UPDATE: This thread is now closed. After receiving hundreds of comments on older articles from people begging to be invited into the Windows Live Messenger beta test, we've listened to the demand and have 35 invitations to give to you, our readers. Want to be one of the selected few?

It's easy; all you need to do is leave a comment on this article with a short explanation of a feature you'd like to see added in Windows Vista (we will obtain your e-mail internally to avoid spam concerns). Over the weekend, we will select the most creative and interesting feature ideas, and send those users invitations to join Microsoft's newest Messenger beta.

Continue reading →

Web sites and Internet forums are abuzz with news that a new feature recently added in version 6.0.2 may be communicating information on the song you are listening to Apple, raising privacy concerns from some users.

A "Mini Store" pane has been added to the main iTunes window that provides more information on the song being played, as well as additional available tracks from the artist, and a list of other songs that users who own the track have bought.

Continue reading →

Microsoft is offering a new option for businesses looking to deploy multiple patches at once without using Windows Update or SUS: CD images. The company will issue a CD download once a month containing all security and high-priority non-security updates for Windows.

"This isn't intended for end users. It doesn't have any automated version detection or any comprehensive installation mechanism," explained Craig Gehre from the Microsoft Security Response Center. "Instead, it's really intended to make life easier for folks who download and manage multiple updates. For example, MS06-002 has 125 separate packages for all languages and versions."

Continue reading →

Despite being separated from Windows Vista, Monad is on track to be ready before Microsoft's next-generation operating system. Redmond developers on Tuesday delivered a feature complete beta 3 of Microsoft's command line shell, which includes support for a new snap-in model and cmdlets.

According to Microsoft, Monad "allows administrators to quickly write scripts, customize commands, and author their own shell tools." Monad is expected to play a big part in Exchange 12, as an administrator would be able to control and configure the server without having to use the graphical interface.

Continue reading →

Reaction to Steve Jobs' much-hyped keynote at Macworld 2006 was mixed, with some disappointed that rumors of an Intel-based iBook or Mac Mini didn't materialize. Others said the announcements should have been anticipated -- after all, Jobs has been promising faster PowerBooks for years. Here's a selection of what's being said around the Web.

"Well, the transition is happening. These are mostly evolutionary products, not revolutionary but they point the way to the future. Look for more coming the rest of the year as Apple drives the line forward...The iMac is a great transitional machine and the performance is excellent, making it a real first class choice as an iLife platform. The MacBook delivers to Apple's audience a mobile machine that's finally worthy of the platform."
-- Michael Garternberg, Jupiter Research

Continue reading →

With the announcement of the first Intel based Macs yesterday, many users have rejoiced in being able to dual-boot both Mac OS X and Windows. Unfortunately, this is not the case; due to Apple's use of the extensible firmware interface (EFI) rather than BIOS, current Windows releases will not run on the systems.

On Tuesday at Macworld, Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller said the company would not specifically block the use of Windows on Mac hardware. Instead, limitations in Windows itself will prevent its use on the new MacBook Pro laptop and iMac.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has embarked on a yet another campaign aimed at getting users of competing platforms to switch to the Windows operating system. Called NXT, the program targets those ISVs, or independent software vendors, with more than $5 million in revenue who are ready to make the switch.

NXT promotes the adoption of Microsoft's line of server products, such as Windows Server 2003, BizTalk and SQL Server, and the .NET Framework. Additionally, Microsoft would provide assistance in the transition to the new technologies.

Continue reading →

iPod, meet Levi Strauss. The 133-year-old denim brand announced Tuesday at Macworld in San Francisco that it would be the first to offer consumers "iPod compatible" jeans.

The RedWire DLX line, due out in fall 2006, will be compatible with iPod's plug and play technology. The jeans will also have a joystick in the watch pocket that would allow the wearer to control the audio player without taking it out.

Continue reading →

The first draft of the General Public License version 3 will be released on January 16 at a conference organized to help develop the standard. The First International Conference on GPLv3 will take place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Free Software Foundation said Wednesday.

The current version of the GPL is 15 years old, and does not address many of the issues that play a role in modern computing. Richard Stallman, founder of the FSF, first announced that it would be working towards a new version of the GPL in November.

Continue reading →

Ending a two-year battle over the FAT file system, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has reversed a non-final ruling from October and upheld Microsoft's patents on the technology. Despite the prior setbacks, Microsoft had remained steadfast that it would be victorious all along.

In June of 2004, the USPTO agreed to review the patent after questions arose surrounding its validity. A group known as the Public Patent Foundation disputed Microsoft's claims to FAT in April 2004, saying it had become ubiquitous as a format and found in many devices.

Continue reading →

Microsoft Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to the Mac platform, announcing an agreement with Apple to produce Office for Mac for a minimum of five years. The company also said it plans to make improvements to Entourage 2004 for Mac, as well as build converters to read Microsoft's Open XML format.

"The Mac platform has never been stronger, and we're pleased that Microsoft is committed to delivering great Mac products for many years to come," Apple's vice president of marketing Philip Schiller said in a statement.

Continue reading →

Augmenting its existing video search technology, AOL on Tuesday announced it has acquired Truveo, which indexes video on the Web using a method called "Visual Crawling." AOL says it was interested in the way Truveo discovers a wider range of new videos and related information from dynamic Web pages.

Truveo joins AOL's purchase of SingingFish and the launch of AOL Video Search last June. "Truveo is a hidden gem in the video marketplace, offering AOL members and users of AOL.com a vast, new array of tools and an extensive collection of updated, hard-to-find video assets," said AOL CEO Jonathan Miller. "The Truveo acquisition takes AOL even farther down the path of being the premier destination on the internet for video and search."

Continue reading →

Microsoft issued two more critical patches as part of its regular Patch Tuesday security update, including a fix for a vulnerability when viewing embedded Web fonts and a flaw in the decoding of TNEF messages. The company included its WMF fix with the monthly security updates, although a patch for the issue has been available since January 5.

The first patch fixes a problem in how Windows displays embedded Web fonts. The flaw could enable malformed fonts to be used as a way to execute code on a remote system. The vulnerability could be exploited through either a malicious Web site or specially crafted e-mail message, Microsoft said.

Continue reading →

FROM MACWORLD Steve Jobs is fond of saving the best for last, and Macworld 2006 was no exception. In true Jobsonian fashion, he announced "One more thing:" an Intel based replacement for the PowerBook called the MacBook Pro, initially available in a 15.4-inch configuration.

Jobs explained that Apple did everything possible to cram a G5 processor into a PowerBook, but failed as heat dissipation issues have plagued the G5 chips and prevented their use in laptop systems. The broken promises to consumers of a G5 notebook have been cited as one of the primary reasons for the Intel switch.

Continue reading →

FROM MACWORLD As widely rumored, Steve Jobs announced at Macworld Tuesday that Apple's switch to Intel processors will occur about six months earlier than previously announced. The first Macs to make the transition will be the iMac line, with the rest of the company's products moving to Intel by the end of the year.

Previously, Apple had only publicly committed to releasing Intel Macs by the middle of 2006, around the time the company holds its annual Worldwide Developer's Conference.

Continue reading →