• More Windows 2000 Tips & Tricks
  Time: 17:15 EST/22:15 GMT News Source: Active Network Posted By: Byron Hinson

  We have posted a few more Windows 2000 Tips & Tricks to our tips section. We have also split them up more into various sections so they can become easier to scan through.

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• Microsoft Announces Latest Partner Commitments, Expands Comprehensive E-Business Offering
  Time: 14:51 EST/19:51 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Today at the Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference & Exposition (iEC) 2000, Microsoft Corp. announced broad channel support for e-business, citing recent partner commitments and the launch of Windows 2000; further strengthening the already wide range of comprehensive e-business solutions based on the Microsoft^® Windows^® DNA platform for customers. Microsoft's best-of-breed software and services, combined with relationships across a broad continuum of partners, provide dotcom businesses with complete, integrated e-business solutions that help them get online faster and easier as well as meet a wide range of customer needs. Using the enhanced reliability and scalable features offered by the Windows 2000 operating system, the foundation for the Windows DNA 2000 platform, partners will be able to develop innovative, mission-critical e-business applications.

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• Microsoft To Acquire Peach Networks
  Time: 14:51 EST/19:51 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft Corp. today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Israel-based Peach Networks Ltd., a leading provider of technology for enhanced TV services for digital television. This agreement extends the Microsoft^® TV platform to now include a solution for basic digital set-top boxes (STBs), like the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 and Motorola DCT 2000 currently being deployed by cable operators. This alliance will help expand the overall availability of enhanced TV services worldwide. With the inclusion of Peach's technology, Microsoft can offer the most scalable enhanced TV platform solution in the industry. The acquisition underscores Microsoft's commitment to support a breadth of new enhanced TV services such as information on demand, e-mail, communications, Internet, shopping and entertainment applications to all digital television network operators and their customers.

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• Microsoft's next great interface?
  Time: 14:42 EST/19:42 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Last week I complained that Microsoft was totally losing its way as it set out to design its next Web interface. The pieces of the so-called "Mars" interface that I had seen were too colorful, too cluttered, too derivative, and not nearly daring enough to take us into the 21st century.

  Now you can judge for yourself. Let me show you two of the screens I've been looking at and tell you why I think they're so awful. (One brief side note: the log-on screen I've seen opens with five accounts. I assume that Microsoft is going to follow AOL's lead and use multiple screen names for a single home account. The magic number appears to be five.)

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• Microsoft Introduces DirectX for Windows CE
  Time: 09:34 EST/14:34 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Today at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Spring 2000, Microsoft Corp. introduced its new DirectX^® Platform Adaptation Kit (DXPAK) for the Windows^® CE operating system. This new DXPAK enables OEMs to create Windows CE-based devices that take advantage of the latest multimedia capabilities, including accelerated graphics, and streaming audio and video with full playback capabilities, delivered via the Web to applications ranging from game consoles and set-top terminals to factory-floor HMI devices.

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• Windows Media Extends Portable Device Leadership With Release of Windows Media Player for Palm-Size PC
  Time: 09:32 EST/14:32 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft Corp. today announced the immediate availability of the Microsoft^® Windows MediaÔ Player for Palm-size PCs, which gives owners of Palm-size PC devices from Compaq, Casio and Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co. the ability to play CD-quality digital music. Owners of Palm-size PCs will now be able to enjoy hundreds of thousands of digital music tracks and the hottest new music in the Windows Media format. This release continues the unprecedented support for the Windows Media format from the top consumer electronics manufacturers.

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• Win2000: appearance vs. reality
  Time: 09:05 EST/14:05 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  The biggest product launch of the millennium—so far, anyway—is history, and if all goes according to plan, hordes of computer users will rush out to buy Windows 2000, the best software product that Microsoft has ever produced.

  Or so the marketers would have us believe. We can't blame them for doing their job, but the reality is vastly different. We'll all be better off if we can separate Windows 2000 myth from fact.

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• Download Skins for Windows Media-Player For Palm-Size PC's
  Time: 09:03 EST/14:03 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Customize your new Windows Media­ Player for Palm-Size PC with a new interface skin to match your personality or your music. Skins are the custom interface created for the Windows Media Player. A skin is a collection of bitmap files (files with the *.bmp extension) and a text file (called a .skn file) that organizes the images. You have complete control of what buttons you want, how they look, and where they are on screen. All this information is stored in the .skn file.

