Too Much Memory Crashes Windows
Windows 2000 and XP seem to thrive on an abundance of RAM. However, with Windows 9x too much RAM may be worse than too little, yet another quirky idiosyncrasy of the OS that we all know and love. According to a knowledge base article, machines running with over 512 MB of RAM may, "stop responding (hang) while Windows is starting, or halt and display the following error message:"
Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer.
3Com Dropping 30 Percent of Employees
3Com announced Monday that it will be downsizing, leaving 3,000 employees without jobs. That number is 30 percent of the entire 3Com work-force. This move sparks hopes that profitability will return by fiscal 2002. Lately, many tech companies have had to face this decision due to poor profit returns.
The beginning of job cuts involving 3Com began back in February, when the company announced that 10 percent of its telecommunications division would be let go. This decision proved to be an asset to the company's total profit returns. Also, certain product lines such as its Audrey and Kerbango appliances have been discontinued.
MusicMatch Eyes 'Web Music Service'
MusicMatch has announced plans to start a subscription radio service, which will eventually allow the company to create new revenue through the sale of digital music online. The new "Radio MX" service will build on the existing radio features found in MusicMatch Jukebox, and the technology in the latest Jukebox Plus 6.1 Beta. MusicMatch stated they plan to sell subscriptions for $5 USD a month, or $50 USD annually. Those interested in learning what the Radio MX service will have to offer can participate in a 14 day free trial.
Features of Radio MX include:
Windows 2002: What's in a Name?
When it was announced that the upcoming "Whistler" Server product family would bear the name Windows 2002, BetaNews was just as perplexed as many of our readers. After all, a single code base was finally established for all Windows flavors and Microsoft had broken down the wall separating its consumer and business divisons. For the sake of avoiding confusion alone, it seemed to make more sense to follow the XP naming scheme. Many users seeking to upgrade their desktop OS ended up purchasing Windows 2000 rather than Me after years of exposure to date-oriented product releases. We at BetaNews had questions, and Microsoft's Mark Perry, Senior Director of Windows Server Marketing, had answers.
According to Perry, "Windows 2002 is an evolutionary product. We expect the marketplace of enterprise server customers will embrace the logic of naming-continuation, as the upcoming release of server family products is the evolutionary continuation of the Windows 2000 server family." But isn't Windows XP is also the "evolutionary continuation" of Windows 2000?
VisionTek GeForce3 Hits Store Shelves
The long awaited debut of the GeForce3 for the PC has arrived on store shelves, with VisionTek shipping their GeForce3 card starting this past Friday to major retailers, including Electronics Boutique, CompUSA, Best Buy among others.
The GeForce3 chipset from NVIDIA brings the power of the nfiniteFX Engine, Lightspeed Memory Architecture, High-Resolution Antialiasing (HRAA), along with a High-Definition Video Processor (HDVP) and other standard high-end
card goodies such as TV-out. All of which allow the card to reach levels of performance that will make anyone from hard-core gamer, to grandmother drool at the visual effects. The card packs in 64MB of DDR SDRAM, which through the use of the Lightspeed Memory Architecture of the card, is capable of reaching an astonishing 7.36GB per second.
AOL Marshals Troops Against MS XP Offensive
Corporate giants AOL Time Warner and Microsoft are set to face off in what could prove to be the most influential power struggle the Internet has ever seen.
What once started as a mutually beneficial relationship has deteriorated into intense fear and loathing, as Microsoft prepares to directly compete with the largest online service provider in the world, former ally America Online. Microsoft's upcoming Windows XP will be the first step taken toward integrating Web services directly into the OS, a move that has AOL struggling to respond.
Will Windows 2002 Run Your Apps?
ZD Internet's Mary Jo Foley is reporting on serious application compatibility issues that are being uncovered by testers of Windows 2002. Windows 2002 is the server incarnation of the upcoming Windows XP, but is not expected to ship until after the first of the year. Many of Microsoft's .NET server applications will not run on the beta OS at this point, and the company acknowledges that older versions of the software will never work. These issues are very similar to those experienced during the Windows 2000 beta, however Microsoft has learned its lesson and plans to correct the problems in future builds. Beta 3 of Windows 2002 is expected July 2, with RTM arriving January 23 of next year, according to the latest numbers received by Ziff Davis.
SGI Gives Linux XFS
Once again, SGI has stepped in to give Linux something to brag about. The OS now has a port of the robust XFS services, a journaling filesystem that provides rapid recovery from system crashes and the ability to support extremely large disk farms. XFS is the default filesystem for all SGI customers running its IRIX OS, and has been in production since 1994. XFS 1.0 is the first journaled filesystem for Linux available with a proven track record and strengthens this fledgling OS’s robustness as a whole. XFS 1.0 is licensed under GPL.
Along with XFS, SGI has also released Linux FailSafe. Linux FailSafe plug-ins provide a robust clustering environment with resilience from any single point of failure. Utilizing these plug-ins, system administrators can give NFS, Samba and Apache applications the ability to re-integrate with another system if a failure occurs, allowing users to sustain access to their data.
