Developing Smartphone 2002 Applications with Embedded Visual Basic (eVB) is now possible - thanks to a hacker!

Developing applications for MS Smartphone 2002 with Embedded Visual C (eVC) is very difficult (due to the complicated Windows API -like programming model, not just due to the usage of C/C language) and according to Microsoft it is the only way to develop these applications! Microsoft clearly said that it does not support eVB in software development for MS Smartphone, and that eVB is only for Pocket PC. Developing applications with eVB however is extremely easy - even hobbyists and people, who don't have much in common with software programming can do it!

msmobiles.com - Developing Smartphone 2002 Applications with Embedded Visual Basic (eVB) is now possible - thanks to a hacker!

Combining XUL Documents With Overlays

"Nigel McFarlane, author of Rapid Application Development with Mozilla, has written an article about Mozilla's XUL overlays. This guide follows on from McFarlane's introduction to XUL, published last week."

MozillaZine Talkback - Combining XUL Documents With Overlays

Is That Microsoft Calling?

Software giant could change the way we communicate by telephone.

Microsoft is bound to play a growing role in enterprise telephony systems over the next few years, helping them to evolve beyond the simple features such as speed dial, conference call, and voice mail most companies know today. What's less clear is what that role will be.
 
The Redmond, Washington, software giant is likely to muscle in on the territory of traditional vendors of private branch exchanges (PBXs) and even threaten the desktop handset, through PC-based 'soft phones,' according to some industry analysts. However, Microsoft and some major vendors in that market say they don't see themselves on a collision course. Microsoft may increasingly provide the platform software for telephony, but more specialized vendors will write the applications on top, they said.

B i n k . n u - Is That Microsoft Calling?

Apply for the Macromedia Flex Beta Program

"Macromedia Flex, a presentation server and application framework that enables enterprise developers to deliver rich Internet applications using existing tools, design patterns, and infrastructure. Flex expands the Macromedia MX product family to address the requirements of enterprise IT departments seeking to deliver end user experiences that combine the responsiveness and richness of desktop software with the broad reach of the web."

ieXbeta Board - Apply for the Macromedia Flex Beta Program

Microsoft Retires NetMeeting

"Microsoft is retiring its six-year-old NetMeeting online conferencing application and instead will push Office Live Meeting, formerly known as PlaceWare, for online meetings.

NetMeeting helped pioneer online conferencing when it was released in May 1996, before the advent of instant messaging (IM) and other services for real-time online communication. The software still ships as part of Windows and some of its features, such as whiteboarding and application-sharing, are used by the MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger IM applications."

B i n k . n u - Microsoft Retires NetMeeting

WinFX: An All-Managed API [Nov. 24, 2003]

"In Longhorn, Win32 will no longer be the principal API. It will, of course, continue to be supported; 20-year-old DOS applications still run on the latest version of Windows, and likewise, Win32 applications will also continue to work for the foreseeable future. But just as DOS and 16-bit Windows applications were superseded by Win32 applications, so in Longhorn will Win32 become the 'old way' of doing things. In Win32's place is a new API called WinFX (pronounced 'Win Effects'). WinFX is a significant milestone in the history of the Windows API, as it puts .NET at the center of the platform. While Win32, the main API for previous versions of Windows, is a C-style API, WinFX is designed primarily to be used by .NET languages. In other words, it is a managed API. Moreover, it is a superset of the existing .NET Framework."

ONDotnet.com - WinFX: An All-Managed API

Mozilla 1.5 ActiveX Control Released

"Daniel Wang wrote in to tell us that Adam Lock of the Mozilla ActiveX Project has released version 1.5 of the Mozilla ActiveX Control, which allows developers to embed Gecko into applications in much the same way that they can embed Internet Explorer. The control supports most of the API of the IE control for easy porting. The Mozilla 1.5 ActiveX Control can be downloaded from www.iol.ie/~locka/mozilla/MozillaControl15.exe".

MozillaZine Talkback - Mozilla 1.5 ActiveX Control Released

SCO's Linux Case: Is Winning Everything?

As the SCO Group prepares to battle at least one Linux user in court, legal experts said that the company's strategy is less about the legal merits of its claims and more about compelling additional Linux users into paying its license fees.

Earlier this week, the SCO Group said it planned within 90 days to sue a Linux user over copyright infringement related to its Unix System V code that it alleges is included in Linux. The move marked an expansion of the Lindon, Utah-based company's legal wrangle over Linux, which began with its high profile lawsuit against IBM.

SCO's Linux Case: Is Winning Everything?

Prescott to Be the Fastest Ramping Processor in Intel's History?

"Although Intel Corporation is likely to miss its initial time-to-market by about three quarters with its new Pentium 4 processors code-named Prescott, the company is still quite optimistic about its next-generation chip. Sources close to the company said on Saturday that Intel is confident its Prescott processor will be the fastest ramping CPU in the company's history because of thinner 90nm manufacturing process as well as 300mm wafers."

