Microsoft is in talks to distribute its MSN Internet service over Cox Communications cable lines in a pact that could be more attractive for cable companies, a source close to the matter said. In the last couple of years, Internet service providers (ISPs) like MSN and rival America Online have been haggling to sell their services to customers who get their Internet access through high-speed cable lines.
But many of those talks bogged down over pricing and issues like how to brand the service and who would be responsible for customer service. Since cable companies have also made inroads selling high-speed access to their customers without the help of ISPs, the AOLs and MSNs of the world are now considering different models.
Sony and Microsoft will open a new front in their computer games battles in Europe later this month, trying to win over trigger-happy recruits to the online gaming platforms they view as the next big growth segment in the industry. Though small now, online gaming is seen as an important emerging market for video game console makers. It enables them to charge players subscriptions to engage fellow gamers anywhere in the world in a dark alley shoot-'em-up or simulated bombing run on enemy camps.
Market research firm ScreenDigest predicts online gaming will surpass $1 billion in Europe by 2006. Sales of online gaming kits in the U.S. have exceeded expectations with Sony selling more than 500,000 and Microsoft more than 350,000, the companies said.
Dean Lester fundamentally believes in PC gaming. Before becoming General Manager for Windows Graphics and Gaming Technologies, he worked on the PC games side at Microsoft's games group. He's intimately familiar with the problems of developing for the PC, supporting games for the PC and all the headaches that detract from a good PC gaming experience - from both the end user and developer point of view.
"One support call eats up the profit in that game sale," he noted. "Two support calls from the same buyer, and the developer has just paid the user to buy the game."
Sapient and Microsoft have jointly developed a new tool that automates key steps necessary in building applications and Web services based on the .Net Framework.
The tool, known as BuildIt, automates many oft-repeated actions required to create applications, such as generating executables, and automates certain testing and application finishing procedures. Sapient did most of the design and coding of the product, while Microsoft "reviewed and challenged the assumption," said Ben Gaucherin, chief technology officer at Cambridge, Mass.-based Sapient.
Longhorn Quick Install: How It's Done
Longhorn's quick installation process is thanks to technology called the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE), which is used by PC makers today to load a minimal Windows-based operating environment from CD that can create file partitions, access network shares, and install Windows from an image file, rather than the old i386 directory structure used by previous Windows versions. The reason it's faster, for the most part, is that a single image file can copy much more quickly than the thousands of small files in the old i386 directory.
Sony Considers Buying Palm, Apple
Sony Chairman and CEO Nobuyuki Idei has said twice recently that he would purchase Palm's software division, Palmsource, in order to save money licensing the Palm OS for his company's CLIE devices. But Idei also foisted the idea of purchasing Apple Computer recently, leading to speculation that Sony is ready to make a credible play for computing greatness. Palmsource, especially, would be a cheap purchase for the company, thanks to its recent split from the parent company, Palm, and low stock prices. As for Apple Computer--well, who can say? But Sony is one of the few juggernaut media companies out there that's kicking butt and taking names. You never know.
Microsoft has consolidated the database security tools that shield SQL Server 2000 and MSDE 2000 installations from the Slammer worm. SQL Server 2000 SQL Scan, SQL Check and SQL Critical Update are now available in a single download, the SQL Critical Update Kit, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft Web site.
The kit includes two other utilities: the SMS (Systems Management Server) deployment tool, which can be used to create a package in SMS to deploy SQL Server Critical Update, and the Servpriv.exe utility. The latter is required to set appropriate user rights on corresponding service registry keys when running SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 2.
Microsoft will invest $2 billion next fiscal year to sell programs to companies with fewer than 500 workers, after moving a top executive to head that effort. The budget for sales and product development for small and medium-size businesses represents a "significant" increase from the current year's budget, Microsoft spokeswoman Erin Brewer said.
Microsoft yesterday said it was moving its top sales executive, Orlando Ayala, to head a new group selling this type of software. Ayala will report to Group Vice President Jeff Raikes, who has said he wants Microsoft to get $10 billion in sales from programs for smaller companies by 2010.
Windows Server 2003 will bring an end to one of the biggest bugbears for Windows users and administrators, according to Microsoft. The problem, which relates to Dynamic Link Libraries, has become an increasing headache over the years. The Redmond, Wash.-based software company is hoping to end what has become known as "DLL Hell" by building into Windows Server 2003 a system to solve an incompatibility problem with Dynamic Link Libraries, which are software module that can be shared by several different applications.
Problems typically occur when an application is installed that uses an updated version of a DLL. If that particular DLL-- is already being used by another application, and if the original application cannot work with the updated DLL, then the user gets an error message.
Microsoft cut its ties to a standards group that is working on technology for high-powered 3D computer graphics. Microsoft resigned from the OpenGL Architecture Review Board, effective Feb. 15, citing its increased focus on its own proprietary DirectX technology. OpenGL and DirectX are technologies for rendering and accelerating 3D computer graphics. OpenGL is included on all Windows, MacOS, Linux and Unix computers, according to the standards group.
Microsoft said that while it supported industry standards in principle, and was a founding member of the standards group in 1992, OpenGL was not making sufficient headway to warrant its continued participation.
Microsoft next week will release the first widely available beta of InfoPath, a new application for organizing and sharing data that will be included in the next version of Office, but analysts say the learning curve will be steep. The Redmond, Wash.-based company is positioning the product, in part, as a tool to let data migrate from one application in Office to another through Extensible Markup Language (XML). With InfoPath, a sales manager could create a form to which team members could submit numerical data from Excel and notes from Word. The two applications would work harmoniously on the same page and allow for automatic updates.
It will be one of two new applications in Office 11. The other, OneNote, is like Word but lets users write notes anywhere on the screen.