On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced Windows Workflow Foundation, a new way for developers to quickly build workflow-enabled applications on Windows Vista. The purpose of the technology is to support business processes and make programs adapt to the day-to-day needs of people who use them.

In an interview with BetaNews, Scott Woodgate, Microsoft's group product manager for the Connected Systems Division, tried to explain the announcement's significance more clearly.

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For years, Windows has been lambasted for what many see as an inferior user experience when compared to operating systems such as Apple's Mac OS X. But at this year's PDC, Microsoft hopes that its efforts to emphasize the user experience in Windows Vista will begin to allay those criticisms.

To help developers create better user experiences in Windows, Microsoft on Wednesday introduced the Expression family of products. The new brand includes "Acrylic," a graphics creation program for bitmap and vector graphics; "Sparkle," a 2-D and 3-D animation tool; and "Quartz" for creating advanced Web sites.

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Microsoft is reportedly in talks to take a large financial stake in America Online. At least two media outlets cited sources close to the two companies who confirmed that talks were occurring. However, it's not clear if the discussions extended beyond simple collaboration ideas.

The actual talk of an investment came within a bigger discussion on how the two companies could collaborate according to the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, which first reported the story.

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Several of the most popular peer-to-peer file sharing networks are being asked to take action against users who are participating in sharing copyrighted materials, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The Recording Industry Association of America sent cease and desist letters to the companies controlling programs such as LimeWire, WinMX and BearShare, asking them to remove RIAA member files from their services.

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Microsoft senior vice president Bob Muglia took the PDC 2005 stage Thursday morning to discuss the future of Windows Server. In addition to announcing Compute Cluster Edition Beta 1 and the first Longhorn Server CTP, Muglia introduced IIS 7.0 - complete with a modular architecture.

"We've learned from Apache," acknowledged Bill Staples, product unit manager for IIS. Version 7.0 takes the IIS feature set and breaks it down into individual components, or modules, that can be loaded on an as-needed basis. The result is a Web server with much less overhead.

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MSN is using its Virtual Earth client to provide 24-hour news channel MSNBC with a birds-eye views of the damage from Hurricane Katrina. Users can zoom down to street level to examine damage and flooding. The application will also let users compare views from before and after the storm.

The special feature, developed by Microsoft's Chandu Thota, marks the first time Virtual Earth has been used in a public setting, as the system is not scheduled for a public launch until the fall. MSN says that it is being done as both a public service and to assist government in assessing damage.

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Microsoft has solidified a launch date for the Xbox 360, announcing the system would hit store shelves on November 22 across North America, December 2 in Europe, and December 10 in Japan.

The company said that this would be the first time a game console would be launched in three territories within a similar time frame.

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Yahoo on Thursday unveiled a new beta feature on its Web search that checks to see if there is a single, relevant result to a query and pops up the answer in a "search bubble" using advanced AJAX scripting. For example, weather information or recent news headlines can be displayed instantly without submitting a search.

"Instant Search represents an experience that's different from what most of us expect from a search engine, so it takes a little getting used to. But once you start using it, it's hard to stop," says Instant Search product manager Stephen Hood. "For example, in the past I would typically hit Enter as soon as I finished typing in my search, but after using Instant Search I now find myself pausing to look for the 'bubble'."

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Microsoft issued to PDC 2005 attendees this week the first of its monthly CTP builds of Windows Vista, which includes a number of improvements over Beta 1. The version distributed to attendees does not include the new Windows Sidebar, but Microsoft did highlight the feature at PDC.

To take full advantage of Vista's new capabilities quite a bit of computing and graphics power is required. Click the image on the right to view Vista in its full glory.

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Although WinFS won't ship until after Windows Vista hits store shelves, the new file system is garnering the attention of PDC 2005 attendees who want to see the capabilities that a relational file system will bring. Microsoft on Wednesday showed off a few examples of WinFS in action.

WinFS isn't a new concept at Microsoft; the company has long made what it calls "integrated storage" a top priority. The new file system was first unveiled at PDC 2003, but many assumed the effort was dead once Microsoft announced WinFS would not be included in Vista.

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A Massachusetts teenager who was behind the hacking of Paris Hilton's T-Mobile Sidekick has been sentenced to 11 months in a juvenile prison. The 17 year-old hacked into T-Mobiles computer system in January and looked up information on customers, including Paris Hilton. At the time, T-Mobile promised a full investigation of the incident.

The hacking and subsequent display of the data on Hilton's cell phone revealed the numbers and e-mails of stars such as Rapper Eminem, actress Lindsay Lohan, Usher, Fred Durst, among others. As part of his sentence, the teen was banned from using any kind of electronic device capable of accessing the Internet for a period of two years.

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In some of the earliest builds of Longhorn, the Sidebar was the most visible change. While its eventual use within the operating system wasn't initially clear, its sudden disappearance in the build given to attendees of WinHEC surprised many Windows enthusiasts.

In a discussion Tuesday evening with BetaNews, Windows lead product manager Greg Sullivan said the Sidebar was never fully removed as a feature within the operating system. "You'll see things reappear and disappear," he explained.

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AOL on Wednesday unveiled a new podcasting section on its AOL.com portal, which highlights the best podcasts and a Podcasting 101 guide on how to get started with the emerging technology. Along with its hosted podcasts, AOL offers a search utility powered by iPodder.

Visitors will also receive access to streamed content from AOL properties including CNN, as well as third parties such as NASA, Grape Radio, Gamespot.com and others. AOL plans to introduce more in-house podcasts in the coming months from its AOL Music, Moviefone and RED services.

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Apple on Tuesday launched a new resource for those developing on the upcoming Intel platform. While the first Macs based on Intel processors are not due until 2006, the Cupertino company would like to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible.

Although most of the content on the Developer Transition Resource Center is freely available, some of it will only be available to registered users of the site. Topics, resources, tutorials and QuicktTme videos of Intel-related WWDC sessions are some of the content that will be made available.

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Yahoo on Tuesday began a limited beta test of a new Web mail system, which includes a redesigned interface that mirrors desktop-based clients like Microsoft Outlook. Drag and drop features are supported through DHTML, and a new search engine brings added support for attachments.

Yahoo said in June it was planning to launch a new version of Yahoo! Mail that would feature an instant preview pane. Many of the changes in the beta were taken from the company's acquisition of Oddpost last year. Users who dislike the new version will be given an option to switch back to the traditional interface.

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