MSN 6.2 Pulled

Many of you may have seen MSN Messenger 6.2 posted on the main MSN Messenger site, then later removed and swapped for the old one.

An update to our story from yesterday on MSN adding four paid online games to its stable of subscription-based offerings: Looks like a last-minute glitch has resulted in Microsoft postponing the availability of its MSN Messenger 6.2 update. 'The (new) games have already begun to roll out today on the 6.1 client, and many consumers will already have access tonight (Thursday evening),' an MSN spokeswoman said. 'However, the 6.2 client is currently on hold.' The new target for 6.2 is Monday

ieXbeta Board - MSN 6.2 Pulled

Opera 7.50 beta 1 available for download

Opera 7.50 beta 1 has been released and is now available for download.

Opera 7.50 beta 1 adds several new features and improves on the innovations of Opera 7.
A quick glance at new features and improvements:

* Enhanced built-in e-mail client, Opera Mail
* IRC-compatible chat
* Completely new sleek UI design

ieXbeta Board - Opera 7.50 beta 1 available for download

Hard drive speed limit is reached

"US scientists have found the theoretical maximum speed that data can be written to a PC's hard drive.

They discovered the limit by shooting electrons travelling close to the speed of light at a chunk of the same material used in computer hard drives."

ieXbeta Board - Hard drive speed limit is reached

MSN Messenger 6.2 out

"Microsoft have released version 6.2 of their popular messaging software, MSN messenger. It is available for download at the links below. As our screenshots show, Microsoft appear to be bundling their MSN toolbar with this release; Microsoft often criticised by regulators regarding their practise of bundling their software in this manner. One can draw one obvious conclusion from this move; Microsoft is worried about Google and their search dominance, and intend to take back some of the market share."

ieXbeta Board - MSN Messenger 6.2 out

Πρόσβαση ADSL χωρίς πάγιο από την Tellas

Μετά την επιτυχημένη εισαγωγή της υπηρεσίας Free Internet για ελεύθερη πρόσβαση των χρηστών dial-up στο Internet βασισμένη στη χρονοχρέωση, η Tellas εφαρμόζει το πρωτοποριακό αυτό πρόγραμμα και στον τομέα των ευρυζωνικών υπηρεσιών, καθιστώντας τη γρήγορη διακίνηση δεδομένων στο Internet προσιτή σε κάθε κατηγορία χρηστών.

Αναλυτικότερα, από σήμερα, οι χρήστες του Internet μπορούν να έχουν ελεύθερη πρόσβαση στις υπηρεσίες ADSL της Tellas, χωρίς πάγιες μηνιαίες χρεώσεις. Οι χρήστες πληρώνουν το εφάπαξ κόστος ενεργοποίησης των 25 ευρώ και στη συνέχεια χρεώνονται αποκλειστικά και μόνο για τον πραγματικό χρόνο που παραμένουν συνδεδεμένοι στο Internet.

myPhone - Πρόσβαση ADSL χωρίς πάγιο από την Tellas:

Microsoft: May expectations for Longhorn

Microsoft is expected to deliver its first draft of the delayed Longhorn OS next month, with some of its ambitious sub-system features trimmed down. If Longhorn is not ready in time for May's WinHEC hardware conference, Microsoft could lose goodwill from OEMs, developers and customers.

It is believed Microsoft will release alpha code for Longhorn, the first publicly available code for the operating system, at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), in Seattle, Washington, between 4 and 7 May.

ieXbeta Board - Microsoft: May expectations for Longhorn

Microsoft Architects Journal

Microsoft Architect's Journal - a platform where authoritative software architects from all corners of Microsoft's architect community will discuss the connection between opportunities once out of reach and the solutions that now make them possible. It will be a platform for thought leadership on a wide range of subjects on enterprise application architecture, design and development.

