Two new software programs circulating on the Internet could damage computer files, a software vendor said Thursday.

F-Secure, San Jose, Calif., formerly known as Data Fellows, said Thursday that two worms are spreading rapidly in Windows-based computer networks. They are similar to the infamous Melissa virus. According to a the company, both programs spread via users of the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program -- but in two different ways. Irok propagates through a file attachment called IROK.EXE, while the Kak worm arrives within an e-mail message.

"We are aware of Irok and Kak and have had a few reports of Kak, but nothing significant yet," said a spokesman from CERT, a nonprofit organization at Carnegie Mellon University that tracks computer viruses.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in the TCP/IP Printing Services for Microsoft(r) Windows NT(r) 4.0 and Windows(r) 2000. If this service is installed, the vulnerability could allow a malicious user to disrupt printing services.

TCP/IP Printing Services is an RFC 1179-compliant printing service designed for environments that use the Berkeley Remote Printing protocols, also known as LPD and LPR. (In Windows 2000, TCP/IP Printing Services are also known as Print Services for Unix). A specially-malformed print request could cause TCPSVC.EXE to crash, which would not only prevent the server from providing printing services, but also would stop several other services, most importantly DHCP. Any affected services could be put back into service by restarting them; it would not be necessary to reboot the machine.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in Microsoft(r) Internet Information Server and products based on it. Under certain fairly unusual conditions, the vulnerability could cause a web server to send the source code of .ASP and other files to a visiting user.

If a virtual directory on an IIS server is mapped to a UNC share, and a request for a file in the directory contains one of several particular characters at the end, the expected ISAPI extension processing may not occur. The result is that the source code of the file would be sent to the browser.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Netscape fans can exhale; a beta release of Netscape 6 premieres next Tuesday at Internet World in Los Angeles. Netscape's parent, America Online, will do the launch honors for the first time. Steve Case, AOL's chair and chief executive officer, will unveil the browser in a keynote address Tuesday morning. Rooted in Gecko, Netscape's standards-based browser technology, Netscape 6 replaces the current Navigator 4x line that is struggling against Microsoft Internet Explorer.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) president and chief executive, told employees via e-mail this week that the company's efforts to resolve its federal antitrust case have led to substantial settlement offers.

Ballmer reassured employees in a companywide e-mail sent Monday that press reports of the company's settlement offer being inadequate were not accurate, and that the company continues to work with the U.S. Justice Department and the 19 states that filed antitrust suits against it.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Comdisco Inc. (NYSE: CDO - news) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) today announced they will offer a suite of services to enable businesses to achieve the highest levels of uptime for their mission-critical and Web-based applications running on the Microsoft® Windows NT® platform as well as on the newly released Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server platform. The agreement combines Microsoft's operating system and application expertise with Comdisco's expertise, methodology and infrastructure for delivering high-availability solutions.

Under the agreement, the companies will jointly develop, market and deliver solutions designed to provide companies with availability for their Windows-based environments, including data, applications, hardware, networks and storage.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Would you like advertise your company on the 'Web? Would you like to reach a highly technical, educated and internet savvy audience? ActiveWin has some of the most competitive ad rates in the industry, and with high returns on your ad campaign it is a smart business decision to start today. E-mail bobstein@activewin.com for rates and more information.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Companies will soon be better able to take advantage of today’s technologies without leaving yesterday’s behind.

Microsoft and Software AG, Europe’s largest system software provider, have announced an agreement to integrate the forthcoming Microsoft® Host Integration Server 2000 with Software AG’s enterprise integration technologies. This collaboration will extend the capabilities of Host Integration Server and provide a broader range of integration offerings, making it easier for customers to integrate mainframe-based applications with Windows® 2000- or Windows NT® Server-based applications.

"We are delighted to cooperate so closely with Software AG," said Tod Nielsen, vice president of marketing for the Developer Group at Microsoft. "For our customers, extending the functional spectrum of our host-integration technology in this way is essential to the long-term protection of existing investments and allows them to leverage the full power of the Windows DNA 2000 platform."

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft's corporate Internet website, Microsoft.com (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news), ousted Freeserve (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: FRE.L) as the most-visited site in Britain in February, according to new research on Thursday.

Monthly rankings from MMXI Europe showed Microsoft.com -- Microsoft's corporate website rather than its msn.com consumer gateway to Internet services -- was visited by 31.9 percent of users in Britain, above Freeserve's 29.8 percent.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Most Americans feel that the hefty sum of taxpayer money being spent on the Federal and State lawsuits against Microsoft could be better spent elsewhere, according to a recent Zogby poll.

In a March poll of 1,004 likely voters nationwide conducted for Americans for Technology Leadership, 66.5% agreed that the lawsuit, with costs estimated between $13 and $30 million is a bad use of tax dollars.

Roughly one-in-five (19.6%) felt that the case by the Federal government and 19 State Attorneys General was of sufficient importance to merit spending millions. An additional 13.9% were not sure.

What we asked:?

``The federal government and the 19 State Attorneys General are pursuing a lawsuit against Microsoft, saying the company has hurt consumers. Experts have estimated the Microsoft case has cost taxpayers between $13 million and $30 million dollars. Based on what you know about the case, do you think this case is a good use or a bad use of tax dollars?''