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• New Windows Media Player for Palm-size PC
  Time: 09:03 EST/14:03 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Start enjoying your music wherever you go today. The Microsoft® Windows® Media™ Player for Palm-size PC is free software from Microsoft that pumps high quality stereo music through the Palm-sized PC you already own -- without any additional adaptors.

  Take your music with you on the road or to work, and leave your CDs at home. Download the latest music by hot new artists from the Web in Windows Media format or even MP3. Personalize your player with your own photos, graphics and creativity. Easy and flexible, the Windows Media Player for Palm-size PC could quickly become your favorite feature on your Casio, Hewlett-Packard or Compaq Palm-size PC.

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• MS-owned Slate reports Gates as 1999's top giver
  Time: 09:01 EST/14:01 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft-owned online magazine Slate has been getting into a pretty scrappy war with rival Salon over the past few months, but one of the former's current big stories is scarcely likely to help it. A report on America's top 60 charitable donations of 1999?

  Naturally the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation tops the poll by a mile, clocking-up $2.4 billion worth of giving over the year. The number two giver, Jim Clark, only managed $150 million, and another famous giver, Ted Turner, contributed $100 million. Ted is of course engaged in a yen year programme to give a billion, but the annual spend this results in still makes him look cheap.

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• ActiveWin: Pinnacle Systems TitleDeko: Review
  Time: 18:23 EST/23:23 GMT News Source: Active Network Posted By: Robert Stein

  Julien has posted his review of Pinnacle Systems TitleDeko. Here is a snippet from the review:

  With the high spread of the processors’ performance increase, many users are mounting their family or professional videos on their computers with high end and powerful software/hardware tools. What are the advantages, you’ll ask? Well, you can easily capture and create a real customized video like pros with just a few mouse clicks. Changing sounds, adding titles, resizing videos, changing videos pictures, making special effects, animated added pictures in your videos. The computer video solutions are more powerful and easy to use than the traditional high end VCR or camcorders.

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• MSN CarPoint Traffic Soars in January Through Exclusive Web Sponsorship of the 2000 North American International Auto Show
  Time: 15:09 EST/20:09 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  The MSN™ CarPoint™ online automotive service (http://www.carpoint.com/) brought the 2000 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) to life "virtually," doubling the show's traffic by attracting online visitors from around the world.

  The online success of the official and exclusive NAIAS coverage from CarPoint contributed to a spike in visitor traffic in January, with more than 6 million unique visitors, according to Media Metrix. CarPoint continues to be the most-visited online car-buying site on the Web.

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• Leading Wireless Carriers Select MSN Mobile To Deliver Interactive Web Services to Consumers
  Time: 15:08 EST/20:08 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Today at CTIA WIRELESS 2000, the largest wireless technology conference in the country, Microsoft Corp. announced it has teamed up with leading wireless carriers to make MSN™ services and content more broadly available, any time, anywhere and from any device. Nextel Communications Inc. and AirTouch Cellular plan to offer MSN Mobile 2.0, the two-way customizable wireless information service from MSN, as part of their services beginning in April. WebLink Wireless Inc. and Totally Free Paging.com Inc. will offer an enhanced one-way version of MSN Mobile notifications. MSN Mobile 2.0 will be available from Web-enabled mobile phones and handheld devices such as Pocket PCs and Palm handheld computers.

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• Bill Gates Launches New Interactive Version of MSN Mobile at Wireless 2000
  Time: 15:08 EST/20:08 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Today at CTIA WIRELESS 2000, Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates announced an agreement with Nextel Communications Inc. and AirTouch Cellular to offer MSNÔ Mobile 2.0, as well as agreements with WebLink Wireless Inc. and Totally Free Paging Inc. to offer an enhanced one-way version of MSN Mobile notifications. The announcements came as Gates launched MSN Mobile 2.0, which extends to wireless customers such services as the MSN HotmailÒ Web-based e-mail service, the MSN MoneyCentralÔ online personal finance service, the MSNBC.com news service and Expedia.com™, the most popular online travel service. MSN Mobile 2.0 offers the easiest and most complete wireless solution and provides access from an unparalleled range of handheld devices, including Web-enabled mobile phones, Pocket PCs and Palm handheld computers.

