Bowing to pressure from its critics and citing consumer feedback, Microsoft has decided not to include Smart Tags in the upcoming releases of Windows XP and IE6. Smart Tags use XML to turn certain keywords on any given Web site into links that provide additional information. Users would see a word with a purple dotted line underneath, and would be directed to sites hand picked by Microsoft – including its own offerings. The technology will be shelved for now, but may appear in later product releases. This decision does not affect a similar feature found in the recently released Office XP.

This week's refresh of the Internet Explorer 6.0 Public Preview included Smart Tags, but disabled the feature by default. Webmasters who objected to the added functionality on their pages were allowed to disable the links with a simple HTML tag. But this did not stop customers and Redmond competitors from crying foul, claiming Microsoft had an unfair advantage over where visitors were directed.

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Corel is now accepting applications for its upcoming KPT 7 beta test. KPT 7 is a plug-in suite for Adobe Photoshop, Corel PHOTO-PAINT and Bryce, "which lets digital artists apply a wide variety of transformations and special effects to their artwork." KPT 7 will add support for the upcoming Bryce 5, set to debut next month. To join the beta team and create spectacular images, visit Corel Beta News.

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TiVo has ushered in a new era of television, where convenience and entertainment meet head on. And now it may become even easier for busy professionals to schedule recordings and manage favorite shows on the run. A new project called "Tivo Web" has cropped up from the TiVo underground allowing remote manipulation of the device - all from the Web. Users can browse the entire channel guide, and schedule or delete recordings with a few clicks of the mouse.

Although Tivo Web simply manipulates information and images stored in the system database, it must be physically copied onto the TiVo, a task that can be quite daunting. Those willing to risk voiding their warranty will have no problem finding detailed instructions on hacking the unit.

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Microsoft today released to testers the final interim build before Windows XP is deemed Release Candidate 1. Build 2502 marks the seventh interim release since Beta 2 debuted in March. The much anticipated first release candidate will signify feature complete code, with only bug fixes and fine-tuning made thereafter. RC1 is expected to arrive sometime next week, slightly delayed from the original June 20 schedule.

It was previously reported that last week's 2494 would be the last interim release before RC1, but Microsoft beta coordinators clarified in an e-mail today that, "This build is NOT RC1. We expect to post RC1 for download within a week. If you have a slow connection to the net, you may wish to wait for RC1."

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Last week's Streaming Media West conference in Long Beach, California, was host to many exciting new technologies, including the upcoming music subscription service from MusicNet.

MusicNet was formed as a joint venture between RealNetworks, EMI, Bertelsmann, and AOL Time Warner, to offer legal downloads of music to subscribers. Real controls the largest stake at 40% according to company representatives, and Real CEO Rob Glaser holds the top spot at MusicNet as well.

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Envision a future of video on demand, music, and other copyrighted materials securely being downloaded from the Internet - without the threat of piracy. Impossible? RealNetworks doesn't think so, and plans to announce Wednesday at Streaming Media West a new digital copyright technology dubbed extensible media commerce language. XMCL will serve as a Web standard for copyright protection, and work in conjunction with future digital rights management software. The company is also expected to introduce the RealSystem Media Commerce Suite, the first of such software to utilize the XMCL specification.

Back by industry giants Bertelsmann, IBM, and Sony, RealNetworks intends to explore all avenues the technology can traverse. Real Chief Operating Officer Larry Jacobson, told the Associated Press Wednesday, "Eventually, RealNetworks hopes the technology will be go beyond computers to television and virtually any other type of digital media. The potential for these initiatives are just so enormous."

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It is becoming simpler for businesses to connect to one another over the Internet and to describe the services they offer, thanks to the Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) project. A second release of the specification was released today offering expanded search capabilities, methods to describe complex organizations, and improved internationalization. The UDDI serves as a cornerstone to Web services, allowing companies to quickly transact and swap information.

Industry giants such as IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun actively support the UDDI project. The specification is a key element of Microsoft's .NET strategy for Web-based services, and plays an integral role in the upcoming VisualStudio .NET development suite. A collaboration of over 280 companies drafted version 2 of the UDDI.

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A new edition of InstallShield is now entering beta, and developers may apply to test the new release. InstallShield version 7.0 "leverages both the power of InstallScript as well as Windows Installer features such as autorepair and advertising." The beta combines features from previous InstallShield products, including one-click installation, a script-based user interface, and enhanced automation. In preparation for the future, version 7.0 will provide support for Windows XP, .NET, and 64-bit applications.

The program will last approximately six weeks, and the news server, newsgroup name, user name and password will be provided via e-mail.

