Microsoft Corp. today was filing its final legal brief in a landmark antitrust battle, offering a rebuttal to the government's revised plan to break it up. The company planned to submit more testimony that it felt was left out of the case.

The company's filing, expected not long after the financial markets were to close in the east, was expected to include revisions to the government's breakup proposal. According to an e-mail from Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan, the new changes ``were designed to correct the ambiguity and vagueness'' of the plan.

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Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: ELBO - news) today announced that it has entered into an exclusive e-commerce relationship with Microsoft's MSN Gaming Zone, which will establish EBWorld.com as the exclusive retailer for the MSN Gaming Zone. This partnership calls for EBWorld.com to create MSN Game Shops and provide MSN's 14 million Gaming Zone members with the opportunity to purchase games and access special offers.

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The contractual aspects of the Sun-Microsoft Java squabble have resulted in another ruling by Judge Whyte, but neither side is cheering about it. In making his ruling that Sun is not entitled to $35 million in liquidated damages for Microsoft having "inadvertently" made Java source code available on its web site, the judge has set a date on which he intends to set a date for the main trial (no, really). At that hearing, expert witness names will have to be disclosed, and dates set for a cut-off for facts and expert discovery.

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Well, this week federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will finally order a break-up of Microsoft, a multi-billion-dollar private company. However, not many people know all of the reasons for breakup of Microsoft. Some were not included in the briefs submitted by the Department of Justice.

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Software giant Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) said on Wednesday its revenue growth in China was likely to double in 2000, driven by income from original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreements.

``The China business doubled last year and we're pretty bullish we're going to see the same growth this year,'' Graham Brant, general manager for Microsoft Hong Kong Ltd, told Reuters. Microsoft's China operation, with 500 people in offices around the country, was its sixth largest revenue-generating market after Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and India.

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Microsoft Corp. today announced that the eighth annual Microsoft^® Tech Ed event, which will be held June 5-8 in Orlando, Fla., has sold out, drawing more than 11,500 developers and IT professionals. In addition, Microsoft Tech Ed 2000 will be combined with 15 worldwide Tech Ed events for an estimated total attendance of 35,000, which makes it one of the largest worldwide technical education events ever.

This year's show will feature more ISVs, sponsors and exhibitors than previous Tech Ed events, suggesting that enterprises are more geared up than ever to Web-enable their businesses using the Microsoft Windows^® DNA 2000 platform.

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Microsoft Corp. and Quark Inc. today announced they are cooperating to enable the industry-leading QuarkXPressÔ desktop publishing software to produce eBooks and other digital documents for Microsoft^® Reader with ClearType™ display technology.

The companies plan to work together to build a Quark™ XTensionsÔ software module for avenue.quarkÔ - an enhancement to QuarkXPress that allows printed content to be repurposed for the Web and other media outlets - that will enable users of QuarkXPress 4 to easily convert content to Microsoft Reader format for multiple devices, including laptops, PCs, Pocket PCs and purpose-built reading devices. The XTension will be available for downloading from Quark's Web site (http://www.quark.com/) at no charge (connect-time charges may apply). In addition, the two companies plan to continue working closely together to incorporate this file conversion technology as an integral part of future Quark products.

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Microsoft Corp. today announced that more than 30 book publishers have participated in a production launch program for Microsoft^® Reader with ClearType™ display technology, ensuring the availability of over 800 of their books for Microsoft Reader when it launches later this summer. The launch publishers' eBooks will be offered for sale in barnesandnoble.com llc's (http://www.bn.com/) upcoming eBookstore for Microsoft Reader.

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MSN™ CarPoint™ (http://www.carpoint.com/), the leading online automotive marketplace, today announced details on the top 10 cars that get the most and least miles per gallon. At the top of the list of cars that get drivers to their destination with the least amount of fuel is the Honda Insight, providing 61 mpg around town and 71 mpg on the highway. Additional standouts include the Volkswagen Golf TDI and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI.

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Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in Microsoft(r) SQL Server(r) 7.0 Service Packs 1 and 2 installation routine. When run on a machine that is configured in a non-recommended mode, the routines record the administrator password in a log file, where it could be read by any user who could log onto the server at the keyboard.

