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NEWS HEADLINES FOR: SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2000

Weekend

Microsoft Midtown Madness 2 Giveaway



  Microsoft MSN Messenger Service 3.5 Available For Download
Time: 06:08 EST/11:08 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Julien
Microsoft has just released a new improved version of its instant messaging program, MSN Messenger Service. This new 3.5 version is a minor update that comes with few new features:
  • World-wide phone calls: Call anywhere in the world for a very low rate. You can still call anywhere in the U.S. for free (Click here for details).
     
  • MoneyCentral™ tab: Keep track of your stocks in MSN Messenger. For U.S. and Canada (English) only.
     
  • Easier connecting: If your computer is behind a firewall, you'll now be able to connect automatically.
     
  • Streamlined User Interface: New GUI matches the one of MSN Explorer 6.

Download it right now by clicking here! International versions are also available.

 

 ActiveWin.Com - Microsoft Midtown Madness 2 Giveaway
Time: 06:07 EST/11:07 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Robert Stein
Midtown Madness 2 delivers even more mad-cap racing excitement with all the wild and hair-raising racing challenges you've come to expect! Midtown Madness 2 features two all new locations (London & San Francisco) and nine hip new urban roadsters!

Plus, Midtown Madness 2 features the new single-player Crash Course mission mode where budding drivers can learn and master the tricks of Madness racing as a Hollywood Stunt Driver on location at a San Francisco movie set or as a Cabbie Trainee at the Imperial Cabbie Academy in London!

Want a free copy of Midtown Madness right now? If you can answer a simple question you may have a chance to win yourself one of ten copies we are offering to our faithful readers.

Enter Here

 

  ActiveWin.Com: Microsoft Strategic Commander -- Review
Time: 06:05 EST/11:05 GMT | News Source: ActiveNetwork | Posted By: Julien
Are you serious about gaming? Wanna learn what are the benefits for your day to day strategy games of the new Microsoft SideWinder Strategic Commander gaming device? If so go ahead and read the review i've just posted about it. Here is a snippet of the review:

It’s now a ritual: at each year’s end Microsoft releases new gaming devices that fall perfectly in time with the Christmas season. This year, Microsoft obeyed to the rule once more and was even very prolific since they launched several SideWinder devices. Between them the SideWinder Strategic Commander is probably the most innovative (with the GameVoice) and revolutionary as it’s designed specifically for gamers that play with strategic games (i’m sure you have already guessed) like Age of Empires, Command & Conquer, SimCity, etc. This device is in fact a secondary mouse for users with eleven totally customizable buttons to perform various actions in order to win easily. Frankly I don’t know where Microsoft pick up all their ideas to design such great gaming devices since I would never dare to dream about such a device to ease my gaming experience with the final objective to make me win more often. Indeed the innovative map movement and customizable commands at your fingertips, are a real shortcut to absolute victory.

 


  ActiveWin.com: Interview with Jay Panek, Producer: Microsoft Midtown Madness 2
Time: 06:02 EST/11:02 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Robert Stein
We have just posted our interview with Jay Panek, Producer of Midtown Madness 2 at Angel Studios; in this interview we talked about the development time, some of the new features, why they chose London and San Francisco, the accuracy of the two cities, some easter eggs, his favorites and more! Check it out!

 

  ActiveWin.Com: Matrox Millennium G450 -- Review
Time: 06:00 EST/11:00 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Julien
Visual Studio.NET Beta1I've just posted my review of the latest Matrox Millennium G450 card. If you're on the look for an exceptionnal good card for desktop PCs, be sure to read the review! Here is a snippet of the review:

Matrox makes its come back by releasing the new G450 series of board. This card uses in fact a streamlined version of the successful Matrox G400 chip. Let's say things clearly: this new Matrox Millennium G450 board isn't designed for hard core gamers. Indeed Matrox now targets the Office and Small Business market and as a matter of fact the G450 3D features can't rival with the ones of GeForce 2 Ultra (see our test) or 3DFX Voodoo 5500. However the G450 comes with all the 3D features that made the success of its predecessor the G400 Max and surpasses it with its new enhanced DualHead features.

