hardware is installed and you start up Windows again it is detected as a PCI Audio Device and is a simple task of having the disk in your DVD/CD Rom drive and selecting the correct drivers for it.

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• Gates, wife top U.S. donors in 1999
  Time: 13:48 EST/18:48 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, were the top charitable donors in the United States in 1999, giving $16 billion to their foundation, according to a ranking compiled by a Washington, D.C.-based newspaper covering non-profit organizations.

  Ranked second was James Clark, co-founder of Netscape, who made a $150 million gift to Stanford University to build a biomedical engineering center, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported.

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• Welcome to the Year 1900 <{:*)
  Time: 10:50 EST/15:50 GMT News Source: Wired Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Maybe the Year 1900 isn't the one computer programmers should have been worried about. Some email timestamps have been circulating with the Year 100 on them, and there have also been various sightings of the year "19100."

  The US Naval Observatory Master Clock had one such little Y2K glitch.

    - Jan. 1, 19100, 01:12:49 Eastern Standard Time

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• Y2K goofs out there, but hard to find
  Time: 10:17 EST/15:17 GMT News Source: MSNBC Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  As Y2K sweeps across the globe, geeks everywhere are spending the day skeptically searching for anything that’s been broken by the infamous millennium bug. To the disappointment of some and the delight of others, hiccups have been few and far between.

  There are Y2K bugs to be found — if you’re willing to look pretty hard. For example, die-hards trolling the Web have found sites with “live” images dating Jan. 1, 1900. But that was about the best of the bunch mustered during the early hours of the new century.

  Even a Y2K hacker prank was much more nuisance than disaster. Britain’s Railtrack Web page was altered to tell rail users: “Due to the Y2K compatibility problems there will be no trains operating between 31-12-99 and 02-01-00.”

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• Y2K causes Internet traffic jams
  Time: 10:13 EST/15:13 GMT News Source: MSNBC Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  After months of hand-wringing, Y2K worries finally reached zero hour — but as midnight swept around the globe, the nightmare scenario of massive computer breakdowns faded away. The most visible strains had to do with Internet users flocking to watch the worldwide party over the World Wide Web.

  Computer experts had worried that many systems could choke on the switchover from ’99 to ’00, misreading the date. Such an event could have set off shutdowns of critical power and telecommunications systems. But an estimated $500 billion has been spent worldwide to correct the problem.

  Despite the preparations, isolated Y2K glitches were reported, involving a power plant in Japan ... bus ticket machines in Australia ... slot machines at Delaware racetracks ... funny-looking dates on Internet home pages. But no meltdowns of critical systems were reported as midnight swept around the globe.

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

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