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Developers and licensees are privately questioning Microsoft Corp.'s claim that it is offering significant concessions in its antitrust settlement proposal to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Primarily, developers said, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) alleged proposals -- to decouple Internet Explorer from Windows, allow third parties "open" access to the Windows source code, publish all of its Windows application programming interfaces (APIs) and provide a level Windows licensing fee for hardware makers -- all come too late and offer little real value.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

British Telecommunications PLC (BT), AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to cooperate in the wireless Internet industry to meet the needs of customers for mobile multimedia services.

The companies will collaborate to conceive, develop and deploy new wireless broadband applications for consumer and business markets around the world. Based on Microsoft's platform for mobile data services, the applications will be capable of being deployed on BT's and AT&T's existing and next-generation high-speed mobile data networks. The companies expect to begin trials of some services this fall with commercial rollout planned for soon thereafter.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

eFront has been sent word about an unofficial version of Netscape 6 Preview Release 1. Secretly hosted on Netscape's FTP servers, the beta was not set for a public release until next month. Netscape 6 is the next generation browser from Netscape Communications, based on the work of Mozilla.org. In development for two years, many Netscape followers have tracked the browser's progress and are quite anxious to see the final product. After the decision was made to re-write the browser from the ground up, Netscape began to receive pressure from the Internet community due to delays in beginning development anew. The first Preview Release of version 6 comes complete with a new installer, Netscape messenger (an AIM clone), Net2Phone, a new HTML engine, Sun's Java2, and a spell checker. Please note this release is completely unofficial and unsupported. Use it at your own risk - it will contain bugs. eFront does not recommend using this product until the official preview is made public next month. Download the UNOFFICIAL Netscape 6 Preview Release 1 from FileForum (http://fileforum.efront.com/detail.php3?fid=942950549)

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

This week we have a Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel for you to get the chance of winning. You can check out the review of the Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel on our website right here. To be in with a chance of winning the Racing wheel simply answer the question on our competition page This competition ends on March 31st so get your entries in quick.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told employees that Microsoft continues to submit last-minute proposals for settlement of its antitrust case, but that an appeal of the judge's decision is still on the table.

In a March 27 e-mail to thousands of Microsoft employees, Ballmer dismissed many reports in the press as "largely inaccurate," and said Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and other company executives are "focused on these efforts" and working closely with Microsoft's legal team on the proposals.

Ballmer said the case has not been settled and the Department of Justice has not viewed Microsoft's proposals as "inadequate."

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

The crowded business-to-business Internet marketplace has a brand-new player: a software operation named Microsoft Corp. With investors and Old Economy companies swooning at the profit potential of business-to-business commerce via the Internet, Microsoft is serving notice that it is not going to be left out of the picture.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

IBM and Microsoft on Wednesday said that they will sell a lower-cost computer, known as an appliance server, that will be based on Windows 2000 for managing websites.

The product launch marks the first time Microsoft (stock: MSFT) has entered the appliance market for computers operating websites. International Data Corp. said it expects the market to have cumulative revenue of over $30 billion through the end of 2004.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Growing tensions among the Justice Department and 19 state attorneys general have compromised settlement negotiations in the Microsoft antitrust trial, sources said today. Increasing dissension among state plaintiffs may largely remove them from settlement negotiations in the trial, said sources close to the talks. The DOJ now finds itself at odds not just with Microsoft but with its partners in the case.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Europe declined to comment on Wednesday on a report that it had poached a leading executive from the Psion-led Symbian alliance to take charge of sales and marketing at its wireless business.

No one was immediately available at Symbian's London offices or at Psion to comment on the report, on an Internet newsletter at www.theregister.co.uk, that Symbian executive vice president Juha Christensen would join Microsoft.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

The Web Standards Project (WaSP) today praised Microsoft's thorough implementation of HTML 4 and CSS 1 in the Macintosh version of Internet Explorer 5. However, the WaSP cautioned that no browser can be considered fully standards-compliant until it supports XML and the DOM, and the group urged Microsoft to take IE5/Mac to the next level.

``IE5/Mac offers the highest real-world standards compliance of any browser yet shipped,'' said group leader Jeffrey Zeldman, who also praised the browser for focusing on accessibility. ``An innovative Text Zoom feature allows the visually impaired to increase the size of type on a Web page,'' Zeldman noted. ``Web users will no longer be penalized for the poor authoring practices of some developers.''

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. today announced that Wells Fargo Bank has joined a growing list of organizations that are moving to the Microsoft^® Windows^® 2000 Server operating system as their enterprisewide operating system of choice.

To benefit from increased flexibility, greater manageability and faster performance, Wells Fargo has chosen to standardize on Windows 2000 Server and Active Directory™ service for the company's directory and file and print infrastructure as well as its platform for applications and Web services. Wells Fargo initially plans to migrate 120 NetWare servers to Windows 2000 at the company's Wholesale Banking Group.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. officials today announced that the company has found an even greater need to protect consumers, honest resellers and the value of intellectual property in Maryland. Microsoft's most recent efforts uncovered five Maryland computer resellers that have allegedly distributed counterfeit and infringing Microsoft^® software and/or end user license agreements.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft, in the midst of an extension in its settlement talks with the U.S. government, is preparing to announce a reorganization of the company. The restructuring that is in the works -- typical of the company's annual org chart tweaking and agenda revision -- will address its latest initiative, Next Generation Windows Services, which is due to be unveiled in May.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

If Sivakumar Nadarajah hadn't been sending himself email, he might not have discovered that Microsoft's Hotmail was losing his forwarded messages.