 


NEWS HEADLINES FOR: FRIDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2000

 



  Ask AW Helpers Needed
Time: 19:05 EST/00:05 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Matthew Sabean
Due to the tremendous response to our AskAW section we are currently looking for some additional volunteers to help out with this growing section.  If you are interested then drop me an e-mail for some additional details.

We are currently working as hard as we can to get a response back to everyone who has submitted a question, but at this point I need to say that all questions may not be answered.  I will say that all questions submitted will be reviewed by our helpers and everyone will receive a response stating the status of whether the question was or was not answered.

I also would like to thank our helpers for the hours they have put in trying to get these questions answered and to the patient readers who have submitted questions.

 

  Yamaha Releases New FirmWare 1.0g For Its 16x/10x/40x Burners (2100 series)
Time: 12:45 EST/17:45 GMT | News Source: Yamaha Press Release | Posted By: Julien
Yamaha has just released a new firmware 1.0g for its new 2100 burners that are simply the most faster burners of the world featuring the incredible speed of 16x/10x/40x.  Stay tune on ActiveWin.Com since we'll have a review on this product shortly. This update fixes:
  • The problem where you may have audible noise when recording wave file with certain software available on the market isn't an issue anymore.
  •  Improved write strategy to support more CD-R discs for 16x writing.
  •  Fixed some problems in Track-At-Once mode or Packet writing at 12x and under.

You can download this update for free by clicking here (the update is intended to work under Windows 95/98/Me/NT4 SP3/2000). Yamaha strongly recommends you to update the firmware especially if you have the 1.0f.

 

  ICANN Names New DOT-Competition
Time: 12:30 EST/17:30 GMT | News Source: ZDNet | Posted By: Julien
MARINA DEL REY, Calif. -- After two days of hearings by the Internet's governing body, .com, .net, and other existing top-level domains have some new competition. The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved seven new top-level domains (TLDs), the suffixes attached to a Web address. Winners are: .name for personal Web sites; .pro for professionals; and .museum, .aero and .coop for specialty Web sites run by museums, airlines and businesses. In addition, .info and .biz suffixes would be available for any Web sites. It's possible Web users could begin registering new addresses by the beginning of next year, board members said. "We're about to take a momentous first step towards creating competition," ICANN chairwoman Esther Dyson said. You can read the entire story by clicking here.

 


NEWS HEADLINES FOR: THURSDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2000

Microsoft SideWinder Strategic Commander Review



  ActiveWin.Com: Microsoft Strategic Commander -- Review
Time: 06:05 EST/11:05 GMT | News Source: ActiveNetwork | Posted By: Julien
Are you serious about gaming? Wanna learn what are the benefits for your day to day strategy games of the new Microsoft SideWinder Strategic Commander gaming device? If so go ahead and read the review i've just posted about it. Here is a snippet of the review:

It’s now a ritual: at each year’s end Microsoft releases new gaming devices that fall perfectly in time with the Christmas season. This year, Microsoft obeyed to the rule once more and was even very prolific since they launched several SideWinder devices. Between them the SideWinder Strategic Commander is probably the most innovative (with the GameVoice) and revolutionary as it’s designed specifically for gamers that play with strategic games (i’m sure you have already guessed) like Age of Empires, Command & Conquer, SimCity, etc. This device is in fact a secondary mouse for users with eleven totally customizable buttons to perform various actions in order to win easily. Frankly I don’t know where Microsoft pick up all their ideas to design such great gaming devices since I would never dare to dream about such a device to ease my gaming experience with the final objective to make me win more often. Indeed the innovative map movement and customizable commands at your fingertips, are a real shortcut to absolute victory.

 


NEWS HEADLINES FOR: WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2000

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance Goes Gold

MSN Messenger Service 3.5 available



  Microsoft MSN Messenger Service 3.5 Available For Download
Time: 17:00 EST/22:00 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Julien
Microsoft has just released a new improved version of its instant messaging program, MSN Messenger Service. This new 3.5 version is a minor update that comes with few new features:
  • World-wide phone calls: Call anywhere in the world for a very low rate. You can still call anywhere in the U.S. for free (Click here for details).
     
  • MoneyCentral™ tab: Keep track of your stocks in MSN Messenger. For U.S. and Canada (English) only.
     