Bink.nu - Microsoft Architects Journal

Oracle Database 10g beats Microsoft SQL Server 2000

"In a head-to-head, comparative manageability cost study conducted by Progressive Strategies, Oracle Database 10g outperformed Microsoft SQL Server 2000, delivering significant cost and time savings."

AME Info Business News - Oracle Database 10g beats Microsoft SQL Server 2000

NVIDIA Launches GeForce 6 Series

NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, introduced today the NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 models of graphics processing units (GPUs) for high-performance desktop computers. The NVIDIA GeForce 6 Series, which includes the flagship GeForce 6800 Ultra and GeForce 6800, is designed to deliver:

• Industry-leading 3D performance- new superscalar 16-pipe architecture delivers more than twice that of current industry leading NVIDIA GPUs
• New features, including Microsoft DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 feature set - for ultra-realistic cinematic effects
• Unprecedented on-chip video processing engine - enabling high-definition video and DVD playback

WinBeta.org - NVIDIA Launches GeForce 6 Series

Microsoft Preps 2004 Ad Blitz for Windows XP

"Hundreds of millions of customers run the Windows XP client today, but enterprise adoption and retail sales have lagged. Microsoft's solution to that problem is a multipronged advertising blitz centered on the XP updates the company has released since the OS's debut 3 years ago. Microsoft wants you to know that if you haven't looked at XP lately, you might be surprised by how much the product has improved.

The ad blitz will begin in June with the release of XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), one of the largest and most important updates Microsoft has ever created for any of its products. Once seen as a simple collection of bug and security fixes, XP SP2 took on new importance last summer after various high-profile virus and worm attacks. In response to those attacks, Microsoft moved the product into its main build lab and grafted to XP a slew of security-oriented updates that were originally envisioned for Longhorn, the next major Windows release."

Bink.nu - Microsoft Preps 2004 Ad Blitz for Windows XP

What? They cut WinFS??

"There has been a great deal of hubub about what Jay Greene’s BusinessWeek article means for Longhorn, and WinFS in particular.  I’ve been surprised by the general silence on MS blogs on this topic – which is perhaps an indication that I ought to be careful myself ;)  But let me throw caution to the wind and get to the punch line: I, from my vantage as a Longhorn Evangelist, haven’t seen any changes that significantly impact anything we’ve said at PDC, or since, about the WinFX platform.  You won't see me editing my slides, changing my talking points, or cutting back my demos, because the message about WinFX's capabilities hasn't changed."

Bink.nu - What? They cut WinFS??

LindowsOS Becomes Linspire

"Embattled Linux (news - web sites)-based software vendor Lindows.com formally changed the name of its desktop operating system from LindowsOS to 'Linspire' this week.

The name change came after a two-year trademark dispute with Microsoft. The San Diego, California, company says it renamed its OS product in an effort to end Microsoft's international legal attacks.

The Redmond, Washington, software giant has sued Lindows for trademark infringement in several countries over the similarity between the Windows and Lindows names."

Bink.nu - LindowsOS Becomes Linspire

Microsoft enhances its CRM tool

"The software giant's plans for its CRM product include a new component for palmtops. Microsoft's Business Solutions Unit last week announced plans to release an enhanced version of its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software in the summer of 2005.

Microsoft CRM 2.0 will feature a raft of new capabilities, including features for campaign-management, service-scheduling, marketing-automation and business-process-automation. The software giant is currently readying the first beta of the software.

Microsoft will also deliver additional customer-service enhancements for Outlook for mobile users, at the same time as the 2.0 release. The firm also revealed that it would add a Pocket PC complement to its CRM program."

Bink.nu - Microsoft enhances its CRM tool

Windows Update struggling to remain available

Microsoft's Windows Update web site has been experiencing slow response times in the wake of yesterday's release of critical security updates. A browser request through Internet Explorer eventually raises the site after an extended wait, and in some cases it is possible to successfully download and install updates over a broadband connection. Dynamically updating performance charts for Windows Update are available here.