"I noticed this bug when I tried to forward a mail from Hotmail to my office account, which came from a Hotmail user," Nadarajah wrote in an email interview. "It never reached me (I tried three times). Then I spent a whole night to find the actual problem."

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

All the rage among programmers, Linux is now poised for battle with Microsoft at the Point-of-Sale Terminal, according to a new study by IHL Consulting Group. ``Linux is getting a lot of press,'' says Greg Buzek, President of IHL Consulting Group. ``And solutions based on versions from Red Hat and VA Linux Systems are being investigated by many POS vendors as an option for their new software solutions.''

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

The judge in the Microsoft antitrust trial has formally agreed to postpone delivering his verdict, people close to the case said today. The move suggests tempered optimism that lawyers could successfully negotiate a settlement.

Lawyers on all sides were notified late Monday that U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson had formally agreed to the delay and a new mediation schedule that allows for further negotiations until about April 7.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Less than a week out of the chute, Microsoft’s Office Service Release-1 is coming under fire. Because of some testing that we’ve done and because of the rumblings that we’ve been seeing in newsgroups, we thought we would issue this warning before you venture out on the Net and grab the latest patch to the Microsoft’s Office Suite.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Next week, Microsoft will detail revisions to its Open License program aimed at making it more palatable for small businesses and the providers that serve them.

On April 3, the software giant will announce Open License 5, a newly developed program designed to make it easier for solution providers and partners to sell into the small and midsize business markets.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Promising to revolutionize the quality of media available to consumers on the Web and to transform the way consumers buy content online, Contentville.com has announced details of its plan to launch a new breed of e-commerce site, which include a multifaceted agreement with Microsoft Corp.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

The push to make businesses more efficient via trading exchanges is making its way to small and midsize companies, and the effects will be felt throughout the supply chain. Along with consumer titans Yahoo and America Online, Microsoft next week will throw its weight behind a business-to-business effort for small and midsize companies.

The goal, in part, of these efforts is to create so-called market-to-market opportunities, which promise to give small and midsize businesses the collective weight and influence to realize significant savings in their procurement of goods and services. In some cases, the savings could be greater than those enjoyed by larger companies using similar online conduits.

"I think that the purchasing savings for the smaller companies will actually exceed the kind of savings that the tier-one companies are able to drive because of their size," said Steve Banker, an analyst at ARC Advisory Group, in Dedham, Mass.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

The award-winning MSN™ MoneyCentral™ online personal finance service at http://moneycentral.msn.com/ today announced a major redesign to its site, introducing several new tools, resources and services to help consumers research, make decisions about and take action on their finances. In addition to providing a complete one-stop resource to help consumers manage their money and make smarter financial decisions, MSN MoneyCentral is delivering on the MSN vision of the Everday Web by offering powerful customization tools that allow users to create and tailor a personal finance resource to their needs - any time, any place and from multiple devices.

Through the new version of MSN MoneyCentral, consumers can pay all their bills online, view their account balances and recent transactions, track their portfolio, view a calendar of initial public offerings, and make and track the performance of stock recommendations, as well as compete for prizes in stock competitions.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

A new benchmark result shows that Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server can help meet any data warehousing needs.

NCR's Teradata relational database has posted the first-ever one terabyte data warehouse performance benchmark on Microsoft Windows 2000. The performance result is on the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) TPC-R benchmark, which measures how well databases handle data-warehouse and decision-support workloads with multiple, concurrent users submitting complex queries. The combination of Windows 2000 Server and Teradata performed multiple-stream workloads of 21,254 composite queries per hour. That's a result that shows companies will soon be able to take advantage of unparalleled scalability, availability and manageability.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Migrating to Microsoft® Exchange 2000 was a natural step for Getronics.

One of the world’s top five providers of information and communications technology services and solutions, Getronics uses the Exchange Server 5.5 messaging and collaboration platform to handle its flow of more than 200 million e-mail message transactions per year. Exchange performed beyond the IT company’s expectations, delivering cost savings through ease of use and solid reliability—and providing Getronics with a powerful application development platform. So when the beta version of Exchange 2000 became available, Getronics jumped on it.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

So you thought that tasteless joke you e-mailed to Mike in accounting would never see the light of day again? Guess again, and beware the life span of e-mail.

Last December, 23 New York Times employees lost their jobs for swapping bawdy e-mail messages. In February Northwest Airlines began court-authorized searches of the home PCs of more than a dozen flight attendants. The company was looking for evidence the workers organized a "sick-out" over holidays.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Novell has targeted corporate users looking for a solid instant messaging system with its launch Monday of Instantme. The program works closely with America Online's popular Instant Messenger program and offers extras such as integration with Novell business products and Web access to instant messaging capabilities.