MSFN - Prescott to Be the Fastest Ramping Processor in Intel's History?

DVD Jon Unlocks iTunes' Locked Music

"Jon Lech Johansen, better known as DVD Jon for his authorship of the DeCSS decryption software, has turned his attention to Apple's locked music format.

While he hasn't decrypted the DRM which Apple uses, he has produced a simple Windows command line utility which will install a DLL which dumps the output of a QuickTime stream to a file. The short C program is called 'QuickTime for Windows AAC memory dumper'. (To compile the program requires MinGW and MSYS from http://www.mingw.org/ .)"

MSFN - DVD Jon Unlocks iTunes' Locked Music

Macromedia: Tussling with Longhorn

"Macromedia's transition from being mainly known for Flash to a 'rich-Internet' applications company was given a shot in the arm with the acquisition of Allaire two years ago with its Coldfusion Web application server. The latest push in the direction of fusing Web design and development is a product due to ship in the first half of 2004 called Flex. The product, which has lived under the code name Royale up until it was formally announced at the beginning of this week, is a combination of server software and other tools to enable traditional Web application developers to create components in Macromedia's Flash format.

'Flex is about re-factoring how Flash applications are developed and deployed into a form factor that these professional developers will find intuitive,' says Macromedia product manager Rod Hodgman. 'It's a presentation server that provides a text-based programming model -- if you have coded in JSP, ASP or HTML you'll find pretty easy to pick up and understand.'"

B i n k . n u - Macromedia: Tussling with Longhorn

Microsoft Visual FoxPro "Europa" to Arrive in Late 2004

"Product Manager Ken Levy reveals more details on what you can expect in the database development tool.

Microsoft says it plans to release the 'Europa' version of its Visual FoxPro (VFP) development tool at Visual FoxPro DevCon 2004 September 29 - October 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A beta version should be available in early 2004.

Microsoft VS Data Product Manager Ken Levy has also offered more information on new capabilities it plans to include in the update (not all of these functions will make it to the final release)."

B i n k . n u - Microsoft Visual FoxPro "Europa" to Arrive in Late 2004

ReactOS 0.1.5 is released

"ReactOS is an Open Source effort to develop a quality operating system that is compatible with Windows NT applications and drivers'.

Home: ReactOS
Download: ReactOS 0.1.5
Changelog: Changelog
Source: OS News"

WinBeta.org - ReactOS 0.1.5 is released

Microsoft signs .Net deal in China

"Microsoft has signed two agreements intended to deepen the company's ties with the Chinese government, even as the country's officials embark on programs meant to entrench rival open-source systems within the state infrastructure.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, was in Bejing on Thursday to sign a deal that will partner the software giant with the state-owned China National Computer Software & Technology Service (CS&S), the country's largest domestic software development and systems integration firm. The two companies are set to co-develop products based on Microsoft's .Net and Office System platforms. Another focus of the agreement is IT training, with plans for the companies to jointly train 200 CS&S developers and 120 IT architects within one year, according to a press statement from Microsoft. 'CS&S will not only strive in its current position as the largest IT solutions and service provider in China, but to be one of the top IT outsourcing companies in the world,' said Tang Min, president of CS&S."

Neowin.net - Microsoft signs .Net deal in China

Opera 7.23

"Opera is a fast, user-friendly, and highly versatile Internet browser that includes a newsreader, integrated search, and an M2 e-mail client. The keyboard plays an integral role in surfing, making Web navigation easy with Fast Forward and Rewind buttons for expedited navigation. You can run multiple windows even at start-up, and special features are included for users with disabilities. The standards support in Opera 7 has been improved. It also handles nonstandard pages using DHTML and includes password and cookie managers, improved drag-and-drop support, a floating hot list, user profiles, and a host of other features such as an integrated pop-up stopper and skin support."

Neowin.net - Opera 7.23

Is Microsoft Linux in the Wind?

"Speculation that Microsoft might build a flavor of Linux into Windows Server 2003 has been rife since May, when the company said it was licensing the Unix source code and patent from the SCO Group. That action followed SCO's infamous US$1 billion lawsuit, filed in March, which accuses IBM of improperly lifting copyrighted Unix technology and building it into Linux."

MSFN - Is Microsoft Linux in the Wind?

Open XUL Alliance Launches Wiki Wiki - MozillaZine Talkback

Gerald Bauer writes in with news that the Open XUL Alliance now has a Wiki. The Open XUL Alliance is a site about XUL and related XML-based declarative user interface languages. A Wiki (sometimes called a Wiki Wiki) is a collection of pages that can be freely contributed to and edited by anybody. Read the full article for more details.

Full Article...

