Microsoft Corp. said yesterday it will no longer develop versions of its popular Web-browsing software for Apple Computer's Macintosh system, saying Apple's own browsing software is a logical choice for Mac users. Except for two minor upgrades, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5 is the last version it will develop for the Mac, said Jessica Sommers, product manager for the software company's Macintosh Business Unit.
It makes more sense for Mac users to use Apple's Safari Web-browser, she said. Although still in beta testing, the browser has already gained attention for its speed and some of its features.
Microsoft agreed to pay $60.6 million to Global Crossing Ltd., the bankrupt fiber-optic network operator, to settle a dispute over a 1999 investment aimed at boosting Internet use.
Global Crossing, which sought Chapter 11 protection last year, asked a federal judge in New York to approve a settlement in which Microsoft will get less Internet capacity, at a better price, and pay $60.6 million of the $76.1 million Global Crossing claims it's owed under a September 1999 deal.
Straight from our beta insider, Ditto, Microsoft has posted Windows Messenger beta 2. Those with the access to BetaPlace, you know where to go to get it! This is the text of the message that appears on BetaPlace...
Our new Beta 2 refresh bits are here ~!. You will notice it's below the Beta 1 download, and is ready for you to test and provide us with feedback.
We've addressed a number of issues, along with some feature changes. Expect to see a bunch of new posts for you all ~!
Microsoft urges users not to run leaked beta versions of its forthcoming MSN Messenger Version 6 instant messaging application because the software is not ready for consumer use. Early versions of MSN Messenger 6 have popped up on dozens of Web sites and new sites spring up every day. Microsoft said the versions that are offered on the Web are meant for internal testing only and that it does not know who leaked the software.
"We had intended for the beta to be an internal beta only. MSN strongly discourages users from downloading a beta from unauthorized sites due to concerns about the stability of the code and lack of complete information," Microsoft's MSN unit said in a statement sent via e-mail Friday.
The longstanding battle between Netscape and Microsoft has finally come to an end. On May 29, AOL Time Warner, which now owns Netscape, agreed to settle a 2002 antitrust suit. AOL had charged Microsoft with illegally using its power in the operating system market to overtake Netscape in the market for Web browsing software. Microsoft will pay AOL $750 million, and over the next seven years, AOL will license the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser for use with the AOL online service, which now has 35 million members.
So what does this mean for Netscape Communications, purchased by AOL for $4.2 billion in 1999? According to Netscape spokesperson Derrick Mains, it's still business as usual at the company. Netscape will release a new version of its browser in the next 45 days, and the company still puts a great deal of work into its Web portal, Netscape.com.
This installment of WinInfo Short Takes contains a lot info about the UNIX/Linux/Apple/IBM/SCO issue, check it out what Microsoft
competition is doing!
And speaking of SCO, the deadline in that company's lawsuit against IBM is, well, today. If IBM doesn't settle with SCO by the end of the day, SCO will likely file a revocation of IBM's UNIX license on Monday, and a preliminary injunction forcing the computer giant to stop selling is AIX product, which is a UNIX version. SCO, as I'm sure you now know, is suing IBM for $1 billion, charging the company with misappropriating trade secrets owned by SCO by using them in Linux, an open source software product that works like UNIX. $1 billion may sound like a lot of money if you're not Microsoft, but consider this: IBM did $3.6 billion just selling UNIX servers in 2002 alone. Yes, the stakes are high. Yes, this could get ugly.
Microsoft is on track to release its "refresh" of Office 2003 beta 2 to testers before the end of the month, a company spokesman said Friday. Announced in April, the refresh is meant to deal with bugs that testers found in what Microsoft has called its largest beta test for Office ever. With the first set of bugs squashed, Office 2003 should be more stable when it comes out later this year, comparable to a product with the first service pack installed, Microsoft has said.
Release of the final Office 2003 product code was pushed back to the third quarter because of the exceptional refresh of the second beta.
Sun's move to consolidate around the Java brand comes at a time when Microsoft is distancing itself from the .NET one. Microsoft and Sun Microsystems have spent a lot of time and energy one-upping one another over the years. Typically, Microsoft sets a course, and shortly thereafter, Sun mimics it while publicly deriding Microsoft's direction. (as was the case with Microsoft's announcement of .Net and Sun's subsequent launch of SunONE). Given that relationship, Sun's move to try to consolidate all its Java wood behind one arrow comes at a curious time.
Microsoft already has disappeared .Net from its Windows line, as well as from its enterprise server and MapPoint products. Folks are expecting that Microsoft will be phasing out .Net from the Visual Studio developer-tool family in the coming year, too.
The headlines from the last week shouting about the rivalry between Larry Ellison and Craig Conway overshadowed the real subtext to the struggle for PeopleSoft: the coming competition between Oracle and Microsoft for who's going to be No. 1 with enterprise customers.
This is a lot more than an offshoot of a personal rivalry between two companies--and their strong-willed founders--who aren't very fond of each other. Structural changes in the software industry are forcing both Oracle and Microsoft to step outside their comfort zones and vie for new customers. And with some $30 billion in Internet applications business up for grabs, the stakes couldn't be higher.
Microsoft is keeping mum about the next version of its instant-messaging service, but 2 million copies of its "private" beta have already been downloaded, according to a company memo obtained by CNET News.com. Details of MSN Messenger version 6 surfaced a month ago when Microsoft posted images of the software and a list of features on its Web site. Version 6 incorporates more interactive perks into the message window, such as a Webcam, real-time games, audio chat and custom "emoticons."
The memo, penned by Blake Irving, vice president of MSN's communications division, is a flowery account of the software's private test efforts to date. Calling it "totally addictive" and citing his 14-year-old sister-in-law as one surprise beta tester, Irving heralded the product's viral appeal. "We have seen unprecedented global consumer enthusiasm for this version," Irving wrote.