Novell executives announced the product here at the company's BrainShare user conference. Novell worked closely with AOL to develop the software and service, and as a result Novell Instantme users can access AIM users and AOL's Buddy List Network.

A basic version of Instantme is now available for free download; Novell executives say the company plans to release a secure version of the program, integrating encryption and digital certificates, by mid-year.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

The judge in the Microsoft Corp. case will be ruling some time after Tuesday on whether the firm broke the nation's antitrust laws, according to sources familiar with the case. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson had set a deadline of Tuesday to learn whether the two sides in the case needed more time to talk, one source said. But whatever the status of the talks, the conclusions of law themselves were not necessarily to be released Tuesday.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Hoping to capture mind share from rival Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) on Monday announced a new product that leverages Extensible Markup Language in connecting trading partners for electronic commerce. The WebSphere B2B Integrator is a competitor to Microsoft's BizTalk Server, which was announced a year ago. Both products are scheduled to ship in the summer and will compete in the growing market for XML technology, a favorite among corporations for linking applications with trading partners.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. will soon fire up the engine on its Spitfire chip in a move sure to spark yet another performance battle with rival Intel Corp.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) is cooking up the new Spitfire processor, code-named after the sports car, with the aim of out-powering Intel's Celeron chip in the value-PC space -- generally defined as PCs costing less than $1,000. For its part, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) will introduce an improved version of its Celeron chip later in the week.

The rival processors will offer a host of improvements over their predecessors, giving consumers higher clock speeds and greater overall performance. Better news: The new chips are not expected to cost more than the current crop of K6-2 and Celeron offerings from AMD and Intel.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

A new video technology is floating through the computer underground that holds the promise of doing for movies what MP3 has done for digital music.

Dubbed "DivX"--no relation to the defunct digital video disk (DVD) player--the technology allows video to be highly compressed while retaining a high-quality picture. Feature-length Hollywood movies could be downloaded in just a few hours with a broadband connection and stored on a single CD.

That could be bad news for the film industry, which has so far avoided widespread Internet piracy primarily because movie files are too large to be traded conveniently online. Although DivX won't tear down those barriers completely, it shows that technology advances could bring Hollywood much sooner than it had hoped into the heated battles over digital distribution that are wracking the music industry.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

ICQ has released its newest instant messenger Alpha Build 3120. Only current ICQ 2000 Alpha users will be allowed to upgrade to this new Alpha release.

Download Here

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft has named Juha Christensen vice president overseeing sales and marketing of the company's growing wireless business. Christensen will report to Paul Gross, senior vice president in charge of the overall wireless business. Christensen was a vice president at Symbian.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp, attempting to settle federal antitrust charges against it, has offered to allow computer makers to embed competitors' software in its Windows operating system, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Monday.

The report said that one of the concessions offered by Microsoft would let personal-computer and software makers change the underlying ``source code'' in Windows to add competitors' products such as Internet browsers or media players. The software giant would also offer a version of Windows without its own Internet software, it said.

Some government officials said the offer does not go far enough, but others said it could be a decisive step signaling that Microsoft is serious about reaching a settlement.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Europe said on Monday Jean-Philippe Courtois would take over from Michel Lacombe as president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and Lacombe would be promoted to chairman.

Current EMEA chairman Bernard Vergnes becomes chairman emeritus. Courtois is now vice-president, worldwide customer marketing, based at global headquarters in Redmond, and will move to Paris to take up the post, effective July 1.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. and Alliance Entertainment Corp. today announced that Microsoft has licensed Alliance's comprehensive All Music Guide (AMG) database and will deliver extensive artist and album information from Alliance as an integrated feature of the next-generation Microsoft^® Windows Media™ Player 7. Incorporating All Music Guide's rich information enhances the digital music experience for music fans and also makes possible seamless e-commerce opportunities for retailers.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. today announced the Microsoft^® Windows Media™ Player 7, the next generation of the most used multimedia player among U.S. households with PCs.* Windows Media Player 7 delivers the first fully integrated digital media experience, enabling consumers to enjoy a full range of digital media including playback of CD audio, streaming and downloaded audio and video, jukebox capabilities for CD recording, media management, Internet radio, and more. Offering a completely redesigned and unified user interface for common digital media activities, Windows Media Player 7 delivers access to the features and content consumers want most, with a single click of a button.

Download The Preview Version Of Microsoft Windows Media Player 7

View Screenshots

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

More news on Windows Me, although we should point out that Windows Me is only just reaching Beta 3 RC-1 stage:

Windows Millennium Edition (WinME) is virtually ready to ship, according to a report at Win98Central. But the latest version of the code doesn't include drivers for legacy hardware, which strongly suggests Microsoft intends to make the break with the next (and last?) rev of the Win9x code.

