WinInsider

After years of development, Microsoft is unveiling a tablet computer controlled by a pen as well as a traditional mouse and keyboard. The software giant hopes the combination of pen input, handwriting recognition and smart screen, which can be written on like paper, will prove popular. It has a huge task on its hands because computer history is littered with failed ventures that tried to combine these technologies in a single package. One looks like an ordinary laptop but its screen swivels round and flips over to let people write on it like a traditional paper notepad. The other type has its smart screen separate from the rest of the laptop and only takes keyboard input united with a base station.

Wall Street seemed to like the Microsoft settlement, but consumers can cheer, too. The software company is receiving an appropriate punishment for its antitrust violations. But U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly firmly rejected the get-Microsoft vindictiveness that would have ignored or even threatened the many benefits consumers receive from the Redmond company. That's in line with legal doctrine that stresses the effects of monopoly on the public, not on competitors. Kollar-Kotelly established excellent procedures to assure Microsoft's future conduct meets legal standards.

Microsoft this week posted an update to its Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) implementation, codenamed Rotor, which adds support for Mac OS X. Rotor is described by Microsoft as a compressed archive of source code to a working implementation of the ECMA CLI and ECMA C# language specification. It provides a resource for academics and researchers to explore programming language concepts for Microsoft .Net developers interested in studying the technology.

"The CLI contains the specifications for a runtime engine that can run programming language code," said John Montgomery, Microsoft group product manager for developer platform, in Redmond, Wash. CLI is the core part of the .Net Framework for functions such as managing object creation and memory.

In yet another management shift, Microsoft Corp. has appointed Mohsen Al-Ghosein to head its Exchange Server group. Al-Ghosein, who joined Microsoft in 1990, has been involved in a number of corporate strategy and architectural roles at the company and was appointed a distinguished engineer in 2000. He replaces Malcolm Pearson, who is currently on a sabbatical from the Redmond, Wash., software firm. Paul Flessner, vice president of Microsoft's .Net Enterprise Software group, told eWEEK that Pearson is expected to return to the firm in several months to fill an as-yet undetermined role and position.

Despite a huge campaign by Microsoft, most voters remain undecided about the Tablet PC, and turnout appears to be light. That may change today when Microsoft officially launches Windows XP Tablet Edition to the masses. Dozens of hardware and software providers are lining up to support the new operating system that promises to bring a new mobile computing paradigm to the general public and, in particular, vertical markets. In contrast to every other major Microsoft operating system release, the Tablet Edition won't be sold separately. This unfortunately places the operating system in the same category as the Xbox, though the Tablet Edition is clearly geared toward business professionals.

When Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates takes the stage in New York on Thursday morning to officially launch the Tablet PC, he will announce the availability of Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC. This is a special version of Microsoft's existing electronic reading application designed for the Tablet. Gates will use his launch address to show a demo using Zinio, which offers digital versions of a range of magazines, and the Microsoft Reader 2.5.

While some Tablet manufacturers are offering buyers a selection of eBooks for free download that are targeted at business professionals, some 50 business and leadership titles will also be available for purchase Thursday at Barnes & Noble.com. Gates will also use his address to demonstrate a multi-monitor device as well as Far Eastern character sets, in particular the Japanese character set. In addition, he will address how important the Japanese market is for the Tablet PC, sources familiar with the presentation told eWEEK.

The software industry has two problems as it looks to jump-start Web services -- expected to be the next big thing in business computing -- the economy is weak and Microsoft is strong. Behind the scenes, Sun Microsystems Inc. SUNW.O -- with its Web services platform based on the Java programming language -- is battling Microsoft and its .NET architecture for the hearts and minds of big-spending corporate customers.

Merrill Lynch Chief Technology Officer John McKinley said it is difficult not to use .NET, due to Microsoft's dominance on corporate desktops and e-mail systems. And McKinley sees Microsoft building grass-roots support for .NET. Not only does Microsoft provide a good set of software development tools, he said, company Chairman Bill Gates and Chief Executive Steve Ballmer carve out more time for developer conferences than do the top executives at Java proponents Sun Microsystems and Oracle.

Attention technophiles and gadgetheads: If you want to wow your friends, your co-workers or anyone standing within 10 feet of you, then a Tablet PC may be just what you need. When it comes to these new computers -- on sale for the first time today -- one thing is for sure: The cool factor is out of this world. Imagine combining good ol' fashioned tools like the pen and paper with 21st-century laptop technology. That's a Tablet PC -- a fully functional computer that allows you to interact with it via a special pen, allows you to write directly on the screen and transforms your hand-written notes into text.

These new portable computers run on Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system and come in two different forms. There's the "convertible" model, which looks like a regular laptop until you unhinge the screen, rotate it 180 degrees and lay it down flat, face up, on the keyboard. And then there are the super-slim "slate" models. Imagine an Etch A Sketch on steroids -- one that can be connected to a keyboard through a docking station.

A controversial decision to stop supporting Windows 9x, Millennium Edition (Me) and NT 4.0 in Office 11, due next Spring, has Microsoft customers in a tizzy. But the company recent confirmed that this decision is final, setting the stage for a new Microsoft Office version that will only run on Windows 2000 and XP. "Our customers told us they wanted security and reliability, and we are giving them that," a Microsoft spokesperson spokesman said this week. "We are confident the [Office] products continue to offer compelling value and will continue to do so going forward."

Britain's dominant fixed-line telecoms operator BT Group Plc. said Wednesday it had signed a formal strategic alliance with U.S. software giant Microsoft to develop more high-speed Internet services. The alliance puts BT on an equal footing with Microsoft's other telecoms partners around the world, South Korea's KT Corp. in Asia and Verizon in the United States.

Broadband access is a crucial engine of growth for BT as it seeks to branch out from its core service of connecting voice calls to British homes. The former state telecoms monopoly slashed wholesale broadband prices earlier this year to kick- start the industry in a country which has lagged much of the developed world in hooking up to the high-speed services.