Bink.nu - Windows Update struggling to remain available

Microsoft and Suicide

"All those who think Linux will clean Microsoft's clock who are also people who have never compiled software, please hold up your hand. See, it is the technical community (those who compile - the Compilers) that sees Open Source as the ultimate winner while all the people who actually buy software don't. The truth is that Microsoft is positioning itself to take on Linux on Linux's turf if that's required. Bill Gates has been quite clear that his company's need for huge cash reserves is to keep it going for up to five years in the face of ZERO sales. So Microsoft could match Open Source pricing without the Open Source and while the compilers might not be swayed, everyone else (the other 98 percent of the market) would be."

p2pnet.net - Microsoft and Suicide

Winner: Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Server 2003

"Windows Server 2003 won the top spot in this year's e-Business Foundations category on the strength of the components it combines for building an organization's basic IT infrastructure.

Our judges were impressed by Windows Server 2003's improved security features. Chief among those was the move to the all-new IIS (Internet Information Services) 6.0 Web server, which is faster, more reliable and more secure than the previous version of IIS. What's more, IIS 6.0 is not installed by default in Windows Server 2003, which reduces unnecessary exposure."

MSFN - Winner: Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Server 2003

Longhorn and Yukon timelines

Now that Yukon has been pushed back to the first half of 2005, I cannot believe the recent reports indicating Longhorn is on track for a first half of 2006 release. It just doesn't add up. Why? Because both products are tied to a Visual Studio release.

This means that they only have 1 year to develop VS.NET Orcas. No way hose.
VS.NET Orcas could only be released in Q2 2006 if:

• The delay is only caused by Yukon and VS.NET 2005 is already completed. The recent tech preview indicated otherwise.
• There are two seperate teams for 2005 and orcas. Well, I do believe that they already are developing parts of Orcas, but I think Orcas isn't getting to full speed development before 2005 is finished.
• Orcas has only a couple of additional features, like 2003 had. This is however very unlikely, because of all the new technologies they have to integrate to unleash the power of longhorn to developers.
• Untie the release of longhorn and visual studio, but this isn't an option at all. A new OS doesn't make sense without developer tools.

DotNetJunkies - Longhorn and Yukon timelines

The Only Way Microsoft Can Die is by Suicide

"When I wrote last week about my conclusion that the legal system -- any legal system -- is unequipped to change Microsoft's monopolistic behavior, I had no idea that within 24 hours, Sun Microsystem would be throwing in the towel, trading its so-called principles for $1.95 billion in cash. So I guess I was right. Only now, a few thousand readers out there expect me to blithely produce an answer to the problem of what to do to bring Microsoft into the civilized world. Well, I say it can't be done."

MSFN - The Only Way Microsoft Can Die is by Suicide

phpnuke.gr Reopened!

Our site phpnuke.gr has opened once again. The new site is addressed to all the greek nukers! We will try to emphasize aspects concerning security and support. You can visit our new website here

PHP-Nuke - phpnuke.gr Reopened!

No Windows XP SE as Longhorn jettisons features

"Microsoft won't ship an interim version of Windows, retail or otherwise, before Longhorn according to email seen by Business Week. The memos from a week ago suggest that Microsoft is jettisoning features from Longhorn in order to meet the ship date of the first half of 2006.

WinFS appears to be the main casualty, having already been curtailed. A year ago Microsoft confirmed that Longhorn wouldn't, as expected, introduce an entirely new database storage architecture in which file systems NTFS would be a plug-in. Rather, Microsoft would add database like properties to NTFS. Business Week reports that the new features of WinFS will only work on local storage rather than across networks. That's been pushed into Blackcomb, which is way out towards the end of the decade."

ieXbeta Board - No Windows XP SE as Longhorn jettisons features

«Κόλλησε» το ADSL. Ο ΟΤΕ δεν έχει διαθέσιμες υποδομές και κυκλώματα για να ικανοποιήσε

Με πρωτοσέλιδη αναφορά της («Έπεσε έξω ο ΟΤΕ στον προγραμματισμό για την εξυπηρέτηση των αναγκών ADSL») η εφημερίδα ΚΕΡΔΟΣ το Σάββατο 3/4/2004 επισημαίνει ότι ο «κακός» προγραμματισμός των προμηθειών του ΟΤΕ έχει παγώσει την αγορά ADSL.