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• Microsoft Provides Fans with "Virtual Pass" To Gamestock 2000
  Time: 14:58 EST/19:58 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft announced today that fans of their upcoming games will be able to attend Gamestock events online again this year. Gamestock, a private event held every year to introduce press from around the world to the company's new lineup of games, will be opened up to the public via the Internet. Gamestock 2000 takes place on February 29 and March 1, and fans are invited to an inside look at the big show with several unique online events.

  Included in the 2000 lineup are: MechWarrior 4, Crimson Skies, Loose Cannon, Motocross Madness 2, Dungeon Seige and nearly a dozen other titles. Online Gamestock events open to the public include:

  * Gamestock Cup Sweepstakes http://www.microsoft.com/games/gamestock2000/sweepstakes/

  Starts today! Fans can test their computer and arcade gaming knowledge with ten trivia questions, and become eligible to win some fantastic prizes in the second annual Gamestock Cup Sweepstakes. In the Sweepstakes, fans can enter to win a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer Mouse, Microsoft Games, and automatic entry into several upcoming Microsoft Games beta programs -- including Starlancer, Motocross Madness 2, Crimson Skies and more.

  * Official Gamestock 2000 Web Site http://www.microsoft.com/games/gamestock2000/

  On March 1, the official Gamestock 2000 Web site will go live. Complete with screenshots, game introductions, and feature lists, this site will give gamers the scoop on all of Microsoft's upcoming game titles.

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• 3Com, Nortel offerings enhance Windows 2000 networking performance, quality of service
  Time: 13:58 EST/18:58 GMT News Source: Microsoft Daily News Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft® Windows® 2000 was designed from the ground up to provide for the networking needs of today's businesses.

  And combined with third-party products and services, Windows 2000 offers even more networking power. Microsoft and 3Com Corp. have worked together on a new network interface card (NIC) designed for server applications that require both high performance and security, such as e-commerce, banking and health care. And Nortel Networks has demonstrated a Windows 2000-based quality of service network for converged voice, video and data.

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• Microsoft Office 10 for Mac?
  Time: 13:56 EST/18:56 GMT News Source: MacWorld Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft has several ambitious goals for the next version of Office, its desktop applications suite: enhance user collaborative options, leverage rich-voice technology, and further the company's foray into the application-hosting arena. Its code-name, Office 10, could point to a Mac release soon after Apple starts shipping Mac OS X (pronounced 'ten').

  Office 10 is scheduled to go into beta testing this summer and to ship sometime in 2000, according to sources. When Microsoft released Office 98 for the Mac, it stated that new versions would ship first on alternate platforms. That said, many of the technologies reported are Windows-based, rather than aimed at the Macintosh.

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• Microsoft Updates MSN on Phones
  Time: 13:54 EST/18:54 GMT News Source: PC World Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft is releasing at the Wireless 2000 show here an update of the software that brings timely information in its MSN portal to your Web-enabled phone.

  The company is unveiling MSN Mobile 2.0 at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association show this week. The new version offers real-time, on-demand information such as flight schedules, weather conditions, and sports scores. The initial release let you request only static Web-based information from your mobile phone.

  Microsoft expects its wireless carrier partners to roll out MSN Mobile 2.0 in April. So far only Nextel, which largely services business users, has signed on.

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• Rambus off to slow start
  Time: 13:49 EST/18:49 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  Despite Intel Corp.'s (Nasdaq: INTC) lobbying efforts and the more than $1 billion it has invested in memory chip makers to spur adoption of Rambus technology, the memory architecture remains a minor player in the PC marketplace.

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• AOL inks wireless partnerships, unveils Mobile Messenger
  Time: 13:45 EST/18:45 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  America Online's wireless strategy is coming into focus.

  The Internet juggernaut today announced deals with Motorola, BellSouth, Sprint PCS, Nokia, Research in Motion and Arch Communications to extend its Internet products to cellular telephone and pager services. AOL also unveiled "AOL Mobile Messenger," a wireless version of its popular email and AOL Instant Messenger products.

