Microsoft snubs the Intel Itanium

Microsoft snubs the Intel Itanium

INTEL'S Itanium processor will only be partly supported by Microsoft’s forthcoming Longhorn Server. Although Vole has stopped short of pulling the plug entirely on Itanium, it has said that Longhorn will only be able to work for a limited number of higher-end jobs. In a communiqué from the Lair of the Vole, Microsoft says that Longhorn will run three types of higher-end tasks on Itanium including databases, custom jobs and CRM. However it will not be able to do fax server, Windows Media Services, Windows SharePoint Services, file and print servers, and others. On the positive side, Microsoft does see a future for the chip, but that ‘big iron’ slot is not exactly what Chipzilla envisioned as Itanium's future

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Fast Wi-Fi standard set to splinter

Fast Wi-Fi standard set to splinter

Just when we thought the fast Wi-Fi standard was well underway, it looks like the big chip-makers are about to undermine an agreement in the IEEE. Intel, Broadcom, Atheros and Marvell have formed an alliance to work on a MAC for fast Wi-Fi, which will be presented to the IEEE in November, at the same time as the official IEEE 802.11n fast Wi-Fi task group is due to report, according to a story in EE Times. Intel and the rest have not explained the move in any detail, but are already being accused of trying to take over the IEEE process, even to the extent of allegedly violating anti-trust laws - by excluding other players such as Airgo, which makes the only widely adopted chips in the market which use MIMO technology intended to double Wi-Fi speeds.

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Beta of Firefox 1.5 due next week

Beta of Firefox 1.5 due next week

The first beta test version of the next major upgrade to the popular Firefox open-source browser will be available next week, the Mozilla Foundation announced on Tuesday. Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 will be available next Thursday, according to a posting in the section of the Mozilla Foundation's Web site devoted to developer news. A second beta version of Firefox 1.5 is currently slated for Oct. 5, according to the posting at http://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/.

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Defendant: Microsoft source code sale was a setup

Defendant: Microsoft source code sale was a setup

A 27-year-old Connecticut man facing felony economic espionage charges for allegedly selling a copy of Microsoft's leaked source code for $20 says he's being singled out only because the software giant and law enforcement officials can't find the people who stole the code in the first place.
"They're using me as an example, to show if you do something like this, they're going to [work] you over," said William Genovese, in a telephone interview Thursday. "Why go after me? Why not go after the guy who took the code? Why not go after the guy who released it on the net?"

In February, two 200 megabyte files containing incomplete portions of the source code for the Windows 2000 and Windows NT operating systems appeared on websites and peer-to-peer networks around the world. Evidence in the files pointed to Microsoft partner Mainsoft, a developer of Unix tools for Windows, as the original source, but...

Release Candidate Posted for Windows Server 2003 R2

Release Candidate Posted for Windows Server 2003 R2

Microsoft made the first Release Candidate for Windows Server 2003 R2 available for download Tuesday. Scheduled for general availability by the end of this year, R2 is an update release of Windows Server 2003 SP1 and is supposed to bring improvements for branch office server scenarios, identity and access management and storage management. The product also collects many of the feature packs that Microsoft released after Windows Server 2003 initially shipped.

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11 Percent of UK Confuse Star Wars adn Spyware

11 Percent of UK Confuse Star Wars and Spyware

'Admiral Akbar - he's the bloke in charge of the White House right?'

Some 11 per cent of the British population are convinced that spyware is "a gadget from Star Wars", according to research published on Thursday. The survey, carried out by NOP and commissioned by security company Blue Coat, appears to highlight a lack of concern in the UK market about spyware, with more than half of those surveyed unaware that spyware is software on a user's computer that tracks their behaviour and reports it back to a third party.

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UK seeks ban on violent Web porn

UK seeks ban on violent Web porn

Proposed new laws could make the UK the first western country to make viewing or downloading violent pornography on the Internet illegal, the British government said on Tuesday. Following the publication of a consultation paper, Home Office Minister Paul Goggins said the proposals would create a new criminal offence of possession of violent and abusive pornography. "This is material which is extremely offensive to the vast majority of people, and it should have no place in our society," Goggins told the UK's Press Association.

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Zotob author may be virus mastermind

Zotob author may be virus mastermind

The teenager arrested on suspicion of writing and distributing the Zotob Windows 2000 worm may have authored more than 20 other viruses, it has emerged. The claim was made by anti-virus company Sophos, which has analysed a number of viruses incorporating the Diabl0 "handle” or moniker used by the accused, 18-year-old Farid Essebar. Other viruses and worms suspected of being his handiwork include the Mydoom variant, Mydoom-BG, and the Zotob-related Mytob worm that the company says currently accounts for over half of all virus traffic reported to it in August.

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Windows smashed by unpatched critical Explorer hole

Windows smashed by unpatched critical Explorer hole

Fully patched Windows systems may be at risk from an unpatched, high-risk security hole affecting the latest version of Internet Explorer. The bug, reported by security researcher Tom Ferris on his website, security-protocols.com, affects Internet Explorer 6 on a fully-patched Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP with Service Pack 2. FrSIRT, the French Security Incident Response Team, confirmed the report and gave the flaw a "critical" rating, its most severe.

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EDIT: This might be a good place to mention the article I recently posted on two ways to disable IE. You can find it Here (clickable link).

Opera Turns 10, Gives Away Free Registrations

Opera Turns 10, Gives Away Free Registrations

Opera Software ASA is celebrating 10-year anniversary
of its browser. As a surprise party favor they're giving away free
registration codes (for as long as the party lasts). Also see photos
from the party, listen to music by employees, play games and more."

To join the party and get a free registration code, click Here. Better hurry. Party ends at midnight CET (GMT +1) on Wednesday 31st of August.