  • Easier connecting: If your computer is behind a firewall, you'll now be able to connect automatically.
     
  • Streamlined User Interface: New GUI matches the one of MSN Explorer 6.

Download it right now by clicking here! International versions are also available.

 

  Microsoft Announces Availability of Visual Studio.NET And .NET Framework Beta 1
Time: 14:23 EST/19:23 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Robert Stein
We In his COMDEX/Fall 2000 kickoff keynote address on Sunday, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates announced the public availability of the first beta version of Microsoft® Visual Studio.NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework, two key technologies for enabling developers to build Web Services on the .NET Platform. Web Services are applications and components made available over the Web via XML and SOAP, and are the key programmable building blocks of the next-generation Internet. Microsoft is making beta 1 of Visual Studio.NET and the .NET Framework broadly available to millions of customers and industry partners.

 

 ActiveWin.Com - Microsoft Midtown Madness 2 Giveaway
Time: 19:04 EST/00:04 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Robert Stein
Midtown Madness 2 delivers even more mad-cap racing excitement with all the wild and hair-raising racing challenges you've come to expect! Midtown Madness 2 features two all new locations (London & San Francisco) and nine hip new urban roadsters!

Plus, Midtown Madness 2 features the new single-player Crash Course mission mode where budding drivers can learn and master the tricks of Madness racing as a Hollywood Stunt Driver on location at a San Francisco movie set or as a Cabbie Trainee at the Imperial Cabbie Academy in London!

Want a free copy of Midtown Madness right now? If you can answer a simple question you may have a chance to win yourself one of ten copies we are offering to our faithful readers.

Enter Here

 

  Microsoft MechWarrior 4:Vengeance Goes Gold!
Time: 06:17 EST/11:17 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Robert Stein

Microsoft today announced that MechWarrior 4: Vengeance, the highly anticipated sequel being developed by Microsoft's FASA Interactive group, has gone gold. This means that the product is completed and is expected to hit store shelves in the U.S. by early December. MechWarrior 4 weaves heart-pounding BattleMech action with the continuing drama and unfolding storyline of the perpetual BattleTech universe. In MechWarrior 4: Vengeance, gamers command an awesomely armed 40-foot tall, 100-ton war machine across the remote battlefields of a hostile world. Instead of desolate, sparsely populated battlefields, MechWarrior 4 takes place in a rich and dynamic universe inhabited by armed allies, noncombatants and deadly antagonists. High-energy lasers pierce the night; rockets flare with blazing fire; and buildings and vehicles crumble into smoldering rubble. Day missions, night missions, fog, rain, snow, blizzards and lightning provide atmosphere and add to the intensity and realism.

 


NEWS HEADLINES FOR: TUESDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2000

Millennium G450 Review

 



  ActiveWin.com: Interview with Jay Panek, Producer: Microsoft Midtown Madness 2
Time: 14:23 EST/19:23 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Robert Stein
We have just posted our interview with Jay Panek, Producer of Midtown Madness 2 at Angel Studios; in this interview we talked about the development time, some of the new features, why they chose London and San Francisco, the accuracy of the two cities, some easter eggs, his favorites and more! Check it out!

 

  ActiveWin.Com: Matrox Millennium G450 -- Review
Time: 06:25 EST/11:25 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Julien
Visual Studio.NET Beta1I've just posted my review of the latest Matrox Millennium G450 card. If you're on the look for an exceptionnal good card for desktop PCs, be sure to read the review! Here is a snippet of the review:

Matrox makes its come back by releasing the new G450 series of board. This card uses in fact a streamlined version of the successful Matrox G400 chip. Let's say things clearly: this new Matrox Millennium G450 board isn't designed for hard core gamers. Indeed Matrox now targets the Office and Small Business market and as a matter of fact the G450 3D features can't rival with the ones of GeForce 2 Ultra (see our test) or 3DFX Voodoo 5500. However the G450 comes with all the 3D features that made the success of its predecessor the G400 Max and surpasses it with its new enhanced DualHead features.

 

 ActiveWin.Com - Microsoft Midtown Madness 2 Giveaway
Time: 19:04 EST/00:04 GMT | News Source: Active Network | Posted By: Robert Stein
Midtown Madness 2 delivers even more mad-cap racing excitement with all the wild and hair-raising racing challenges you've come to expect! Midtown Madness 2 features two all new locations (London & San Francisco) and nine hip new urban roadsters!