  In addition, AOL said it has joined the WAP Forum, a wireless standards organization in which Excite@Home also recently enlisted.

  AOL joins several Internet players--including Yahoo, Amazon.com, Microsoft and Excite@Home--that are aggressively developing wireless services. According to market research firm The Yankee Group, there will be more than 1 billion mobile phone users by 2003, with about 60 percent capable of accessing the Internet.

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• Intel to debut Celerons in March
  Time: 13:43 EST/18:43 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  "Star Trek" star Patrick Stewart probably won't be on hand at this launch, but Intel Corp. is planning for the next generation of Celeron chips in March.

  The new chips, running at clock speeds of up to 600MHz, will give low-cost, or value PCs, a performance bump, but without raising prices. Consumers will be able to buy a 600MHz value PC for about $1,000 without a monitor following the launch.

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• Kerberos made to heel to Win2000
  Time: 09:48 EST/14:48 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  In a move that company detractors said is another sign of its infamous "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" strategy, Microsoft has used an open Internet security standard in its Windows 2000 operating system and made modifications without openly documenting its changes.

  Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has incorporated open standard Kerberos security, which keeps user passwords from being sent over a network where they can be sniffed and stolen, into Windows 2000, making its marquee operating system (OS) more competitive with Unix.

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• Qulacomm, MS in wireless pact
  Time: 09:47 EST/14:47 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) will work with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) to develop wireless multimedia devices using Code Division Multiple Access digital wireless technology. The companies will focus on creating hardware reference designs for mobile devices including smart phones based on the Microsoft Mobile Explorer, and wireless Pocket PCs using Qualcomm iMSM4100 Internet Mobile Station Modem chip set and system software.

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• Win2k - Sun calls in the Exterminator
  Time: 09:45 EST/14:45 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Byron Hinson

  The New York Times' John Markoff reports the sad failure of a Sun plot to unleash a pest extermination company on Microsoft to coincide with the big Windows 2000 launch on 17th February. Bizarrely, it all seems to have miscarried because the company hired, Western Exterminator, was worried Bill Gates might buy it and close it in retaliation.

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• Microsoft Donates $70,000 in Software to Seattle District And Thurston County Schools
  Time: 09:41 EST/14:41 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft Corp. today announced a donation of more than $70,000 in software that will benefit students in Thurston County and the Seattle school district. The donation of 1,030 copies of MicrosoftÒ EncartaÒ Africana 2000 will be distributed to school libraries and classrooms through the Alliance for Education and the African American Alliance of Thurston County. Together, Thurston County schools and the Seattle school district serve approximately 81,000 students.

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• Microsoft Ranked Most Responsive Technology Company By U.S. Colleges and Universities
  Time: 09:41 EST/14:41 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has been named the most responsive technology company by more than 81 percent of U.S. colleges and universities in a new study by International Data Corp. (IDC), the Framingham, Mass., market research firm. The survey, part of IDC's "State of Technology Usage in Higher Education Institutions, 1999," examined the attitudes of technology decision-makers nationwide. The high rating of Microsoft is in keeping with the company's long-standing commitment, not only to developing the technology tools schools need to enhance teaching, learning and communication on campus, but also to offering innovative programs and resources that help the higher-education community effectively use technology for teaching and learning.

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• Sega Warns of Loss As Dreamcast Disappoints
  Time: 06:28 EST/11:28 GMT News Source: Yahoo! Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  Sega Enterprises Ltd warned on Monday of steep losses this business year from poor Japan sales of its Dreamcast game machine, casting doubt over its chances of survival as home video games enter the Internet age.

  The news came even before a full-blown game machine war kicks off on March 4 with the launch of rival Sony Corp's PlayStation2, successor to the world's most popular game system with 70 million units sold in the past five years.

  Sega's latest woes added credence to expectations that PlayStation2, with its capacity to play digital video discs (DVDs) and potentially tap the Internet, will cement Sony's number-one position in the industry.