When SQL Server 7.0 Service Packs 1 or 2 are installed on a machine that is configured to perform authentication using Mixed Mode, the password for the SQL Server standard security System Administrator (sa) account is recorded in plaintext in the file \%TEMP%\sqlsp.log. The default permissions on the file would allow any user to read it who could log onto the server interactively.

The password is only recorded if Mixed Mode is used, and even then, only if the adminstrator chose to use SQL Server Authentication when installing the service pack. Microsoft has long recommended that SQL servers be configured to use the more secure Windows NT Authentication Mode, and customers who have followed this recommendation would not be affected. Even on affected machines, the password could not be compromised if, per normal security recommendations, normal users are prevented from logging onto the machine interactively.

Read more

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Attorneys for Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) were busy Tuesday preparing their final legal response to the government's plan to break up the software giant for antitrust violations.

The response, due Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., will be Microsoft's last opportunity to make its case before Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson enters his final ruling. Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said the company's filing will address the substance of the Justice Department's revised breakup plan that was filed at Jackson's request. He declined to go into further detail.

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Thomas Penfield Jackson doesn't hold back: When a Microsoft lawyer once complained that too many excerpts of Bill Gates' videotaped deposition were being shown in trial, Jackson quickly made his feelings known. ``I think the problem is with your witness, not with the way in which his testimony is being presented,'' he barked.

``I think it's evident to every spectator that, for whatever reasons, in many respects Mr. Gates has not been particularly responsive,'' said the U.S. District Court judge, appointed to the bench by President Reagan in 1982.

The occasionally outspoken judge overseeing the historic antitrust lawsuit filed against Microsoft by the government and several states is no stranger to high-profile cases.

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Last Saturday's article, "Perspective on Integration, Bundling and the Law" was picked up by ZDNET News under the title, "Freeze!  It's a catch-up!" That commentary was based on my observations about recent news that Sun and Oracle were bundling their products (hardware and software) into "vertical stacks" to better serve the e-Enterprise market where they claim to have the dominant platform.  The authors of the ZDNET article suggested it was "ironic" that Sun and Oracle were actively practicing "bundling" after complaining to the Department of Justice (DoJ) about just such practices by Microsoft.  I took exception, claiming it was not ironic but an action that should have been expected:  while Microsoft was frozen in judicial limbo, Microsoft's competitors should be expected to merge forces (and software and hardware in this case) and try to catch-up to and blow by the leader!  Momentum counts for a lot in this race.  To miss this opportunity would be foolish in the extreme.

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Throughout its decade-long antitrust skirmish with the U.S. government, Microsoft has fervently maintained it is not a monopoly - that there are numerous alternatives to its market-dominating Windows operating system, its Office suite of business applications, and its browser, e-mail and back-office technologies.

But can you really run a business in today's high-tech, wired world without relying in some way on Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) technology? The answer, according to systems integrators, computer consultants and even Microsoft rivals, is a resounding yes - and no. Why the hedge? Because, they say, business realities are defined by the line between what's possible and what's practical.

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Numair Faraz was just 5 years old when he began learning the ins and outs of MS-DOS^®, and at 10, he started studying the C++ programming language. Now the 15-year-old student from Diamond Bar, Calif., is planning to spend time this summer drafting a book on computational neuroscience for the layperson. In Overland Park, Kan., 17-year-old Ephren Taylor Jr. is using his technology skills to take the concept of an after-school job one step further. Taylor and a classmate have started their own dotcom company - an online job search engine for teen-agers - by raising capital and relocating the business from Taylor's home to a real office in Kansas City, Kan. Although Faraz and Taylor already have set ambitious schedules for themselves this summer, both plan to take some time off and participate in the Teen TechFest Computer Camp, sponsored by Microsoft and ACEplanet.com.

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ThinkFast Consulting, Inc., a premier full-service provider of integrated business intelligence (BI) solutions dedicated to the strategic deployment of BI throughout and beyond the enterprise, has partnered with Microsoft Corporation and Maximal Innovative Intelligence, Ltd., to offer two complimentary half-day E-Business Intelligence seminars for finance, marketing/sales and information technology executives.

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Microsoft boasts in its ads that the company's innovation has made it a world technology leader. But that's not the only way the software giant is blazing trails. Just as aggressively as it has developed and marketed software, Microsoft is using innovative tactics to become a powerhouse in the political arena.

As a federal judge prepares to order a breakup of the company as early as this week because of antitrust violations, lobbying and political connections might be one of Microsoft's best hopes of emerging intact.