Σημειώνεται ότι οι εταιρείες παροχής υπηρεσιών Internet και παροχής τηλεπικοινωνιακών υπηρεσιών «ωρύονται» ότι ο πρώην μονοπωλιακός οργανισμός τους «έβαλε» να μειώσουν τις τιμές τους και στη συνέχεια τους άφησε ξεκρέμαστους σε ό,τι αφορά τη διαθεσιμότητα των κυκλωμάτων. Τα επίσημα εκκρεμή αιτήματα στον ΟΤΕ για συνδέσεις ADSL ανέρχονται σε 3.500, αλλά παράγοντες της αγοράς εκτιμούν ότι ο πραγματικός τους αριθμός είναι πολύ μεγαλύτερος.

«Κόλλησε» το ADSL. Ο ΟΤΕ δεν έχει διαθέσιμες υποδομές και κυκλώματα για να ικανοποιήσει αιτήματα συνδέσεων - ADSLgr

MS Windows Installer XML goes OpenSource

The Windows Installer XML (WiX) is a toolset that builds Windows installation packages from XML source code. The project, originally developed internal to Microsoft, was released today under the Common Public License (a first for Microsoft). With this release developers outside Microsoft can take advantage of the same toolset being used today to create the installation packages for products like Microsoft Office, Microsoft SQL Server, and many others. More information about the toolset and its OSS release can be found at: http://blogs.msdn.com/robmen/archive/2004/04/05/107709.aspx

ieXbeta Board - MS Windows Installer XML goes OpenSource

Summer release for Windows ISA 2004

"Internet and Security Acceleration Server 2004 to offer enhanced firewall and VPN.

Microsoft has confirmed its intention to release Windows Internet and Security Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 in the summer, focusing on simplified use for small and medium sized businesses.
The scope of the firewall and security software is also being widened from the first release, providing virtual private network (VPN) capabilities and greater scalability and performance."

WinBeta.org - Summer release for Windows ISA 2004:

WOW!!! Microsoft and Sun Microsystems Enter Broad Cooperation Agreement; Settle Outstanding Litigation

"Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced that they have entered into a broad technology collaboration arrangement to enable their products to work better together and to settle all pending litigation between the two companies. The companies have also entered into agreements on patents and other issues."

Bink.nu - WOW!!! Microsoft and Sun Microsystems Enter Broad Cooperation Agreement; Settle Outstanding Litigation

Microsoft Preparing to Release Code to Open Source

After years of railing against open source, Microsoft Corp is preparing to shift its stance by releasing code to the open source community.

A member of Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative has told ComputerWire open source code is 'coming'. Stephen Walli, platform's business development manager, added Microsoft would likely release 'non core' code - i.e. code that is not a part of the operating system.

ieXbeta Board - Microsoft Preparing to Release Code to Open Source

SQL Server Upgrade Is Sorely Needed

eWEEK Labs Director Jim Rapoza has some harsh criticism for the current (and rapidly aging) version of SQL Server. Rapoza says he is seeing a lot of IT shops running DB2 or Oracle, rather than SQL Server 2000. Yukon, a k a SQL Server 2005, can come none too soon, Rapoza says. Read the rest of Rapoza's remarks here.

Microsoft Watch - SQL Server Upgrade Is Sorely Needed

Sun finally launches its own graphical Java platform

"Sun Microsystems at its quarterly 'software summit' Tuesday announced that the beta version of Java Studio Creator, its drag-and-drop, rapid application development platform, will be available April 8 for download, with general access for the final build scheduled for sometime in June. "

NewsForge - Sun finally launches its own graphical Java platform