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• Net leaders embrace wireless Web
  Time: 06:25 EST/11:25 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Matthew Sabean

  It's no surprise that Bill Gates, Steve Case and Jeff Bezos would be the headline speakers at an Internet industry conference.

  But this week the top executives of Microsoft , America Online and Amazon.com will steal the limelight at the U.S. wireless telephone industry's annual gathering in New Orleans, overshadowing many of the cellular world's own executives.

  This is a sign that the arrival of a long-awaited wireless Internet market may be at hand, an event carriers have for several years predicted would boost their bottom lines.

  "Data has always been the next thing, just around the corner," said Dennis Patrick, president of AOL's newly created wireless division. "Now it's really true and the killer app is turning out to be the Internet."

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• The Amazing PlayStation 2
  Time: 05:58 EST/10:58 GMT News Source: Newsweek Posted By: Byron Hinson

  The new Sony PlayStation 2, which goes on sale March 4 in Japan, is not only a quantum leap in game technology, but because of its Internet compatibility, it's Sony's bid to compete with AOL-Time Warner and Microsoft on the Web. In an exclusive look at the new machine, Newsweek reports in the current issue's cover story that the game console can play movie DVDs, audio CDs and can hook into the Internet. ``You can communicate to a new cybercity,'' Ken Kutaragi, the visionary behind the PlayStation, tells Newsweek. ``This will be the ideal home server. Did you see the movie 'The Matrix'? Same interface. Same concept. Starting from next year, you can jack into 'The Matrix'!''

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• USB 2.0 spec two, three months away
  Time: 05:51 EST/10:51 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Hall Nine at CeBIT is the noisiest place in Hannover, and also the most crowded, with firms like 3dfx demonstrating their wares at ear-numbing decibels. Right at the front of the show, there is a large area devoted to smaller companies from Taiwan, with many showing the elements that make up a PC (such as cases and power supplies), and others demonstrating peripherals from the island.

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• Breaking Up Microsoft Would Be Tough Call
  Time: 07:04 EST/12:04 GMT News Source: TechWeb Posted By: Alex Harris

  Economists and attorneys on both sides of the Microsoft antitrust trial agreed Friday that there should be some remedy, but just what that remedy should be runs the gamut from business-contract changes to breaking up the software giant into several companies.

  Whatever the remedy, it must be good for both competitors and consumers, said the trial experts at a panel sponsored by the Progress and Freedom Foundation in Washington, D.C.

  Break-up plans reflect a fantasy world, said Stan Liebowitz, economist at the University of Texas, who has supported Microsoft. "They're not going to work that way in the real world. It won't be clean, it won't be easy, and it won't be good for consumers," he said. Liebowitz favors some type of behavior remedy.

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• Rivals Sun, Microsoft invest in same start-up
  Time: 07:02 EST/12:02 GMT News Source: Network World Fusion Posted By: Alex Harris

  Sun and Microsoft, well known as fierce rivals in the marketplace and the courtroom, separately announced that they have each made an equity investment of $25 million in the same start-up company.

  The start-up, BroadBand Office, was set up in July of last year by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and other backers. The company is in the process of rolling out a range of communications and applications services to businesses in the U.S., including local and long-distance calling, dedicated Internet access and Web hosting.

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• Microsoft has high hopes for pocket PC
  Time: 07:00 EST/12:00 GMT News Source: Network World Fusion Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft is confident that the soon-to-be-released Pocket PC software package will allow the software giant to gain on its competitors in the handheld device market.

  The first Pocket PC devices, which will be launched through several hardware vendors in the first half of this year, will be competitive with similar products running Palm Computing's Palm OS and applications, says Brian Shafer, marketing manager for Microsoft's mobile device division.

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• Windows PCs become tools for denial-of-service attacks
  Time: 06:58 EST/11:58 GMT News Source: Network World Fusion Posted By: Alex Harris

  Computer hackers may quietly be infecting thousands of Windows PCs in preparation for another wave of denial-of-service attacks of the type that brought high-profile Web sites like Yahoo and eBay to their knees two weeks ago, security experts today warned.

  James Madison University discovered last week that 16 Windows PCs on its student network had been infected with what looked like a variant of "Trinoo," one of a handful of viruses that hackers have been using to launch denial-of-service attacks. The university has sent a sample of the virus, which it has dubbed "Wintrinoo," to the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for analysis, the university says on its Web site.