Plus, Midtown Madness 2 features the new single-player Crash Course mission mode where budding drivers can learn and master the tricks of Madness racing as a Hollywood Stunt Driver on location at a San Francisco movie set or as a Cabbie Trainee at the Imperial Cabbie Academy in London!

Want a free copy of Midtown Madness right now? If you can answer a simple question you may have a chance to win yourself one of ten copies we are offering to our faithful readers.

Enter Here

  Microsoft MechCommander 2 WebSite Goes Live!
Time: 06:17 EST/11:17 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Julien

Microsoft today announced that the official Web site for MechCommander 2, the highly anticipated sequel being developed by Microsoft's FASA Interactive group, is now live at http://www.microsoft.com/games/mechcommander2/. In MechCommander 2, players command a company of MechWarriors in a real-time tactical game of power, strategy, and treachery set in the perpetual BattleTech Universe.  MechCommander 2 will be available at retail locations throughout North America in spring 2001. The MechCommander 2 site features a wealth of information, including an interview with the game's program manager, Mitch Gitelman; dynamic screenshots, and a downloadable AVI highlighting gameplay in this addicting new title. In addition to a complete features list, the site also offers in-depth details on the BattleTech background story. Gamers can also visit the MechBay section, which features five 'Mechs and will be regularly updated with additional 'Mechs as game development progresses.


 


NEWS HEADLINES FOR: MONDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2000

Blueprint For The Future
PocketPak

Visual Studio.NET
Office 10 Subscriptions



  Microsoft Launches the Entertainment PocketPak, A New Game Add-on for the Pocket PC
Time: 08:59 EST/13:59 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson
Today at COMDEX/Fall 2000, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the Entertainment PocketPak for Windows® Powered Pocket PCs, the most recent PocketPak to be made available for Pocket PCs. The Microsoft® Entertainment PocketPak for the Pocket PC includes 10 games that pack more fun into the device: Blackjack, Chess, Cinco, FreeCell, Hearts, Mindsweeper, Reversi, Sink the Ships, Space Defense and Taipei. Customers can even test their gaming skills wirelessly against a competitor while playing Hearts, Reversi, Cinco and Sink the Ships by taking advantage of the built-in, industry-standard infrared capabilities of Windows Powered Pocket PCs.

 

  Pocket PC -- the Wireless Wonder: More Choice, More Speed, More Access - New Version Of Windows Media Player For PPC Announced
Time: 08:59 EST/13:59 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson
Today at COMDEX/Fall 2000, Microsoft Corp. along with its industry partners demonstrated that the Pocket PC is the superior wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) among competitors, giving both corporations and consumers the most alternatives to get to the Web, their e-mail and corporate information:*
  • More Choice. Pocket PC customers can utilize traditional wide-area wireless options around the world, including CDPD, GSM, CDMA and PHS, as well as wireless local area networking (802.11) and personal area network (Bluetooth) capabilities.
  • More Speed. Pocket PC owners are now the first and only PDA customers to be able to get the highest-speed mobile access via the Ricochet 128Kbps network, essentially providing third-generation (3G) network speeds today. In addition, for customers with in-house wLAN, the Pocket PC supports 802.11, providing speeds of 11 Mbps, the fastest wireless network available.
  • More Access. Once customers wirelessly enable their devices, they will have access to all the Internet with the built-in Microsoft® Pocket Internet Explorer browser software and are not limited to certain Web sites. With high-speed access on the Ricochet network, they can even stream Windows Media audio and video for the first time using a new technology preview version of Windows Media™ Player for Pocket PC announced today at COMDEX.

 

  Microsoft Announces New Subscription Offering for "Office 10"
Time: 08:59 EST/13:59 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson
Today at COMDEX/Fall 2000, Microsoft Corp. announced a new subscription offering for "Office 10," the code name for the next version of Microsoft® Office, which will provide customers with an exciting new opportunity to subscribe to the world's leading desktop productivity suite for an annual fee. This new model will enable home and small-business customers to acquire the latest version of Office at a lower initial cost while receiving product upgrades released during their subscription at no additional expense. Customers will be able to obtain their subscription via a new packaged product at retail stores in select worldwide regions when "Office 10" becomes available toward the end of the first half of 2001. The subscription can be renewed annually via telephone or over the Internet, or by acquiring a new subscription product at retail stores.

