WinInsider

Remember CueCat? Microsoft Research is trying to bring it back, but as a blogging aid, this time around. Could autoblogging, a k a automatic weblogging, be the next big thing? Marc Smith seems to think so. The Microsoft researcher and his team have developed a tool called Aura that is designed to help users automatically blog anything with a barcode label. Microsoft's Aura technology is currently in prototype phase. Smith says he is planning to release the code base via the Microsoft Research download page in another two months or so.

... and the betas keep coming from the Redmond.  Ditto let me know that Microsoft notify the Office 11 beta testers that Publisher 2003 is ready for testing.  The notification email presented here also includes some of the new things that can be done with Publisher 2003...

Hello Microsoft Office System Beta Testers,

The Publisher team is in need of your assistance. Please help us make Microsoft Office Publisher 2003 the best version yet. Please install the Beta 2 version of Microsoft Office Publisher 2003 and use it to create some sample publications. Take advantage of some of the great new features listed below. Then, let us know what you think through the Publisher Beta Newsgroup (news:microsoft.beta.*****.publisher).

New Features in Publisher 2003 includes:

• 10 new master design sets for a total of 45 master design sets you can use to create common
• businesses publications with consistent design.
• New publication types CD/DVD labels, invitation cards, personal stationery, and e-mail
• Baseline alignment for text
• New interactive Graphics Manager
• Multiple master pages
• Empty picture frames to use as placeholders
• Improved Design Checker
• Improved positioning of inline objects
• Find and replace across all stories and text frames in a publication
• Improved Save As Picture command lets you choose image resolution and multiple file types
• Picture and catalog merge
• New Web wizards
• Easy Web Site Builder
• 3-Page Web Site
• Navigation bars for Web pages
• WYSISYG Web page editing (Web view)
• Incremental Web upload makes it easier to update and maintain a publisher-created Web site
• Page sorter for easily rearranging pages
• Precise pan and zoom using any 5-button mouse
• New publication task pane organization and Start screen

• Create a brochure and print it on your desktop printer.
• Create a Web Site using Microsoft Office Publisher2003.
• Create a single page letter and send it to a friend as rich e-mail.

Focus Enhancements, a small chipmaker specializing in video-related products, has received its first order from Microsoft to supply chips for the Xbox video game console. Focus signed a deal with Microsoft last year to become a supplier of TV-encoding processors, which convert PC code into signals suitable for display on a TV set. The Campbell, Calif.-based company joined larger Conexant Systems as one of two providers of the chips, a critical but relatively inexpensive and low-profile part of the Xbox.

The move is one of several cost-cutting measures Microsoft has taken to trim production costs for the heavily subsidized Xbox, including shifting production to China for units sold outside North America.

It doesn't top the official agenda, but as government leaders converge at Microsoft Corp. for an annual conference, one of the company's major competitors - Linux - is likely to be on executives' minds. Microsoft had representatives from 61 countries Monday and Tuesday at its Redmond, Wash., campus for its annual Government Leaders Summit.

At the conference, Microsoft will tout the message that there's more to software than just its upfront costs. However, it's clear the company will accept huge discounts to ensure it does not lose the lucrative government and educational market. "Where there are competitive options, Microsoft is often willing to go to the mat to make sure they get a deal," said Michael Gartenberg, research director for Jupiter Research.

Microsoft Visio 2003, available next month for beta testing, aims to broaden the diagramming product's appeal to nontechnical business users. Visio, acquired by Microsoft in January 2000, is used by engineers and technical types to create schematics and other technical drawings. Business professionals use it for org charts. The current Visio 2002 usage is split 50/50 between those groups, said Jason Bunge, product manager.

Microsoft is deepening XML support in this release in an attempt to make Visio less of a single-user product. "The perception is this is a desktop app; it's static, solid and rightfully so," Bunge said. "Part of the XML support will make it more dynamic and [tie it in tighter] with data centers and systems," Bunge said.

Warning: This is one of those ZDNet articles!

Microsoft's connection to the anti-Linux campaign being waged by the SCO Group is becoming clear. In the latest move, Microsoft has stepped up the battle with an announced agreement to license SCO's Unix patents and the source code, describing the deal as a reflection of its "ongoing commitment to respecting intellectual property and the IT community's healthy exchange of IP through licensing." Nice rhetoric.

This comes after SCO just last week sent a letter to big IT customers, threatening legal action. And the reality is that Microsoft is tying SCO's allegations into its own anti-GPL campaign, a mostly unsuccessful effort to convince customers that the sharing and openness methods used in Linux development are unhealthy for the market. (SCO has gone so far as to publish "Quotations from Linux Leaders," a collection of inaccurate and out-of-context quotes of GNU Public License creator Richard Stallman and myself to paint Linux developers as nothing better than software pirates.)

... but there is more beta info... thanks again to Ditto for sending this one to us. This time is about Microsoft Virtual Server. It seems that Microsoft is putting together fruits of its early purchase of Connectix.

Dear Microsoft Beta Tester,

Welcome to the customer preview release of Microsoft Virtual Server. Virtual Server is Microsoft's virtual machine (VM) solution that enables Windows servers to run multiple operating systems concurrently. Virtual Server enables simplified application migration, flexible server consolidation, and automated rapid deployment. Customers benefit by simplified operations, higher service level delivery, and operational cost savings. The purpose of this release is to provide early access to the software so that customers can understand the features and benefits of virtual machine technology for Windows servers, and to solicit feedback to functionality and features.

Yet again Ditto has delivered exclusive beta insider info to us. This time is from ActiveDocs for Microsoft Office 11. If you are interested in testing it our, then sign-up...

ActiveDocs, Document Automation Software for Microsoft Office has now been released for Office 2003 Beta 2. This is a beta version of ActiveDocs and requires your help in testing. It is available for download.

The team at Keylogix is working closely with Microsoft's Office team during development to ensure the seamless integration of ActiveDocs with Word 2003 and we need your help in testing this new functionality. Important areas of integration and functionality that require testing are ActiveDocs Smart Tags. Additional information about this beta release of ActiveDocs can be found on http://www.activedocs.com/beta/ including beta release notes, logging bugs and understanding known issues.

ActiveDocs, Document Automation Software for Microsoft Office lets any user add automated functionality to their Word templates without the need for programming. ActiveDocs saves time, increases your accuracy and ensures you of high quality professional documents every time.

Microsoft has formed a virus information alliance with antivirus software makers Network Associates and Trend Micro. The alliance, announced Monday, is designed to create a central resource for information on viruses that target Microsoft software, a move that coincides with the appearance of a worm with a bogus Microsoft.com identifier that is working its way through the Internet.

"We are focused on security and getting information out as soon as possible," said Andy Erlandson, director of security for product support services at Microsoft. "We plan to do updates when we have new information and the updates could be hourly.

The Virus Information Alliance Web site has been set up to carry latest incident reports on viruses with severity ratings of moderate to high; consumer security updates; best practices for infections and denial of service attacks; tools; and antivirus resources.

Expanding the home entertainment functionality of its Xbox gaming system, Microsoft demonstrated at E3 an upcoming add-on that enables viewing of music and photos using the Xbox console. The feature, dubbed "Music Mixer," connects to computers over a network and creates a library of digital media. The primary focus of Music Mixer will be karaoke, with its "digital lyric-stripping technology" and bundled microphone.

"Music Mixer unlocks the digital entertainment capability of Xbox," said J Allard, general manager of Xbox Platform at Microsoft. "Music Mixer demonstrates how we can use the Xbox to connect gamers to other favorite activities of the Digital Entertainment Lifestyle."