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• Firms seek edge in communications chip market
  Time: 06:57 EST/11:57 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  The race to build a faster and more versatile Internet is heating up a specialized corner of the microprocessor market.

  Three firms--Motorola, Lucent Technologies and Conexant--recently acquired start-up chipmakers to help them create a new type of networking processor that could offer a huge improvement in Net bandwidth and increase the variety of services offered online.

  The new breed of fast and programmable networking chips serve as the engine powering new networking equipment from companies like Cisco Systems, Lucent and Nortel Networks. That new equipment, in turn, will allow Internet service providers and telecommunications carriers to increase Net bandwidth and offer better security, and new services such as Internet telephony.

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• FBI site struck by Web attack
  Time: 06:56 EST/11:56 GMT News Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex Harris

  The FBI said today that electronic vandals shut down its Web site for hours last week in the same type of attack that disrupted some of the Internet's major commercial sites.

  The bureau's Web site remained inaccessible for more than three hours Feb. 18 because vandals overwhelmed it by transmitting spurious signals.

  "The FBI has made comments they're going to find who's responsible for the latest attacks, so it's a bit of war between the hackers and the bureau," said James Williams, a Chicago lawyer and former FBI agent who specialized in investigating computer crimes.

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• Why everyone should sign digital documents
  Time: 06:54 EST/11:54 GMT News Source: Network World Fusion Posted By: Alex Harris

  E-mail and electronic documents have become a normal part of today's business. Unfortunately, signing those documents using digital signatures is still relatively rare.

  Why should everyone sign e-mail and other forms of electronic communication?

  The problem is that forging messages is ridiculously easy in today's technical environment. Take word-processing documents, for example. The properties sheet can be filled out any way you want; it is simple to enter somebody else's name or somebody else's company in the appropriate fields. Send such a document to a recipient who assumes that the identification of the author must be correct, and you can have a real problem.

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• Intel has more chip set woes
  Time: 06:52 EST/11:52 GMT News Source: ComputerWorld Posted By: Alex Harris

  Intel Corp. will be about two months late shipping server and high-end workstation components to its customers due to problems the company is experiencing with the memory hubs used with its 820 and 840 chip sets.

  The memory hubs generate errors when either chip set is used with synchronous dynamic RAM, which utilize Error Checking and Correcting (ECC) circuitry.

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• Microsoft Office to get overhaul with upgraded voice support in SAPI 5.0
  Time: 06:50 EST/11:50 GMT News Source: Infoworld Posted By: Alex Harris

  Microsoft has several ambitious goals for the next version of Office, its desktop applications suite: enhance user collaborative options, leverage rich voice technology, and further the company's foray into the application-hosting arena.

  Office 10, the code name for the next version, is scheduled to go into beta testing this summer and to ship sometime in 2000, according to sources.

  Microsoft wants to reshape Office to better accommodate workgroup and collaborative applications, according to analysts familiar with the company's plans. One contentious issue has been which back-end platform can best anchor the product. Although SQL Server and Site Server are among the choices, Exchange seems to be the leading candidate, sources said.

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• Anti-DoS efforts take hold at universities
  Time: 06:48 EST/11:48 GMT News Source: Infoworld Posted By: Alex Harris

  A group of security companies and organizations are expected to announce an initiative next week that will provide universities with free software to help guard themselves against being turned into "zombies" used to launch a distributed (DoS) denial of service attack.

   SSH Communications Security, the SANS Institute, RSA Security, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and MindBright Technologies will detail plans on Monday to equip more than 130 colleges and universities in the United States with free encryption software via SSHs (Secure Shells).

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• AOL 5.0 Draws More Fire
  Time: 06:40 EST/11:40 GMT News Source: PC World Posted By: Alex Harris

  America Online has been slapped with another class action lawsuit claiming that version 5.0 of its Internet access software renders operating systems unstable and, in some cases, inoperable. The suit also claims that the software effectively blocks computer users from being able to connect to competing Internet service provider networks.

