Scott M. Fulton, III

Mozilla: Firefox is our RIA platform

"This is where we think the future of the Internet is going -- you can start to see these applications breaking out of the confines of the browser space, and try to move onto the desktop," a key Mozilla engineer told BetaNews.

The term "rich Internet application" is almost becoming a misnomer; there truly is no worthy Internet application that, in at least some respect, isn't rich. The original idea of "richness" was in describing a function that justifies the use of technology above and beyond what is typically used for laying out HTML Web pages. Any more, if you're using AJAX, Flash (especially with Adobe's AIR), or Microsoft's Silverlight to develop your application, you've automatically crossed into the zone of "rich."

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It's a date: Small Business Server 2008, EBS 2008 set for November 12

Windows for networks had its roots in small business. But with Windows Server for enterprises shipping since last February, Microsoft's SMB bundles will finally be ready to ship nine months later.

This morning, a Microsoft spokesperson informed BetaNews that the final release date for its Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 operating system bundles -- based on Windows Server 2008 -- is November 12. That's a little later than was thought back in February, when the company launched Windows Server 2008.

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Microsoft is open to Yahoo deal with Icahn's board, not Yang's

Sometimes it takes a grown-up's help to cut a steak into easily digestible, bite-sized pieces. This morning, it looks like Microsoft wouldn't be ashamed to have Carl Icahn do the honors, if it means getting Yahoo out of its way.

In an open letter to Yahoo shareholders this morning, the facts of which Microsoft subsequently acknowledged, investor Carl Icahn stated he has recently met with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and that Ballmer expressed interest in a partial or whole transaction with Yahoo should Icahn be successful in replacing its current board of directors with his alternate slate.

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Next Patch Tuesday has few security updates, big Vista reliability fix

In its monthly advance notice the weekend before the second Tuesday of the month, Microsoft said it will only be addressing four security issues this time around, two dealing with Windows. But a surprisingly big Vista bug fix is under way.

If you think about it, the relative security of Windows Vista hasn't been the subject of much debate recently. If there's any problem consumers have with it, whether it's born out of market perception or real-world experience, it's a feeling that it's not all that reliable.

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Nokia and InterDigital start to disassemble their running feud

You dream of seeing outcomes like this: One side asks the other, "What were we fighting about again?" The other side responds, "I don't remember." And the two shake hands and start picking up their mess. This may actually be happening.

It is perhaps the most bizarre patent licensing foray in the history of telecommunications -- so unusual that a third layer of lawsuits, filed beginning in July 2005 and extending into 2006, was literally convened to settle in court the question of what it was that the second layer of lawsuits was supposed to be about.

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'Metal Gear Solid 4' gives PS3 a sales boost in Japan

It's good to be on top of the heap, Sony discovered for perhaps a brief moment, and today gaming analysts are giving the PS3 a ray of hope for Japan. But that depends on just how carefully you slice the pie, as the market leader remains Nintendo.

Widely circulated reports attributed to Reuters, though not attributed to the Nikkei service, state that the relative ratio of sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 to Nintendo's Wii console, tightened to 1.7 : 1, during a five-week period that ended last week. In that period, the highly anticipated Konami game title Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was released in Japan exclusively for the PS3, evidently contributing to sales.

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The reason for the last Firefox 2 release: multiple security fixes

If the manufacturer of a product acknowledges a series of potentially hazardous defects before anyone else can be hurt by them, and the solution is already available, perhaps the word "responsibility" applies in a good way.

Download Firefox 2.0.0.15 for Windows from FileForum now.

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Obama change of heart on FISA bill generates an online rift

With online activism one of the key factors behind Barack Obama's success, his new position on a key bill affecting the government's ability to wiretap Internet users is making even stalwart supporters rethink their own positions.

Immediately after the US House of Representatives passed compromise legislation that would amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Washington Post was the first to quote Sen. Barack Obama (D - Ill.), the likely Democratic nominee for President, as siding with House Democrats including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D - Md.) in urging the compromise bill's passage in the Senate.

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PDF is now ISO 32000-1, an international standard

The next version of Microsoft Office, still called "Office 14," will support by user-chosen defaults at least two published international standard document formats. But at least for now, neither of them was Microsoft's to begin with.

This morning, the International Organization for Standardization announced its completed publication of ISO 32000-1, rendering the Portable Document Format effectively the property of the people at large. It is no longer Adobe's PDF.

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Microsoft embraces subscription model in Office + Windows Live bundle

For years, customers have asked for an affordable subscription-based service for what has typically been perceived as Microsoft's steeply-priced software. If seventy bucks a year seems affordable enough, it's finally coming.

It could be one of Microsoft's most significant moves in the home applications market in years -- long overdue, many will say, but finally arriving. Beginning later this month, the company will offer an annual subscription package that bundles together its Office Home and Student 2007 suite with Windows Live Services, Office Live Workspace, and Windows Live OneCare, for $69.99 annually.

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Microsoft confirms it's buying semantic search provider Powerset

A few weeks ago, Microsoft denied it would be making any big purchases in the wake of its failed "hybrid" bid for Yahoo's search business. That's assuming that Powerset isn't a big purchase...and it very well might be.

Confirming rumors traded among the major blogs last week, as well as information Microsoft refused to comment about for BetaNews on Thursday, the company said today it is indeed purchasing San Francisco-based semantic search tools provider Powerset for an undisclosed sum.

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One more Firefox 2 version is out the door

What may not even be the final version of Firefox 2 was officially released this morning, after an extensive testing process during which newer security issues were apparently addressed.

Download Firefox 2.0.0.15 for Windows from FileForum now.

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Google to scuttle its pay-per-action beta

What had been seen as a unique alternative pricing model for advertising, which Google began testing just last year, is being phased out after the end of August.

In March 2007, Google launched its beta test of what many thought may become an evolutionary step in the development of Web advertising: a pay-per-action (PPA) model where clients get to choose which customer actions matter most to them, and pay Google only for those actions. For example, as an alternative to cost-per-click (CPC) where an advertiser pays each time someone clicks on an ad whether or not he becomes a paying customer, the advertiser could choose instead to pay Google a percentage of each sale once that's finalized, or each time a customer has clicked through to a particular page rather than just the first one that comes up after the initial click.

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Apple releases Mac OS X 10.5.4 update with new security fixes

In a notice on its corporate Web site today, Apple said it had released a wrap-up of general operating system stability and security improvements, including several that address malicious crafting exploits.

One new security update released today and incorporated into the version 10.5.4 package addresses a series of problems uncovered by, and attributed to, UK-based software developer and consultant James Urquhart, who himself does not claim to be a security engineer. A recent Secunia software advisory also credits Urquhart, who was also able to locate a problem with versions of Safari for Windows prior to version 3.1.2 (obviously not addressed by today's Mac OS X update).

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Yahoo to tell shareholders it doubts Microsoft intended a real merger

Microsoft's history of business transactions during its attempt to acquire and merge with Yahoo, a presentation to Yahoo shareholders will argue, imply that its business goals may have been to weaken Yahoo rather than strengthen it.

Slides from a Yahoo presentation to shareholders that will likely be given during its shareholders meeting on August 1 in San Jose, submitted in advance to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in accordance with law, will make the case that the company's board of directors doubt Microsoft had any serious intention to fully acquire and merge with Yahoo.

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