MozillaZine Talkback - Open XUL Alliance Launches Wiki Wiki

Zulu Layout Engine Combines XUL and Flash

"Daniel Glazman wrote in to tell us about Zulu, a tool for creating Flash user interfaces using a modified version of XUL. The Zulu site features some tutorials, which include working examples. An alpha version of Zulu Web Edition is available for download."

MozillaZine Talkback - Zulu Layout Engine Combines XUL and Flash

Antivirus Vendor Offers Free Software

"Computer Associates International will give away its consumer antivirus and firewall software product with a year's subscription to virus signature updates, the company announced here at Comdex.

The eTrust EZ Armor product carries a retail price of $49.95 but will be available as a free download from Computer Associates through June 30, 2004, company says in a statement.

The offer is part of Microsoft's Protect Your PC' campaign. It also comes two years after CA pulled a free antivirus product for consumers, saying it was too expensive to maintain."

WinBeta.org - Antivirus Vendor Offers Free Software

'Φθηνό και Γρήγορο Internet!' απαιτεί ο πρωθυπουργός Κ. Σημίτης

Την εντολή στους επιτελείς του να βρουν τρόπους διάθεσης στο ευρύ κοινό φθηνής και ταχείας πρόσβασης στο Internet έδωσε, σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, ο πρωθυπουργός κ. K. Σημίτης. Τη μελέτη του εγχειρήματος ανέλαβε να διεκπεραιώσει ο οικονομικός σύμβουλος του Πρωθυπουργού κ. Γκ. Χαρδούβελης σε συνεργασία με στελέχη του υπουργείου Οικονομίας και των άλλων συναρμόδιων υπουργείων. Ο σκοπός είναι να αποκτήσει και η Ελλάδα πρόσβαση στο Διαδίκτυο με κόστος παραπλήσιο εκείνου των άλλων ευρωπαϊκών χωρών.

ADSLgr Independent Review Site For Broadband In Greece - 'Φθηνό και Γρήγορο Internet!' απαιτεί ο πρωθυπουργός Κ. Σημίτης

Nokia's N-Gage suffers blow as hackers crack games security code

"Nokia (news - web sites)'s foray onto the mobile entertainment market, the N-Gage gaming deck, was dealt a blow this week when hackers were able to crack the security codes protecting its games from being pirated, with illegal copies being posted on the Internet.

This means the games can now be downloaded by anybody and will work on any handset running Nokia's Series 60 software platform, used in N-Gage and its 3650 and 7650 camera phones, as well as some models made by Siemens and UK-based Sendo."

NewsForge - Nokia's N-Gage suffers blow as hackers crack games security code

Sun's StarOffice Still Can't Rival Microsoft

"It has been years since Microsoft had any real competition for its Office productivity suite the software package that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Once-popular competitors like WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 have been reduced to tiny niche players.

But there is a competing office suite that is the darling of those companies, software developers and users who have made hating or battling Microsoft into a sort of religion. It's called StarOffice, and is sold by Sun Microsystems, a maker of high-end hardware and software that is one of Microsoft's biggest critics."

MSFN - Sun's StarOffice Still Can't Rival Microsoft

Microsoft prepares security assault on Linux

"In a sign that the inroads made by the Open Source community are starting to rattle the software giant, Microsoft has hired several analysts to review how fast holes are patched in the open source software and is expected to announce that Windows compares favorably.

The strategy, called 'Days of Risk,' measures the number of days it takes programmers to release a public patch after a vulnerability is revealed. While high-profile holes in Linux and associated software tend to be swiftly dealt with, less prominent problems -- which could be just as potentially damaging -- can take weeks or even months to appear."

InfoWorld: Microsoft prepares security assault on Linux

Επιτέλους, φθηνό ADSL στην Ελλάδα. Πολύ σύντομα!

Μέτρα για να διαδοθεί το «γρήγορο Internet» στην Ελλάδα προετοιμάζουν τα υπουργεία Οικονομίας και Μεταφορών σε συνεργασία με τον ΟΤΕ και τις εταιρείες παροχής υπηρεσιών Internet.

Η συντονισμένη προσπάθεια να καλλιεργηθεί κλίμα... ομοψυχίας αναμένεται να κορυφωθεί μέσα στο Δεκέμβριο, προκειμένου να μην χαθεί η ευκαιρία υλοποίησης μεγάλων έργων με κοινοτική χρηματοδότηση, προϋπολογισμού άνω των 250 εκατομμυρίων ευρώ.

ADSLgr Independent Review Site For Broadband In Greece - Επιτέλους, φθηνό ADSL στην Ελλάδα. Πολύ σύντομα!

Virtual PC 2004 To RTM Next Week!

"The software giant Monday plans to announce the release to manufacturing of its newly branded and enhanced Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, formerly known as Connectix Virtual PC.