  The most recent suit was filed Thursday in King County Superior Court in Washington State and contends that AOL released version 5.0 knowing that it could alter a computer operating system, according to a written statement released by Hagens Berman, the law firm handling the lawsuit.

  AOL 5.0 has left users "drowning in software problems," says the statement.

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• Who Wants to Have Multimillion Pixels?
  Time: 06:37 EST/11:37 GMT News Source: PC World Posted By: Alex Harris

  Like prime-time game shows, digital camera pixels continue to proliferate. The latest examples of the megapixel trend come from Ricoh, which this week announced two digicams promising high resolution.

  Ricoh's RDC-6000 is aimed at consumers, while the RDC-7 is designed for professionals and others who want more multimedia functions. Ricoh will announce pricing upon release this summer of the Windows- and Macintosh-compatible digicams.

  The RDC-6000 has a 2.14-megapixel CCD that lets you capture still shots in resolutions ranging from 640 by 480 pixels to 1600 by 1200 pixels. Interpolation, the process of inserting "synthetic" pixels between existing ones, boosts the camera's resolution up to 2000 by 1500 pixels, according to the company. The camera stores pictures as JPEGs on SmartMedia cards (an 8MB card is included).

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• Microsoft goes on a bug hunt
  Time: 18:05 EST/23:05 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex Harris

  In the past week, Microsoft security teams have found themselves facing a sudden flurry of security problems. Since February 16 -- the day before Microsoft officially launched Windows 2000 -- Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has issued five separate official security bulletins, with independent analysts delivering several more. To top the week off, anti-virus vendors announced the discovery of the first confirmed Windows-based distributed denial of service (DDoS) tool.

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• Microsoft Announces Exclusive Allegiance Pre-Order Programs
  Time: 15:57 EST/20:57 GMT News Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron Hinson

  In anticipation of the launch of Allegiance in April, Microsoft today announced exclusive pre-order programs with Electronic Boutique (http://www.ebworld.com/) and Babbages & Software Etc. (http://www.gamestop.com/).

  By pre-ordering Allegiance at store locations, or online at EB World or Gamestop, gamers will receive an additional month of free Allegiance Zone membership ($9.95 value), plus either a Limited Edition Strategy Guide (for pre-orders from Electronic Boutique) or 16 Microsoft Allegiance Collector Cards (for pre-orders from Babbages & Software Etc.). Combine this offer with the one month of free Allegiance Zone membership already available with the retail purchase of the game, and players receive two free months of larger-scale games, special events, persistent scoring and rankings, and exclusive new content. Microsoft encourages gamers to place their pre-orders early, as all offers are based on limited quantities.

  The game is currently in open beta, and players are welcome to download the game and joins thousands of other combatants in interstellar war. For details visit:

  http://www.microsoft.com/games/allegiance/beta.htm

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• Microsoft to patch Active Directory
  Time: 15:25 EST/20:25 GMT News Source: CNN Posted By: Byron Hinson

  Less than a week after releasing Windows 2000, Microsoft is already working on a patch for Active Directory that addresses problems with the directory's user administration features.

  While Microsoft was engaged in another directory tit-for-tat last week with Novell, company officials acknowledged that at least one fix for Active Directory will be in the first Win 2000 service pack. No date has been set for the shipment of the service pack.

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• Judge rejects key Microsoft motion in Java dispute
  Time: 15:19 EST/20:19 GMT News Source: News.com Posted By: Byron Hinson

  The possibility of a trial in the long-standing Sun vs. Microsoft Java technology dispute moved closer to reality yesterday as the judge rejected a key Microsoft motion. U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte rejected Microsoft's request for summary judgement regarding the independent development of Java, Microsoft said. Whyte also dismissed a Sun counter motion.

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• New G400 Drivers for Windows 9*
  Time: 14:47 EST/19:47 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  To go with the earlier news about the Matrox drivers for Windows 2000, Matrox have today released the Windows 9* updated drivers:

  Notes and known issues:
  - Please read the release notes before downloading this driver.
  - Please uninstall your current driver using this procedure before installing the above driver. To uninstall 5.xx drivers you need our uninstaller utility.

  Download It Right Here

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• Microsoft Buy Up xbox.com
  Time: 10:50 EST/15:50 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson