WinInsider

Top personal computer makers, including Dell Computer Corp. DELL.O, said on Wednesday they have begun selling some PCs with Microsoft Corp.'s widely anticipated new MSFT.O Windows XP operating system four weeks ahead of its scheduled launch, in a speedy turnaround that analysts say is designed to help slumping sales. After a year of slow sales, Microsoft, semiconductor maker Intel Corp.INTC.O and the PC makers such as Compaq Computer Corp. CPQ.N Corp. and Gateway Inc. GTW.N have been counting on an boost in sales from the launch of XP, analysts said.

Microsoft Exposes New Way to View Digital Photos TV Photo Viewer Brings Photo Albums to TV for Easy Sharing With Family, Friends. Microsoft Corp. zooms into the burgeoning digital camera accessory market today as it unveils its TV Photo Viewer, an easy-to-use, sleek, compact device designed to extend the viewing and sharing of digital photos from the home office to the living room. For the first time, it's a snap for families to view digital photo albums on their home TV screen with friends and relatives. The Microsoft TV Photo Viewer provides the more than 10 million digital camera users with an addition to the technology they already own.

Microsoft Corp., along with its industry partners Compaq Computer Corp. and Unisys Corp., today announced the publication of two industry benchmarks that demonstrate the scalability, speed and superior price/performance of the Microsoft SQL Server 2000. Yesterday, Compaq published a TPC-C cluster benchmark that beat all previous best-performance measures for clustered configurations. With the price/performance of $23.84 per tpmC, this Microsoft and Unisys TPC-C result is proof that SQL Server accomplishes mainframe-class computing performance for an overall lower total cost of ownership, with great price performance and system administration. Benchmark.

With the release of a new pre-Beta 3 build of Windows .NET Server Wednesday night--build 3541--Microsoft revealed that the final name for the products has changed somewhat. Windows .NET Server, which was originally to have been titled Windows Server 2002, was set to ship in a variety of editions, include the normal Server Edition and an Advanced Server Edition. These products have been renamed, however, to Standard Server and Enterprise Server, respectively.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that its Mac OS X version of Office:mac, now dubbed Office v. X, will be released in November. The Office v. X suite includes new versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint--which were shown off this summer at MacWorld New York, as well as a new version of its email/PIM package called Entourage, which the company is now previewing for the first time. The Office v. X applications require Mac OS X version 10.1, which is due late this month, and they take advantage of Apple's new OS by incorporating all of the user interface widgets and effects that Mac users expect.

Intel has cancelled plans to offer a 2 GHz version of its high-end Xeon microprocessor and will instead ratchet the design up to 2.2 GHz. The new Xeon is based on the Pentium 4 processor, but will now use a smaller and faster 0.13 micron architecture, as compared to the old version's 0.18 micron size. The new chip--code-named "Prestonia"--will be made available in single and dual processor workstations and servers starting later this month. The new chip also requires a new chipset--code-named "Plumas."

Microsoft will extend its Passport authentication service to the broader business market, including its rivals, in an effort to build acceptance for its service and allay privacy concerns. In addition, Microsoft is renaming its HailStorm Web services initiative as .Net My Services. HailStorm is central to Microsoft's overarching .Net software strategy to move computing to the Web. The company next year plans to offer content, shopping, banking, entertainment and other services through a variety of devices--including cell phones, PCs and handhelds--linked to HailStorm, which relies on Microsoft's Passport to authenticate users.

Microsoft is ready to go ahead with the full-scale launch of its new Windows XP operating system next month, with a major event in New York City as the city recovers from last week's attack on the World Trade Center, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Wednesday. "If New York wants us, I'm sure we'll want to be there," said Ballmer, fielding questions from several hundred software executives at a Chicago Software Association luncheon. "We had been planning on a big launch for Windows XP in New York City, and I know we'll have discussions with the mayor and his staff before we proceed," Ballmer said.

The MechWarrior 4 Update v2.0 addresses numerous gameplay issues.

The MechWarrior 4 Mission Editor is a powerful editing tool that allows you to create your own single and multiplayer MechWarrior 4 missions.

Dell Computer is working on a tiny new notebook with the mettle of a full-size machine. Sources familiar with Dell's plans say the new "ultra-portable" notebook packs features normally found in its larger notebooks--including integrated wireless networking and processors running at 1GHz and faster--and squeezes them into much smaller chassis.

The new notebook, which is destined to replace Dell's Latitude L400, will weigh in at about 3.5 pounds and is likely to measure a hair over 1-inch thick. Ultra-portable notebooks generally weigh 3 to 4 pounds. Because of their tight internal confines, these notebooks usually feature external disk drives and slower processors, which produce less heat.