Microsoft Spreads Education to Stop Virus
After a recent virus targeted users of Microsoft's MSN Messenger Service, the company began taking steps to ensure damage was kept to a minimum. Dubbed W32/Hello.worm, the virus propogates itself upon execution much like the infamous Melissa, but over instant messenger instead of e-mail. MSN Messenger users listed on an infected system will receive a message reading "i have a file for u. its real funny," along with a file named 'HELLO.EXE'. Upon learning of the virus, Microsoft posted information on the MSN Messenger Web site under Known Issues.
"As a general issue, customers can protect themselves by following standard best practices," MSN Product Manager Sarah Lefko told BetaNews. These practices include never accepting a file or running a program whose origin you don't trust, and using a virus scanner with updated definition files.
Microsoft Briefs BetaNews on IIS Bug
In light of the IIS 5 ISAPI Extension bug, a Microsoft spokesperson contacted BetaNews with a detailed briefing of the company's response. The flaw, which affects only customers running IIS5, is considered to be a serious threat since the software's default configuration leaves users open to attack. Microsoft has utilized many avenues to inform customers of the importance of applying the security patch. The release of the second Service Pack for Windows 2000 has also been delayed in order to incorporate this latest fix.
By sending a unique string of characters to an IIS 5 machine with Internet Printing enabled, a malicious user can gain full access to a Web server. The printing service module is installed by default. Microsoft informed BetaNews, "IIS 5.0 customers are not at risk if they have removed the Internet Printing capability from their servers. The IIS 5.0 security checklist recommends that this be done, and the security template provided in the checklist removes it. Likewise, the IIS 5.0 Lockdown Tool removes the capability unless the user explicitly chooses to retain it."
MSN Offers Free Re-route.com Service to New Customers
Microsoft's MSN has partnered with Re-route.com, Inc. to provide one free month of Re-route's "Change of Address" service to new MSN members. By filling out a short form on Re-route's Web site, new MSN members can have
e-mails sent to their old e-mail address, including America Online, forwarded along to their new MSN e-mail address. In addition, Re-route will send an e-mail reminder to those who e-mail the old address letting them know that the recipient's e-mail address has changed.
Re-route.com's President and CEO Cloyd Laporte said in a statement, "Changing e-mail addresses is difficult, and a major reason Internet users
hesitate to change ISPs. We solve this problem by providing both e-mail forwarding service and change of address notification. " He continued, "By enabling Internet users to choose the ISP that best meets their needs, we
believe the Re-route service will change the competitive landscape in the ISP industry. "
Connectix Offers Virtual PC Preview
Long known for its Macintosh products, the Connectix Corporation is now offering a PC version of their key product, Virtual PC. Virtual PC works similar to the well-known VMWare, creating a "virtual machine" that runs an additional operating system inside the one currently running. This Technology Preview is aimed at weeding out last-minute bugs and issues that may arise before the final release. Set to hit the streets at $200 USD, you can download a copy for free right now.
Virtual PC is designed to make it easy to utilize multiple operating systems without the hassle of rebooting or setting up multiple computers. All system information is stored in a single file on the host, while the guest OS handles all network, sound and video features available. Be it Linux, Windows 2000, 98, NT, or Me, Connectix hopes that its technology and experience in the Macintosh emulator PC market will produce a superior product.
Gates to Unveil Office XP in May
On May 31, Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be unveiling the latest addition to the slew of Microsoft products, Office XP. One of the most anticipated features this software contains is advanced voice recognition capabilities. Users will be able to manage their Office functions through the power of their voice. Another important add-on is Office XP's 'smart tags', which allow users to link web resources with spreadsheets, databases, and other office documents. Previously codenamed Office 10, Office XP is the first set of XP products Microsoft plans to release.
Along with voice recognition and smart tags, Office XP offers exclusive integration with Windows 2000 Server, the ability to cut, copy and paste multiple data sets, color schemed appointments, and a document recovery feature, which will guarantee no data loss in the event of an error.
Commentary: Bill, Your Windows is Leaking!
As Windows XP moves along its beta track it would be naive of anyone to believe that the operating system itself, as well as various other bits and pieces, were not being passed around on the net like mashed potatoes at a Thanksgiving dinner. BetaNews itself has seen many an e-mail come through directing us to different Web sites and persons playing host to this "Thanksgiving feast" of Microsoft software.
Just today, a Web site is offering Microsoft's Windows Media Player 8 Beta 2 for download. WMP8 was supposed to be confined to the Windows XP beta test and only ship with copies of the OS, a decision which has raised anti-trust concerns.
Microsoft Denies WMP Anti-Trust Accusations
Microsoft has issued a stern denial of charges that it is using its OS dominance to force customers to upgrade to Windows XP in order to get the latest and greatest media player. If users want to experience Microsoft's Windows Media Player 8.0 however, XP is indeed a prerequisite. Redmond justifies this decision by pointing out that Windows Media Player 8 relies on advanced technologies, which are only available in Windows XP.
Earlier this week, a group of tech industry activists known as ProComp, or the Project to Promote Competition and Innovation in the Digital Age, stated that Microsoft was utilizing "bolting practices both to violate the consent decree it agreed to in 1995, as well as both Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act." In ProComp's online FAQ, it is stated that, "The Project to Promote Competition and Innovation in the Digital Age (ProComp) is composed of companies and organizations seeking to promote consumer choice in the electronic marketplace."
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