According to the site, the latest version of the WinME code is "post beta," i.e. pretty much operational, but it's not clear if this can be thought of as a release candidate. The OS itself isn't expected to ship until at least late May, but since it was downgraded to approximately the status of a Win9x service pack last year, there's no real obstacle to Microsoft having code ready early.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

This week we have a Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel for you to get the chance of winning. You can check out the review of the Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel on our website right here. To be in with a chance of winning the Racing wheel simply answer the question on our competition page This competition ends on March 31st so get your entries in quick.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft has made no bones about its focus on the Internet. The company changed its 20-year-old mission from crafting software that runs on "a PC on every desk" to running "any time, any place, and on any device," pointedly including Net appliances. The importance of the Web and connectivity is a recurring theme of its executives' public addresses. So it should be no surprise that Microsoft is putting its money where its mission is: broadband and communications investments and acquisitions.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

A teenager arrested in Wales for allegedly hacking into e-commerce Web sites obtained the credit card details of Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft and the world's richest man, newspapers reported today.

Raphael Gray, 18, was arrested Friday for Internet fraud after a joint operation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Welsh Police. The FBI said losses connected to the activities of Gray and another unamed 18-year-old could exceed $3 million.

But Gray, the self-styled "Saint of E-commerce," said: "I just wanted to prove how insecure these sites are. I have done the honest thing, but I have been ignored."

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft’s Security Response Center announced today the availability of version 1.0 of the Windows 2000 Internet Server Security Configuration Tool.

According to the announcement:

“The tool makes it easy to secure a web server running IIS 5.0. It conducts an interview to determine what services you want to provide and the general way that you'd like for the server to operate, then generates and deploys a policy to configure the server appropriately.”

You can download the tool directly from Microsoft here.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft today released the first beta of Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 1 to testers. In a message sent to testers this afternoon, Microsoft stated "IE 5.01 SP 1 provides a premier Internet Client for corporations and end users. Our goal is to bundle and deliver external customer QFEs, fixes escalated via support channels as well as public security fixes that were released after IE 5.01 gold. The bundling of such fixes in this Service Pack release ensures that our users maintain a fast, reliable and robust experience with the lowest ownership cost." Testers may download the latest SP1 betas here, however those running Windows 2000 should not install this service pack.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Despite Microsoft's and Netscape's claims to the contrary, the browser race isn't over yet.

While the two browser kingpins continue to trade proclamations of Windows desktop domination, a number of lesser-known players targeting the embedded market are the ones pushing the most interesting technological and market developments.

In the embedded world, the rules are different.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Skeptical government lawyers consider an 11th-hour offer from Microsoft Corp. to settle its antitrust trial so inadequate in important areas that there were no immediate plans to resume negotiations in Chicago, people close to the case said Saturday.

These sources did not rule out the possibility of talks resuming, and the government continued to evaluate the proposal by Microsoft to end the case before Tuesday, when the trial judge has threatened to announce his verdict.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who has hinted he will rule strongly against Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), has told lawyers in a private meeting that he will deliver his ruling that day unless there is progress in settlement talks being organized by U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner in Chicago.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) on Friday announced that Internet Explorer 5.0 for Macintosh will be available for download beginning Monday. The company also announced that it will release Outlook Express 5.02, an update to its e-mail client with beefed-up security features. The Internet Explorer upgrade incorporates Microsoft's new Tasman rendering engine, a streamlined search function, a Scrapbook tool for storing Web pages and an Auction Manager for tracking online auctions. However, a promised Media Toolbar for playback of MP3, QuickTime and other media formats won't make it into this version.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news) Friday topped Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) as the world's most valuable company, holding its lead through much of the session after briefly taking it for the first time Thursday.

With just over an hour left in the day, Cisco's stock was up 81 cents at $78.675, making its market value $573 billion. Microsoft, down $1.875 to $110, was at $570 billion, based on fully diluted stock totals from quarterly statements. Both companies are traded on the Nasdaq stock market.

Stock in Cisco, the leading maker of Internet traffic equipment, has continued to climb steadily through the year, gaining one-third in value. Shares of computer software giant Microsoft have languished amid concerns over the government's pending anti-trust case, easing 10 percent from its peak.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

We have done various updates to the FAQ's over the past few days or so including X-Box, Windows Me and Windows 2000 FAQ's. You can check them out in our Frequently Asked Questions section.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp faxed a detailed proposal to government lawyers Friday to settle its landmark antitrust case after the trial judge warned he will deliver his verdict Tuesday absent progress in secret settlement talks in Chicago, people close to the case said. It was unclear what was contained within the proposal, described as technically complicated, that government lawyers were carefully reviewing late Friday.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson imposed the Tuesday deadline during a private meeting with lawyers earlier this week in Washington. It lent renewed urgency to those negotiations, being overseen in Chicago by a respected federal appeals judge, Richard Posner.

But none of the top lawyers in the case had traveled to Chicago by early evening Friday. It was unclear whether face-to-face talks were expected over the weekend. Other sources close to the antitrust case have indicated government lawyers are backing away from proposals to break up Microsoft in order to restrain what the judge has characterized as the company's abuse of its monopoly power over the technology industry.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft confirmed today that code from an upcoming version of a consumer operating system was posted to the Internet, and the company is now trying to figure out who did it. An internal prototype of an upcoming consumer operating system, code-named Whistler, was posted online earlier in the week, the company confirmed.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Another spring, another reorganization for Microsoft. But with talk of an antitrust settlement swirling, this shakeup could be profound. No matter what happens with the Justice Department, Microsoft as early as next week will put longtime executive Paul Maritz at the head of the company's charge to shift its dominance of the desktop to the wide-open Web. Several top executives, including Windows chief Jim Allchin, will report to Maritz, according to company sources.

