GameSpot spoke with Allen Nieman, technical product manager for Windows XP, to get more information on how product activation will work.
GameSpot: Tell us a bit about the changes to Windows product activation. What now triggers the prompt for reactivation?
Allen Nieman: What triggers the prompt for reactivation hasn't changed. What has changed is that we have addressed feedback from power users participating in the beta that the need to reactivate by telephoning can be a hassle. Therefore we have made changes in the way those reactivation requests are handled to allow it to be done over the Internet based on the amount of time that has passed since the last time that product key was used to activate Windows XP.
Also posted on ActiveWin
Microsoft told a federal appeals court on Friday it opposed the government's request to expedite the antitrust case against the company back to a lower court, and held out the prospect that Microsoft would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Microsoft asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to send the case back to a lower court only after it rules on the company's request that the panel re-examine part of its recent ruling on the case, the company said in a court filing.
Within a week after such a decision is issued, the company said, it would decide whether to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Friday, the Justice Department retained a new lead attorney in the Microsoft case. Philip Beck, a founding partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott of Chicago, will be assisted by DOJ staff attorneys M.J. Moltenbrey and Phillip R. Malone. David Boies prosecuted the case for the Justice Department but left after the election of President Bush. Beck's role will be different as he navigates the case through the appeals process.
What are they doing?
Both David Boies & Joel Klein knew when to fled. DOJ can't take clue from own lawyers, as general public supports Microsoft in efforts to combat idiocy. And it would be nice for once if aol, sun, oracle stop lobbying DOJ to proceed with this antitrust. Knowing that economy so depends on well-being of IT sector (Microsoft). Proof: When Microsoft announced lower first quarter earnings for 2002, market crashed. If they are going to stop WinXP, millions of dollars will be lost, since people will not buy new computers for holyday season. What are they doing?
Thursday at MacWorld in New York, Microsoft previewed the next Macintosh version of Office. Still without an official name, Office 10 for Mac OS X is expected to be released shortly after Apple's 10.1 update to the operating system this fall. Unlike its predecessor, Office 10 is being developed exclusively for Mac OS X. Kevin Browne of Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit said the "trade-offs weren't worth it" to develop the suite for both OS X and OS 9.
Microsoft has just released to its testers the first beta version 0717 of Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2. Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 Beta addresses top issues reported to Microsoft Technical Support regarding Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1 and includes security and Install/Uninstall patches which have been released since Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1 became available publicly.
The worst may be over for Hewlett-Packard, even though information technology spending continues to "bounce along the bottom," according to an analyst from Salomon Smith Barney. John B. Jones on Friday upgraded HP to a "buy" from a "neutral" and argued that the company is more likely to see improvement in its business than continued weakness. "As HP was first to signal a downturn, they could be the first to lead us out," said Jones. He added that HP could be among the first tech companies to signal a rebound since it accurately predicted problems late last year. "HP's unique customer base (consumer, small and medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises) has been an early, reliable indicator of spreading IT spending softness in late 2000 and in the first half," said Jones.
And speaking of our favorite "anyone but Microsoft" company, Sun Microsystems posted an $88 million loss and a 20 percent drop in revenues for the quarter ending June 30. Unfortunately, Sun didn't have investments to blame; its products just aren't selling as they have historically. The company blames weak demand in Europe, the Dot Com crash, and general economic conditions for its problems. But I think we all know what the real problem is. Yup, you guessed it, Frank Stallone.
The Microsoft Corporation reported solid gains in quarterly revenues and operating profits yesterday, but the company said that it expected the personal computer business to worsen further in the current quarter.
Microsoft's business, however, has held up remarkably during a period when most companies in the computer business are reporting steep declines in profits and announcing layoffs. Yet looking forward, Microsoft did say it expected its revenue in the current quarter to be $6 billion to $6.2 billion, and its earnings per share to be 39 cents to 40 cents.
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday posted a quarterly profit that fell within estimates on robust sales in its main businesses, but warned revenue growth would slow in the current quarter amid still-sluggish demand for personal computers. Microsoft said operating income for its fourth quarter ended June 30 -- excluding a $2.6 billion non-cash investment charge -- was $2.75 billion, up from $2.55 billion a year earlier. Including the pre-announced investment charge, net income was $66 million, or 1 cent per share, down from $2.4 billion or 44 cents per diluted share a year earlier.