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Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) may be King of the Hill in basic software for personal computers, but in the realm of handheld computing a competitor has a near monopoly.

Four out of every five personal digital assistants, or PDAs, sold the past few years have come from Palm Inc. (NasdaqNM:PALM - news) To take on Palm, which has its own operating system for handhelds, Microsoft launched last month a revamped operating system called Pocket PC.

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BrainBuzz.com, the leading online career vortal for IT professionals, announced today a joint marketing partnership with Microsoft's Tech-Ed 2000 conference. The Tech-Ed 2000 event, to be held in Orlando June 4 through June 7, attracts nearly 15,000 IT professionals and developers, giving them the technical education they need on the newest products, technologies and services

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From outside, the four-story Tudor house looked like any other home on the tree-lined streets of Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood. But what was going on inside was much different. Microsoft had leased the house, packed it with college students and technology, and assigned one task: develop a dot-com venture. The software company then spent three weeks, 24 hours a day, watching, listening and learning..

This exercise was just one in a series of efforts by Microsoft to determine how today’s teenagers and twenty-somethings -- the so-called Internet Generation -- work, learn, live and use technology. The company plans to use this knowledge to ensure its products and services keep pace with the generational and technological evolution of its customers.

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Microsoft Corp., working closely with the Greater Houston Area Red Cross and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in a joint project known as "A Class Act," recently helped provide school supplies for children in foreign countries ravaged by war or natural disasters. The supplies were sent in "school chests," cartons filled with typical school supplies such as pencils, rulers, chalk, erasers, crayons, paper, and even soccer balls and jump ropes. Students from Houston-area elementary and middle schools gathered the supplies and filled the chests.

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Microsoft is giving developers improved tools for building applications designed to improve workplace efficiency and communication.

Microsoft last week announced Microsoft® Office 2000 Developer Edition Version 1.5, an updated version of Office 2000 Developer that offers new tools for building workflow applications and collaborative Office solutions. By integrating with and capitalizing on features in Exchange 2000 Server and SQL Server™ 7.0, the tools will enable developers to create better solutions for Office-based collaboration and to fully automate a variety of business processes. Microsoft also announced the release to manufacturing of Workflow Designer for Exchange 2000 Server, which will be included in Office Developer Edition Version 1.5. Used in conjunction with Exchange 2000 Server, the Workflow Designer for Exchange 2000 Server allows developers to quickly build Exchange-based collaborative workflow solutions.

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Constantly typing in passwords and user names when entering different online stores can make for a frustrating shopping experience.

But as more businesses and shoppers are finding out, Microsoft has a solution. The Microsoft® Passport service streamlines the online shopping process by allowing customers to use the same user name and password at any participating store. For online businesses, the single sign-in service helps eliminate the hassle of creating, protecting and managing user names and passwords. And the service continues to attract business participants.

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File Flash has posted that there are new drivers out for the RAGE 128/RAGE 128 PRO for all recent Windows operating systems. Here is a short breakdown of what the new drivers do:

Windows NT driver - An Open GL compliant driver
Windows 95b/98 driver - A special purpose driver that includes full compatibility with Direct3D and OpenGL applications
Windows 2000 driver - has a brand new special purpose driver out for you Windows 2000 users who want full Direct3D and OpenGL support with their RAGE 128 and RAGE 128 PRO cards.

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Noticed an updated version of CPUCooL. CPUCooL is a program that monitors temperature, fan speed, and voltages for many motherboards. It works with all chipsets from Intel, ALI, VIA, AMD, and SIS 5595 motherboards.

You can download CPUCooL v5.1.9.2 from here.

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A new DVD Genie is out. DVD Genie allows you to modify the region code for popular software-based DVD Players such as Software Cinemaster, PowerDVD and WinDVD (among a few). It also allows you to tweak these programs with undocumented features to better fit your system. DVD Genie will also allow you to select which program runs when a DVD Disc is inserted into the drive and contains support for fullscreen Zooming on widescreen movies with certain players.

You can download DVD Genie v3.50 from here.

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Microsoft has issued a last minute cancellation of its Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS) announcement, which was scheduled for June 1st. Several times already the company has put back the date when it will put some flesh on the bones of the project it has described as comparable in cost and ambition to the development of the Boeing 747 and NASA's lunar programme, but this time it could be serious. NGWS now seems poised on the brink of disappearing into a legal morass which could last months, even years.