It's quite a turn of events. Last year, Maritz, a 14-year Microsoft veteran, was setting the stage for his eventual departure. After a reorganization in March 1999, Maritz placed day-to-day operational duties of his group, which handles relations with software developers, in the hands of David Vaskevitch, a vice president in Maritz's group.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft France has decided to stop producing Microsoft Word 2000 for the time being due to a spell-checker 'racial' bug. Indeed a French TV channel ( Canal + ) shows to million of watchers that Word 2000 suggests the word 'Anti-Arabs' when you type 'Anti-stress'. Journalists sues Microsoft to be racist and a scandal happened here in France. So Microsoft stopped the production of Word 2000 and all related products that include Word 2000 and release a patch. A phone call center was also opened to answer customers inquiries and to send customers corrected CDs of Word 2000. Finally Microsoft France announced that Microsoft Word 2000 would be back in stores in April.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Ask any experienced MCP and they will tell you that they are often asked to contribute in customer system reviews and make recommendations on how to use existing system hardware and software with new technologies. This usually amounts to figuring out how to use system intensive applications on outdated machines. We are constantly asked, for example, how do we make a system intensive application such as SQL run on our 486's. Until recently, the honest answer would have been, "You don't". But with an emerging technology known as server-based computing, new applications can be easily deployed on these older systems, saving the customer money, and administrators needless headaches.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft has decided to discontinue Vizact. We forgot to mention this news when it was first sent in to us, so here is the news release from Microsoft:

When will Vizact be discontinued?

Microsoft announced on 3/1/00 that the product will be discontinued on 4/1/00. 

Why is Vizact being discontinued?

Microsoft continually evaluates the available Microsoft product line to ensure the latest developments and technologies are available to our customers. Occasionally, products are discontinued to enable Microsoft to focus on developing advanced or similar products.

Will I still be able to receive product support for my Vizact questions?

Microsoft will continue to provide product support for licensed customers until October 1, 2000.  Note: There is no product support available for the Trial Version.

Microsoft Support maintains a Knowledge Base of numerous articles specific to Vizact 2000, which may help you with your problem. If you don't find the resolution there, you may need to contact Microsoft Technical Support for assistance in troubleshooting your issue. You can submit an incident via Web Response or contact one of our Support Professionals by phone. 

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

This week we have a Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel for you to get the chance of winning. You can check out the review of the Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel on our website right here. To be in with a chance of winning the Racing wheel simply answer the question on our competition page This competition ends on March 31st so get your entries in quick.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp on Friday is expected to make a far-reaching offer to settle the government's antitrust case against it as prosecutors step back from demands that the software giant be broken up, USA Today reported Friday.

If Microsoft's proposal is sufficiently broad, it could result in top-level negotiations this weekend in Chicago, the paper said. The talks might even include Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Joel Klein and Judge Richard Posner, who has been serving as mediator.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

The Seattle Kingdome walls will come tumbling down this weekend.

And when the sports stadium falls, Internet viewers can watch it live in Microsoft® Windows Media™ format. WindowsMedia.com will present a Kingdome implosion Webcast at approximately 8:30 a.m. PST Sunday. In addition to regular streaming video, the event can be viewed in 3D for an even more spectacular show. WindowsMedia.com, the MSN™ guide to audio and video content on the Internet, will also make a free feed of the implosion available to other Internet media outlets and will archive the event for later viewing.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

It seems puzzling how one story can change overnight.

The head of Windows development said Thursday that Microsoft was convinced that a copy of Whistler, the next-generation version of consumer Windows, had been posted to the Internet for download, as reported earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Jim Allchin, group vice president of Microsoft's Platforms Group, disputed reports that an early, internal build of Whistler had been posted on "various college and Internet sites." The report first appeared on Active Network, a Windows-centric Web site at www.activewin.com .

"The build was out on the Internet," Allchin said in an e-mail message late Thursday. "The original story by www.activewin.com . appears to be correct." Allchin said on Wednesday that Microsoft had enlisted services of several outside sources, including the FBI, to investigate the claim.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

It seems that a few reports are coming from Redmond that Whistler didn't leak out, or at least Microsoft and the FBI can't find it, which is pretty amazing considering it is still out there. Don't worry we'll have a follow up story in the next day or so.

THE HEAD OF Windows development at Microsoft said there was no proof that a copy of Whistler, the next-generation version of consumer Windows, had been posted to the Internet for download, as reported earlier this week. 

On Wednesday, Jim Allchin, group vice president of Microsoft's Platforms Group, dismissed as a "press ruse" reports that an early, internal build of Whistler had been posted on "various college and Internet sites." The report first appeared on Active Network, a Windows-centric Web site at www.activewin.com.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft is laying off up to 60 contract employees after cutting development of its tax software, CNET News.com has learned. The software developer signed a 3-year agreement today with H&R Block to gain traction in the Web-based tax preparation market.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Cisco Systems Inc., the world's biggest maker of equipment that powers the Internet, on Thursday briefly topped computer software giant Microsoft Corp. as the world's most valuable company. The two companies are now locked in a dead heat for maintaining that title on an ongoing basis, but the trend is clearly in place. Shares of Microsoft (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) are little changed from their August levels while shares of Cisco have surged.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

With the Department of Justice antitrust case -- as with everything relating to Microsoft these days -- it's tough to separate flackery from fact.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the settlement talks between Microsoft and the government are moving ahead, and that some kind of agreement could be reached soon. The Journal, citing "sources close to the case," reports that a resolution is likely to take the form of behavioral modifications -- possibly in the form of Microsoft's elimination of unfair PC maker pricing for Windows and/or the publicizing of its Windows application programming interfaces -- rather than structural remedies like a breakup of the company into Baby Bills.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Are you looking to upgrade to Windows 2000 or are you about to perform various system tasks on your Windows 2000 Operating System? Be sure to check out our System Tools Page; this page lists the latest programs from Microsoft that will make performing these tasks easier! Be sure to check it out.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Do you feel it is time to upgrade your existing laptop/notebook to Windows 2000 or are you just about to buy a new laptop with the Windows 2000 operating system pre-installed? Be sure to check out our Windows 2000 Compatible Laptop/Mobile Page; this page has the latest list from Microsoft of all the major manufacturers and their compatible laptops - over 200 listed!

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

This week we have a Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel for you to get the chance of winning. You can check out the review of the Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel on our website right here. To be in with a chance of winning the Racing wheel simply answer the question on our competition page This competition ends on March 31st so get your entries in quick.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

In a move that will help bring stunning 3D graphics to internet users, NVIDIA(TM) Corporation and Microsoft® Corp. today announced the adoption of NVIDIA's technology for Volume Texture Compression Format (VTC) for Microsoft DirectX APIs. Today's 3D internet sites are plagued with inadequate image quality due to bandwidth constraints of transmitting high resolution textures over standard communications systems. Even for high-performance PCs, the limited amount of texture storage forces game developers to use lower resolution textures, resulting in imagery that lacks detail. Scheduled for release in 2000, NVIDIA's VTC format enables a superior level of image quality that allows web and content developers to produce 3D objects that depict their natural characteristics.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp.'s chief financial officer offered new details Wednesday into the software giant's plans for its next major strategic initiative, an Internet-based Windows operating system.

Speaking to investors at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray's annual investor conference, John Connors outlined how Microsoft is moving enormous sums of money and people into creating a type of operating system for the Internet -- one that allows different software applications to communicate and collaborate across the Net.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft will soon introduce a "lite" version of its Windows 2000 operating system aimed at running task-specific devices such as Internet appliances and caching servers, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.

Dubbed Windows 2000 Embedded, the software is a follow-on to Windows NT Embedded 4.0. To date, Microsoft (stock: MSFT) has not publicly acknowledged that such software is in development. Microsoft declined to comment for this story.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Settlement talks between Microsoft Corp. and the government quickened this week, and some participants now believe a deal may be possible, people close to the effort said. These people said that while the talks could still collapse over specific terms, the gulf between the two sides is narrowing, and the outlines of an agreement may be within reach. If approved by the court, a settlement would end the landmark federal antitrust case and impose tough restrictions on the company's conduct, they said.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. today announced a three-year agreement with H&R Block to provide exclusive Web and desktop-based tax preparation products for its customers who use the MSN™ MoneyCentral™ online personal finance service and Microsoft^® Money. The companies also plan to collaborate on integration capabilities between Microsoft financial products and Block's digital tax preparation products. As part of the new alliance, Microsoft announced it will cease further development of its Microsoft TaxSaver™ tax preparation software.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Voice Mobility International, Inc. (OTCBB: VMII - news), an innovative developer of Internet-based unified communications software, today announced it has joined Microsoft's Windows Telecommunications Alliance, a community of companies building industry leading, networking and telephony solutions on the Microsoft Windows platform.

Sponsored by Microsoft, the alliance offers business development resources, facilitates partnerships among community members and provides sales, marketing, and product support resources. More than 75 Independent Software and Hardware Vendors which are actively developing and delivering communications solutions that use Microsoft products and technologies, including industry leaders Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp, have joined the alliance.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

An antitrust settlement between Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and the government could result in tough restrictions on the software giant's conduct, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Thusday.

Citing unnamed sources close to the case, the Journal said the talks could still collapse but that the gulf between the sides is narrowing. If approved by the court, a settlement would end the landmark federal antitrust case and impose tough restrictions on the company's conduct, the sources said.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

DoJ antitrust chief Joel Klein commented yesterday on the Microsoft trial that the "remedies ought to be commensurate" with Judge Jackson's findings of fact, which had revealed "a serious pattern of anti-competitive conduct".

It was a neutral kind of statement, but since it is known that the DoJ has hired Greenhill & Co, a New York firm specialising in mergers and acquisitions, to advise it, the probability must be that the DoJ is looking at a full range of options for breaking up Microsoft.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN - news) said on Wednesday they are teaming up to develop enhanced software capabilities for wireless handheld devices such as personal digital assistants.

As part of the deal, Microsoft said it will be using Texas Instrument's (TI) programmable digital signal processors (DSP) to enhance the performance of its Windows CE operating system for handheld devices. Financial terms were not disclosed.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Software giant Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) said on Wednesday it was investigating whether a future version of its Windows operating system had been posted to several Web sites where people could download it for free. The software was a rudimentary version of Windows codenamed ``Whistler'' that targets home consumers, according to a report on ActiveWin, a Web site that follows Microsoft news.

Microsoft hasn't revealed many details, but Whistler is scheduled for release in 2001 to replace the upcoming Windows Millennium, also called Windows Me, due out later this year. Another technology Web site, BetaNews, said Whistler was made available for download on several college and Internet sites. It was unclear how many people downloaded the software.

A Microsoft spokesman declined to confirm if the software had been posted, saying only, ``We're looking into it.'' With more than a year to go before its release, the final version of Whistler will likely contain many changes and bug fixes from the current test versions.

Whistler is supposed to bridge the gap between consumer Windows, like Windows 95 and 98, which are based on older DOS technology, and business Windows, like 2000, which is built using the more stable NT code. Whistler will be the first consumer-oriented platform to use NT technology.

Windows Me will be the Redmond, Wash.-based company's biggest product release since it unveiled the Windows 2000 platform for businesses last month. Shares in Microsoft rose 1/2 to 103-1/4 in trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Julien has posted our review of Adobe Systems Illustrator 8.01. Here is a snippet from the review:

Adobe Illustrator 8 allows users to express freely their ideas and their creativity with high quality illustrations conceived for professional printing or even Web sites in a few mouse clicks. The Illustrator 8 domain of use is vast: it’s intended to be used for ads, covers, logos, complex illustrations, graphics, charts, funny web pictures, boxes, stickers, packaging, and much more. In fact Illustrator 8 is so powerful that you can use it to draw exactly what you’re thinking about.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft Corp. will make its strongest run at Palm Inc. when its new PocketPC technology starts appearing in handheld devices next month. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has already released its PocketPC code to hardware manufacturers. It includes Version 3.0 of the Windows CE operating system, a new user interface and a larger set of applications for the new generation of handheld devices, which follows Microsoft's Palm-size PC platform for handhelds.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

We have posted our 18 page review of Windows 2000 Professional Edition. Here is a snippet from the review:

During the past few months Activewin has been a leader in presenting our readers with the most up to date features and improvements that Windows 2000 has to offer. We are proud to present you all with our full and complete review on the just released Windows 2000 Professional Operating System.

Some may believe Windows 2000 is the successor of Windows 98SE. The fact is that Windows 2000 is the replacement for Microsoft's Windows NT business and network platform. Windows 2000 is a full operating system based on a full NT 32 bit engine that allows high end multi tasking, high security levels, and advanced networking features while still supporting DirectX and all the latest hardware.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Microsoft's Pocket PC will launch on April 19 amid a wave of executive departures within the Windows CE group.Microsoft's Pocket PC will launch on April 19 amid a wave of executive departures within the Windows CE group.

We have posted our review of the American Pie Unrated Collectors Edition DVD. Here is a snippet from the review:

American Pie managed to remind me of both Porky's and Fast Times At Ridgemond High. but probably more so to the latter. There are a number of gags that are just plain sick (Nothing wrong with that) but the majority are well executed and turns American Pie into an excellent comedy.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

Thanks to Lewis for letting us know that Creative Labs has released their SBLive LiveWare drivers for Windows 2000.  For more information on the software included, check out this page over at Creative Labs' site.

MICROSOFT showed here Tuesday the prototype of a handheld device capable of recognizing voice commands and taking dictation from users. Its purpose is partly to eliminate the difficulty of entering data in to these types of devices. 

A Microsoft representative gave a brief demonstration of the product Tuesday during the morning keynote address from Bill Gates, the company's chairman and chief software architect, at the software vendor's Latin America Enterprise Solutions Conference 2000 here. 

The product, called MiPad, is still in the research stage of development, but the expectations Microsoft has set for the device are lofty, according to information on the company's research Web site. This was the first public showing of a MiPad prototype, the Microsoft representative said.

The head of Microsoft's European and Middle East operations said Wednesday the firm was fixing a bug in its Windows 2000 French-language spell-checker which suggested replacing "anti-stress" with the word "anti-arab." Michel Lacombe, President of Microsoft EMEA, said the problem should be fixed in "a few weeks" and that customers would be offered a new version free of charge.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]

As reported by the Windows enthusiast sites ActiveWin and BetaNews, a recent internal build of Whistler has been posted illegally to a number of college and Internet sites.ActiveWin and BetaNews are reporting that Build 2211.1 was posted Tuesday morning and "spread as per usual, like wildfire."

Whistler is the code name for the first full-fledged upgrade to Windows 2000 that will be based on the Windows NT kernel, rather than the Windows 9X kernel. (The Windows 9X update is code named Millennium and expected to ship in the third or fourth quarter of this year.) Whistler is tentatively slated to ship in March 2001, according to internal Microsoft documents.

[Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]  [Translate]  [Site News]