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Despite recent rumors to the contrary, Netscape has not left the browser business just yet. The first beta of Netscape version 6.1 arrived today, based on the latest Mozilla 0.9.1 milestone. Mozilla has come a long way in the year since Netscape 6.0 made its debut, with improvements in stability, interface, rendering, and perhaps most importantly - speed. Early reports have proven extremely favorable, but Netscape warns the preview "is intended for advanced end-users and testers to test and send feedback."

With version 6.1, Netscape aims to correct many of the issues from 6.0 that drew harsh criticism and only contributed to the browser's sinking market share. The preview features new search capabilities, improved bookmark management, new tabs for My Sidebar, added history management, a new download interface, support for "emoticons" in e-mail, instant messenger access throughout the program, and a drop-down auto-complete option.

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Slowly but surely, AMD has been working its way up the PC ladder and onto the motherboards of businesses and consumers alike. With new notebooks sporting AMD processors and distribution deals in place with leading desktop manufactrers, rival Intel's once veritable monopoly is now a past remembrance. AMD today stated goals to achieve a 30 percent global market share by the end of this year, in what the company's President and COO, Hector Ruiz, calls "modest revenue growth."

Set to give chip giant Intel a run for its money, AMD unveiled two new Athlon processors last week which not only offer inexpensive multi-processor configurations, but also virtually destory Intel's top-level Xeon in benchmark comparisons. AMD began the year with a 17 percent market share, and currently holds around 21 percent.

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While initially tolerant of hackers modifying its product, TiVo may have been unprepared for the power of open source. A new software utility has surfaced with the ability to extract digital video directly off the recording unit, raising numerous copyright concerns. With an added network card, TiVo users may now archive and view recorded television shows on a computer.

The software, dubbed ExtractStream, reads video data stored on the TiVo and copies it to a PC via network interface. Once extracted, the raw video can then be encoded into MPEG format and viewed or transported. Possible applications include archiving favorite shows, or viewing recordings on a laptop while away from home.

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In a bold move, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit in federal court to protect the First Amendment rights of Princeton University Professor Edward Felten and his team of scientists. Felten intended to publish academic findings detailing the successful circumvention of digital audio copyright technologies. A coalition of the RIAA, SDMI, and Verance, sought to prevent public disclosure of the research. The court will decide whether Felten's team may present details of the study at the USENIX Security Conference in August.

The EFF calls into question the constitutionality of a clause in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibiting the publication of methods to bypass security controls in digital media. In a letter to Professor Felten, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) threatened legal action if the results were made public. But the research community maintains that mathematics and code are not circumvention devices and thus do not violate any laws.

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Developers of applications for wireless devices have a powerful new tool at their disposal. Delivering on its promise to introduce Java-enabled mobile phones, Nokia has teamed up with Boland to establish a framework for wireless application development and announced the results of their efforts at the JavaOneSM Developer Conference today. JBuilder Mobile Set, Nokia edition, is a Java2 Micro Edition (J2ME) compliant technology that fully integrates into Borland's popular JBuilder 5 development environment. According to today's announcement, "JBuilder 5 and JBuilder MobileSet, Nokia Edition include visual design tools for creating mobile applications, device emulation and debugging."

With JBuilder5 and JBuilder Mobile set, Nokia and Borland seek to hasten the development of the wireless platform. Mark Driver of Gartner's Internet and e-business technologies states, "Mobile and wireless devices are quickly being embraced and leveraged within mainstream e-business efforts." Java has had trouble gaining acceptance in a desktop PC environment due to current speed limitations, as applications are run through a virtual machine. But the language may prove to be more beneficial to the wireless platform, taking advantage of Java's code reuse and small display capabilities.

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Microsoft's attempts to protect its intellectual property and enforce licensing agreements have drawn much controversy. After reviewing comments to the initial BetaNews interview with Allen Nieman, Product Manager of Activation at Microsoft, we have decided to clear up some lingering confusion. The issues of OEM licensing, possible abandonment of Microsoft software, product obsolescence, and Microsoft's unequal treatment of customers based on regional differences are discussed.

BetaNews: What happens to Windows XP users when the product is no longer supported, will the registration servers still exist?

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Microsoft launched Thursday their much anticipated Office XP suite in 15 countries throughout the world. Conventions to celebrate the event were held in cities across the United States, including New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Washington DC also showcased the XP debut, with BetaNews in attendance.

Lacking much press coverage, the day was kicked off by Senior Executive at Microsoft, Jeff Raikes, with an introduction to Office XP and outline of key features. Individual demonstrations followed, offering further insight into functionality added by this latest release.

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