WinInsider

There's no doubt that we'll eventually look back on Windows XP as one of the key OS releases of all time. XP isn't important as a "platform for the future," per se, because Microsoft first developed most of the underlying technology for Windows 2000. But XP is the realization of an important Microsoft goal because it's the first OS to combine the compatibility of the old Windows Me and Windows 9x line with the security and stability of Win2K and Windows NT. But XP is also the first OS to offer a new interface paradigm that extends the aging desktop metaphor into a new world of task orientation.

According to market research company International Data Corporation (IDC), Microsoft will ship 75 million Windows XP licenses this year, giving the new OS an installed base of almost 85 million users by this time next year. Other predictions from the company include a "hype peak" for .NET this year, well before the technology is ready to go mainstream, and a "breakout year" for Linux (which means this is probably the third straight year they've predicted that).

In this edition get to know a Robot that thrives on Slugs, find out what Microsoft has in store for 2002, find out when you will be able to watch Window Media Format home movies on your DVD, plus December's Videos and Downloads, AMD and Intel roundup, Internet Cable bid roundup, and tone more...

Microsoft will demonstrate on Monday a tablet-shaped device that will serve as a bridge between the TV, the PC and the company's .Net services, according to sources familiar with the plans. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will show off the device, known as Mira, during his eHome presentation Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The device is effectively a cross between a Pocket PC-based handheld computer and a TV remote control. Sources said Mira will depend on Microsoft's Terminal Server, software that governs the exchange of data between a computing device and a central server.

When I began researching the top stories of 2001, I figured the Microsoft antitrust case would prove to be the most important of them all, but two things nixed that assumption. First, the list of Microsoft's security problems from last year far outweighed the coverage I'd given the trial, making that the top story, and secondly, I was reminded that the antitrust trial wasn't the only legal problem Microsoft had in 2001. Indeed, the company spent a lot of time in court defending itself last year (it also spent a lot of time helping law enforcement officials bag software pirates, though that's another story), and that, I think, is the real story here.

Regardless of your feelings about Microsoft, it was a tough year for what I think of as the integrity of the company's products. Integrity encompasses several items, including basic security, privacy, and reliability, but also a general feeling of trust people have in a given product--an almost subconscious understanding that something just isn't right. This notion covers a wide range of Microsoft products, from Windows servers and desktops to Internet Explorer (IE), Microsoft IIS, and Hotmail. Throughout 2001, Microsoft was the target of hundreds of hacks, attacks, and vulnerabilities. It seems as though Microsoft simply lined up its OSs and applications like yellow ducks in a carnival game--defenseless rows of potential victims, waiting to be knocked over.

On Monday, Intel will introduce two new versions of the Pentium 4--code-named Northwood--that will run at 2.2GHz and 2.0GHz. But more important than the speed bump are the design of the chips and the way they are manufactured, which are expected to help the company open a competitive gap between itself and cross-freeway rival Advanced Micro Devices.

PCs featuring the chip, along with a chipset for hooking Intel PCs into fast double data rate memory, will arrive the same day from Gateway, Dell Computer and others, according to sources.

The Northwood Pentium 4s differ from the current versions of the chip in that they are made on the 130-nanometer (0.13-micron) manufacturing process, rather than the 180-nanometer process, as are existing Pentium 4s. The 130-nanometer designation refers to the average size of the features on the chip.

Voice messaging company One Voice Technologies announced plans to integrate its MobileVoice Messaging system with Microsoft's MSN and Windows Messenger applications. Once the system is complete, One Voice said it will allow users of Microsoft's instant messaging platform to send and receive messages using any phone. The nifty part of the technology is that it does not require a user to spend 20 minutes punching keys on a handset -- messages are sent using only voice.

One Voice has been developing this technology for some time now. In August, the company announced it was beta testing this "fourth-generation" voice-to-text messaging platform with several wireless carriers.

AOL Time Warner on Wednesday pledged to close a security hole in its instant messenger application that experts say could provide wiggle room for a widespread and destructive worm. AOL Time Warner said it would implement a server-side fix--meaning people will not have to download the patch--by week's end. The security bug affects AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) version 4.7 and the 4.8 beta, or test version. Only AIM users running Microsoft's Windows operating system are vulnerable.

The advisory described the problem as a buffer overflow issue--one of the most common computer security glitches. The problem, which in this case affects AIM's game request function, occurs when an application crashes after being flooded with more code than it can accommodate. In a buffer overflow attack, maliciously written excess code can wind up being executed on the target computer.

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Microsoft and nine states to appear at a hearing next week to discuss a delay to the next phase of the landmark antitrust trial. On Dec. 21, Microsoft asked U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to extend by four months the date for holding a remedy hearing to decide what sanctions would be imposed for the company's antitrust violations.

On Monday, nine states and the District of Columbia filed a rebuttal brief charging that Microsoft had enough time to prepare for the hearing, which is scheduled for early March. Kollar-Kotelly scheduled the hearing to discuss Microsoft's request for more time for Monday, Jan. 7.