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Gamesutra have posted a postmortem of Turbine Entertainments's Asheron's Call. It has been written by the lead designer of Asheron's Call and is quite a good read. Here is a snippet of the postmortem:

In May 1995, I walked into a small suburban home in southern Massachusetts and met my new co-workers. Having left my previous job at a genetics lab, I expected nothing more than an interesting summer project as "A Game Writer." Little did I realize what was in store for me and this start-up company called Turbine.

Having filled every nook of a residential home with PCs, an enterprising group of about ten developers was already busy working on the game that would one day become Asheron's Call. Although not a single one of them had professional game development experience, I was immediately impressed with their enthusiasm and dedication. After introductions, I was told to scrounge around for a desk. Upon securing an end table and a plastic lawn chair, I sat down and started meeting with various team members to figure out just what this game was all about.

You can read more here.

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You've already popped for the "Viva Rock Vegas" digital watch, the Bedrock yo-yo, the Wilma Flintstone doll. Yours may be a modern Stone Age family, but that doesn't mean you live under a rock. A new alliance between Universal Pictures and custom browser developer NeoPlanet Inc. will deliver Fred, Barney and the rest of their caveman crew to the desktops of a new, Web-savvy generation of "Flintstones" fans.

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I have posted my review of the Samsung AnyCam MPC C-10. Here is a snippet of the review:

Unlike the conventional input device that requires a separate capture board, the MPC-C10 USB(Universal Serial Bus) camera is readily and directly linked to the computer without separate capture board, thereby providing easy access even for beginners. MPC-C10 is in fact an eye for the computer and is easily connected to the standard USB port of the PC to provide video and audio communications, video games, capturing the still/moving image and establishment of the electronic albums. So, It's a multipurpose digital camera for PC.

You can read more of the review here.

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Microsoft are working on a new chat format for their MSN service (Which will integrate with MSN 6 in the future). You can check out the new format now via http://beta.chat.msn.com/ or register your nick name with them at http://nickname.msn.com. If you have a problem joining a chat - change the URL to this - http://beta.chat.msn.com/download2.asp?Return=join.asp. Here are the new features:

• Registered Nicks Once you claim a handle, it's yours to keep. So register your nickname to be the one and only.
• Personal Profile Create a page to tell the world who you are. Let friends put a face to the name, share your favorite links & more.
• Find a Friend Looking for a friend? Just type in their nick to find out where they are. Then you can visit them in their room - or invite them to yours!
• Tag Friends In a busy chat room? Trying to talk to several friends? Now you can tag friends to make their messages easier to follow.
• Whisper it! "Whispering" is better than ever! Try the optional floating whisper box or the right click viewing of any whisperer's public profile.
• My Chats Have a favorite chat? Click the "Add to My Chats" Option in the Chat Room and start a list of the best chats on the Web. Hand picked, by you!
• Easy Navigation Find the most popular rooms and keep you and your friends stay on top in our new member sort order.
• Sounds New sound events tell you when a user is tagged, hosting or invited to a chat.
• Feedback Chat Try out our new features in The Lobby and let us know what you think!

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The government on Friday refiled its plan to break Microsoft into two, including technical suggestions from the presiding judge and setting the stage for a final ruling in the landmark antitrust case as early as next week.

The government's filing came in the form of an order which District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson could sign and issue, mandating the eventual break-up of Microsoft (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and immediate restrictions on its conduct.

It was very similar to the sweeping plan the government filed late last month. The government proposal would split Microsoft into one company that manufactures operating systems and a second that makes everything else -- in particular, the dominant Microsoft Web browser.

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Microsoft Corp. said Friday it was pushing back its Forum 2000 from June 1 to June 22 because of "strong indications" that the judge in the company's antitrust case might issue a final decree next week. The forum, which will take place in Redmond, is expected to be the venue where the software maker provides details about Next Generation Windows services, one of its biggest new architecture announcements in years.

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The government put final touches Friday on its plan to split Microsoft in two because it violated U.S. antitrust laws.

The proposed order was to be filed by day's end with District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who ruled last month that Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) violated antitrust law by abusing monopoly power. The trial suddenly moved into high gear earlier this week, at what Microsoft lawyers expected to be the first of many routine hearings on a remedy.

