Microsoft Archive

"Microsoft's rivals said they would seek tighter limits on the world's largest software company after a US federal judge approved most of its antitrust settlement with the Justice Department. Sun, one of Microsoft's harshest critics, said the states should appeal. " Read the article at News.com.au.

"Redmond has a new line of equipment designed to help turn your home into a wireless network. In the short term, at least, that's good news for the industry." Read the article at Business 2.0.

Microsoft has struck a deal with Ready-to-Run Software to port their Passport server to Linux and UNIX. This would allow websites running Apache to utilize the single-sign-on feature that Passport offers.

As Microsoft awaits court approval of its landmark antitrust settlement with the government, the company has angered some competitors by tightly limiting the technical data it promised to release. Microsoft says the restrictions are normal for the software industry and do not violate the terms of the settlement. But competitors contend that Microsoft's actions are reminiscent of the behavior that led to the antitrust case and reinforce their claim that the entire settlement is inadequate.

It can be argued that Microsoft has changed the way everyone does business in the last 20 years. What you may be surprised to learn is that the company’s success is as much about perseverance and endurance as it is vision and talent. Yes, Microsoft has been blessed with the brilliant minds of leaders like Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer.

The Tablet PC operating system matches people's scrawls against the company's own database of handwriting samples. But there's some debate as to whether to tailor it to the individual. Read the report.

"What you are about to read is a true story. China thinks Microsoft software contains secretly embedded code that the United States government can manipulate at will. So, in case of war between the two countries, a Pentagon official can hit a switch and--presto!--cripple China's computing infrastructure. A senior Microsoft executive, who often confers with the Chinese (sorry, no names), told me this tale. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. Some people in the Chinese government actually believe it's true." Read the report at ZDNet.

"They are a very serious competitor. Their community is very, very good, and we're hard at work trying to follow that model. Obviously...the way (Linux) work is done--I think about it in a more componentized way. I believe in integration because I believe it makes peoples' lives simpler. On the other hand, I consider componentization to be a great attribute from an engineering perspective. Then there are things I don't want to learn from them. It's very hard to innovate when you're in a decentralized mode. Look at the Linux kernel. Do you think there's a lot of innovation there? It's not that they're not great developers--they are. I have great respect for them, but I think it's hard, because of the model, to do. They can do innovation--great innovation--in small pockets. There's quite a dichotomy there and there are some advantages. But in terms of some of the innovations for the future, I don't want to adopt that model." Read Jim Allchin's interesting interview at C|Net News.com.

Microsoft has posted a position available for an engineer who will be responsible for researching modification chips that can be used to circumvent security on the Xbox, according to a ZDNet article. It looks like Microsoft is interested in heading off the efforts of the Xbox Linux Project. Currently, it is possible to install Linux on an Xbox and use it like a PC, but you must install a mod chip to circumvent the Xbox's "feature" that prevents an outside OS from booting from a CD.

The Blue Bell, Pa., OEM and its key partner will demonstrate the forthcoming 64-bit OS Windows .Net Server 2003, Datacenter Edition and 64-bit SQL Server running on Unisys' 32-way ES7000 SMP server at the Windows conference.

Firms with valid Microsoft site licences cannot legally install Windows on PCs bought without the operating system, Microsoft has warned. Many companies with volume licences routinely apply a disk image over pre-installed software to achieve a standard configuration. But firms that try to cut costs by purchasing "naked" PCs, sold without an operating system, cannot legally install a Windows image because site licences only permit upgrading from a pre-installed version of Windows. Rob Enderle of analyst firm Giga Information Group warned companies not to ignore the small print. "By contract, have to report any customer that requests naked PCs and it often triggers a software audit by Microsoft. We've seen seven-figure bills go to those that were caught." Read the story at VNUnet.

Mark Hachman at Extreme Tech saw our report on Microsoft removing the commonly-used free web fonts from its download site and called Microsoft for comment. Microsoft denies that the move was aimed at any particular Free Software users, despite the fact that it happened on Linux World's opening day. They claim that the free fonts were being "abused." Poor, poor fonts. They just couldn't protect themselves. See more at Extreme Tech

The company announced this week it will post nearly 300 new APIs to the Microsoft Developer Network on Aug. 28 as part of a plan to adopt some of the remedies proposed by the long-running antitrust settlement. Also touted is the September release of a Service Pack for Windows XP that's designed to let system manufacturers and users select or remove middleware offerings such as Internet Explorer browser, Media Player, Outlook Express, Microsoft Messenger, and Microsoft Java Virtual Machine. Read the full report at InfoWorld.

Microsoft will reveal hundreds of pieces of proprietary computer code from its monopoly Windows operating system in the next several weeks to comply with an antitrust settlement it signed with the U.S. Justice Department last year, the company said on Monday. Get the scoop at ZDNews.