 

  Microsoft Demonstrates Tablet PC Technology For Enterprise Computing Applications
Time: 08:59 EST/13:59 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson
Tonight at COMDEX/Fall 2000, Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corp., unveiled a new direction in PC technology during his keynote address when he demonstrated a working prototype of a Tablet PC: a full-function Microsoft® Windows® operating system-based PC incorporating the convenient and intuitive aspects of pencil and paper into the PC experience.

A long-cherished goal for technology visionaries and computer designers, the Tablet PC will represent the next major evolution in PC design and functionality. While retaining the full power to run all existing Windows-based software applications, the Tablet PC expands enterprise computing to address previously unmet needs such as the ability to take notes at meetings, annotate existing electronic documents and presentations, and read on screen easily. By allowing users to input into their PC using only an electronic pen and a few buttons, rather than with a keyboard and a mouse, the Tablet PC will provide new opportunities and technology directions for the PC hardware and software communities.

 

  Visual Studio.NET Beta 1 Released
Time: 08:32 EST/13:32 GMT | News Source: E-Mail | Posted By: Byron Hinson
Visual Studio.NET Beta1Microsoft Visual Studio.NET Beta 1 is now available. This release is the first chance for customers to take a look at the forthcoming innovations of Visual Studio.NET, which establishes a complete development environment for building applications on the Microsoft .NET Framework, Microsoft's next generation Web application development platform.

Developers can stay on the cutting edge of the Microsoft .NET evolution by subscribing to MSDN Subscriptions Services. Not only will MSDN® Universal Subscribers receive all Visual Studio.NET betas prior to the public release, subscribers will also immediately receive many key Microsoft technologies.

 

  Whistler and Blackcomb - the Windows 2000 .NET future
Time: 08:16 EST/13:16 GMT | News Source: The Register | Posted By: Byron Hinson
Microsoft is working on two future releases of Windows 2000 that will maximize the integration of .NET Framework facilities. The two-stage release is designed to provide the earliest possible availability of major features.

"Whistler," the code name for the next release of Windows 2000, is cirrently at beta 1 stage, and is expected to debut during the summer of 2001. Whistler is Microsoft's plan for an uber-OS that marries NT stability with Millennium Edition's easy-to-use interface and home-computing capabilities. Starting next winter, the Whistler family of operating systems will slowly begin to replace all current Microsoft OSs, from the Windows 95/98 to future Windows 2000 upgrades.

 

  Microsoft Chief Software Architect Lays Out a Blueprint For the Future of the Internet
Time: 08:15 EST/13:15 GMT | News Source: Microsoft Press Release | Posted By: Byron Hinson
In his first year as Microsoft Corp.'s chief software architect, Bill Gates tonight used his annual "state of the industry" speech to describe sweeping changes he sees in computing and to lay out a visionary blueprint for the next generation of the Internet. Gates predicted a fundamental shift away from the current passive "publishing" model of the Internet toward a future in which powerful new software will connect servers, PCs and personal devices and allow people to personalize the Internet to meet their specific needs.

"Ninety-nine percent of the great Internet applications have yet to be written," Gates told a sold-out crowd of more than 12,000 COMDEX/Fall 2000 attendees at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. "Today, thanks to Internet standards like XML, there's an enormous opportunity for developers to write breakthrough software. Consumers and businesses will see immediate benefits from our ability to tear down the walls that prevent people from using data and information in a really meaningful way.

 


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

Buy The Top 10 MS Products At Shop.Microsoft.Com

  1. Picture It! Publishing Platinum Edition 2001
  2. Microsoft® Windows® Me At a Glance
  3. Money 2001 Deluxe
  4. Windows 2000 Professional
  5. Encarta Reference Suite 2001 CD-ROM
  6. Visio 2000 Professional
  7. Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion
  8. Sidewinder Game Voice
  9. FrontPage 2000
  10. PowerPoint 2000

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