With over 50 partners in tow, Microsoft on Thursday kicked off Windows XP in New York's Times Square. Alongside Regis Philbin, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and top industry CEOs, Bill Gates ushered in the biggest change to Windows in over six years. In his keynote address, the Microsoft Chairman highlighted improvements over XP's predecessors and said goodbye to DOS forever. "This is a version of Windows that will take the PC industry to new heights," Gates told the more than 1500 attendees.

Steve Ballmer commanded a similar event in London.

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In their ongoing quest to one up the other, AOL is preparing to debut its answer to Microsoft's .NET Alerts, aptly titled AOL Alerts. First announced as a "soon-to-be-launched" Web service for the release of AOL 7.0 last week, users of AOL Instant Messenger will also be able to receive notifications. AOL has begun beta testing Alerts and recent internal AIM builds viewed by BetaNews showcase the new feature.

AOL Alerts is a customizable notification service for news, sports, finance, and weather. After selecting which alerts to receive, notifications are sent directly to the instant messaging client via an "AIM Alert" window. For those who never want to be out of touch, the service will also "deliver alerts to your cell phone, handheld device, or even your pager."

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In order to promote its new processors and dispel what it calls the "Speed Trap," AMD has begun a tour across the country to give away thousands of Athlon XP motherboard bundles. Originally slated to visit six cities, AMD has expanded the original schedule to include an additional fifteen. The company hopes the promotion will reveal that Athlon processors are faster than Intel's Pentium 4, which touts higher clock speeds.

The premise is simple: arrive at the announced location by the time stated, stand in line to receive a raffle ticket, and hope your number will be one of 200 called. Specific locations and times are disclosed 24 hours before each event. Your chances to win are very reasonable, despite recent events being host to thousands of AMD enthusiasts.

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UPDATED Still two weeks before Windows XP makes its official debut in New York, Microsoft has begun to prepare updates to the feature rich operating system. Windows Messenger, XP's controversial built-in version of MSN Messenger, will receive the first of such enhancements to be made available for download on October 25. In addition to numerous design changes, Windows Messenger will now allow users to make PC-to-phone calls directly from within the client.

Currently partnered with Callserve, Dialpad, deltathree, Net2Phone, and TELUS, Microsoft aims to further expand service offerings through the company's Voice Services Program. These carriers will allow customers to track call times and account information via Windows Messenger, but remain independent.

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As previously reported by BetaNews, Sun is planning a revamped version of its open source office suite. Over 17,000 customers registered to download a beta of StarOffice 6.0. Key features include Asian language support, XML as the default file format, and various enhancements for performance and stability.

According to a press release, over 200,000 customers managed to download the software within its first week of availability. Commenting on the suite's sudden popularity, Mike Rogers, Sun's vice president and general manager Webtop Applications Group said, "The response to our StarOffice 6.0 early access program has been tremendous."

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September Eleventh, Two Thousand One. A day that will forever bring tears to our eyes and sadness to our hearts. A day that the sanctity of our great nation was destroyed in a single moment so incomprehensible that millions of Americans continue to search for an answer; an explanation. Scouring the television, Internet, and newspapers, we look for a shred of hope that morality will prevail.

As you probably noticed, BetaNews has sat mostly dormant this last week. In both New York and Washington DC, many friends, family, and even staff of BetaNews witnessed the terror unfolding in our own back yards. Our time and focus centered upon those we love and not our work, which at times like this seems almost inconsequential.

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UPDATED VIA Technologies today issued a statement declaring it will fight a lawsuit filed by Intel on Friday alleging the Taiwan chip designer infringed on five of the company's patents. VIA's new chipsets, P4X266 and P4M266, allow the usage of DDR DRAM with Pentium 4 processors, an ability that has Intel fuming. VIA claims Intel is scaring motherboard makers into refusing to use the new chipsets by threatening legal action.

In the statement, VIA wrote it "has made full preparations against unreasonable competitive measures," adding, "The company re-emphasizes its consistent stand of respecting intellectual property rights and will take necessary action to fully protect VIA's legal rights."

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Following a Federal Appeals Court ruling that upheld Microsoft's alleged violations of the Sherman Act, the Department of Justice has postured itself to enforce a structural remedy on Microsoft rather than settle the case behind closed doors. Today, in a surprise announcement, the government reversed course and informed Microsoft that a break-up of the company was out of the question. Instead, the Justice Department is focusing on providing quick and effective relief through conduct-related provisions intended to rein in the software giant.

Efforts to seek a rehearing regarding the alleged illegal bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows 95 and 98 will also be dropped, according to government officials.

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Further pushing the envelope for handheld computing, Microsoft will debut Pocket PC 2002 Thursday at the DEMOmobile Conference in San Diego. Code-named Merlin, the Pocket PC upgrade is aimed at business users, touting improved wireless networking and added support for virtual private networks. An updated Windows Media Player will provide for mobile entertainment, allowing users to watch video clips and listen to music stored on the device.

With the recent corporate push to mobile communication, Microsoft has made certain its OS steps up to the plate with added standards support. Pocket PC 2002 will enable the use of Bluetooth and 802.11b wireless networking. Users will also be now able to manipulate files on a device remotely via cabled or wireless connection.

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Microsoft is beginning to unveil plans surrounding Windows XP updates that will debut concurrently with the new operating system. Windows zealot, Paul Thurrott, is reporting that a new version of Windows Messenger -- adding Exchange Server 2000 compatibility -- and Movie Maker 1.2 with added Windows Media support will be available for download via Windows Update come October.

Bringing good news to multimedia enthusiasts, Thurrott also states the controversial MP3 and DVD add-ons to Windows XP will be less expensive than previously thought. The MP3 addition will run under $10 USD, with DVD playback costing between $10 and $15 USD from a variety of vendors. Both packs will be available for download from the Web.

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In its latest attempt to gain a foothold in the market for embedded systems and devices, Microsoft has released a second beta version of Windows XP Embedded to developers. Facing stiff competition ranging from relatively unknown niche businesses to Sun Microsystems and Linux backers, the software giant is actively seeking partners to ensure industry adoption of its offerings. Windows XP embedded offers a componentized version of the operating system that is built upon the Windows 2000 code base.

Enhancements include improved security and reliability, the latest multimedia capabilities Redmond has to offer, support for a broad range of networking protocols, tools for remote management, and the ability to hot swap hardware. Microsoft has also included rapid development tools to assist customers in deploying customized solutions that correspond with their specific needs.

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