These "current events" articles are more or less in date order, starting back in August 1998, up to the current time. Most time-relevant articles are at the end, unfortunately. I welcome a seminar that removes articles not very interesting, or no longer current; creates an index through hypertext; and brings to class some of the most important trends in Client/Server. A good thing to do would be to reverse the date order so that the newer articles appear at the top. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From gary@cs.depaul.edu Mon Aug 24 10:13:50 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 10:11:30 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, fullfac@lance.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM, Swiss mathematician to unveil hack-proof encryption system IBM, Swiss mathematician to unveil hack-proof encryption system By Kristi Essick InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:42 AM PT, Aug 24, 1998 A mathematician in IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory has devised a new public-key encryption technology for securing Internet communications and transactions that IBM claims is unbreakable. IBM plans to announce the technology, which was co-developed by another mathematician at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Monday at a conference called Crypto '98 in Santa Barbara, Calif. Dubbed the Cramer-Shoup cryptosystem after the two men who invented it -- Victor Shoup of IBM Research and Ronald Cramer of ETH -- the technology prevents so-called "active attacks" that hackers use to break into encrypted communications, IBM said in a statement. Though active attacks are very complicated to undertake (a hacker must send nearly a million messages written in a particular way to a system), last year a researcher at Bell Labs Technologies found that such an active attack could be used to decode information encrypted with the popular Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. That discovery caused an uproar this past June among software vendors who use the product, while SSL-creator RSA Data Security rushed to fix the problem. Most commercially available public-key encryption systems today use a set of complex mathematical problems that are thought to be unsolvable, according to IBM. However, hackers using so-called active attacks bypass the need to solve these problems by sending cleverly constructed messages to a server that force this server to respond in ways that leaks encrypted information. The Cramer-Shoup system eliminates the possibility of active attacks by adding an additional set of complicated mathematical calculations to ensure that the server leaks no information when responding to the bogus messages, IBM said. While IBM plans to use the Cramer-Shoup solution in upcoming versions of its Vault Registry software, it also plans to make the discovery available to the general public via the Internet. IBM's idea is to get everyone using the new technology in order to make Internet commerce more secure and widely accepted, the company said. "Businesses and consumers can have greater confidence in Internet transactions because we've effectively closed down the only way around a cyrptosystem's main line of defense," said Jeff Jaffe, general manager of IBM's security products division, in a statement. More information on the Cramer-Shoup cyrptosystem can be found at http://www.zurich.ibm.com/Technology/Security/publications/1998/CS.pdf. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at http://www.ibm.com. Kristi Essick is a correspondent in the Paris bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From gary@cs.depaul.edu Thu Sep 10 10:31:57 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 10:40:14 -0500 To: elliott@lance.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: some stuff U/WIN from AT&T: http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/uwin/ Cygnus (GNU for NT): http://www.cygnus.com/misc/gnu-win32/ Emacs NT: http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html Gary From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Oct 15 20:36:15 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 20:42:27 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 20:42:27 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM embraces Apache Web server Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM embraces Apache Web server By Jon Cornetto InfoWorld Electric Posted at 2:48 PM PT, Oct 15, 1998 As expected, Big Blue is giving the Apache HTTP Server a boost into the big leagues, porting the open-source engine to IBM's AS/400's midrange operating system, and beefing up the security and performance of Apache for use with IBM's WebSphere Application Server. IBM will deliver a beta of the AS/400 port in November and also will offer it for free through the Apache Project, keeping true to the product's open-source roots, the company announced Wednesday at ApacheCon, in San Francisco. AS/400, which has a giant installed base, has been "Web-server-challenged" in the past, according to analysts. Nigel Beck, program director of market management at IBM, said this announcement offers AS/400 users an alternative to Netscape's application server. The company also announced enhancements to the Apache-based HTTP services in its WebSphere line, including 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption for financial transactions and other sensitive data. As for speed, IBM will be adding a new internally developed caching technology that the company claims doubles the speed of HTTP services in WebSphere on Microsoft Windows NT. The Fast Response Cache Accelerator (FRCA) will run in Apache's kernel, making it faster and more reliable, Beck said. Both technologies will ship with the next version of Websphere Application Server due by year's end, Beck said. FRCA also will be included in the HTTP Server for OS/390 Version 2 Release 7, expected in March. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., is at www.ibm.com. The Apache Project is at www.apache.org. Jon Cornettois a contributing reporter at InfoWorld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Oct 19 10:37:19 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:43:30 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:43:30 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft has no plans to bring COM+ to platforms other than NT 5.0 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft has no plans to bring COM+ to platforms other than NT 5.0 By Dana Gardner, Bob Trott, and Cara Cunningham InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:32 AM PT, Oct 17, 1998 Despite the many interoperability options coming out of Redmond in recent months, Microsoft product plans are proving that its favorite interoperability is that between Windows NT Servers. Microsoft officials said they have no plans to port COM+, the next version of its Component Object Model (COM), to Unix. That means the much-touted COM+ system services, key to NT 5.0, will not be available on other platforms. "We have no plans for COM+ on Unix at this time," Joe Maloney, platform marketing group manager at Microsoft, said last week at the Professional Developers Conference, in Denver. "We haven't ported Microsoft Transaction Server [MTS] to Unix [and MTS is part of COM+]. The interoperability is there with COM." The results are multiple Microsoft bridging strategies that fall short of the pure interoperability that has been promised by rivals. "That leaves them with a positioning where interoperability is primarily through bridges," said Phil Costa, an analyst at the Giga Information Group, in Cambridge, Mass. "It would be hard to say they are an interoperability vendor. I would say that stretches 'interoperability.'" Robert De Cardenas, a systems network coordinator who runs an NT-Novell-Unix shop at the Florida State Supreme Court in Tallahassee, said his interoperability comes from his Novell software. "They are probably only skin deep as far as interoperability goes," De Cardenas said of Microsoft. "But even though our interop is not as full and rich as I would like it to be, I guess I'm glad it's there on some level to begin with." Microsoft's argument is that the alternatives -- CORBA and Enterprise JavaBeans -- make up a splintered camp that is unable to offer the universality of Windows, Maloney said. Officials at Iona Technologies, a leading maker of COM-CORBA bridges, stated that Microsoft's middleware integration services are primarily designed to integrate within the Windows and COM sphere of influence. "[Microsoft doesn't] have any plans to port their stuff, it's still proprietary. They will not make the services available on other platforms. So that's where CORBA comes in, and that's why we are trying to make our services interoperate with theirs," said Lean Doody, product manager for Iona's OrbixComet, a COM-CORBA bridge. Iona plans to update OrbixComet within a few months of the release of NT 5.0, sometime in 1999, so that it will support COM+ and MTS. Both COM and COM+ should bridge seamlessly because they are both based on the Distributed COM wire protocol, Doody said. Microsoft's interoperability arsenal comprises an expensive effort to port COM to Sun Solaris; third-party COM-CORBA bridges; Extensible Markup Language support in NT 5.0; OLE DB and ODBC; and Microsoft Services for Unix, due out this month. "Microsoft supplies only as much interoperability as they need to keep NT a viable solution," said Anne Thomas, an analyst at the Patricia Seybold Group, in Boston. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Iona Technologies Inc., in Dublin, Ireland, can be reached at www.iona.com. Dana Gardner and Cara Cunningham are InfoWorld editors at large. Bob Trott is a Seattle-based senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Oct 19 10:41:38 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:47:52 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:47:52 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Communicator 4.5 to ship Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Communicator 4.5 to ship By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 18, 1998, 9:00 p.m. PT In the wake of studies showing its browser market share both declining and advancing in key areas, Netscape Communications this week will release the shipping version of Communicator 4.5, its Internet software suite. [It seems to already be available for download on their website. --Gary] Version 4.5's features are no surprise to Communicator users. In addition to two public betas of Version 4.5, Communicator users have also had the opportunity to sample new search and navigation features, which Netscape categorized under the term "smart browsing." These were included in the 4.06 and 4.07 releases. The other key changes in Version 4.5 are geared at users who access the Internet from different computers, for example corporate users who also use the Net from home. Also included in the final 4.5 release are fixes for privacy holes that revealed users' browsing history, cache, and other private information. 4.07 was released to fix the bug, but another bug soon surfaced. Version 4.5 will plug both those holes, according to Communicator senior product manager Micki Seibel. With smart browsing, the user can type search keywords into the address bar of the browser. Those keyword searches resolve to directory or search results pages on Netscape's Netcenter portal site. This feature has caused some controversy among Web site owners whose addresses were generic names, like "scripting.com," since previous versions of the browser would resolve single word queries to their .com, .org, or .net equivalents, according to users' preferences. Netscape has pointed out that users can disable the keyword function in Navigator 4.06 and higher under the "Preferences" menu. Another smart browsing feature, provided in conjunction with Alexa Internet, offers a list of related sites wherever the user surfs. Netscape has refined both the keyword and the "What's Related" databases during the beta period, partially with the aid of user feedback, according to Seibel. Some users have found that "What's Related" can produce unlikely recommendations. The third component of smart browsing is support for Web ratings used to block certain sites for child, student, library, or corporate users. The roaming features have largely to do with Communicator's Messenger email component, and the Collabra newsgroup component that has been folded into Messenger. Messenger now supports the IMAP messaging protocol, which provides faster performance, allows users to download attachments on demand, and lets users work with email offline and synchronize changes between the client and the server the next time they log on. Support for the LDAP protocol means users can have fuller access to LDAP-based address books and directories. While Communicator has offered autocomplete for email addresses since Version 4.0, Version 4.5 will autocomplete against any LDAP-based directory, such as those maintained by 411.com and WhoWhere. LDAP support will also let users change their address book offline and have it sychronized with the server when they log on again. Support for another Internet standard, the Message Disposition Notification protocol, will let users obtain confirmation that messages they send have been received and opened. A number of proprietary and mutually incompatible notification systems exist already, Seibel said, and MDN is backward-compatible with them. Messenger's interface has been redone. A three-pane design offers folders, message headers, and the message body at once. Email searching and filtering have been expanded so users can search or filter on multiple criteria, such as "sender" and "subject." Communicator 4.5 bundles Macromedia's Flash animation player, Real's G2 streaming multimedia player, and Headspace's Beatnik sound effects software. Seibel said Version 4.5's beta period was the most productive yet for the company's browser team. "We introduced a quality feedback system," Seibel said. "If the product crashed, a window would pop up asking the user to file an incident report telling us what functions were being used, what operating system they were on, etcetera. It not only increased the amount of information we got, and the quality of that information, but the speed with which we were able to address problems." As a result of the new beta process, Netscape implemented more than 4,000 customer suggestions, Seibel said, including bug fixes, performance enhancements, and feature requests. Netscape has been fielding feature requests of a different sort in another part of its Internet software business, the Mozilla.org operation. Early this year, Netscape began the process of revealing Communicator's source code for the worldwide community of independent developers to work with. While Mozilla.org has been managing the open source development effort, Netscape has been picking and choosing from developer contributions for its own branded product that will be Communicator 5.0. A beta version of Version 5.0, expected by year's end, is on track, Seibel said. All these efforts come as Netscape reduces its reliance on the browser business to focus on its portal site and its enterprise software. Netscape, once dominant in the browser market, has watched its market share steadily erode to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. Recent studies have showed that while Navigator is strong in the important corporate market, it has slipped overall. One from Zona Research showed Navigator maintaining a 20-percentage point lead over IE in the office. A study from International Data Corporation, showed Navigator's marketshare slipping overall, but maintaining its lead in the medium- and large-sized business market. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Oct 19 11:09:39 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:48:52 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:48:52 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Lucent to use Novell software Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Lucent to use Novell software By Erich Luening Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 19, 1998, 7:05 a.m. PT update Lucent Technologies today will announce that it has agreed to use Novell's directory software in hardware that helps to manage voice and data traffic in corporate networks, a company spokesman said. This would be a boost for Novell in its fight with Microsoft, according to observers. Microsoft is pushing its own directory services software, called Active Directory, expected to be part of the forthcoming Windows NT 5.0. Lucent said it plans to integrate Novell's directory services (NDS) into its corporate networking switch Cajun P550, which will be available the first half of next year. Lucent and Novell also agreed to collaborate in seeking industry-wide technical standards for building networks using products from different companies, the spokesman said. Directory software is growing in importance as the Internet accelerates the use of electronic commerce. Integrating NDS into the Cajun P550 switch is just the first step in implementing the Novell technology throughout the Lucent portfolio, the spokesman said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Oct 19 11:43:31 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 11:49:39 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 11:49:39 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel buys Shiva for $185 million, invests in Relativity Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel buys Shiva for $185 million, invests in Relativity By Rebecca Sykes InfoWorld Electric Posted at 8:51 AM PT, Oct 19, 1998 Intel announced Monday it will buy Shiva, a maker of remote access and virtual private network products for small and medium-size businesses, for approximately $185 million. Separately, Intel is also taking a stake in software maker Relativity Technologies. Under the terms of the Intel-Shiva definitive merger agreement, each share of Shiva stock will be converted into the right to receive $6 per share in cash, except for shares held by stockholders who exercise statutory appraisal rights, according to a statement from Intel. Shiva will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel and will be part of Intel's network products division, the statement said. Intel does not plan any immediate changes to Shiva's product line, though eventually it will be integrated into Intel's own networking product line, the statement said. Approval by Shiva stockholders and regulators has not yet been secured, according to Intel. Separately, Relativity Monday announced that Intel has made an investment in the company of an undisclosed amount. Relativity makes applications, including RescueWare, that are designed to automate the migration of legacy computer applications to Internet and client/server architectures. As part of the investment, the two companies will jointly market Relativity's software, according to a statement from Relativity. Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at (408) 987-8080 or www.intel.com. Shiva Corp., based in Bedford, Mass., can be reached at (781) 687-1000 or www.shiva.com. Relativity Technologies Inc. can be reached in Cary, N.C., at (919) 678-1500 or www.relativity.com. Rebecca Sykes is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Oct 20 16:15:09 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 15:50:19 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 15:50:19 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, chonghua@lance.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Symantec readies upgrade to popular Visual Cafe 3.0 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Symantec readies upgrade to popular Visual Cafe 3.0 By Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 12:33 PM PT, Oct 20, 1998 Symantec next week will announce Version 3.0 of its popular Java development tools, Visual Cafe Database Edition, Visual Cafe Professional Edition, and Visual Cafe Standard Edition. Available now in beta form, with shipping to begin in mid-November, the latest Visual Cafe Java tools allow developers to plug in any version of the Java Development Kit (JDK) features from Sun Microsystems, from 1.1 through 1.2, which is due in late November, said Symantec representatives, in Cupertino, Calif. Separately, Symantec is slated to deliver its comprehensive Enterprise Suite of Java tools by year's end. Visual Cafe 3.0, which ships with JDK 1.17, is aimed at broadening server-side Java development by offering server-side debugging and remote server debugging, as well as projecting the visible connection between components for drag-and-drop interactions. Visual Cafe 3.0 also supports the new JFC/Swing classes. By complying to the JFC/Swing data model, JFC/Swing components are data-aware, eliminating the need for "dbaware" components, Symantec representatives said. The latest tools also build model, border, and icon beans, and provide WYSIWYG support for Java Foundation Classes (JFCs) in the tools' form designer. Full support for JtabbedPane is also offered, as is support for any standard Java Database Connectivity driver for broad database connectivity, Symantec said. Moreover, the updated Java tools also include an upgraded JIT compiler from Symantec, Version 3.1, which promotes faster start-up time for applications, representatives said. All available for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT, Visual Cafe Database Edition will sell for $800, Visual Cafe Professional Edition for $300, and Visual Cafe Standard Edition for $100. Symantec Corp. can be reached at (800) 441-7234 or www.symantec.com. Dana Gardner is an editor at large at InfoWorld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Oct 21 11:01:19 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 11:07:10 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 11:07:10 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Larry Wall Wins Free Software Foundation Award Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Larry Wall Wins Free Software Foundation Award Sebastopol, CA--Larry Wall, the creator of several popular free software programs, has won the first Free Software Foundation Award for the Advancement of Free Software. Wall was honored for "his many contributions to the advancement of freely distributed software," according to the Free Software Foundation. The award was granted on October 9 in at Masschusetts Institute of Technology. Wall's most well-known product is Perl, a powerful scripting language used by system administrators and web developers for sophisticated text manipulation, system management and active Web pages. There are about one million Perl programmers worldwide, with a core of more than 450 on the Perl porters mailing list, who are most active in its development and maintenance. Wall, Senior Software Developer at O'Reilly & Associates, also won the award for creating rn, a widely-used news reader; patch, a development and distribution tool; metaconfig, which writes Configure scripts; and the Warp space-war game. In granting the award, the Free Software Foundation said, "Larry Wall has always promoted keeping his implementations free for all to study, enhance, and build on, without restrictions, and the freedom for all to benefit in whatever ways they can from his products." They called Perl "a tool that takes the UNIX ideas of flexibility and portability further than almost any program before it." Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO, O'Reilly & Associates, stated: Larry's influence on modern computing goes well beyond Perl. The Internet, and in fact much of the innovation that is driving the current boom in Silicon Valley and Redmond, largely grew out of an academic and research community in which the sharing of source code, and the ability to build on the work of your peers, was taken for granted. Larry's patch program allowed people to share modifications to existing programs and to merge divergent source trees, encouraging a style of distributed software development that has proven to be the most powerful methodology available. Similarly, Larry's idiosyncratic Perl language turned out to be a key enabler for the explosion of active content on the World Wide Web. While industry hype focussed on Java and ActiveX, Perl quietly stole the market, becoming a key component of the next generation "information applications" at Yahoo, Amazon.com, and tens of thousands of other leading sites. Wall has won other honors, including the Dr. Dobb's 1996 Excellence in Programming Award, and the SAGE (System Administrators Guild) 1994 Outstanding Achievement Award. Perl won the WebTechniques/WebReview 1997 Editor's Choice Award for Scripting Language. Wall has received wide coverage in the press, including in Salon and Dr. Dobb's Journal. The Free Software Foundation awards committee members are Peter Salus (Chairman), Scott Christley, Rich Morin, Adam Richter, Richard Stallman, and Vernor Vinge. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Oct 22 09:01:38 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 09:07:04 -0500 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 09:07:04 -0500 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun to bundle NetDynamics app server with Solaris Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun to bundle NetDynamics app server with Solaris By Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:07 PM PT, Oct 21, 1998 Borrowing a few ideas from Netscape Communications and Microsoft, Sun Microsystems laid out a strategy Wednesday that emphasizes the concept of building enterprise Web portals aided by tightening integration between its new NetDynamics application server with its flagship server operating system, Solaris. Like Microsoft, which sees little distinction between its Windows NT Server operating system and the services that amount to an application server, Sun -- beginning immediately -- will offer add-on bundle deals that put its recently acquired NetDymanics Server on Solaris -- and at a 20 percent discount. Unlike Microsoft, however, Sun will price its popular Unix operating system separately from its application server "forever," said Alan Baratz, president of Sun's Java Software division in a conference call to journalists and analysts Wednesday. "Sun will ensure that Solaris is competitive, with the functions needed to be successful, and application server capability is a part of that," Baratz said. With the news of the bundles, Sun appears to be walking a tricky line between emulating Microsoft's direct OS-to-app server integration but also being mindful that many other application server vendors have ported their competing server wares to the Solaris platform. Sun is also the license owner and driving force behind the Java and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) efforts, which many application server vendors -- including Oracle, IBM, Netscape, and BEA -- subscribe to and support. Sun is seeking to maintain a "church/state" separation between Java development and other Sun product development by keeping them as separate divisions within the overall corporation. As an offering of its cross-platform intentions, Sun emphasized that the NetDynamics server -- which will emerge in a major upgrade version early next year with EJB 1.0 support -- also runs on Windows NT, HP-UX, IBM AIX, and SGI Irix, according to Zack Rinat, vice president of NetDynamics at Java Software. The server will be optimized for all those platforms -- including Solaris, Rinat said, adding that variants of Unix tend to scale higher than Windows NT. To better compete with IBM CICS and BEA's Tuxedo, Sun also announced Wednesday that it will license Inprise's VisiBroker Integrated Transaction Service, an object-oriented transaction processing monitor. Already, NetDynamics includes Inprise's VisiBroker object request broker. In the future, NetDynamics plans to integrate the object transaction monitor capabilities into its offerings, the company said. Lastly, in banter reminiscent of Netscape's portal-as-enterprise-services-hub marketing, Baratz laid out a portal vision that uses Sun's family of products to help companies create a federation of Web sites. Such sites would be centrally and seamlessly linked so that its employees and partners could quickly and easily get to the applications and information they need -- regardless of where they are and regardless of where the information originates or resides. "Portals are becoming the core of the enterprise computing environment. That's what it's all about," Baratz said. "At Sun, we are building an employee portal, so that with a browser I can access a site that gives me e-mail, calendaring, news of the day, access to Web-based content on products, and pricing -- but all browser-based on the front end and linking into an installed base." "It's a portal for Sun Microsystems. And I can access it from my PC at home, at an airport kiosk, a customer site -- anywhere there's the Internet," Baratz said. Consequently, Sun is assembling an integrated core family of products -- including sundry Java IDE tools, NetDynamics Studio, Java Web Server, Java Embedded Server, Sun Messaging Server, Solaris, and NetDynamics -- to allow enterprises to build their own portals. Calling it "the most complete software in the enterprise," Sun is positioning "NetDynamics as the power behind the portal, and the portal is emerging as the new enterprise software model," Baratz said. "NetDynamics is the overarching brand for all these products, and the focus is on the vision of Internet-based computing," Rinat said. "Java is an enabling technology and NetDynamics will be the platform for integrating." Sun Microsystems Inc., in Mountain View, Calif., is at www.sun.com. Dana Gardner is an editor at large at InfoWorld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Nov 9 13:40:16 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 13:43:43 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 13:43:43 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: HP Java split widens Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to HP Java split widens By Charles Babcock, Inter@ctive Week Online November 9, 1998 10:44 AM PT Hewlett-Packard Co. said last week its split with Sun Microsystems Inc. over embedded Java was irreparable and it was launching its embedded Java clone, Chai, as a brand with other vendors, including Microsoft Corp. Also last week, HP helped to form a breakaway group of 13 vendors seeking to establish specifications for Java in real-time, embedded systems. HP General Manager of Embedded Software Jim Bell said the Real-time Java Working Group will establish its own standards process and select a standards body to supervise its effort. At the end of the week, the group was leaning toward the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering or The Open Group, representatives said. The moves were seen as the most serious blow yet to Sun's efforts to control all aspects of the Java development platform. "HP, in essence, is staging a call to arms for an open, vendor-neutral Java standard," said Ron Rappaport, an industry analyst at Zona Research Inc. HP's Bell said HP's breach with Sun concerned only embedded-system Java, in which HP has a huge business stake. HP's server-side business remained "an enthusiastic Java licensee," he said. The members of the Real-time Java Working Group include Access Co. Ltd., Aonix, AverStar Inc., Cyberonix, Enea OSE Systems AB, Lynx Real-Time Systems Inc., Microsoft, Omron Corp., Siemens AG, TeleMedia Devices Inc., SOMA MarketNet for NewMonics and Yokogawa Electric Corp. Members of the group did not see themselves as fostering a split with Sun. Writing extensions to Java that could be used for real-time, embedded systems has been "a hole that needed to be filled," and real-time software makers and operating systems vendors want to do the work, said Ron Kole, vice president at AverStar Inc., a real-time tools vendor. But Rappaport was not sure the dispute could be tidied up so neatly. "Once you let the animal loose, it's hard to restrict it for your intended purpose," he said. Unless HP puts strict conditions on its licenses, its licensees could use the Chai virtual machine on servers as well as in embedded devices, Rappaport said. HP is making a Chai Developer Kit, sample applets that it has dubbed Chailets and the ChaiServer available for free download from its Web site at www.chai.hp.com. The ChaiServer would control the running and distribution of Chai applications on a server for embedded devices. Despite HP's moves, Sun President of Consumer and Embedded Systems Mark Tolliver said the breach with HP may yet be healed. He said Sun was modifying its process for extending its Embedded Java to allow nonlicensees, such as HP, to participate. "It's now open to anyone who can send a technically qualified representative," Tolliver said. Sun has indicated over the past three months on its Web site that it would lift the licensees-only restriction. It plans to post an explanation of the new process by mid-November. But HP has persistently criticized Sun for keeping the Java standard-setting process under its control. By posting its Chai code to a royalty-free Web site and "taking actions that it believes a proponent of open standards must take, it was primed for the next move that may well extend beyond the embedded systems market," Rappaport said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Nov 11 09:05:00 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 09:09:06 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 09:09:06 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Netscape unveils next-generation client technology Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Netscape unveils next-generation client technology By Emily Fitzloff InfoWorld Electric Posted at 2:20 PM PT, Nov 10, 1998 Netscape on Tuesday took the wraps off of its next-generation technology -- code-named NGT -- designed to facilitate the development of smaller, faster, and more modular applications for multiple computing platforms and devices. NGT will be the foundation for any and all Netscape client products after Communicator 4.5, according to the company. At the core of NGT is a browser layout engine that interprets data from Internet sites and displays the content on a user's screen much quicker than current browser products, according to Chris Saito, director of client product marketing at Netscape. According to Saito, NGT will have four major benefits for users: extensive support for standards including HTML 4.0, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS1 and CSS2), Document Object Model (DOM), Resource Description Framework (RDF), and Extensible Markup Language (XML); modularity and a small footprint for easy download and install in multiple environments including handheld devices; table layout speed four to five times faster than that of Communicator 4.5 and competitive products; and open-source code that was developed in conjunction with Mozilla.org. One analyst said NGT is important in keeping Netscape in the browser game with Microsoft. In addition to the broad standards support, the open source angle is also a strong competitive point, according to Michael Goulde, an analyst at the Patricia Seybold Group, in Boston. "Can open source produce better/faster/more functional code than Microsoft programmers? This will be an important test," Goulde said. NGT will also enable users to build platform-independent application user interfaces using Web standards. Netscape plans to release more specific details regarding product plans for NGT before the end of the year. Developers can access source code for NGT technologies and contribute to its direction, development, and testing via the Mozilla.org Web site. Netscape Communications Corp., in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at www.netscape.com. Emily Fitzloff is an InfoWorld senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Nov 11 09:07:30 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 09:11:25 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 09:11:25 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft delivers NT-Unix connectivity package Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft delivers NT-Unix connectivity package By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 11:25 AM PT, Nov 10, 1998 Microsoft moved closer to fulfilling its interoperability promise on Tuesday with the announcement of an add-on pack, Windows NT Services for Unix, the software giant's solution for integrating NT Server and Workstation with existing Unix environments. According to Microsoft, the software kit, which will cost $149 when it is released in four to six weeks, will focus on four areas. Resource sharing will allow NT Workstation users to reach into Unix systems to get files and Unix workstation users to access NT Server files. Remote administration will let users remotely log on to and work on NT- and Unix-based systems. Password synchronization will enable users to keep a common password for their NT and Unix machines, and make password changes on NT that will be automatically synchronized on their Unix systems. Common scripting across platforms will enable users to execute Unix commands and utilities in NT environments. To build the software, which was first announced in May, Microsoft called on two key partners for help, Intergraph and Mortice Kern Systems (MKS). Intergraph provided Network File System (NFS) client/server software for the add-on pack's resource-sharing functionality. From MKS, Microsoft licensed 25 Unix scripting commands, including KornShell, for the add-on pack. MKS also updated its Unix interoperability toolkit with the MKS Toolkit Update Edition, to focus on the NT Services for Unix Add-On Pack. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Intergraph Corp., in Huntsville, Ala., can be reached at www.intergraph.com. Mortice Kernel Systems Inc., in Waterloo, Ontario, can be reached at www.mks.com. Bob Trott is a senior editor at InfoWorld, based in Seattle. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Nov 17 20:53:34 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 20:56:10 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 20:56:10 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu, chonghua@lance.cs.depaul.edu, David Weinstein , web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Judge Rules Against Microsoft In Java Lawsuit Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Judge Rules Against Microsoft In Java Lawsuit (11/17/98, 8:35 p.m. ET) By Reuters In a stinging defeat for Microsoft, a federal judge Tuesday backed technology claims by Sun Microsystems and gave the software company 90 days to modify the Windows 98 operating system or pull it from the market. U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte said Sun was "likely to prevail on the merits" of its lawsuit over the Java programming language and issued a preliminary injunction that would bar Microsoft from selling products that use the technology. Whyte's order bars the sale of any Microsoft products that use Java -- including Windows 98 and the Internet Explorer 4.0 browser -- beginning in 90 days unless Microsoft modifies the software to comply with Sun compatibility tests. The order does not affect software that already has been shipped. For Sun, one of Microsoft's fiercest rivals, the ruling was a sweet victory in the battle over control of Java, an increasingly popular platform for software developers that once was seen as a threat to the hegemony of Windows on the computer desktop. While the highly technical lawsuit has taken a back seat to the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft unfolding in Washington, D.C., the ruling could reinvigorate Sun's efforts to promote Java for developers to write software that runs on a variety of systems and not just Windows. And government lawyers, who have called a Sun vice president to testify in the antitrust case, contend Microsoft's efforts to undermine Java are part of a pattern of anti-competitive behavior. Alan Baratz, president of Sun's Java Software unit, said the company would continue to deliver products "that give developers and users the choice to replace Microsoft's polluted technology with Sun's compatible Java technology." Sun sued Microsoft in 1997 charging that the Redmond, Wash.-based software company violated its 1996 agreement to license Java by introducing variants in its own software and developer tools that failed to meet Sun's compatibility tests. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- "We believe Sun's legal strategy is shortsighted and is trying to deny customers and developers the choice of the best Java implementation in the marketplace." -- Jim Cullinan Microsoft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Sun contended Microsoft was intentionally trying to undermine Java's vaunted "write once, run anywhere" promise by establishing conflicting versions of the language and forcing developers to make a choice. In a cry that echoed its defense against antitrust charges, Microsoft contended Sun was trying to prevent "innovation" and said even Sun's own implementation of the technology failed to meet compatibility requirements. Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said the company was disappointed by the ruling but would "take the necessary steps to comply." "We believe Sun's legal strategy is shortsighted and is trying to deny customers and developers the choice of the best Java implementation in the marketplace," Cullinan said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Nov 18 09:29:18 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 09:31:55 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 09:31:55 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft may follow own path on Java Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft may follow own path on Java By Michael Moeller, PC Week Online November 17, 1998 7:17 PM PT In the wake of Tuesday's ruling forcing Microsoft Corp. to ship Sun Microsystem Inc.'s version of Java in Windows 98, Internet Explorer and its development tools, the big question now is what happens next. The preliminary injunction, a major blow to Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT), states that Microsoft has 90 days to change any product that ships with Java technologies so that it will conform with and pass Sun's Java compatibility test suite. Currently, the Microsoft products affected include Internet Explorer 4.0, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and the Java development tool Visual J++ 6.0. Just how Microsoft will do that is anyone's guess, at this point. Will MS abandon Java? Paul Maritz, group vice president and general manager of the applications and tools group at Microsoft, did not dismiss two far-reaching possibilities: Cancel all support for Java in its products, or replace the Java virtual machine it licensed from Sun with a clean room version created by Microsoft. "That is a possibility, but I would not want to comment further on that at this point," Maritz said during a conference call Tuesday evening, when asked if Microsoft might create its own version of Java. Microsoft has already taken steps that indicate it may not support Java going forward. In the beta of Internet Explorer 5.0, released earlier this month, Microsoft made the Java virtual machine an optional download for users. Maritz added that Microsoft has no contractual obligations to support Java, saying that these were fulfilled when it shipped IE 3.02. Sun says contract is five years However, Sun's General Counsel and Vice President Michael Morris said that Microsoft's commitment contractually to Java runs for five years. The contract was signed in the spring of 1996. Morris and Alan Baratz, Java software division president, seemed to indicate that Sun would take issue with Microsoft if it tried to use a clean room version instead of the version its has licensed from Sun. JNI the key If Microsoft opts to continue supporting Java it will need to support a key API that as been at the center of this dispute - Java Native Interface. JNI is a bridge that connects Java code that is written natively to a specific operating system with portable Java code the can run on any platform. The bridge is designed to let any application be able to tap the native code without locking the entire application into a specific environment. Microsoft has refused to support JNI to date, saying that it duplicates Microsoft's J/Direct, which is already in the operating system. Microsoft will not have to remove J/Direct, according to the order, only add support for JNI. Maritz described the effort to support JNI in its products as "not trivial" but that it would not have any material impact on Microsoft. An olive branch Baratz extended an olive branch towards Microsoft, saying that he hopes the ruling and events will lead it back into the fold of the Java community. He said he would be willing to help Microsoft conform to the ruling. "I hope that they will take us up on the offer," said Baratz. If Microsoft were to accept Baratz's offer, Sun said that it would resume sending Microsoft the latest versions of the Java technology. Sun is due to ship the Java Development Kit 1.2 early next month, but has withheld information on it from Microsoft, due to their legal fight. Sun officials said if Microsoft agrees to remain compliant and work with the rest of the Java community, Sun will be happy to send it JDK 1.2 information. Developer warnings But Microsoft must do more than just change its Java VM. It will also need to modify its use of extensions it has made to the Java language. With the release of VJ++ 6.0 earlier this year, Microsoft include additions to the language called keywords and directives - both of which tied Java application to Windows exclusively and were the default setting within the tool. As part of the ruling, Microsoft will now have to make the creation of cross-platform Java the default setting. It also must put a warning label within the code of the tool that is activated if a developer elects to change the setting to use the Microsoft-specific extensions. The warning label is designed to tell developers that if they use the extensions, a future ruling in the case could force them to change their code. Tuesday's action stems from the filing of a breach of contract suit by Sun against Microsoft in October of last year. Sun amended that complaint in May when it asked the judge for the preliminary injunction be put in place until the trial could be heard. It is unclear when exactly the trial might begin. Legal options Saying that it is disappointed with the ruling and dismayed at Sun's use of legal tactics, Microsoft is also exploring all of its options on the legal side as well. According to Tom Burt, the company's associate general counsel, Microsoft is exploring all its legal options, and may appeal the ruling. Burt maintained that "once all the facts are introduced in the case, we are confident that Microsoft will prevail at the trial." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Nov 19 09:14:28 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 09:17:04 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 09:17:04 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to What the Java ruling really says By Deborah Gage, Sm@rtReseller November 19, 1998 10:04 AM ET The U.S. District Court handed Sun Microsystems Inc. a clear victory on Java Tuesday, despite Microsoft Corp.'s claims to the contrary, as an examination of the ruling shows. Microsoft is prevented from distributing any operating system, browser or software development tool containing any Sun-copyrighted code that does not pass Sun's Java compatibility tests. In addition to implementing Sun's JNI (Java Native Interface) -- which dictates how Java interacts with any native operating-system services -- Microsoft must make Sun Java the default language for developers using Microsoft's Visual J++ 6.0, which Microsoft began shipping in September, as well as Microsoft Software Development Kits for Java. Developers using VJ++ 6.0 must be warned that when they switch on Microsoft's keyword extensions and compiler directives, the resulting applications may not run across all Java-compatible virtual machines, according to the court's ruling. In addition, Microsoft is prevented from adding any new extensions and directives to future tools. There are other provisions as well. Microsoft is prohibited from tying its Windows logo or any licenses to exclusive use of Microsoft's virtual machine or interfaces. Microsoft cannot advertise its virtual machine as "the official Java reference implementation," although it can tout performance of its virtual machine. Microsoft must comply with the judge's order within 90 days for all new products, unless it can show good cause why it can't. Although Microsoft does not have to recall existing Java-enabled products, it must provide service packs or updates over the Web or in some other fashion to bring those products into compliance. Microsoft has 15 days to tell customers how it plans to comply with the judge's order. It must also admit it violated Sun's license agreements. If Sun wins the case - Tuesday's ruling is only preliminary -- the keyword extensions and compiler directives in VJ++ 6.0 will not be permitted to be included in future tools. That would render any applications already developed with VJ++ 6.0 incompatible. Microsoft added the keyword extensions and compiler derivatives in May, after the Redmond, Wash., company lost the right to use Sun's Java logo on its product packaging. Microsoft has waged a relentless PR campaign against Java and continues to do so. Group Vice President Paul Maritz hinted Tuesday that Microsoft may do a clean-room version of Java, which Sun general counsel Mike Morris acknowledged is open to contract interpretation. Maritz also told press conference questioners that Microsoft may look into using Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Java implementation as an alternative to Sun's. In a separate announcement Wednesday, Inprise Corp. (formerly Borland International Inc.) announced it would be willing to license to Microsoft its 100-percent-compatible JBuilder Java development tools for an undisclosed amount. Inprise has partnered with both Microsoft and Sun in the course of its Java work. "We recognize that many customers could be adversely impacted by the injunction against Microsoft and therefore we want to offer a solution that will enable Microsoft to quickly comply with the ruling from the U.S. District Court," said Inprise CEO Del Yocam in a prepared statement. Microsoft officials said Tuesday that the company plans to comply with the court's decision, but it did not outline Microsoft's specific technical or legal plans for moving forward. Microsoft denied that customers would be negatively impacted in any way by the provisions outlined in the ruling. Additional reporting by Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Nov 19 09:58:11 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 09:17:48 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 09:17:48 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft selling stake in RealNetworks Inc. Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft selling stake in RealNetworks Inc.=20 Copyright =A9 1998 Nando Media Copyright =A9 1998 The Associated Press=20 SEATTLE (November 18, 1998 8:09 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) -- Microsoft Corp. is selling its 10 percent stake in RealNetworks Inc., = whose chairman complained before a Senate hearing this year that Microsoft = tried to deliberately "break" his Internet multimedia software. Microsoft denied spite was the motive, but acknowledged its = relationship with RealNetworks had soured. "I think it's fair to characterize it as a fairly rocky relationship = for some time," said Anthony Bay, general manager of Microsoft's Commercial Systems Division, on Wednesday. The decision to sell should result in a tidy profit for Microsoft. It = paid about $30 million for its stake in RealNetworks in July 1997, and the = stock today is worth about $141 million. Shares of the Seattle-based RealNetworks closed at $42.87 1/2, up $1.62 1/2, in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Rob Glaser, RealNetwork's chairman and founder, said Microsoft's announcement was no surprise. "A company like Microsoft makes a decision for a million different = reasons and a million different circumstances," he said. "I don't think they = needed the cash. But I think it's pretty clear that the companies are not = marching in lockstep." Microsoft will keep its license for the RealNetworks technology, which Glaser said has been rendered outdated in the "exploding" Internet = market. "We're proud to be one of Microsoft's most profitable Internet = ventures," added Glaser, who was vice president of multimedia at Microsoft before founding RealNetworks in 1994. RealNetworks makes RealPlayer and other products for watching video and hearing audio over the Internet. It competes directly with Microsoft's Windows Media Player. RealNetworks says it has about an 85 percent = share of the market. In July, Glaser appeared before a Senate committee and demonstrated his RealPlayer software. The software worked fine at first, but failed = after he installed Media Player. "The code would have had to be written deliberately to that effect," testified Glaser, who was vice president of multimedia at Microsoft = before founding RealNetworks in 1994. Microsoft engineers later said a bug in RealNetworks' software caused = the incompatibility, an argument supported by some industry experts who ran independent tests. Glaser is one of a string of executives, including representatives of Netscape Communications Corp. and Apple Computer Inc., testifying at = the government's antitrust trial of Microsoft alleging that Redmond, Wash.-based giant wrote software to be incompatible with their = products. Microsoft denies the allegations. In July 1997, Microsoft invested $30 million to buy 3.3 million shares = of RealNetworks. Bay said Microsoft needed to license technology from the Seattle company to ensure its products were compatible with those of RealNetworks, whose software was being rapidly adopted across the World Wide Web. The deal set up a delicate relationship that some analysts described as "coopetition," with the two companies working together in some areas = and competing in others. Before long, it was obvious the two companies were headed in different directions, Bay said. "We ended up with sort of diverging business strategies," Bay said. "We = had a combination of a competitive and cooperative relationship and the = balance had sort of moved toward the competitive side." In October, Netscape released a new version of its Internet browser = that includes RealNetworks' multimedia software. A month earlier, = RealNetworks persuaded America Online to distribute its software to AOL's 13 million customers. International Business Machines Corp. also is distributing = RealNetworks' video-player technology to 25 million corporate users of its popular = Lotus Notes software, and microchip giant Intel Corp., long a Microsoft ally, = has licensed its technology for advanced video software to RealNetworks. Bay said Microsoft notified RealNetworks in June -- a month before = Glaser's testimony -- that it was considering selling its 3.3 million shares, = and this fall offered to work with RealNetworks to sell more stock. The two companies could not agree, however, so Microsoft decided to = sell its shares on the open market, Bay said. He said Microsoft would begin selling the shares Thursday, and had no = time frame for completing its divestiture. By GEORGE TIBBITS, AP Business Writer From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Nov 19 14:07:38 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 13:54:38 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 13:54:38 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft Will Modify Java Code Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft Will Modify Java Code (11/19/98, 2:22 p.m. ET) By Paula Rooney, Computer Retail Week Following a court ruling in Sun Microsystems' favor Tuesday, Microsoft will ship to the channel updated Java code for Windows 98 and its Visual J and Visual Studio Internet development tools, company sources said. To comply with the court injunction, which forces Microsoft to modify all of its Java-based products to conform to Sun's standards, Microsoft will add the Java Native Interface (JNI) to several products, including Windows 98, said Jim Cullinan, a Microsoft spokesman. It will "slipstream," or add code, to products as they ship within the next 90 days. The changes will have no material effect on channel partners, the spokesman said. Windows 98 incorporates Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 browser, which uses an implementation of Java not approved by Sun, which developed the Internet programming language. "It doesn't impact any retail product on the shelves," Cullinan said. "We don't have to remove our technologies. We just need to add this technology [JNI] to make sure we're compatible. It won't have any impact on our delivery to consumers." The Microsoft Tools Group on Wednesday was expected to announce future plans for Microsoft's Java implementation. Sun filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in October 1997, charging Microsoft with trademark infringement, false advertising, breach of contract, and unfair competition related to Microsoft's unorthodox implementations of Java. In March, the court ordered Microsoft to remove all the coffee mug Java-compatible logos from products on shelves. At that time, Microsoft was required to pull about 20,000 Internet Explorer Plus boxes bearing the Java-compatible logo from shelves and "refresh" them with new boxes sans the logo. Windows 98 had not yet shipped at that time. Although the court ruling is deemed a major loss for Microsoft, analysts don't expect the software giant to hand over its standard-setting rights to Sun. "Sun won the battle here, but it's not clear they can force Microsoft to adopt the Java platform," said Eric Brown, an analyst with Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Mass. "There's no way Sun can put the collar on [Microsoft] and drag them across the dunes to accept Java." He noted Microsoft could develop a "clean room" version of Java on its own or refuse to endorse Sun's forthcoming Java 1.2 specification. The lawsuit focused exclusively on Microsoft's implementation of Java 1.1. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Nov 23 09:26:48 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 09:27:42 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 09:27:42 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: America Online reportedly to buy Netscape Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to America Online reportedly to buy Netscape By Jana Sanchez-Klein and Scott Magoon InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:55 AM PT, Nov 23, 1998 America Online is in talks to purchase Netscape in an all-stock transaction that is said to be worth more than $4 billion, according to numerous press reports appearing over the weekend. The press reports, appearing on U.S. television, radio, and online versions of the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, said that Sun Microsystems may also be involved in the deal. The stories quote unnamed sources said to be close to the deal. Although financial terms were not disclosed, the deal, based on the market capitalization of Netscape, would be worth at least $4 billion. But according to the Wall Street Journal, AOL will pay a premium above the market price for the Netscape stock. The leaked details include AOL taking over Netscape's Web portal, or Netcenter, as well as Netscape's popular Web browser software. Reportedly, Sun would take over the enterprise side of Netscape's business and pay AOL a fee for using Netscape technology. Netscape currently sells a number of business applications, including those used for messaging, groupware, and Internet-commerce applications. Sun, AOL, and Netscape have reportedly been in talks all week and this weekend and could reach a deal before the stock markets open in the United States on Monday morning. The deal would mean that AOL would retain the Netscape brand name and would not involve any staff layoffs, according to the reports. Netscape's president and chief executive officer, James Barksdale, has reportedly been offered a seat on AOL's board of directors as part of the deal. The deal could have far-reaching effects on the Department of Justice case against Microsoft, as well as changing the landscape of the browser wars. Netscape's exit with a bang, would also likely impact the ongoing Department of Justice antitrust suit against Microsoft, which has looked at Microsoft's alleged efforts to drive Netscape out of business. Sources familiar with the deal reportedly said that AOL would now be in a position to get a huge amount of I-commerce on the Web. In addition to its own 14 million subscribers, Netscape's Netcenter gets about 20 million visitors per month. Analysts see AOL, strengthened by Netscape's technology and users, as a potential threat to Microsoft's growing I-commerce ventures. The deal may need approval from government regulators. None of the companies involved could be reached for comment, nor had any of them issued a statement at the time of publication. Netscape Communications Corp., based in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at www.netscape.com. America Online Inc., in Dulles, Va., can be reached at www.aol.com. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., can be reached at www.sun.com. Jana Sanchez-Klein is London bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. Scott Magoon works for the Boston bureau of the IDG News Service. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Nov 23 11:37:45 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 11:39:06 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 11:39:06 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM Gives Away DB2 For Linux Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM Gives Away DB2 For Linux (11/23/98, 11:56 a.m. ET) By Shawn Willett, Computer Reseller News VARs and users excited by Linux's price tag -- essentially free -- may be interested in a database for Linux that is also free. IBM said it plans to ship a free version of DB2 for Linux when it is ready next spring. There will be no run-time charge for the database. "This seems to be the right thing to do," said Jeff Jones, program manager for data-management software at IBM, in Armonk, N.Y. The version for Linux will not have the high-end features such as clustering or parallel processing. However, it will support SQL-J and include net.data, a tool for building Web applications. IBM's DB2 for Linux is in beta and is scheduled to be available by March 1999. IBM will not provide phone support for the free product. "We will be opening up a moderated discussion group on the Web that will be open 24 hours a day," said Jones. According to Jones, DB2 for Linux is ideal for ISPs and educational sites. IBM VARs agreed Linux will be most popular as a Web server platform and for academic sites. "We see extremely strong demand, especially in small businesses and especially in Web businesses," said Bud Braseir, president of Emerging Technology Solutions, in Denver. "I don't have customers asking for it, but from an ISP standpoint, Linux is easier to use than any other platform, and we can access through Linux all our AS/400s and NT Servers," said Sean Priddy, president of Houston On-Site, in Houston. "We believe you will see more [Linux] especially at colleges, and all the students coming out of schools -- that is what they are used to," he said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Nov 24 10:32:31 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 10:34:15 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 10:34:15 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: AOL buys Netscape, joins Sun in Java deal Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to AOL buys Netscape, joins Sun in Java deal By Rebecca Sykes InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:16 AM PT, Nov 24, 1998 America Online on Tuesday announced it will acquire Netscape in a stock-for-stock transaction worth $4.2 billion. AOL also announced a strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, including plans to develop Internet devices using Sun's Java programming language. Under the terms of AOL's deal with Netscape, Netscape stockholders will receive 0.45 shares of AOL common stock for each share of Netscape stock, according to a statement from AOL. Jim Barksdale, Netscape's president and chief executive officer, will join AOL's board of directors after the deal closes, the statement said. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter next year, it said. AOL will continue to offer Microsoft's Internet Explorer to its AOL online customers, according to the statement. Netscape's Navigator browser is locked in battle with Explorer, and some observers had speculated that an AOL-Netscape deal could eject Explorer from AOL's offerings. AOL will also offer Netscape client software to its users, downloadable from the Web using AOL's ICQ instant messaging capability, according to AOL. AOL's deal with Sun, which is separate but related to its Netscape acquisition, encompasses a three-year development and marketing agreement, according to AOL. AOL and Sun together will develop the next version of Netscape's Navigator and Communicator software clients and AOL will use Java in its Internet-commerce offerings, the company said. AOL and Sun also will jointly develop a suite of easy-to-deploy software designed to help companies and Internet service providers engage in I-commerce, according to AOL. AOL will buy systems and services from Sun worth $500 million at list price through 2002, AOL said. For its part, AOL will receive more than $350 million in licensing, marketing, and advertising fees from Sun, AOL said. The deal could have far-reaching effects on the Department of Justice case against Microsoft, as well as changing the landscape of the browser wars. Netscape's exit with a bang would also likely impact the ongoing Department of Justice antitrust suit against Microsoft, which has looked at Microsoft's alleged efforts to drive Netscape out of business. Sources familiar with the deal reportedly said that AOL would now be in a position to get a huge amount of Internet commerce on the Web. In addition to its own 14 million subscribers, Netscape's Netcenter gets about 20 million visitors per month. Some analysts see AOL, strengthened by Netscape's technology and users, as a potential threat to Microsoft's growing I-commerce ventures. Other analysts were still sorting out the merits of the deal, however. "From a portal perspective it makes sense. Netscape could tap AOL's installed base, one of the largest on the Web," said Heather Ashton, an analyst at Hurwitz Group in Framingham, Mass. "But strategically, I'm not sure how much sense it makes. This could move attention away from Netscape's enterprise applications and servers to the portal side." Netscape Communications Corp., based in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at www.netscape.com. America Online Inc., in Dulles, Va., can be reached at www.aol.com. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., can be reached at www.sun.com. Rebecca Sykes is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. News Service correspondents Jana Sanchez-Klein and Scott Magoon, and InfoWorld Editor at Large Dana Gardner contributed to this report. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Nov 24 10:42:41 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 10:35:05 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 10:35:05 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM readies file system software for Linux Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM readies file system software for Linux By Ted Smalley Bowen InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:39 AM PT, Nov 24, 1998 Seeing a rise in demand for Linux among corporate customers, IBM's Transarc subsidiary is preparing to release versions of its enterprise file system software for the open-source Unix variant. Transarc on Dec. 1 will announce versions of its AFS Server and AFS Client for Linux. Shipment is slated for February, according to company officials. The Linux port promises interoperability between Linux and Microsoft Windows and other versions of Unix operating systems, according to Gail Koerner, manager of file systems product management at Transarc. Historically popular among academic organizations, Linux has cropped up on the product wish lists of IBM's large corporate customers, according to Koerner. "These are worldwide commercial organizations -- large electronics firms, manufacturers, telecommunications companies, government agencies, and financial companies -- a real interesting mix for us. We decided that, at least in our customer base, there was a business to be had," she said. The Linux release is based on the latest version of AFS, Version 3.5, which sports improved performance, caching, backup, and scalability, according to Koerner. IBM next week will also announce that version's availability on Windows NT. The initial AFS release for Linux is certified for Red Hat's version. AFS Server for Linux is priced starting at $1,995, with the AFS Client for Linux staring at $99 per user. Server pricing for unlimited numbers of users is $6,495. AFS Server for Windows NT is also priced at $1,995. Information on AFS can be found at www.software.ibm.com. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., is at www.ibm.com. Transarc can be reached at www.transarc.com. Ted Smalley Bowen is InfoWorld's Boston bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Nov 24 16:36:01 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 16:38:05 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 16:38:05 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun emerges from deal smelling like a rose Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun emerges from deal smelling like a rose By Michael Moeller, PC Week Online November 24, 1998 4:32 PM ET Like a three-team trade in baseball, today's deal involving Netscape Communications Corp., America Online Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. has a little something for everyone. Netscape gets marketing and support, AOL gets the brand and traffic, and Sun just bulked up its entire software lineup. Sun (SUNW) doesn't own Netscape -- or AOL's enterprise software applications, to be precise -- but it may as well. In exchange for $350 million and some guaranteed minimum revenues, Sun has the right to sell (and, going forward, co-develop) an entire line of intranet servers, commerce applications and Web browser. Throw in a commitment to support Java in the browser and support for PersonalJava, add AOL's pledge to spend $500 million over three years for Sun's service, support and hardware, and Sun comes out of the deal with a big win. "Clearly this is a high-profile deal that is going to benefit Sun down the road," said Jean Bozman, software services analyst at International Data Corp. in Mountain View, Calif. AOL and Sun are also committed to supporting Java and the Java Development Kit 1.2 in the next-generation Netscape browser, Communicator 5.0. And that is not insignificant. Until now, Netscape was planning to provide only an open Java interface in its product, allowing any Java Virtual Machine to work on the client. (Netscape killed its Java development effort on the client in January.) With the partnership, Sun will now have the means to distribute Java to Windows desktops once again. The Mountain View, Calif., company also gets some say in how Java will be used inside Netscape's server software. There are also synergies between Sun's vision for Java and its fledging network-enabling software called Jini and America Online's AOL Anywhere strategy. Both companies are going to work together to use a subset of the full blown JDK -- known as PersonalJava -- as the engine for pushing an AOL client into alternative devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. The effort is also likely to renew the efforts of Sun and Netscape to build a pure Java browser -- a project that was likewise shelved by Netscape in January due to its financial problems. All that said, there are downsides to the deal for Sun, mostly having to do with product overlap. Currently, Sun markets and sells its own mail server. It has also developed its own directory system. And early this fall Sun acquired Java application server company NetDynamics Inc. All of the products overlap with similar applications created by Netscape and now to be sold and serviced by Sun. "Sun is going to have to figure out this process, and let me tell you, it is not going to be an easy one," said a source at a major software developer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Nov 26 10:34:43 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 10:36:16 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 10:36:16 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Proposal tries to contain XML chaos Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Proposal tries to contain XML chaos By Jeff Walsh InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:36 PM PT, Nov 25, 1998 When the Extensible Markup Language (XML) enabled people to create their own unique data-markup tags, many industry observers feared that chaos would ensue. Several vertical industry groups rushed to solve this problem and agreed on standardized tag sets to aid information sharing. But with the recent XML Namespaces proposal moving up to a proposed recommendation in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the chaos that could have crippled XML's usage may be resolved. XML Namespaces enable developers to define a tag that uniquely identifies their data source at the top of an XML document. This feature will become especially important when third parties begin to aggregate content from other sources. "One of the interesting things you can do with XML is get information from multiple data sources and put it in one document," said Dave Wascha, XML product manager at Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash. "Namespaces lets you know which information came from which site." Microsoft provides XML Namespaces support in the beta version of Internet Explorer 5.0. Michael Goulde, a senior consultant at the Patricia Seybold Group, in Boston, said Namespaces allows for data sharing without necessitating a standardized tag set. However, one developer said collisions could still occur if two sites used the same Namespace. "A lot of what goes on in the XML world is they push the problem down a level, but [it] still exists," said Dave Winer, president of Userland Software, in Palo Alto, Calif. The World Wide Web Consortium, in Cambridge, Mass., can be reached at www.w3.org. Jeff Walsh is an InfoWorld reporter. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Nov 26 10:46:31 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 10:36:47 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 10:36:47 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Netscape and Sun face product overlaps Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Netscape and Sun face product overlaps By Emily Fitzloff and Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:36 PM PT, Nov 25, 1998 Although the logistics of the agreement between America Online (proud new owner of Netscape Communications) and Sun Microsystems seem to be ironed out, the impact of the deal on those companies' product plans and customers remains to be seen. The core of the three-year development and marketing agreement between AOL and Sun lies in the joint development of software designed to help companies and ISPs engage in Internet commerce. But several other server products from Netscape, including its application server, e-mail server, and directory server, all overlap with product offerings from Sun, leading Netscape customers to wonder what will happen now. Industry analysts and end-users anticipate a bumpy road in the integration of Sun and Netscape's products. "Sun has a lot of work to do to explain the relationship of how they will use [Sun's application server] NetDynamics and [Netscape's application server] Kiva," said Larry Perlstein, principal analyst at Dataquest, in San Jose, Calif. Another potential point of contention pertains to Netscape's commitment to support the Linux operating system -- a Sun Solaris competitor -- in future products. Apparently, no definitive product plans will be delivered until final stages of the acquisition are completed, most likely this spring. "Until the deal goes through, customers maintain current support contracts. As far as product plans, we really need to sit down and map that out. If something is phased out, we will have a very clear migration plan for customers," said Lori Mirek, senior vice president of marketing at Netscape, in Moutain View, Calif. However, one end-user said the companies should have mapped out product plans while they were still sitting at the negotiating table. "I would imagine they'll be getting a lot of phone calls saying, 'Hey, what's going to happen; which of these products will be phased out?' " said one end-user at a government agency based in the Northeast. Sun's application server offering, based on technology it acquired from NetDynamics, is strikingly similar to Netscape's own application server software that it acquired from Kiva. The companies also have competing messaging and directory servers. However, Bill Raduchel, Sun's chief strategy officer, seemed unconcerned. Raduchel acknowledged the redundancy between the Kiva and NetDynamics servers, but said, "We don't see them competing. We're going to integrate this stuff over time." Regarding the companies' mail and messaging solutions, "Netscape's e-mail server has good stuff, and we think we have the industry's best messaging store, and we'll work to combine them," Raduchel said. Still, the core product focus of the deal remains with the companies' I-commerce offerings and how they can best be leveraged in the future. "The overall vision for the three companies is the same: how to be the most successful provider of I-commerce solutions for the 21st century," Mirek said. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., is at www.sun.com. Emily Fitzloff is an InfoWorld senior writer. InfoWorld Editor at Large Dana Gardner is based in New Hampshire. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Nov 30 15:52:20 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 15:53:50 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 15:53:50 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: NT Server bug exposes user groups, users Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to NT Server bug exposes user groups, users By Scott Berinato, PC Week Online November 30, 1998 3:08 PM ET A bug in Microsoft Corp.'s NT Server 4.0 can expose a server's user groups and users, according to tests done by PC Week Labs. The bug only affects NT servers set to default settings with no firewall protection, a configuration rarely seen unless users are not concerned with security. So while administrators ought to be concerned, simple precautions can prevent the situation, PC Week Labs analysts said. However, on a Web page posted by "Vitali Chkliar," 10 companies are listed as susceptible to the bug as of November 25. To prove the point, Chkliar has links to the companies' hacked information. Chkliar also has two ASP (Active Server Pages) applications available at the site that will expose any site under the base NT configuration without a firewall. Users only need to know a server's IP address to learn the server's group names. Given the IP address and a group name, a hacker could pull user names from the server, according to the site. Chkliar could not be reached for comment. His site contains no e-mail address or contact information and attempts to locate him have proven unsuccessful. The Web page says that "It is also possible through lower level API to get read, write access to the registry and folders of the target computer, configured with default settings." Karan Khanna, lead product manager for Windows NT security at Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash., said this is not a security issue and that the function Chkliar provides on his Web page is available through a base-level API. "What's happening is, whenever you configure a server, we tell people to lock down the server appropriately so you can control the access to server," Khanna said. "In this situation, you haven't locked out the appropriate ports and haven't set the right access controls. We tell customers exactly how to lock down the systems. If you do it, this is a non-issue." Khanna also said the API does not allow write access, but it will allow read capabilities. "In Service Pack 4, we have a security configuration editor which allows automatic lock-down of NT Server," he said. Service Pack 4 is available now from Microsoft at www.microsoft.com. (For security considerations, Chkliar's Web site and the names of the hacked companies have been omitted from this story.) From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Dec 1 11:19:00 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 11:20:19 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 11:20:19 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: HP, Sun Split Over Real-Time Java Spec Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to HP, Sun Split Over Real-Time Java Spec (12/01/98, 10:50 a.m. ET) By Alexander Wolfe, EE Times The latest salvo in the war between Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems for control of real-time Java will be fired this week, when an HP-led coalition is expected to announce it has linked up with a standards body to formally oversee its efforts toward a real-time specification. Separately, Sun is developing its own real-time Java spec, under a process that company officials said is open and takes into account feedback from both licensees and the broader Java community. The split between Sun and HP over real-time Java first came into public view last month at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, Calif. There, HP and some 25 vendors officially launched their thrust under the banner of the Real-Time Java Working Group, a coalition widely referred to as the "splinter group," to distinguish it from Sun's ongoing spec effort. But the embedded community isn't cleanly divided on the issue. Indeed, many Java vendors are keeping a foot in both camps. In addition, HP and Sun are each using as a technical starting point a real-time requirements document created by a National Institute of Standards and Technology group in which both companies participated. The splinter group could gain added credibility if the National Committee for Information Technology Standardization (NCITS), votes to take the splinter group's effort under its wing. NCITS, formerly known as X3, is the body that created specs for a number of programming languages including C, C+ and Fortran. An NCITS committee will vote on the splinter group's plan to proceed with development of the real-time spec on Dec. 1 or Dec. 2. Anticipating a positive outcome, leaders of the splinter group have drafted a statement for release after the vote stating that "The acceptance of the group's proposal by NCITS clears the way for the creation of a true standard in an open, vendor-neutral forum." The embedded community is likely to be roiled by continued friction over the dueling real-time efforts. "Sun has had some success with other Java standards, but the embedded-systems world is just a little too fragmented to say, 'We'll let Sun and a few of their licensees do their standard and we'll all follow along,'" said Tucker Taft, technical director of splinter-group member Intermetrics of Burlington, Mass. "It's not worth our time to comment," a Sun executive said of the latest splinter-group development. Fractious history Sun and HP first locked horns over Java earlier this year, when both companies came out with separate embedded implementations. Sun launched its EmbeddedJava technology in March with an impressive list of licensees, including Acorn, Chorus (now owned by Sun), Geoworks, Lucent, Mentor Graphic's Microtec division, Microware Systems, Motorola, QNX Software Systems, US Software and Wind River Systems. Almost simultaneously, HP debuted its own embedded Java technology. Microsoft licensed HP's Java Virtual Machine with plans to integrate it into its Windows CE operating system. HP has also inked licensing deals with real-time operating system vendors Integrated Systems, Lynx Real-Time Systems, Microware and QNX. In addition, Wind River endorsed, but didn't formally license, the HP technology. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Dec 1 19:13:17 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 19:14:06 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 19:14:06 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft fills NT 4.0 security hole Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft fills NT 4.0 security hole By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 2:18 PM PT, Dec 1, 1998 Microsoft has plugged the "Named Pipes over RPC" security flaw, the first hole sprung by Windows NT 4.0 since the release of the company's latest pack of fixes, Service Pack 4. The hole allowed hackers to provoke a denial-of-service attack on an NT 4.0 system by opening multiple named pipe connections to Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services and sending random data. The security breach was independently discovered and reported to Microsoft by the InfoWorld Test Center, and Mnemonix, an information security specialist and self-described NT hacker who works for a company in the United Kingdom. It affects Windows NT Server and Workstation, both the standard and Enterprise editions, as well as Windows Terminal Server. Microsoft security engineers said a hacker could exploit the way NT 4.0 deals with invalidly named pipe RPC connections. Although different system services could be hacked, two of the services typically targeted are the SPOOLSS and LSASS system service processes, according to Microsoft officials. "When the RPC service attempts to close the invalid connections, the service consumes all CPU resources and memory use grows considerably, which may result in the system hanging," Microsoft said in a statement on its Security Advisor Web site. "This is a denial of service vulnerability only; there is no risk of compromise or loss of data from the attacked system." Late in November, Microsoft posted a Knowledge Base article about the security hole to its Web site, along with patches for all of the systems affected except for Terminal Server. That fix will be posted as soon as it is available, officials said. However, officials said the fixes, although fully supported, had not yet been regression tested and warned users against applying them unless their systems are specifically vulnerable to the attack. Otherwise, Microsoft recommended that users wait for the next NT service pack, which will include a fully regression-tested version of the patch. Microsoft has not indicated when a fifth service pack for NT 4.0 will be released. Service Pack 4 was released in mid-October. More than a year in the making, it includes year-2000 fixes, support for the euro currency, and an array of other patches, fixes, and updates. Microsoft Corp., in Remdond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Mnemonix's can be reached at www.infowar.co.uk/mnemonix. An explanation of the security flaw is posted at oliver.efri.hr/~crv/security/bugs/NT/lsass.html. Bob Trott is a senior editor at InfoWorld based in Seattle. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Dec 1 19:17:17 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 19:18:14 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 19:18:14 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: AOL's Case pledges support for mozilla.org Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to AOL's Case pledges support for mozilla.org By James Niccolai InfoWorld Electric Posted at 1:36 PM PT, Dec 1, 1998 Steve Case, chairman and CEO of America Online, has pledged his support for mozilla.org, the open-source group within Netscape which helps oversee the development of its Web browser software. In an e-mail sent last Wednesday to mozilla.org team member Jamie Zawinski, Case indicated that AOL plans to back the open-source group after his company's planned merger with Netscape goes through. "We're very supportive of mozilla.org; indeed, we're hopeful that our involvement might rally even more support among developers in the open source community," Case wrote. Ever since AOL said last week it plans to buy Netscape, the open-source community has been watching closely to see what will become of mozilla.org. The group has become something of a beacon for the open-source community since Netscape went public with the source code to its Communicator browser earlier this year. "We certainly realize that platform innovation comes from the work of thousands of passionate developers, and we share your view that the agenda of Mozilla is and should be set by those who contribute to it," Case wrote in the e-mail. "We will contribute too -- in part, by maintaining the autonomy of mozilla.org." Referring to a remark made by Mike Homer, Netscape executive vice president and general manager, that Mozilla is larger than Netscape, Case wrote, "I know it's larger than AOL, too." Case sent his e-mail in response to a commentary by Zawinski posted on the mozilla.org Web site, titled "Fear and Loathing on the Merger Trail," in which he speculated about the possible ramifications for the Mozilla group of an AOL-Netscape merger. Zawinski's commentary, along with the text of Case's e-mail, are posted on the mozilla.org Web site, at www.mozilla.org/news.html. Netscape Communications Corp., in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at www.netscape.com. America Online Inc., in Dulles, Va., can be reached at www.aol.com. James Niccolai is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Dec 2 09:24:32 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 09:25:49 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 09:25:49 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , David Weinstein From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Unix trounces Windows NT in testing Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Unix trounces Windows NT in testing By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com December 1, 1998, 9:15 p.m. PT Windows takes a shellacking when stacked up against Unix, according to newly released study. Microsoft's Windows NT finished dead last overall in a comparison with five different versions of the Unix operating system, concluded a market research firm that assessed the latest versions of these operating systems. IBM's AIX version of Unix topped the rankings, followed by Compaq's Digital Unix, Sun Microsystems' Solaris, and Silicon Graphics' Irix. Each of these four operating systems received a "good" rating from D.H. Brown Associates. Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX earned an "OK" rating. But "Even the Enterprise Edition of Windows NT Server 4.0 trails Unix in every area except for PC client support," D.H. Brown said in a statement. The company ranks the major Unix variants and NT each year using a scorecard that judges six factors. Windows NT ranked last in every area except one. "NT still falls short of Unix for advanced Internet protocols and extensions. NT also lags in features for scalability, reliability, availability, serviceability, and system management," the study said. Windows NT earned second place in support for PC clients, losing out to Compaq's Digital Unix. The latter also took top marks in its support for its support of services across a large corporation. IBM's AIX ranked first for system management and support for intranets and the Internet. Big Blue has taken "the most active role of the major operating system vendors" in providing software for electronic commerce, D.H. Brown said. However, AIX tied for fourth place in its score for reliability, availability, and serviceability. Solaris 7's full 64-bit capabilities launched it from last place among Unix systems last year to third place this year, according to D.H. Brown. Solaris won out in scalability, reliability, availability, and serviceability, but was second-to-last in its support for PC clients. Irix too improved overall, with a strong rating for reliability, availability, and serviceability, the study said. HP-UX, however, slipped backwards, in part because of HP's failure to ship promised Java-based system management tools, which are key for managing a computer remotely. D.H. Brown noted that the study doesn't reflect market share or customer satisfaction. "The industry has frequently shown that the best technology does not always win in the marketplace," the study admitted. Companies still can highlight their system's advantages, D.H. Brown said. "The results show that in a brutally competitive industry that relies ever more on commodity technology, it is still possible to differentiate with leading-edge operating system features." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Dec 2 15:56:51 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 15:57:55 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 15:57:55 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Gates, on tape, draws laughs about stance toward Java Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Gates, on tape, draws laughs about stance toward Java By Michael Moeller, PC Week Online December 2, 1998 2:14 PM ET WASHINGTON -- Bill Gates stole the show again this morning at Microsoft Corp.'s antitrust trial with evasive answers to questions about Java. The screening of more than a half-hour of the Microsoft chairman's taped deposition, taken Aug. 28, was the government's lead-in to its next witness -- James Gosling, a Sun Microsystems Inc. fellow and co-creator of Java. Unlike previously released portions of his deposition, where Gates assiduously dodged questions, today's excerpts proved at times amusing. For example, at one point, David Boies, lead prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice, and Gates danced through a series of eight questions about the meaning of the phrase "pissing on," which was used in a Microsoft e-mail sent to Gates regarding the Redmond, Wash., company's plans to discredit forthcoming Java technologies from Sun. "Now, Mr. Slivka [a Microsoft project leader] here says that Microsoft is going to be saying uncomplimentary things about JDK [Java Development Kit] 1.2 at every opportunity," said Boies. "Do you see that?" "Where's that?" responded Gates. "'JDK 1.2 has JFC [Java Foundation Class], which we're going to be pissing on at every opportunity,'" Boies read. "I don't know if he is referring to pissing on JFC, or pissing on JDK 1.2, nor do I know what he specifically means by 'pissing on,'" retorted Gates. Frustrated with Gates' refusal to say whether the phrase meant that Microsoft intended to discredit Java, Boies eventually asked Gates if it was actually a code word inside Microsoft for saying nice things about something. While the exchange drew laughs within the courtroom -- even from District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson -- the majority of the video consisted of Gates claiming he had little or no knowledge about the reasons that Sun sued Microsoft over Java or what Java development activities were under way at Microsoft. Gates responded to many of the questions with "I don't know," "I don't remember" or "I'm not sure." At one point, Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein could be seen with a wide grin as the tape was being played. Gosling's cross-examination proved to be a reunion of sorts with Tom Burt, Microsoft's associate general counsel. Burt cross-examined Gosling earlier this year in San Jose, Calif., when Microsoft and Sun squared off in the breach-of-contract preliminary injunction hearing. Gosling's cross-examination, which is expected to last several days, had only just begun before the court broke for lunch. During his hour on the stand, Gosling answered numerous questions about the background of Java, how the technology works and the various pieces that make up Java. Just before the break, Burt appeared to be setting up the next piece of his cross-examination by trying to get Gosling to confirm that Java has some weaknesses and that it has never lived up to its promise of "write once. run anywhere." Outside the courtroom during the break, Microsoft (MSFT) officials said the presentation of Gates' deposition may have been amusing, but it was irrelevant. But Boies quickly countered, saying the purpose behind showing the tape was to show Gates being evasive and to prove him wrong. "That shows that someone has something to hide or knows that they have done something wrong," Boies said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Dec 3 09:31:33 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 09:32:35 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 09:32:35 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , Ruth Rozen From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Virginia commission endorses law outlawing 'spam' Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Virginia commission endorses law outlawing 'spam'=20 Copyright =A9 1998 Nando Media Copyright =A9 1998 Reuters News Service=20 RICHMOND, Va. (December 2, 1998 5:09 p.m. EST = http://www.nandotimes.com) - A Virginia commission on Internet use endorsed proposed legislation Wednesday that would make "spamming" illegal and subject people who = send the bulk e-mail messages to criminal prosecution. The state Commission on Information Technology, which included several leading Internet company executives, endorsed what would be the first = law in the United States setting out potential fines and prison terms for convicted spammers. "This would be the first one (state law) that is explicit in = criminalizing spamming," said George Vradenburg, a senior vice president and general counsel with Dulles, Virginia-based America Online, the world's largest Internet service provider. In other states, including Washington and California, spammers can be = sued for damages in civil proceedings but cannot be prosecuted criminally, Vradenburg said. In the free-wheeling world of cyberspace, spamming emerged as a plague = for both Internet users and service providers swamped with the bulk = electronic mailings that have at times threatened to overwhelm computer networks. Although free-speech protections have been extended to the Internet, = the Virginia commission said spamming deluges online users with = advertisements promoting "dubious products, pyramid schemes and pornography." The commission, formed by Gov. James Gilmore in part to make recommendations on boosting commercial use of the Internet, said = spamming should be curtailed because fraudulent e-mails threaten to undermine confidence in legitimate electronic commerce. "To realize the full potential of e-commerce, we must provide a private = and secure environment for all Internet users," Gilmore said. The Virginia law could have a broad reach because companies based here serve nearly half of all online subscribers, and control about half of = the Internet "backbone" of server computers and communications lines. Gilmore has declared Virginia "the Internet capital of the world," in = large part because the state is home to America Online, which alone serves = nearly 14 million customers. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Dec 3 13:10:32 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:11:39 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:11:39 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft and Justice Department grapple over Java question Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft and Justice Department grapple over Java question By Patrick Thibodeau IDG News Service, Washington Bureau Posted at 9:58 AM PT, Dec 3, 1998 WASHINGTON -- James Gosling, creator of the Java cross-platform programming language, acknowledged in court Thursday during the Microsoft antitrust trial that there were problems with Sun Microsystems' claim that Java is a "write once, run anywhere" developer's tool. Microsoft attorney Tom Burt spent the morning attacking Sun's marketing claim. And in a sense Gosling faced a trial by news media, as Burt introduced a series of articles and test studies by computer publications that were critical of Sun's claims for Java. The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to show that Microsoft's attempt to distribute a version of Java incompatible with Sun's own arose out of its fear that Java's growing popularity would weaken Microsoft's monopoly on the operating system market. Sun is currently pursuing a lawsuit against Microsoft charging that it violated the terms of its Java licensing agreement by distributing incompatible implementations of Java. The issue goes to the heart of Sun's allegations that Microsoft's version of Java threatened to make the most widely distributed version of Java technologies incompatible with the standard Java language developed by Sun -- thus undermining Sun's efforts to allow Java-based applications to run on a wide variety of operating systems. Gosling disputed some of the testing results, and David Boies, the lead trial counsel for the government, questioned the reliability of some of the tests, saying they weren't done by scientific review. Burt, however, said that the articles were extremely relevant because Microsoft and Sun were in a "competition for the hearts and minds of developers." Gosling said repeatedly on the stand that there were problems with the initial versions of the Java Developers Kit (JDK). "This issue of compatibility is a function of time ... it is getting better," he said. Gosling also took issue with some of the test data presented by different articles. In response to one article that tested the compatibility of different Java applets, he said, "I think that's completely false. I don't where they got their test data, I don't know how they performed the test." Microsoft is claiming that Sun has greatly overstated Java's capabilities and that the programming language can only achieve portability unless there are significant tradeoffs in performance and functionality. Microsoft has been arguing that its specific implementation is better and preferred by developers. And to show the claims by Sun are not unique, and that previous efforts to develop cross-platform languages have failed, Burt turned the clock back to 1978 and cited a textbook on the C programming language in which the authors had claimed that C was a portable language. Many of the claims made in the book are similar to what Sun has said about Java. But Gosling said the situation is considerably more complicated. He said C was "an incredibly powerful example of how standards get twisted." As C language compilers were implemented for different operating systems dramatic variations between them emerged. Gosling said he conceived of Java in part "from the scars that I acquired in doing C porting." "One of my goals in building Java was not to live through that fragmentation again," he said. Gosling said that Sun was "working very hard" to improve Java's cross-platform capability. "One of the main reasons why we started our lawsuit in San Jose was to make sure that this problem got better, not worse." Two weeks ago, Sun was granted a preliminary injunction by a U.S. district court in its Java technology lawsuit against Microsoft. Judge Ronald Whyte of the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Northern District of California, ruled that Sun is likely to prevail in the case, and ordered Microsoft to make changes to its products so that they include an implementation of Java that will pass Sun's Java compatibility test suite. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com. The U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington, can be reached at www.usdoj.gov. Patrick Thibodeau is a senior writer at Computerworld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Dec 3 13:16:47 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:17:02 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:17:02 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Windows 2000 Beta 3 due in February? Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Windows 2000 Beta 3 due in February? By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller and Scott Berinato, PC Week Online December 3, 1998 1:34 PM ET Beta 3 release of Windows 2000 server will ship sometime in February, according to a newly published report. The Betanews.com beta tester site cites the Valentine's Day time frame as Microsoft Corp.'s latest development target for what the Redmond, Wash., company says is the final beta of the operating system. Microsoft has just passed build number 1930 internally, and the name change from NT 5.0 to Windows 2000 has been completed in documentation and in the OS itself, according to the site. However, sources close to Microsoft (MSFT) said a number of priority-one bugs remain in the code. And while earlier reports had Beta 3 arriving as early as last month, it has been nearly two months since a major interim release of the OS to testers. All these signs indicate Beta 3 is at least two months off, the sources said. The Betanews.com news flash said that "it will be all up to the [Microsoft] team to decide what will be Beta 3 worthy code." Officials who maintain the site could not be reached for comment. According to sources close to Microsoft, the company is also warning beta testers to refrain from upgrading Windows NT 4.0 servers with Service Pack 4 to Beta 2 of Windows 2000 because of possible problems. Microsoft declined to comment on any interim releases or target dates for Windows 2000 server. The company has maintained that Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server will ship in 1999, with the higher-end Datacenter Server following within 60 days. Microsoft is at www.microsoft.com. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Dec 3 13:53:16 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:54:26 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:54:26 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Fujitsu, Toshiba to develop 1-gigabit DRAM Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Fujitsu, Toshiba to develop 1-gigabit DRAM By Rob Guth InfoWorld Electric Posted at 8:50 AM PT, Dec 3, 1998 Fujitsu and Toshiba will collaborate on developing advanced semiconductor technology that will make its way into products around 2002, the vendors said Thursday. The two computer companies said they are joining forces to beat the growing costs of developing chip technology amid a market that is experiencing falling semiconductor prices. The focus of the work will be on building a 1-gigabit DRAM chip from 0.13-micron technology. Current mainstream DRAMs have capacities of 64 Mb and use a 0.25-micron distance between lines etched on their silicon. The work will require a joint team of 100 researchers, to be housed at a Toshiba site in Yokohama, Japan, and will have a budget of more than $247 million, the vendors said. The companies will release prototypes of the chips in 2002, depending upon the prevailing conditions in the chip market at that time, a Fujitsu spokesman said. Fujitsu Ltd., in Tokyo, can be reached at www.fujitsu.com. Toshiba Corp., based in Tokyo, can be reached at www.toshiba.co.jp. Rob Guth is a correspondent in the Tokyo bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Dec 4 09:47:51 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 09:48:31 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 09:48:31 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft, Compaq give Windows 2000 a link to SANs Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft, Compaq give Windows 2000 a link to SANs By Rebecca Sykes InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:28 PM PT, Dec 3, 1998 Microsoft on Thursday announced a specification developed in partnership with Compaq for linking Microsoft's Windows Socket (WinSock) API with forthcoming interconnect technology for system area networks. By Compaq's definition, system area networks, or SANs, are akin to local area networks that have been optimized for high bandwidth and low latency so small groups of clustered computers processing the same application can have high-speed communications. The WinSock/SANs specification, which will be included in Windows 2000, is slated to go into beta release in 1999, according to Microsoft officials. "This initiative allows system area network hardware ... to now get instantly tied into Windows NT in a standard way," said Andy Wachs, director of product management at Compaq's ServerNet group. "Any application that uses WinSock can now perform operations over a system area network vs. just a local area network." One analyst said the decision to make SANs IP-compliant brings this technology to a variety of devices. "With this initiative, they can basically system area network-enable any IP device," said JP Morgenthal, president of NC Focus in Hewlett, N.Y. Microsoft said it distributed the first version of the specification at this week's WinSock/SANs Design Review Conference in Redmond, Wash., and that Compaq demonstrated the specification on its ProLiant servers. Hardware vendors and ISVs can thus begin to work with the specification to give their enterprise customers enhanced networks, according to Wachs. "You can create mainframe-class systems ... out of industry-standard servers," Wachs said. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Compaq Computer Corp., in Houston, can be reached at www.compaq.com. Rebecca Sykes is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Dec 4 10:18:12 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 09:49:19 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 09:49:19 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: U.S. exports crypto-export controls to Europe Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to U.S. exports crypto-export controls to Europe By Rebecca Sykes InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:17 AM PT, Dec 4, 1998 The United States has persuaded 32 countries to tighten control of their export of encryption software, control which the U.S. government has long maintained is necessary to properly balance national-security interests against personal privacy. The 33 members of the Wassenaar Arrangement, an agreement on conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies -- items which could be used for civilian or military purposes -- Thursday agreed to restrict exports of 56-bit general encryption products, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce spokesman. In addition, Wassenaar signatories agreed to restrict export of mass-market products with keys more than 64 bits long, the spokesman said. Most Wassenaar countries are in Europe, with some representation from South America and the Asia-Pacific region. The current signatories are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each country must pass its own legislation for the new encryption-control piece of the Wassenaar Arrangement to take effect. More information on Wassenaar can be found at www.wassenaar.org. Rebecca Sykes is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Dec 4 22:02:03 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 22:02:50 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 22:02:50 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Java prepares for its fourth birthday party Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Java prepares for its fourth birthday party By Dana Gardner, Ed Scannell, and Ted Smalley Bowen, InfoWorld Electric Posted at 5:29 PM PT, Dec 4, 1998 Java will get a 4-year birthday party of sorts next week when Sun Microsystems introduces its Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.2 at the Java Business Expo, in New York. Among party guests will be IBM, with the next version of its WebSphere Application Server and an updated version of VisualAge tools for Java. A slew of companies will leverage Java's new capabilities, as well as those of the new kid on the block Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB). "JDK 1.2 is a huge step forward from where [Sun] was a year ago. The most visible improvement is the Swing user interface. Some of the underlying stuff like security is much more important to the server environment," said Doug Pollack, vice president of marketing at GemStone Systems, in Beaverton, Ore., now delivering its GemStone/J 2.0 EJB application server. "It's much richer and you should see more consistency," said Anne Thomas, an analyst at the Patricia Seybold Group, in Boston. Not everyone is excited by Java's latest iteration. "To me, Java is nearly an irrelevant story. Microsoft has been successful in devaluing it from a platform to a mere language. It's an important language, but the 'write once, run anywhere' mantra is not true," said Vernon Keenan, an analyst at Keenan Vision, in San Francisco. Many users remain keen on Java, even if its critics decry its rocky evolution on the client and Sun's dictatorial stewardship of Java as a cross-platform standard. "We are very interested in Java. I see it as probably halfway mature, as a young teenager," said John Bercik, systems manager at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston, S.C. "It's very exciting with a huge amount of potential. Everyone here has changed their mind-set over the last year. We want data everywhere." IBM will release Version 2.0 of its WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition, along with an updated version of its VisualAge for Java, Enterprise Edition. Both will arrive by the end of this month. WebSphere also now supports EJB, allowing corporate developers to deploy components and applications on virtually any server across an enterprise. The new server also contains several other Enterprise Java Server (EJS) features. "The Advanced Edition with EJB is primarily aimed at those who need reusable components," said Paraic Sweeney, vice president of marketing for IBM's Web Server products. "The December release is the first glimpse of the EJS, plus servlet engine, which will be merged in 1999. The December release is essentially [WebSphere] 1.1 with some performance boosts, plus the EJS," said a source close to IBM. The moves could place IBM in front of the application server pack, albeit with an open standards approach. Many of the other high-performance application servers have been built on proprietary run times and object containers. "I see WebSphere on the leading edge of the market. I just hope they don't screw up the marketing," said Tim Sloane, an analyst at the Aberdeen Group, in Boston. Also new from IBM next week is added support for VisualAge for Java, Enterprise Edition. The product is a culmination of IBM's drive to provide corporate users with capabilities to create enterprise-level Java applications. The Enterprise Edition comes complete with a testing and debugging environment designed to support EJB deployment to any EJB-compliant application server, said Valerie Olague, an IBM marketing manager. IBM will also set new directions for its Java-based San Francisco application frameworks by describing a custom container for the applications that converts the applications for use on EJB-compliant servers. The goal is to converge San Francisco applications with the EJB 2.0 specification, due in late 1999, sources said. As IBM gets cozy with EJB, Sun next week will be busy promoting JDK 1.2. Sun promises that the new JDK will be stable, perform well, and offer wider compatibility. Moreover, along with the recent unveiling of CORBA 3.0 specifications, the interdependence of Java with CORBA will deepen with the release of JDK 1.2, Sun officials said. Also next week, Sybase's tools division will unveil the feature set for PowerBuilder 7.0, as well as announce the pending arrival of Sybase's next Enterprise Application Server, code-named Vineyard. Novell next week will deliver the consolidated Novell Developer Kit, which offers users of C and C++ APIs; Java class libraries; and JavaBeans or scripting languages to optimize Novell's network, Internet, and management services. Corel will also preview its Java-based jBridge connectivity technology. BEA will detail a strategic partnership with Symantec on Java-based tools for rapid application development. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., can be reached at www.sun.com. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com. Sybase Inc., in Emeryville, Calif., can be reached at www.sybase.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Dana Gardner is based in New Hampshire. Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large. Ted Smalley Bowen is InfoWorld's Boston bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sat Dec 5 22:24:59 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Sat, 05 Dec 1998 22:24:57 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sat, 05 Dec 1998 22:24:57 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Government, Intel produce nuke-proof computer chip Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Government, Intel produce nuke-proof computer chip December 5, 1998 Web posted at: 10:56 p.m. EST (0356 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. government and Intel Corp. have teamed up to develop a radiation-proof computer chip that could help shield satellites from nuclear blasts in space. The new computer microprocessor is the result of work by Intel and the government's Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. Intel, the largest manufacturer of microprocessors, will provide the government with "existing technology that then allows them to go off and build a radiation-hardened product," said a source close to the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity and would reveal no details about the chip. Intel is scheduled to announce the new technology Tuesday at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, with Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and NASA Administrator Dan Goldin expected to attend, the source said. The trade newsletter Defense Week, in an edition being published Monday, said the new chip would one day enable systems aboard satellites and other space vehicles to withstand the effects of a nuclear detonation. The article said U.S. intelligence agencies are increasingly worried about the possibility that a potential enemy could disrupt satellite surveillance and communications simply by firing a nuclear weapon straight up and detonating it in space. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Dec 7 09:51:38 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 09:51:44 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 09:51:44 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Bluetooth group clashes with Microsoft Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Bluetooth group clashes with Microsoft By Ephraim Schwartz and Dan Briody InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:38 AM PT, Dec 7, 1998 Industry support for the Bluetooth Special Interest Group's (SIG's) wireless specification is eroding due to a series of questionable political and technical decisions made by the group's founders. The Bluetooth SIG founders group, consisting of Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba, is missing one key industry member: Microsoft. And the Redmond, Wash., giant is being difficult, sources said. Even if Microsoft were to join and was given a voting membership -- currently only the five founding members have voting rights on the final specification -- the structure allows a vote of 4-1 to approve a change to the specification. Microsoft wants the SIG to approve only unanimous decisions, thus giving Microsoft, or any other member, veto power over changes to the specification, according to sources. The SIG also requires all of its members to give up intellectual property rights to technology developed for Bluetooth. Microsoft and current members who did not read the fine print, are concerned. "Some members feel they are not a full part of the process and don't have a say on the final specs," said Phil Redmond, an analyst at the Yankee Group, in Boston. Without Microsoft membership, the Bluetooth specification may never get Microsoft Logo approval. Along with a host of more technical problems, lack of Microsoft membership may become the final straw that prevents Bluetooth from becoming a widely adopted standard, said Rob Enderle, a senior analyst at the Giga Information Group, in Santa Clara, Calif. "Lack of support puts a cloud over it. If one of the two big members of the [Wintel] platform does not support it, it is a good chance it may not fly," Enderle said. "Particularly when the Federal Aviation Administration is indicating they may disapprove. It doesn't take make much on top of that to kill it." The specification is also facing some technological hurdles. Because it uses the same bandwidth as the industry-standard local wireless technology, 802.11, there will be collisions -- causing lost packets -- between data sent by more than one device working in the same environment, Intel officials said. Bluetooth devices could also collide with devices using Microsoft's wireless home network technology. Also, although the industry in general is moving toward IP as a standard communications protocol, Bluetooth does not use it. "It doesn't make sense. Bluetooth ought to be IP-compliant," said Andrew Seybold, editor in chief of Outlook on Communications and Computing, in Brookdale, Calif. If ever adopted, Bluetooth could solve a number of communications problems for IT managers. "If the specification achieves its objectives, it will be the first major initiative to allow seamless wireless interoperability between virtually all transmittable devices from cellular phones to portable computers and even ATM machines," said Veronica Williams, managing director at Absolute Computer Technologies, a communications consultancy in South Orange, N.J. "IT managers will benefit, but if it turns into a political dogfight, everybody loses," Seybold said. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group is at www.bluetooth.com. Dan Briody is Client/Server section editor at InfoWorld. InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz is based in San Mateo, Calif. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Dec 7 10:17:05 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 09:52:22 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 09:52:22 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Netscape to use Gecko to put developers' minds at rest Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Netscape to use Gecko to put developers' minds at rest By Emily Fitzloff InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:38 AM PT, Dec 7, 1998 Netscape this week plans to allay developer fears that its acquisition by America Online will hamper its Mozilla.org open source development project: Netscape will release its Gecko Web browser engine to developers at no charge. Originally code-named Next-Generation Technology, Gecko offers high performance, modularity and support for HTML 4.0, Extensible Markup Language, cascading style sheets, and Resource Description Framework standards. Netscape designed the engine to be extremely small; it fits on a floppy disk so it can be embedded on multiple devices such as fax machines, televisions, palm devices, and cellular phones, company executives said. "[Gecko] will let anyone access Web content from any operating system, device, or application," said a Netscape representative. Gecko will be released initially on Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, and Linux platforms, but is designed to be easily ported to any operating system. According to Netscape executives, AOL's interest in moving to set-top boxes will boost Gecko's momentum, and AOL will be one of the first to use the engine by incorporating it into the next version of its Internet chat software. "Bringing the browser to multiple devices will help maintain its value," said Michael Sullivan-Trainor, an analyst at International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass. Gecko was developed in conjunction with Mozilla.org and can be downloaded from www.mozilla.org. Netscape Communications Corp., in Mountain View, Calif., is at www.netscape.com. Emily Fitzloff is an InfoWorld senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Dec 7 21:22:45 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:22:52 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:22:52 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM calls on Sun to hand Java to standards body Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM calls on Sun to hand Java to standards body By Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 5:23 PM PT, Dec 7, 1998 Adding more fuel to a fire building around Sun Microsystems to open up its Java technology, IBM executives on Monday called on Sun to hasten its handing over of a least part of the technology to the International Organization for Standardization, commonly known as the ISO. The call came as attendees were gathering here for the Java Business Expo, and it would be but a piece of the puzzle that Sun faces in quieting factions within the Java community who have complained about its handling of the would-be cross-platform standard. >From the high-end Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) specification to the low-end embedded Java technology, Sun is facing an ever-more antsy crowd. Sun has found itself in an atmosphere where none of the people affected by Java are happy all of the time. Sun seems to be working to try and make some of the people in the Java universe happy some of the time. In such a vein, Sun in November said it would open its Java licensing policy to allow nonlicensees a say in how aspects of Java's definitions are created. However, those comments came only after Hewlett-Packard and several other vendors said they were splintering off from Sun on creating standards for embedded Java. To try to quell anxious developers working on EJB-compliant application servers on the high end, Sun on Wednesday is expected to roll out an EJB reference platform for developers to test to and adhere to, said sources close to the company. Sun at the same time is in under mounting pressure from some of its most important allies to improve the process behind making Java more than a popular language. The goal that unites the far-flung Java universe is to craft Java into a soup-to-nuts enterprise platform technology that binds together disparate systems and jump-starts the adoption of reusable object-oriented software in mainstream corporate computing. As part of Java's ongoing promise the make Java into such a holy grail of computing, Sun is holding a coming out party for its Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.2 this week. However, the arrival of the JDK 1.2 may be more symbolic than helpful. Major vendors are not expected to make JDK 1.2 technology enter all of their server and middleware products for as much as a year, said David Gee, a Java marketer at IBM. And it is in things such as the JDK that Sun's role should lie, say its critics -- to foster the cutting edge of Java. And then Sun should leave the overall maturation to outside institutions, they say. "We won't be happy until the Java standards are in the hands of an international standards body," said Ian Brackenburg, a Java researcher and evangelist at IBM's Hursley Centre, near London. As early as February, IBM wants Sun to follow through on some earlier promises to open the Java standard, Brackenburg said. "We're on a good track for creation of standards. Stewardship is another thing," Brackenburg said Monday. "We're going to put on the pressure." Not all players are advocates of opening Java to such standards bodies, saying the process could be slowed and play into the hands of Java rival Microsoft. "I'm more in Sun's camp on this one," said Robin Retallick, president and CEO of ActionWare, a maker of customer-relationship management software in Emeryville, Calif. "I think a standards body would slow it down, and that would play into Microsoft's hands." In many respects, however, opening the Java process will do little to effect the practical application of Java technology by the leading Java vendors such as IBM, Novell, Oracle, and Sun. Instead these company's are walking a tightrope between what aspects of Java they license and implement for cross-platform benefits and which technologies to develop and optimize on their own to differentiate themselves. It is just such a quandary that led IBM on Monday to refer to Java in one breath as an enterprise-class solution from top to bottom and in the next as a "prepubescent pixie" of a technology, in the words of Patricia Sueltz, general manager of Java at IBM. These vendors tend to love Java for its baseline, common-denominator facets while quietly pursuing ways of extending their advantage in the market based on their product mix. Already, a dueling technologies "co-opetition" is brewing between IBM's reference platform for run-time EJB, announced Monday as part of the arrival of WebSphere Advanced Edition, and other EJB products expected from Sun. "Sun will come out with its EJB server and IBM will, and both will get their commonality by searching through standards," said Tim Sloane, an analyst at the Aberdeen Group in Boston. "At the same time they will differentiate themselves through business logic ... and go after the hearts and minds of developers." That leaves other makers of Java-compliant products guessing as to how much Java to add to their products -- and when. IBM feels that the use of the ISO to keep the Java standard widely understood and monitored is a prudent step. "This protects the assets of what you build," Sueltz said. "We're a stick in the side to them to be good stewards," Sueltz said of IBM and Sun, respectively. "We'll push on Sun to be open to all the new ideas. If HP has good ideas, let's take a look at them." IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at www.sun.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Dana Gardner is based in New Hampshire. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Dec 7 21:31:35 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:32:03 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:32:03 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Standard for remote Web content authoring OK'd by IETF Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Standard for remote Web content authoring OK'd by IETF By Christy Walker, PC Week Online December 7, 1998 5:37 PM ET The Internet Engineering Task Force on Monday announced approval of a standard that will make it easier for distributed users to edit and post documents on the Web. The WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) standard will enable dispersed users to write, edit and save shared documents in a consistent way. In addition, WebDAV-compliant software will use the protocol as a standard way to link Web authoring tools and Web servers. The IETF's final WebDAV draft explains how compliant software deals with technical specifications including overwrite protection, which prevents more than one user from working on a document at one time; properties, which outlines a method for storing and retrieving information about Web pages such as author, publication date and keywords; and name-space management, or the ability to instruct the server to copy and move Web resources. Developers including Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communication Corp., Novell Inc., IBM and Xerox Corp., were involved in the WebDAV standard. WebDAV was first formulated in 1997 by the IETF. Additional information about WebDAV is available at www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ieft/webdav/. The WebDAV standard is available at www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/webdav/protocol/draft-ietf-webdav-protocol-10.txt. The IETF can be reached at www.ietf.org. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Dec 7 21:47:52 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:23:57 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:23:57 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft issues year-2000 patch for Windows 98 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft issues year-2000 patch for Windows 98 By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 11:05 AM PT, Dec 7, 1998 Microsoft on Monday released fixes for a host of "minor" year-2000 issues in Windows 98, including a "date rollover" bug that throws a PC's system off by two days if it is booted up seconds before midnight. Microsoft insisted that the year-2000 bugs in Windows 98 pose no risk of PC damage or data loss. However, the flaws are cause for some embarrassment because the operating system was just released in June, amid promises that it was year-2000 compliant. The software giant posted its Year 2000 Update for free download, at windowsupdate.microsoft.com, and also will offer the fixes on a CD-ROM to customers who call (800) 363-2896. The date rollover bug causes a PC's date to be thrown out of whack if it is rebooted at the precise moment when the date rolls over on Dec. 31. The bug initially was considered a year-2000 problem, but actually it can strike on any day, causing the Windows 98 calendar to jump ahead two days or jump back one day, according to company officials. Other year 2000 issues addressed in the Windows 98 update include fixes for year-2000 issues in Microsoft's Java virtual machine; a leap-year display problem with the Date/Time control applet; a bug in the Phone Dialer applet, which causes the wrong date to be displayed in the log file; a DOS XCOPY bug; lagging IP lease date problems; problems parsing dates by the Microsoft Foundation Class Library; year-2000 bugs in older versions of Microsoft Wallet, the Internet-commerce software that holds user's credit card information for online transactions; problems programming to data access components; bugs that occur when a user sets Regional Settings in Windows 98's Control Panel; and a WordPad year-2000 bug. A representative said Windows programmers who are assembling Service Pack 1 for Windows 98 discovered many of the problems. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott is a senior editor at InfoWorld, based in Seattle. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Dec 7 22:24:53 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:34:57 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:34:57 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Jikes! More open source code Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Jikes! More open source code IBM jumps on the open-source bandwagon by releasing code for Java compiler By Antone Gonsalves and Peter Coffee, PC Week Online December 7, 1998 9:00 AM ET IBM today will join the growing ranks of open-source developers when it releases the source code of its Jikes Java compiler. At the Java Business Expo in New York, IBM will announce that Jikes, a Java byte code generator, is being moved to an open-source mode of development. Jikes is IBM's second piece of technology to go to an open-source model. The first was its XML Parser for Java. The Armonk, N.Y., company chose to adopt an open-source model, popularized by Linux and the Apache Web server, for Jikes as a way to push more development in Java, a critical platform for many IBM technologies, officials said. "It's a way to drive the growth of markets that are built on open standards platforms, that then make it much easier for everybody to compete with commercial products on top of that [platform]," said Jim Russell, senior manager of Java technology for IBM, in Hawthorne, N.Y. "Clearly in the end, IBM, like everybody else, is in the business to make money," Russell said. "But there are cases where it makes sense from a strategic, business sense to take a technology out of research and make it open source." IBM does not plan to charge users for the source code of the compiler, but developers who use it will have to credit IBM on any product that uses Jikes or a portion of the technology. In addition, any modifications done to the source code would have to be approved by IBM before they can be identified as Jikes technology, Russell said. Jikes is actually a more stringent enforcer of Java than Sun Microsystems Inc.'s own compilers, IBM officials said. Jikes--a rival, yet compliant, version of Sun's Java compiler--notifies developers during compilation when source code significantly deviates from the Java specification. IBM's research lab has been aggressive in developing Java technology, but Russell dismissed any suggestion that IBM was impatient with Sun's Java development process. "We view it not so much as we can't wait for Sun, but here's something we're able to do as scientists that we want to contribute to the Java community," Russell said. Sun officials in Palo Alto, Calif., were not available for comment. IBM will encourage developers to build new features for Jikes and will form a committee made up of members of the open-source community and company representatives to evaluate those contributions before they are accepted, officials said. "Just like the Apache group, we want to make sure the name [Java] doesn't become diluted," Russell said. "You want the benefits of an open-source development model, but you also want to avoid the dangers of fragmentation." IBM's move comes as IT managers are warming to benefits of the Linux operating system and other open-source-code offerings. Commercial companies that have gone that route include Netscape Communications Corp., of Mountain View, Calif., with its Mozilla project, and Novell Inc., of Provo, Utah, which plans to open up portions of its cornerstone Novell Directory Services software to users and developers. The URL for the Jikes source code is www.alphaworks.ibm.com/formula/jikesos From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Dec 7 22:24:54 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:25:59 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 21:25:59 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft continues drive to 64 bits Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft continues drive to 64 bits By Bob Trott and Ed Scannell InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:38 AM PT, Dec 7, 1998 Microsoft is chugging along in its bid to build a 64-bit version of its upcoming Windows 2000 operating system, hoping that slow and steady will win the race. The software giant has come under fire for being slow to build a 64-bit OS -- deemed essential for a vendor that wants to storm the enterprise with heavy-duty data-center solutions -- but Microsoft's timing may actually be in line with what customers are looking for. Many analysts said there is little interest among corporate users for a 64-bit version of Windows NT that runs on Intel-based servers. The obvious reason is that Intel's Merced chip will not ship until mid-2000. But perhaps as important, 64-bit computing is not crucial for most mission-critical applications in the near term, they said. "It is true that [64-bit technology] is gaining some momentum, but it is among small pockets of users who want it for very large databases for data mining and warehousing," said John Oltsik, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Mass. Windows 2000 will include 64-bit extensions, such as Very Large Memory, or VLM, capabilities. But Microsoft is trailing in the race to build a full 64-bit OS, as other OSes -- Digital Unix; SGI's Irix; IBM's AIX, OS/400, and OS/390; HP-UX; and Sun Solaris -- are already there. According to one source, Microsoft is engineering its future version of Windows 2000, dubbed Win64, to be processor-bit independent so that over time it can be easily moved to next-generation processors, such as 128-bit or 256-bit. "That would indicate a single source code that can be optimized for either [32-bit or 64-bit processors]," said Dwight Davis, a Kirkland, Wash.