In his Sunday evening keynote address at COMDEX Fall 2002, Microsoft Chief Software Architect Bill Gates announced a new addition to Microsoft Office dubbed "OneNote." Slated to enter beta testing early next year, OneNote captures notes within its tabbed interface for easy organization and access. Tablet PC users will be able to store handwritten notes and draw pictures and diagrams using the pen input device.

Auto-save and search capabilities will be included with OneNote. The tabbed interface will also enable management of multiple notebooks for categorizing different types of notes.

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Apple this week unveiled a new version of its WebObjects enterprise Java development tool, focusing on the recent push to Web services. WebObjects 5.2 includes built-in support for Web services standards including XML and SOAP, without requiring developers to write the low-level code for each.

Apple is aiming at interoperability with version 5.2 and says WebObjects applications developed with these standards will work with clients written in other languages such as Perl, or even Microsoft's .NET. Developers will also be able to deploy their applications on any J2EE server, even if the WebObjects backend is not installed.

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Upping the ante in its efforts to outclass rival Microsoft Exchange, Novell has begun beta testing GroupWise 6.5, the next release of its corporate e-mail, calendar and collaboration suite. Version 6.5, code-named "Hawthorn," introduces a more streamlined user interface, with a client that resembles Microsoft Outlook.

Corporate instant messaging has been added in 6.5, with improved security to protect conversations from outsiders. GroupWise Messenger does not appear in the current beta, however. The move by Novell follows AOL's recent announcement of Enterprise AIM, a secure IM service for businesses. Microsoft this week also announced a corporate IM solution dubbed MSN Messenger Connect.

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The first release candidate of DirectX 9.0 was made available for download Wednesday, an unexpected move that marks the first time Microsoft has opened a DirectX beta for public scrutiny. DirectX 9.0 RC0 follows the Beta 3 release that was issued to testers last month.

Version 9.0 improves security and performance, and includes many new features across all technologies that can be accessed by applications using the DirectX 9.0 APIs, according to Microsoft. The new release adds a high-level shader language -- based on C -- designed to simplify development.

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Roxio is looking for experienced users to beta test version 6 of its leading CD and DVD authoring software for Windows, Easy CD Creator. Applicants must be willing to evaluate beta builds on a weekly basis and provide feedback, as well as complete an overall functionality and usability survey.

Only users with a DVD/CD burner will be selected for the test. Because beta releases will be distributed in ISO format, testers must also have a high-speed Internet connection.

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With the holiday season taking hold, Apple has issued long awaited updates to both its PowerBook and iBook notebook lines. The G4-equipped PowerBooks now top off at 1GHz and come with a slot-loading SuperDrive - Apple's trademark CD and DVD burner that previously shipped only with G4 desktop systems.

Apple also boosted the speed of its high-end iBook to 800MHz and dropped the price of the 700MHz model to a more affordable $999 USD.

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With Beta 1 kits out the door to thousands of Office 11 testers who are eagerly hunting for bugs, Microsoft has begun preparations for a second beta phase that is set to begin in Spring 2003. Office 11 Beta 2 will be larger than the first beta, and Redmond is currently accepting nominations from those interested testing the next-generation Office suite.

"For Beta 2, the Office team is looking for customers to provide high quality, early feedback on the next version of Microsoft Office," reads a note on Microsoft's Beta Place Web site. "Now is your chance to nominate on the waiting list for what promises to be the most innovative release of Office to date!"

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Network Associates' McAfee Business Unit is currently beta testing new products for its expanding anti-virus arsenal. A new utility being tested dubbed CleanBoot enables NTFS partitions to be cleaned via bootable diskette or CD. The next release of VirusScan Enterprise has also entered beta, and will be offered through a new portal system McAfee is offering to businesses.

The first beta of CleanBoot 1.0 is only a set floppy disk images, but McAfee says Beta 2 will "feature a Manager program that allows the user to update the DAT files and lock the functionality." The company is looking for CleanBoot to be tested in a variety of different hardware combinations and is accepting applications for the beta.

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U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly today accepted Microsoft's proposed settlement with the Department of Justice that was put forth one year ago. In a decisive victory for the software giant, the judge largely rejected a demand by nine states and the District of Columbia for additional sanctions.

"The court is satisfied that the parties have reached a settlement which comports with the public interest," wrote Kollar-Kotelly.

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The beta version of a completely redesigned Windows Movie Maker 2 was released Friday, featuring 30 new video effects, sixty transitions and support for Windows Media Video 9.

"Using state of the art technology, Windows Movie Maker 2 redefines fast and easy home video creation with an intuitive task based interface that teaches you the process as you use it and a new feature called AutoMovie which automatically creates fully edited home movies in just minutes," a Microsoft spokesperson told BetaNews.

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Beta coordinators for Office 11 revealed late Monday that Microsoft's next generation Office suite will require Windows 2000 SP3 or Windows XP. Microsoft cited security and stability as reasons to cease supporting the Windows 9x kernel.

"We understand that this decision won't be popular among all of our customers, but it allows us to create a better and more stable product," read a message posted to the Office 11 beta newsgroup.

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In a surprise move, America Online on Monday took the first steps to enabling interoperability between its AOL client and ICQ in a refresh build of AOL 8.0 released to beta testers. Beta users can now add an ICQ number to their buddy lists, but messages cannot be exchanged until AOL releases a new version of ICQ, which will be available "in the near future."

BetaNews has learned that a beta build of AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 released last week sports similar functionality, but because the AIM server does not recognize the entries, ICQ users are automatically purged from the buddy list. Buddies with ICQ are listed with "-ICQ" appended to their number.

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The impression that instant messaging will soon overtake e-mail in frequency has been percolating inside the corridors of Redmond for some time, and according to the Exchange product roadmap, has taken hold. Microsoft is preparing "Greenwich," a server platform for real-time communication, to address the enterprise IM market.

Greenwich is based on the Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, which is found in Windows XP and currently serves as the basis for Windows Messenger and Passport's directory service.

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Utilizing virtual machine technology developed for its Virtual PC client product, Connectix has unveiled new server consolidation software that will soon enter beta testing. Dubbed Virtual Server, the product enables enterprises with large server clusters to reduce the amount of physical machines by running multiple virtual servers on each.

Connectix is seeking administrators who manage at least 25 Intel-based servers and hold an MCSE certification to test Virtual Server. Beta testers must be willing to run the Virtual Server 1.0 beta on an on-going basis and provide feedback to Connectix.

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Beta testers of Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 on Monday received invitations from Microsoft to join the Windows 2000 SP4 beta program. Nominations are being accepted through a registration survey on BetaPlace.

"Because you actively tested the Windows 2000 SP3 beta we would like to invite you to beta test the next Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4)," reads the e-mail invite.

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