Microsoft will launch a release candidate of Visual Studio .NET at this month's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles. This release will be accompanied by near-final versions of the .NET Framework development library and a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for .NET My Services, previously code-named Hailstorm. After the .NET Framework is finalized, it will be released in a service packs for Windows 2000 and XP early next year; future Windows versions will also incorporate this technology. Regarding the Java add-on, which might be marketed as Visual J# .NET, it's unclear what prompted Microsoft to reverse course. Java backers point to the language's popularity, though it's outpaced by many other languages, including Microsoft's own Visual Basic. Still, it behooves Microsoft to provide an upgrade path for the people who are still using Java: Otherwise, that potential audience could have been shut out of the .NET wave, since third party Java add-ons wouldn't have the widespread adoption of an official Microsoft release. Expect a public beta of this tool soon.
Microsoft will announce next week a new business Internet service, tied to its .Net strategy, that will allow eBay and other Web sites to contact and send messages to customers via PCs, cell phones and other handheld devices. Microsoft plans to say that it has signed 20 companies to a new Web-based service, called .Net Alerts, according to sources close to the company. The service will notify subscribers of everything from updated sports scores to the shipping status of goods they've bought online. In the case of eBay, the online auction site can send buyers messages about the status of items they've bid on.
Intel on Monday is unveiling an entirely new design for the silicon and metal vehicles that connect the microprocessor to the rest of the computer. That may sound arcane, but the oft-overlooked art of chip packaging is absolutely crucial to the future of the semiconductor industry. Intel says that the breakthrough will play an essential role in allowing processing power to grow. Five years from now, microprocessors will run at 20GHz; they'll need to issue and receive a vast amount of signals and will require a high infusion of electricity.
Microsoft has posted it's Beta 1 version of Microsoft J#.Net Version 7.0 Beta 1 for download, it hasn't been posted on Download Center yet and the file is dated October 11, so it is unclear if this is a leak or not. However, it is on Microsoft's public servers and it is available for download. Here are some of the details: "Introduction Welcome to Beta 1 of Microsoft Visual J# .NET. Microsoft Visual J# .NET is a development tool that developers who are familiar with the java-language syntax can use to build applications and services on the .NET Framework. It integrates the java-language syntax into the Visual Studio .NET shell. Microsoft Visual J# .NET also supports the functionality found in VJ++ 6.0 including Microsoft extensions. Microsoft Visual J# .NET is not a tool for developing applications intended to run on a Java Virtual Machine. Applications and services built with Visual J# .NET will run only in the .NET Framework. Visual J# .NET has been independently developed by Microsoft. It is not endorsed or approved by Sun Microsystems, Inc."
Microsoft has sent word that CDs will be shipped shortly to those who were lucky enough to be amoung those accepted to test Windows 2000's third service pack. As per the usual, key areas being focused on by the sustained development team are setup, application compatibility, operating system reliability, and numerous security issues. There are no plans to incorporate new features into Windows, as this is solely a maintenance release. The soon to be released update marks the third installment of a service pack since Windows 2000 went gold in December of 1999.
In this 2nd edition of bonus pack review tech news that made headlines in the month of September. What technologies are coming up! - HomeStation, New Internet High Speed Standards, Copper Chips, and PC Telephone. Also WinXP top stories, 3 Microsoft Sweepstakes, PocketPC Photo Gallery, and how to register for DevDays. Last but not least, walk-in 3D Desktop, plus more!
Negotiations in the Microsoft antitrust case started this week under a deadline of Nov. 2. But the obstacles to a settlement loom large, and both sides have reasons to resist. Although the Justice Department announced last month that it would no longer seek a breakup of Microsoft or pursue the claim that the company's bundling of its Internet browser with its Windows operating system was illegal, it is seeking restrictions that Microsoft has refused to accept in the past.
The Microsoft camp reads the appeals court ruling fairly narrowly. George L. Priest, a Yale law professor and a consultant to Microsoft who is not involved in the settlement talks, said: "I don't think information disclosure should be on the table, and since the government has dropped the tying claim, what you have left is mostly getting rid of some of Microsoft's contract restrictions with PC manufacturers."
Microsoft's Visual Studio.Net, the centerpiece of the company's next-generation .Net platform, is set to go gold and be handed over to MSDN professionals in November with retail availability now scheduled for February 2002, said sources familiar with Microsoft's plans. At Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference 2001 later this month in Los Angeles, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates will formally launch the Release Candidate 1 of Visual Studio.Net platform and .Net Framework Classes as well as the first software development kit for .Net MyServices, formerly known as HailStorm services, sources said.
AMD might be making a big noise about the branding of the Athlon XP, but best buddies Intel and Microsoft have ganged up in a joint marketing push for Pentium 4 and Windows XP. Intel's Inside programme - under which system builders get (undisclosed) cash handouts for including the Intel Inside logo or that terrible bing bong bing bong in their ads, is being extended to include Windows XP. The joint logo programme will run until the end of next January as part of the two companies' estimated billion dollar spend to promote XP. It's the first time Intel has incorporated a third party logo in the programme and Microsoft had a fleeting dalliance with a joint branding exercise with the UK's Viglen a few years back.
Microsoft issued a new set of beta PowerToys for Windows XP to testers this week, significantly overhauling the set with new toys and new capabilities. New toys in this release include the Virtual Desktop Manager, which allows you to switch between four different views of running applications; Background Switcher, which causes the background to automatically change periodically; Slide Show Generator, which generates a slide show for CD-ROMs; HTML Slide Show Generator for generating HTML slide shows for the Web; and Magnifier, which magnifies part of the screen. A few toys have been renamed this time out: Faster User Switcher is now called Super-Fast User Switcher, and Open Command Window Here is now Command Windows on Folder. Meanwhile, Shell Player, PowerToy Calculator, PhotoToys, TweakUI move forward unchanged. Gone from this release are the new Task Switcher, which was garbage anyway, the IE Find Toolbar, which I found to be of negligible value anyway. Overall, the new PowerToys look great. They'll be generally available for free download by the time Windows XP ships October 25.
From WinInfo Short Takes: Week of October 8