ActiveWin
Microsoft has just released a new beta build 2535 of Windows XP. This post-RC2 interim build, official beta testers can download right now, continues to fix bugs and optimize code. Windows XP should be RTM in the next two weeks while it'll be officially launched, worldwide, on October 25th.
Microsoft has released a new build of MSN Messenger 3.6.0039.
New features available in this version include:
WinInsider
Microsoft is setting up a research group in Silicon Valley to work on technologies for the company's push beyond the PC and into Internet services.
Microsoft is setting up a research group in Silicon Valley to work on technologies for the company's push beyond the personal computer and increasingly into Internet services.
The move is intended to strengthen Microsoft's Internet services initiative, called .Net, a centerpiece of the company's strategy for the future.
Source: New York Times
Microsoft plans to push back its next major operating system release, code-named "Blackcomb," to 2005 because the company fears the software could bring it further into conflict with antitrust regulators, say industry analysts.
In the interim, Microsoft is likely to release a less ambitious version of Windows dubbed "Longhorn" sometime in 2003--the date the company originally planned to ship Blackcomb, say analysts. Like Blackcomb, Longhorn will include features that contribute to Microsoft's much hyped .Net initiative, but it will omit database technology that could forge greater ties between Microsoft's operating systems and its Web services.
Starting next month, some new PCs could include an unexpected accessory: Windows XP. Microsoft has given PC makers the go-ahead to ship Windows XP as much as one full month before the operating system's official Oct. 25 launch date, sources close to four major PC makers told CNET News.com. Computer makers plan to debut PCs and notebooks with the new operating system in late September, a move that could help jump-start stagnant sales. "The industry is hoping to see some kind of upgrade cycle starting with XP," said ARS analyst Toni Duboise. The early release from PC makers "means we could start out the fourth quarter (shipping PCs) with XP; it could only be beneficial."
In a move that was widely anticipated, Microsoft on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to take its antitrust appeal. The action could make it more difficult for the Justice Department and 18 states to seek an injunction against Windows XP. The upgrade to Microsoft's ubiquitous operating system is scheduled to be released in late October.
Andy Gavil, an antitrust professor with Howard University School of Law, said "a request for (certification) before the Supreme Court" would have little chance of success given that "the Court of Appeals delivered a unanimous verdict on monopoly maintenance."
Intel reiterated its plans Tuesday to aggressively move its Pentium 4 into the mainstream of the PC market. During a U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray conference for financial analysts, Anand Chandrasekher, vice president of Intel's Architecture Group, all but confirmed that the chipmaker would launch its 2GHz Pentium 4 later this month, cut prices and go for the jugular of rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Under fire to make Windows XP-bundled products and services optional, Microsoft will instead add more services to the OS that users will be able to download from Microsoft's Windows Update Web site. These product and services include key updates to technology in XP, such as a new version of Windows Messenger and the addition of .NET Alerts and a .NET Rendezvous service.
"Rendezvous will allow things like real-time communications between people," Microsoft Vice President Jim Allchin told eWeek. "If you use Windows Messenger in XP--and you can choose not to--you will have to use the HailStorm Passport and the Rendezvous services." The .NET Rendezvous service, which will be of part of an updated version of Windows Messenger, lets users visually connect to each other through the Internet. For example, a user can request help from the corporate Help Desk in a work environment or from a friend in a home environment. The service will enable the Help Desk or friend, connect to the user's system, and help troubleshoot the problem.
To quell fears about its product-activation technology, Microsoft posted a Microsoft Product Activation bulletin on its Web site. The document explains how Product Activation works and dispels some common myths about the technology.
Office XP, Visio 2002, and the upcoming Windows XP OS all feature Product Activation, which has caused an uproar with customers, mostly because of fears about privacy and Microsoft's poor job of communicating how Product Activation works. The company initiated Product Activation to reduce what it calls "casual copying," the most widespread form of piracy. In casual copying, an individual shares a single piece of software with one or more friends or family or installs the software on a second PC without purchasing a second copy. Microsoft claims that in the United States, casual copying is responsible for 50 percent of its economic losses from piracy.
C|Net
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