The desktop software, expected to be available within the next 90 days, will allow customers to run multiple versions of Windows on the same desktop, as well as Mac and Linux on virtual machines."

ieXbeta Board - Virtual PC 2004 To RTM Next Week!

No MORE RedHat Linux in the Product LINE!

"Red Hat yesterday unveiled its answer to the vexed question of what it should do about its consumer line - dump it. This is not quite how CEO Matthew Szulik put it to The Register over lunch yesterday, nor indeed did he say flat out 'oh, by the way, we're shooting the Red Hat Linux distribution when North Carolina wakes up, bye now,' but that is indeed what the company did."

ieXbeta Board - No MORE RedHat Linux in the Product LINE!

Mono Roadmap

"The Mono project started in 2001 as an effort to implement the .NET Framework to Unix. To bring both the new programming model based on the Common Language Infrastructure and C# as well as helping people migrate their existing knowledge and applications to Unix. Mono today supports a wide variety of operating systems, CPUs and a large chunk of the functionality available in the .NET Framework."

go-Mono - Mono Roadmap

Windows Rights Managment Released

"Today at RSA Conference 2003, Europe here in Amsterdam, Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business Unit at Microsoft Corp., detailed a series of new products and programs designed to help customers in Europe and around the globe enhance the security of their computers and networks. Among other topics, Nash discussed the release of Windows® Rights Management Services (RMS) for Windows Server^TM 2003, progress on patch management and new innovations such as the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB)."

B i n k - Windows Rights Managment Released

Intel ships $925 Pentium 4 Extreme Edition

"Intel today released its Pentium 4 Extreme Edition - the exceptionally expensive gamer-oriented version of the chip giant's desktop processor - as we reported last week.

As anticipated, the chip will cost $925 a throw.

The chip is clocked to 3.2GHz and features 2MB of on-die L3 cache alongside its 512KB L2 cache. Like other P4s, it supports HyperThreading, a frontside bus with an effective bit rate of 800MHz and is fabbed at 130nm. The P4EE is compatible with the existing i865 and i875 chipset families, said Intel."

The Register - Intel ships $925 Pentium 4 Extreme Edition

8.5GB DVD+R discs, drives to ship April '04

"Expect double-layer, almost double-capacity DVD+R drives and media to hit the stores next April, members of the DVD+RW alliance say. The technology, co-developed by drive maker Philips, and media specialists Verbatim and Mitsubishi Kagaku, adds a second recording layer to a standard-thickness DVD+R disc, taking the medium's capacity from 4.7GB to 8.5GB.

That's enough for four hours of DVD-quality material, 16 hours of VHS-quality content or two hours' archive footage. The discs are playback-compatible with existing DVD players and DVD-ROM drives. Initial products will offer a write speed of 2.4x.

DVD+R DL, as the technology is known, was demo'd last month in Japan and shown to the press in London last week. Alliance members said the next step is to publish the format's specifications, a process which should be complete this year. Officially, the Alliance says DVD+R DL hardware and media will ship during 'the course of 2004', but privately a number of member companies said they are 'hoping' for an April 2004 introduction."

Neowin.net - 8.5GB DVD+R discs, drives to ship April '04

SQL Server on a non MS platform? Never!

"The analyst community has long been saying that it's only a matter of time before Microsoft starts porting its applications, especially its server-based business applications, to Linux. But one Microsoft notable, in the form of Gordon Mangione, corporate vice president, SQL Server Team, made a strong and clear statement that SQL Server would never be ported to other environments, when he addressed developers last week at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles."

Neowin.net - SQL Server on a non MS platform? Never!

Nestlé to buy Google

"Friday, reports surfaced that Microsoft was interested in buying Google. Instead, food giant Nestlé announced that its sweetened offer to buy the Internet search engine company has been accepted.

Google will complement Nestlé's long list of well-known brands, including Perrier water, Stouffer's, LifeSavers, and Nesquick. Nestlé says Google will be renamed NesGoogle and have a recipe section added to its main page."

MSFN - Nestlé to buy Google

Messenger Plus! 2.51.68

"Messenger Plus! is an add-on for MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger, the two popular Instant Messaging softwares from Microsoft. Messenger Plus! adds different features to Messenger to make it more enjoyable for a regular usage. Messenger Plus! is not a chat program, it only adds functionalities to Messenger, it can't be used as a standalone application."

MSFN - Messenger Plus! 2.51.68

Emulation is Free Game

"The Library of Congress has recently granted copyright exemptions in the Digital Millenium Act to obsolete games. The exemption applies to games that require the original hardware as a condition of access, and if the game is “no longer manufactured or reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.” This means that old, unsupported PC, console and arcade games will now be legal to own (so your illegal copy of Mame roms are now legit). The only muddy side is if publishers consider their old games to be “reasonably available” and plan to release classic games as bundles or bonuses, then the copyright protection still stands."

Neowin.net - Emulation is Free Game