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Microsoft and the Justice Department reportedly have made significant headway toward settling the landmark antitrust case before a court-imposed Friday deadline. Officials at the U.S. Justice Department met state attorneys general in the case to discuss a settlement that would allow computer manufacturers wider latitude to load non-Microsoft software on the machines they sell and give other software companies greater access to the code behind Microsoft's Windows dominant personal computer operating system, Reuters reported. Justice department officials were said to be comfortable with the settlement terms, according to Reuters, but over the next two days they will have to persuade the 18 state attorneys general, many of whom have been pressing for more drastic remedies against Microsoft.

IBM and Microsoft have put their rivalry aside once again to jointly develop new technology for Web services. The two companies on Thursday proposed a new Web standard that will allow businesses to directly find each other's services over the Internet. For example, a company looking to include credit card checks as part of its e-commerce Web site can search and find the credit validation service by browsing a bank's Web site. The new technology, called WS-Inspection, is the fourth Web services standard created jointly by Microsoft and IBM and is part of the plumbing required to implement the software industry's vision of subscription-based software and services over the Web. The first three Web services standards have won the support of all the major software companies, including Oracle, Sun Microsystems and BEA Systems.

Bill Gates: In the Digital Decade, you'll no longer think of the PC as a tool you use only to carry out specific tasks - it will become something you come to rely on all the time. The power of the PC will be as ubiquitous and reliable as electricity, and vastly more useful than any single device we use today. When I think about what today's PC can do - and the amazing innovations just over the horizon - I feel the same enthusiasm and sense of empowerment as when I first started using computers. I can't think of a more exciting time to be in the computer industry.

Uses of Windows XP can customize their login screen how ever they want it. Here are several different pre-customized login screens. Plus I have been informed by John from win-xp.cc that he has posted on his site few other WinXP Themes that do not come with WinXP.

Longhorn mania begins!, here is wallpaper from Longhorn, plus additional screenshots: 1 2 3

I do not use the word "Linux" too often on this site, for know reasons to everyone, but I found interesting article on WinInfo saying that Linux is not threat to Windows Platform on the Servers, because Linux replaces only Unix platforms...

Linux Adoption Stories Not What They Seem

There have been some high-profile Linux adoption stories lately, with companies such as Amazon and even Intel Corporation espousing the wonders of this open source solution. The one crucial fact these stories don't highlight however, is that the Linux adoptions are replacing proprietary and expensive versions of UNIX, not Windows. And as both Amazon and Intel are quick to point out, neither is even considering replacing its Windows boxes with Linux.

Thanks to ActiveWin for brining up this story!

First and foremost, the Tablet PC is a pure superset of today's laptop PCs. In fact many Tablet PCs will look exactly like today's traditional clam shell designs complete with a full keyboard but will have a mechanism that converts the hardware into a slate form. Others will have a pure slate form factor. Regardless of the design, Tablet PCs will be among the most mobile PC ever made, with exceptionally long battery life, light weight, and many with built in wireless capability. But the Tablet is more than just a great laptop. It also enables users to run Windows and Windows applications using a pen, annotate documents, create handwritten documents using "digital ink" for later reference or even conversion into text. Just like today's portable PCs, Tablet PCs can be put into a docking station at a desk to support a large screen monitor, mouse and full size keyboard. Either as a pure slate or as a convertible model the Tablet PC is the evolution of the laptop - all the functionality of a laptop with added Tablet functionality.

Microsoft's next-generation operating system for mobile devices has passed a crucial test for Bluetooth compatibility, the software giant said Tuesday. The qualification of Windows CE .Net through the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) involves extensive testing with existing Bluetooth products, as well as examination of the software. Bluetooth is a short-range radio technology that allows portable devices, such as personal digital assistants, cell phones and notebooks, to communicate within 30 feet of one another without wires. Windows CE .Net, code-named Talisker, will be the next release of the Windows CE operating system for mobile devices.

If you think of Windows "Longhorn," the follow-up to Windows XP, as what would have been Windows NT 5.2, then you've got the right idea. Here's the first--and most comprehensive--FAQ dedicated to the next version of Windows Home Edition and Professional anywhere! Be sure to read my Windows XP FAQ as well, for information about the current desktop versions of Whistler, and the Windows .NET Server FAQ for information about the upcoming server products.

Q: What is "Longhorn"? A: Longhorn is the next version of Windows, which will follow Windows XP. You might think of it as Windows XP Second Edition, since this release is expected to be a fairly minor upgrade. The verson of Longhorn will probably be 5.2 (Windows 2000 was 5.0; XP is 5.1).

I dread moving to Windows XP, knowing that certain favorite old DOS programs I've learned to love and routinely use may not work. This has been part of the reason I have historically not necessarily embraced Windows NT/2000-although it's more reliable than DOS. However, recent experiences with Win 2000 have been heartening. I think I can fall back on Win 2K for all my DOS needs, or at least most of them. The overall problem I have stems from my long-term addiction to the WordStar editing codes, based on the so-called WordStar diamond. The diamond allows for quick editing of documents without a lot of arrow-key and mouse usage. Arrow-key and mouse editing is great for moving large blocks or cut and paste jobs, but for normal editing they are a hassle. So some years ago, I began using an old product called Zedit (based on another old editor, Qedit) to write all my columns, which were required to be in pure ASCII without a lot of nonsense characters embedded in the text. These files could be universally transmitted over any telecom system, and converted to any format easily.

I'm not absolutely sure that the entire U.S. economy is going to get cranked up because of Windows XP, but one thing is certain: The product is going to put some life into the ailing PC market and make a difference. This seems to be a minority view, despite history, and despite the fact that Windows XP is a jazzy upgrade. This issue came up at a recent PC Magazine Editors' Day, where only editor-in-chief Michael Miller and I concluded that Windows XP will do well in the marketplace. We both hedged our bets as to whether it will do as well as Windows 95, but that event is quite possible if Microsoft puts some marketing muscle behind the product.