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A new patch has been released for Windows NT and Windows 2000. Funny that the Windows 2000 versions file name has SP2 written on it:

Summary

Frequently asked questions regarding this vulnerability and the patch can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-036.asp

Issue

• The “ResetBrowser Frame” vulnerability, which affects both Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. Like most implementations, the Windows implementation provides the ability for a Master Browser to shut down other browsers via the ResetBrowser frame. However, there is no capability to configure a browser to ignore ResetBrowser frames. This could allow a malicious user to shut down browsers on his subnet as a denial of service attack against the browser service, or, in the worst case, to shut down all browsers and declare his machine the new Master Browser.
• The “HostAnnouncement Flooding” vulnerability, which does not affect Windows 2000. Because there is no means of limiting the size of the browse table in Windows NT 4.0, a malicious user could send a huge number of bogus HostAnnouncement frames to a Master Browser. The resulting replication traffic could consume most or all of the network bandwidth and cause other problems in processing the table as well.
  
  

Affected Software Versions

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The European Commission on Friday has reiterated its concerns over U.S. software firm Microsoft Corp's (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) plans to buy MediaOne Group Inc's (NYSE:UMG - news) 29.7 percent stake in British cable company Telewest Communications

``We sent Microsoft a statement of objections last week,'' Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres said. ``But this is a quite normal procedural step. It's something we do in 90 percent of cases where we have launched an in-depth investigation into a merger or acquisition.''

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The Justice Department is expected to stick with its plan to split Microsoft in half rather than adopt a suggestion by anti-Microsoft industry groups to divide the company into three parts, a source close to the antitrust case said Thursday.

The proposal for a three-way split, instead of the two-way breakup suggested by the Justice Department, came unexpectedly in a packed courtroom. Company lawyers flinched and observers looked on in amazement as U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson expressed his admiration for the industry groups' friend-of-the-court brief.

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Thanks To Stephen O'Grady for the tip: I'd heard a while ago that Microsoft was dropping the BackOffice name and it appears that it quietly happened this week. If you navigate to the old BackOffice Web site, you will be redirected to a new site for "Microsoft Servers." Likewise, this site, not the old BackOffice site, is linked to from Microsoft's main product page.

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Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ - news) today announced the opening of the Compaq and Microsoft Datacenter Solutions Lab. With the goal of providing customers with the most robust, reliable and comprehensive Windows 2000 Datacenter Server deployment, this new Compaq facility will be jointly staffed by Compaq and Microsoft personnel. The 3,000 sq. ft. lab, located near Microsoft's Redmond campus, will support the Compaq Datacenter Joint Support Queue and provide customers with a centralized point of communication for ensuring efficient and reliable problem resolution.

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Microsoft says the judge in its antitrust case is rushing to judgement on whether to divide the firm, but experts said on Thursday although its argument may be a good one it faces an uphill battle in appeals court.

District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson abruptly ended the trial Wednesday two years after it was filed, asking the government to tinker with a proposal to break the company into two entities before resubmitting it Friday. Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) can comment on the form of that final draft, but not do much more.

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Antivirus software maker Computer Associates International warned of a new email virus called Cybernet, which can affect Microsoft's Outlook program and disable computers. The virus, much like the "I Love You" virus, also spreads through Microsoft's software, Computer Associates said.

Cybernet appears as an email with a subject line "You've Got Mail!!!" and says it's virus free, but it will try to format a computer user's hard drive and infect Microsoft Word or Excel files. Cybernet can overload email servers because it attaches to the first 50 entries in a person's Microsoft Outlook address book.

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Here is the latest on the new SoundBlaster Live! drivers for Windows 2000:

Latest info that I have so far looks like around mid-June, folks.
If the date changes, I'll update it. And if it looks like its going
to get posted sooner, I'll try and beat you guys to posting the news.

Still checking on the CT4700 issue for the folks who inquired in this
NG.
--
Harvey Fong
Technical Marketing Specialist
Audio Products
Creative Labs Inc.

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Watch out Microsoft, RealNetworks and Apple--here comes Yahoo. As the heavyweights of streaming media technology duke it out for market share, Yahoo is quietly testing software for playing and managing digital media files intended to go head-to-head with the market leaders.

As first reported by CNET News.com, in addition to playing Internet radio stations, the Yahoo Player supports formats including MP3,