-based analyst at Summit Strategies. Because Merced is not expected until mid-2000, Microsoft has time to worry about matters at hand, such as delivering Windows 2000, (formerly known as Windows NT 5.0), in 1999. Still, the company is setting goals. "We will have 64-bit NT no later than the general availability of [Intel's] IA-64 architecture," said Ed Muth, group product manager for enterprise marketing at Microsoft. Muth added that this 64-bit functionality will likely be a point upgrade to Windows 2000, due in 1999. However, because both Unix and NT will run on Merced, Microsoft will face new competition for operating system market share on low-cost Intel boxes. "With Merced coming, it will be Unix and NT [competing] on the same box," said Mary Hubley, an analyst at the Gartner Group, in Delran, N.J. "If you want 64-bit systems, you're going to buy Unix [because that is what is shipping]." But that competitive point may be moot for now, Hubley added, because "people aren't dying for [64-bit] by the time Merced ships." In September, Microsoft obtained from Intel an updated emulator, which is software that simulates 64-bit instruction sets, for the IA-64 environment. "We are working to make it available to everybody," said an Intel official, in Santa Clara, Calif. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott, based in Seattle, is a senior editor at InfoWorld. Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Dec 8 09:17:57 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 09:18:32 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 09:18:32 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: AT&T to buy IBM Global Network for $5 billion Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to AT&T to buy IBM Global Network for $5 billion By Kristi Essick InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:38 AM PT, Dec 8, 1998 Ending months of speculation about which suitor would step up to buy IBM's Global Network business, AT&T announced Tuesday that it will acquire the division for $5 billion in cash. The deal also entails the two companies entering into outsourcing contracts with each other. IBM will outsource a large portion of its global networking needs to AT&T under a contract valued at $5 billion, while the U.S. telecommunications giant will outsource certain applications processing and data center management functions to IBM in a separate $4 billion deal. AT&T is counting on the acquisition to bring $2.5 billion in additional revenue in the first full year of operation, and will accelerate its ability to offer IP-based managed network services to global customers, the company said in a statement. IBM's network will complement AT&T's existing plans to build a 100-city IP-based network as part of its global joint venture announced with British Telecommunications, AT&T said. The IBM Global Network provides leased-line and dial-up service to businesses in 900 cities in 100 countries and allows individuals to access the Internet from 1,350 locations in 53 countries. The network is in use by several hundred global companies, tens of thousands of mid-size businesses, and more than a million individual Internet users, the companies said in the statement. News that IBM would divest itself of its network leaked as early as the beginning of September, with IBM confirming sell-off plans mid-month. IBM started the network in the early 1980s to share data internally, but the network grew as customers asked for data infrastructure services, a spokeswoman said in September. The company never meant to become a data-infrastructure provider and recently began to view its Global Network division as extraneous. The company said Tuesday that it will concentrate on offering network services, such as messaging and I-commerce applications, as part of its services division, but it will no longer offer data-infrastructure services. When IBM developed its data network there were few other alternatives for sending data across the globe. However, today most telephone companies offer a host of data services over their communications networks. The fact that the deal involves cross-outsourcing agreements is no surprise either. IBM's goal in selling the network was to find a buyer that could also manage the network's operations, including the part of the network IBM will continue to use, Sam Palmisano, general manager of IBM Global Services, told the IDG News Service in September. He added at the time that IBM was looking particularly at large telecommunications carriers as possible buyers. Japan's Nippon Telegraph & Telephone was thought to be a prime candidate as a buyer. AT&T will meld IBM's network into its own networking services unit, AT&T Solutions. Around 5,000 IBM employees will join AT&T as part of the deal, the companies said. The companies expect the deal to be completed, pending shareholder approval and clearance from regulators, by mid-1999. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com. AT&T Corp., in Basking Ridge, N.J., can be reached at www.att.com. Kristi Essick is a correspondent in the Paris bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Dec 8 09:21:11 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Resent-Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 09:20:29 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 09:20:29 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: On eve of Sun's latest JDK, Microsoft claims best JVM Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to On eve of Sun's latest JDK, Microsoft claims best JVM By Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:14 AM PT, Dec 8, 1998 NEW YORK -- Just as Sun Microsystems was about to officially anoint its new Java Development Kit (JDK), Version 1.2, here Tuesday, Microsoft announced a pure Java upgrade to its 32-bit Java virtual machine (JVM) for Windows that it says works best. Microsoft on Monday released Java Virtual Machine for the Microsoft Windows operating system, and not referring to the JDK 1.2 moniker. The newest JVM, however, does support the Java Native Interface (JNI) to bring it in line with Sun's Java specification, as ordered in a recent ruling by the San Jose Federal District Court. Microsoft is challenging a lawsuit against it in that court by Sun, which maintains that Microsoft broke its Java licensing agreement by optimizing Java for Windows. Now, Microsoft is bringing forth a JVM that it says conforms to the court order -- and runs an average of 30 percent faster than Sun's latest offering on the ubiquitous Windows 32-bit platform using popular benchmarks. "While the Microsoft virtual machine is getting faster, Sun's virtual machine is getting slower on some key metrics," said Charles Fitzgerald, a Microsoft marketing official. He said that Sun's JDK 1.2 has grown in download size to 20MB, as compared to 8MB for the Microsoft virtual machine, and that Sun's version still starts up slower than Microsoft's. "JDK 1.2 matches the performance we had a year ago. And the main focus of this release is performance," said Joe Herman, a Microsoft official. The latest Microsoft JVM includes a new Just-In-Time Compiler, as well as enhancements for developers that speed the development cycle and simplify integration of Java code with other languages, applications, and services, Microsoft said. The new Windows JVM supports cross-platform applets and Windows-based applications written in Java, Microsoft said. It also includes performance enhancements that improve execution of Java components on the server using Active Server Pages and Microsoft Transaction Server technology, Microsoft said. Microsoft is also making available an update to the Virtual Machine for Windows that shipped with the Internet Explorer 4 browser. This version will also support JNI, as the lawsuit requires. It was unclear at the outset if the Microsoft JVM was actually in compliance with the JDK 1.2, or was being upgraded strictly to adhere to the court order. JDK 1.2 includes security enhancements and other improvements. It could not be determined immediately if those technologies are reflected in the latest Microsoft JVM releases. Microsoft has not officially been provided the JDK 1.2 source code due to the pending breach-of-contract suit, though its license did require it to keep its Java implementations current, as defined as a six-month period from the technology's release. Nonetheless, Microsoft is saying that its JVM adheres to the definition of pure Java under the JDK 1.1 release, and that its implementation performs better on at least some criteria than Sun's newest offering under JDK 1.2. Microsoft's new JVM works with Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. Developers can download the latest release free at www.microsoft.com/java. An updated JVM for Internet Explorer 4 Win32 versions -- but not for Macintosh and Unix -- is available at www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/mach.htm for end-users. Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Wash. is at www.microsoft.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Dana Gardner is based in New Hampshire. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Jan 4 12:14:11 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 12:08:14 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 12:08:14 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to AOL members spent more than $1B over the holidays By Margaret Kane, ZDNN January 4, 1999 12:22 PM ET 1998 was a banner year for America Online Inc. (AOL) and its merchant partners. The company said Monday that members spent more than $1 billion online between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And 1.25 million of those shoppers were making their first purchases online. >From all indications, it won't be their last. "This isn't just a holiday phenomenon," said Wendy Goldberg, vice president of communications at AOL, in Dulles, Va. "Once they found how much fun it was to shop online, and how easy and convenient it is, and what great things they could get, they planned to come back again." Goldberg said that 98 percent of the shoppers said they plan to shop online again within the next six months. "It's not surprising. AOL was very heavily promoting Internet commerce during the holiday season, and if anyone's going to bring first-time buyers to the Internet it's going to be AOL," said Melissa Bane, an analyst at the Yankee Group in Boston. Banner year Analysts had been predicting 1998 would be a banner year for e-commerce, and from all indications they were right. A survey of online merchants found a 230 percent increase in reported online sales this year for the period between Nov. 23 and Dec. 20. The survey, conducted by the Boston Consulting Group and industry organization shop.org, found that the average order was $55. Individual retailers reported astronomical jumps in online sales compared to last year, when there was a relatively small amount of e-commerce shopping going on. SkyMall Inc., best known for its in-flight catalog, said online sales grew 600 percent from last year to $2.1 million. Online movie seller Reel.com saw sales rise 700 percent in December, although CEO Julie Wainwright said month-to-month sales figures were more important. Things were the same at AOL. The company said its biggest revenue day, December 17, saw more than $36 million in sales rung up. Last year, AOL's biggest days saw only $1 million in sales. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Jan 4 16:04:39 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 15:15:20 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 15:15:20 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Justice Department approves AT&T-TCI merger Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Justice Department approves AT&T-TCI merger By Nancy Weil InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:41 AM PT, Jan 4, 1999 As expected, the U.S. Department of Justice Wednesday approved the $48 billion merger between AT&T and Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI). TCI has agreed to divest its interest in Sprint's PCS stock, which is to be handed over to an independent trustee before the deal is completed. But before the merger takes effect, it still must be approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. While that approval also is expected, the FCC could require additional concessions. "The stickiest areas have yet to be addressed and will be addressed when the FCC takes a look," analyst Jeffrey Kagan said in e-mail comments regarding the Justice Department approval. "Competitors want this new company to be treated like a common carrier, and want access to the new combined network. This is a can of worms AT&T wishes would go away. That will be the really interesting debate when the FCC fires up on this one." The U.S. Department Justice, in Washington, can be reached at www.usdoj.gov. The Federal Communications Commission, also in Washington, can be reached at www.fcc.gov. AT&T Corp., in Basking Ridge, N.J., can be reached at (908) 221-2000 or www.att.com. Tele-Communications Inc., in Denver, can be reached at (303) 267-5500 or www.tci.com. Nancy Weil is a correspondent in the Boston bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 5 10:19:10 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 09:29:29 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 09:29:29 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Finjan uncovers Web security 'hole' Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Finjan uncovers Web security 'hole' By PC Week Online Staff January 5, 1999 10:15 AM ET Finjan Inc. said Tuesday it has discovered an Internet security threat that can "expose your private files or data to theft or irreparable damage." According to a report in today's Wall Street Journal, the security "hole" exploits a function in Microsoft Corp.'s Excel spreadsheet and other commands that are used to divide Web sites into frames. Finjan, an Israeli security company, has scheduled a press conference for later this afternoon to discuss the issue. "We think this is probably the biggest security hole in Internet history," the Journal quotes Bill Lyons, Finjan's CEO. "Any student at Stanford could exploit it." Microsoft in early December sent out bulletins warning that the feature in Excel, known by the acronym CALL, could be used to distribute dangerous code, according to the report. The company makes software available that disables the CALL function. Margaret Kane of ZDNN contributed to this report From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 5 10:24:51 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 09:35:27 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 09:35:27 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Amazon.com reports $250 million sales in fourth quarter Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Amazon.com reports $250 million sales in fourth quarter Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Reuters News Service SEATTLE (January 5, 1999 9:37 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Internet bookseller Amazon.com said Tuesday its fourth-quarter sales reached $250 million, over three and a half times last year's levels, or $1 billion on an annual basis. Increased sales at Amazon.com, a giant among Internet retailers, adds to the evidence that shoppers are flocking to the Web. Online service provider America Online Inc. said Monday that its subscribers spent $1.2 billion on its network, the online equivalent of a shopping mall, during the holiday season. Amazon.com cautioned, however, that higher seasonal sales will not translate into reduced losses for the fourth quarter. The company said significant music and video sales and aggressive product pricing lowered profit margins. Since going public, Amazon.com, like many other Internet firms, has consistently lost money as its sinks cash into expanding its reach. Nevertheless, investors have flocked to the company, driving the shares up from under $10 a year ago to close at over $118 on Monday, adjusted for stock splits. Over a million new customers shopped at Amazon.com during the holiday shopping season of Nov. 17 to Dec. 31. During that time the company shipped over 7.5 million items, more than it shipped during all of 1997. "We worked hard to create the best possible shopping experience," Jeff Bezos, the company's founder and chief executive, said in a statement. "We had more business than our most optimistic projections." Bezos, who left a hedge fund to start Amazon.com in 1994, owns about 48 percent of the company together with his family. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 5 10:28:12 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 09:30:50 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 09:30:50 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: High-end computers going cheap Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to High-end computers going cheap Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Associated Press By RACHEL BECK Look back at 1998 at www.nandotimes.com/nt/special/moreyear98.html. NEW YORK (January 4, 1999 6:52 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Cheap computers stole sales away from pricey PCs this Christmas, and now retailers are offering big discounts to clear out their high-end inventory. That means consumers can find a wide variety of powerful computers with lots of goodies attached for around $1,000, well below what they would have paid a year ago. "If you want to buy a higher-end system, this is the time to buy," said Matt Sargent, an analyst at ZD Market Intelligence, a research firm based in La Jolla, Calif. "The stores are overstocked and they want to clear their shelves to make room for new inventory." It was a strong year for the computer industry, largely because prices dropped to levels affordable enough for the masses. According to new research from ZD Market Intelligence, the average retail selling price for a personal desktop computer was $983 in November, the first time it dropped below $1,000. A year ago, the average price was $1,329. In addition, market share increased sharply for inexpensive computers. In October, PCs under $600 accounted for 5.5 percent of retail sales. By November, they accounted for 16.6 percent. Realizing consumers' appetite for lower prices, retailers counted on the less-expensive computers to entice shoppers to their stores during the holidays. It was hard to miss the barrage of advertisements touting computers for as little as $400. "There were a lot of promotions out there for the low-priced computers, but the more expensive ones they didn't promote as much and didn't sell as many," said David Goldstein, president of Channel Marketing Corp. in Dallas. Now, retailers hope price cuts on higher-end models move products out of stores quickly. Manufacturers are already shipping new inventory, and the outdated computers have almost no shelf life. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 5 12:11:15 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 11:21:30 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 11:21:30 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: AOL replaces ABC News with CBS Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to AOL replaces ABC News with CBS CBS will be the exclusive news provider on the 15-million member AOL site. By Maria Seminerio, ZDNN America Online Inc. and CBS News announced Tuesday they have finalized a multi-year deal to make CBS the exclusive news provider for the 15 million-member online service. The deal marks the end of CBS' rival ABC News' partnership with AOL. The pact extends CBS' presence throughout the proprietary AOL service, the AOL.com Web site, and AOL's CompuServe subsidiary, according to the companies. In exchange, CBS will promote AOL "within each of its news broadcasts, including the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, 60 Minutes," and several other television shows, the companies announced. The companies will also share advertising revenue generated through AOL areas that incorporate CBS programming, CBS and AOL officials said. Financial terms of the deal were not announced, but AOL executives reportedly have characterized it as a more favorable financial agreement for the online service than was the ABC deal, set to expire this month. AOL spokesman Tom Ziemba would not comment on the financial question or on the exact length of the agreement. But he said the deal differs from the ABC pact in that it calls for more cross-promotion between the two companies' services and provides for greater exposure of CBS News' reporters and anchors on AOL live chats and other events. The pact is unquestionably a boon for CBS, whose online efforts to date have been less successful than those of its network and cable news rivals. Independent audits show the CBS.com Web site garnering much less traffic than sites such as CNN.com. And CBS reportedly has discussed merging its news-gathering operations with cable news giant CNN. "Over the next 12 months, AOL members will view millions of pages with the CBS News logo framing our editorial content. That's a tremendous number of impressions, in a medium that augments our more traditional television and radio audience," said Mel Karmazin, president and chief executive officer of CBS Corp., in a press release. "In forming this partnership with AOL, we are also developing an important new audience and new revenue streams for CBS News," Karmazin said. CBS will provide video news, text news stories, special features and textual links to the CBS.com Web site from within the AOL service, AOL.com and within the CompuServe service, CBS officials said. No changes are in the offing for the CBS.com Web site, AOL's Ziemba said. "By bringing one of the most recognizable broadcast news organizations in the world to the AOL community, we're both meeting the demand for quality news reporting and providing another reason for consumers to make AOL brands their one-stop online home," said Barry Schuler, president of AOL's Interactive Services unit, in a press release. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 6 10:11:31 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 09:21:50 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 09:21:50 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Troubled modem maker Hayes closes shop Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Troubled modem maker Hayes closes shop By Laura Kujubu InfoWorld Electric Posted at 2:04 PM PT, Jan 5, 1999 Three months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, pioneer modem-maker Hayes on Tuesday announced it is shutting down operations and preparing for liquidation. Hayes filed for bankruptcy court protection in October 1998, as well as in 1996, and had said it was planning a reorganization plan, which would encompass broadband, remote-access server, and voice-over-IP initiatives. However, the company's primary lender, NationsCredit, had refused to lend sufficient funds to allow for continued operations while Hayes sought to refinance or sell the company. NationsCredit was only willing to finance a liquidation budget, according to Hayes officials. As a result, the modem manufacturer confirmed it has ceased operations and has laid off about 250 employees across North America and Asia Pacific. In addition, the company announced that Chief Operations Officer Steve Mank, Chief Financial Officer Chuck Marantz, and CEO Ron Howard are no longer with the company. P.K. Chan will continue as president of Hayes, and Howard will continue serving on the company's board of directors. Hayes officials did not believe its common shareholders will receive any value as a result of the planned liquidation and sales. Analysts were sympathetic to Hayes, recognizing Hayes as a casualty in a rapidly changing market. "There were things beyond their control," said Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, in Tempe, Ariz. "The modem market is a dumper as far as prices go: At the retail level, sales are only up to 6 to 7 percent, whereas prices dropped 20 to 30 percent." "The modem market has been very competitive and has become a commodity market with profit margins being very, very tight," said Lisa Pelgrim, an analyst at Dataquest, in San Jose, Calif. "Hayes had a great brand name, but the market has significantly changed." Pelgrim noted that much of manufacturing in the modem market is now in Asia and that the growing segment is in the OEM market. However, she also said other modem companies are still managing to survive, such as 3Com. "3Com has a lot of other products and has profitability across the board," Pelgrim said. "But Hayes was just strong in the retail side." Hayes Corp., in Norcross, Ga., can be reached at www.hayes.com . Laura Kujubu is an InfoWorld reporter. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 6 17:22:40 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 16:33:09 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 16:33:09 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein , Jason Roselander , Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Software Job Mart: Great And Getting Better Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Software Job Mart: Great And Getting Better (01/06/99, 4:48 p.m. ET) By Adam Marcus, EE Times "Never been better, and getting better." That may sound like a self-help mantra, but it's really the satisfied reflection of Jim DeLapa describing the job market these days for software engineers. Nowhere is the nationwide shortage in high-tech workers felt more acutely than in IT, where salaries are running as much as 80 percent above the average for all other industries, said DeLapa, president of San Diego's PrimeForce Recruiters and outgoing president of the Software Industry Council. Just how big is the gap between supply and demand? DeLapa said there are now 180,000 openings in the United States for people with IT degrees. There's been some dispute about that estimate; engineering groups said older IT workers have a much higher unemployment rate than younger ones, indicating companies aren't tapping the well very deeply. Still, America's colleges and universities pump out only 25,000 to 30,000 bachelor's degrees a year in IT disciplines. Whatever the reason -- be it poor math and science instruction in secondary school or an inability to attract young women to the field -- the end point is the same, DeLapa said: "The demand is high, and we're not making [IT professionals] fast enough." Driving the overall demand is "the permeation of information technology into all aspects of every business," said DeLapa, whose company has been placing engineers in jobs across the country for three years. "If you go today and valet park your car, chances are the attendant will run a software application to find out where your car is parked. A software engineer had to write that program." What's more, he said, in the old economy, software literacy tended to be a highly local skill. With the proliferation of the microprocessor into nearly every object that runs on electrons, suddenly the software programmer is a Jack of all trades. Indeed, the membership of the San Diego-based Software Industry Council is a cross-section of Fortune 500 companies. Lockheed Martin and BellSouth belong to the club, but so do New York Life and American Family Life Assurance Company, or AFLAC, each a major insurance company. Even Publix Supermarkets is a member, DeLapa said. Such variety is great for engineers who dread working in Silicon Valley -- yet, it's good for the folks in that high-tech enclave, too, DeLapa said. "The demand for software engineers in all industries is making it even harder for high-tech firms" to compete for talent, he said. "The demand is so high that the business is looking like real estate," with a buying and a selling agent. "If I can't find a candidate for [a company], I'll call another recruiting firm, and we split the fee." In a change from the conventional wisdom of the downsized economy, companies are essentially at the mercy of the worker when it comes to high-tech hires, DeLapa said. "We're seeing the really proactive companies do their pay increases and evaluations every six months instead of every 12 months," he said. That's not because they're looking to oust employees, but because they're hoping to keep them. "Companies used to guarantee your fee would be prorated if the candidate left after a year. Now it's down to 90 days," he said. If the software sector is hot, women programmers are, to borrow a phrase from ESPN, en fuego. Traditionally, a company that hires someone referred by a headhunter gives the recruiter 20 percent of the employee's annual salary for the first year. Nowadays, however, companies looking for a balanced workplace are so desperate for a pair of X chromosomes that they're paying recruiters between 30 percent and 35 percent of a year's salary for an acceptable resume, DeLapa said. Despite the recent efforts of leading engineering schools to promote their wares to women, and incentives to headhunters notwithstanding, the scorching job market has a long way to go to make a difference in the gender imbalance. Last year, only 4 percent of PrimeForce's placements into software jobs were women. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 7 10:26:27 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 09:37:03 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 09:37:03 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel to take wraps off the Pentium III Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel to take wraps off the Pentium III By John G. Spooner, PC Week Online January 7, 1999 10:23 AM ET As part of a "branding announcement" set for Monday, Jan. 11., Intel Corp. is expected to officially name its next-generation Pentium chip, code-named Katmai, the "Pentium III." While the company declined to comment on the announcement, one industry source called the name "the best kept secret in Silicon Valley." The Pentium III will begin at 450MHz and 500MHz, sources said. Intel has already stated publicly that it would release Katmai processors with those two clock speeds in this quarter. The Pentium III will ship in early March, at which time a bevy of OEMs are expected to announce systems based on the chip. A host of system hardware and software developers are also expected to announce products optimized for Katmai New Instructions, sources said. Announced last January, Katmai New Instructions is the code name for a set of 70 instructions intended to improve 3D graphics processing. In addition, Intel has said Katmai technology will help improve the performance of audio, video and such technologies as speech recognition. Although it is unclear at this point, Intel may also re-name the technology. Katmai New Instructions will first appear in the Pentium III processors. Intel (INTC) , of Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at www.intel.com. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 7 12:59:54 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 12:10:12 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 12:10:12 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: MCI WorldCom To Bid $55 Billion For AirTouch Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to MCI WorldCom To Bid $55 Billion For AirTouch (01/07/99, 12:26 p.m. ET) By Reuters NEW YORK -- MCI WorldCom, the nation's second-largest long distance telephone company, plans to join the bidding for cellular-phone company AirTouch Communications, according to a published report. The report, in Thursday's edition of USA Today newspaper, said MCI WorldCom plans to bid more than $55 billion for AirTouch, creating a three-way battle for the company. MCI WorldCom would join Bell Atlantic, the nation's leading local telephone service provider, and Vodafone Group, a wireless communications company in Britain, as suitors for San Francisco-based AirTouch. Created in 1994 after being spun off by Pacific Telesis, AirTouch is the world's largest wireless communications company, serving more than 16 million customers through ventures in the United States, Germany, Japan, and 10 other countries. USA Today reported that MCI WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers met with close advisers this week and decided to make a bid for AirTouch. WorldCom previously has said it has no plans to enter the wireless communications market, and early Thursday, the company declined to comment on the latest report. Vodafone and AirTouch also declined to comment. AirTouch has acknowledged that Vodafone has made a bid for the company and published stories have placed the value at about $55 billion. Bell Atlantic acknowledged Sunday that it was discussing a merger with AirTouch, and sources said such a bid would be worth $45 billion. Ebbers is no stranger to corporate takeovers. As chairman of WorldCom, he engineered its takeover of MCI in a $40 billion deal that combined the nation's No. 2 and No. 4 long distance companies. That deal was completed in September. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall be not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 7 13:01:58 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 12:12:35 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 12:12:35 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Judge orders settlement talks in Java dispute Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Judge orders settlement talks in Java dispute By Deborah Gage, Sm@rt Reseller January 7, 1999 12:11 PM ET U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ordered Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to hold settlement talks over how Java interacts with native code. A settlement would remove one major issue from the companies' contract dispute but would not settle the case. Whyte cited Sun's Java Native Interface and Microsoft's Raw Native Interface as two different ways for Java to interact with Windows. He said talks would now be productive since he has already issued a preliminary injunction ordering Microsoft (MSFT) to add Sun's JNI to its products and because "both parties recognize that there are times when developers need to call native code." JNI dictates how Java interacts with all native code, not just Windows. A Microsoft spokesman said "Microsoft has always wanted to work with Sun." But the company has also announced it will appeal Whyte's latest preliminary injunction and has not yet fixed Visual J++ 6.0, its Java development tool, to comply with the injunction. A settlement over native interfaces would have no impact on Visual J++ since Microsoft there extended the Java language to make products developed with J++ run only on Windows. In his order, Judge Whyte proposed that the companies broaden Microsoft's efforts with J/Direct, which allows Java developers direct access to Windows native functions, to achieve "a standardized method for invoking functions built into the platform being used." Whyte also suggested that the companies consider developing one specification that "achieves Sun's goal of universality and Microsoft's goal of more efficient performance and ease of coding." A Sun (SUNW) spokeswoman said the judge's order is standard operating procedure and that Sun has always been willing to work with Microsoft. Court documents show that the companies' failure to reach agreement over how Java interacts with native code was one issue that led to the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Whyte will hold a hearing on January 15 to decide whether Microsoft should have extra time to comply with the injunction and add JNI to its products. Microsoft has asked for a 120-day extension on some products and a 90-day extension on others. Microsoft must also fix NT 4.0 Service Pack 4, NT 4.0 Option Pack and NT 4.0 Terminal Server. Additional reporting by Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 7 13:05:59 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 12:11:30 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 12:11:30 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ophir Trigalo From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft gets down to Y2K nitty-gritty Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft gets down to Y2K nitty-gritty By Anne Knowles, PC Week Online January 7, 1999 10:57 AM ET Microsoft Corp. on Thursday will unveil plans to help its customers deal with the year 2000. The Redmond, Wash., company last month discussed plans to provide tools, seminars, and support for Y2K testing and compliance of its software. The software tools include Y2K Product Analyzer, which scans users' hard drives for Microsoft (MSFT) software, including operating system and applications, and determines whether they are Y2K compliant. The tool then provides URLs where users can go to download updates that bring the software into compliance. The free tool will be available this quarter at Microsoft's Web site or via the company's Y2K Resource CD. The initial version of the CD, which will be refreshed quarterly, is available now. It includes product guides and white papers. Microsoft will also be distributing Excel Y2K plug-ins at its Web site. They include the Date Fix Wizard, which changes the format of two-digit year dates; the Date Migration Wizard, which changes dates in older versions of the software; and the Date Watch Wizard, which alerts users when they enter numbers into spreadsheets that will cause Y2K trouble. Microsoft's Systems Management Server 2.0, meanwhile, which is expected to ship this quarter, will add new Y2K analysis and remediation features, including a Y2K compliance database that extends the Y2K Product Analyzer for enterprise-wide use. Users will also be able to add Y2K data on other vendors' software products to the database, said Don Jones, Microsoft's Y2K product manager. In addition, Microsoft is launching a series of worldwide Y2K customer seminars; a Y2K Blueprint Seminar, jointly conducted with Amdahl Corp., that outlines methodologies for Y2K testing and remediation planning for corporations; a Y2K listserv for subscribing to bimonthly alerts; the 1-888-MSFT-Y2K support line; and e-mail support. What's missing are tools that help users check out their data. The Excel plug-ins can scan individual spreadsheets but not applications created around Excel macros by users, said Jones. To date, Microsoft has tested 1,681 of its software products, said Jones, and plans to test a total of about 1,850. So far, 93 percent of those products tested are Y2K compliant or compliant with minor issues, said Jones. Microsoft's Y2K Web site is at www.microsoft.com/y2k. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 8 10:26:07 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 09:36:15 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 09:36:15 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft fires back at Sun's Jini Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft fires back at Sun's Jini By James Niccolai InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:57 AM PT, Jan 8, 1999 LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft here Thursday launched Universal Plug and Play, an initiative designed to allow a broad range of devices such as PCs, printers, and even security cameras to connect as peers over a home network and share resources. The initiative in many ways is Microsoft's response to the Jini technology disclosed last year by Microsoft's arch rival, Sun Microsystems, one analyst noted. Both technologies are designed to allow devices to connect easily to a network and interoperate with other devices. "As appliances become more intelligent and the distinction between appliances and computing devices blurs, a key part of their value to consumers will come from their ability to communicate with other intelligent devices," said Crag Mundie, senior vice president of Microsoft's consumer strategy division. To achieve that level of communication, Microsoft -- along with industry partners including Intel and Hewlett-Packard -- is developing a common set of interfaces that manufacturers will be able to use to build products that will be Universal-Plug-and-Play-compatible. The technology will be based on open standards, primarily TCP/IP and XML, Mundie said. The initiative has parallels with the Plug-and-Play initiative announced by Microsoft and others back in 1992, which allows users to connect peripherals to a PC without having to reboot the system. With Universal Plug and Play, that idea is extended and applied to a home network: peripherals can be attached to a network, they "announce" their presence, and can interoperate with other devices already connected to the network, Mundie said. In a demonstration here Thursday, a Microsoft engineer said he wanted to print a document from a PC to a printer close by on stage. The devices were not connected, but using Universal Plug and Play and infrared technology, the printer "announced its presence" on the network and allowed the engineer to use the printer for his document. In another example, a security camera was attached to a mock home network on stage. The image from the camera appeared immediately on a home security software application running on a PC. Mundie said Windows 2000 (formerly known as Windows NT 5.0) will be Universal-Plug-and-Play-compatible when it is released, and the company will offer a software upgrade for all Windows 98 users that makes that operating system compatible too, he said, although he didn't offer a time frame for the upgrade. Because the technology is based on industry standards including IP and TCP/IP, it will work with almost any kind of a network, including wireless and wireline networks, Mundie said. Microsoft spokesman Philip Holden said the company hopes manufacturers will have compatible products in the market by as early as the holiday shopping season at the end of 1999. However, one analyst cast doubt on that prediction. "I don't think they really know when this stuff is going to happen. They just saw all the press Sun is getting with Jini and they said, 'Let's do something alternative,'" said Seamus McAteer, Web technology strategies analyst with Jupiter Communications. "The goal is to have a complete set of specifications and sample source code available at this year's WinHec," Microsoft's Holden said. WinHec -- Microsoft's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference -- is due to take place April 7 to 9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Holden stopped short of calling the technology Microsoft's answer to Jini, but acknowledged there are similarities between the two. Universal Plug and Play is almost certain to butt heads with Sun's Jini. Sun is set to announce its Jini manufacturing partners at an event scheduled for Jan. 25, and Sun also hopes to have products that support Jini in the market by the end of 1999. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Mountain View, Calif., is at www.sun.com. James Niccolai is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 8 10:31:07 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 09:41:39 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 09:41:39 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft, AT&T huddle Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft, AT&T huddle Two titans talk about selling Microsoft Network and other properties January 8, 1999: 8:56 a.m. ET NEW YORK (CNNfn) - AT&T has discussed buying the Microsoft network and perhaps additional Microsoft media properties, according to published reports. Microsoft (MSFT) chief executive officer Bill Gates hosted a dinner attended by AT&T (T) CEO C. Michael Armstrong and president John Zeglis last fall, USA Today reported Friday. AT&T apparently decided not to buy the properties for now, but Microsoft reportedly considers the talks to be ongoing. The discussions are said to have included AT&T absorbing the Microsoft Internet service provider (ISP) into AT&T WorldNet. AT&T also could take stakes in or ownership of Microsoft media Web sites, the USA Today article said, such as the MSN portal and Web-based Slate magazine. In return, Microsoft would want money and a deal to have AT&T adopt and promote Microsoft Windows NT software. If the deal were to come through, AT&T, which is buying cable TV giant Tele-Communications Inc. (TCOMA), would gain about 2 million subscribers with the MSN ISP and double the size of WorldNet. It would also make AT&T No. 2 in Internet access behind America Online. Microsoft would benefit from selling the media properties, which analysts said have not been profitable. Microsoft shares closed Thursday down ¾ at 150-1/2. AT&T was down 5/8 at 82-1/4. TCI was up 1-1/16 at 61-1/16. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 8 14:05:58 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 12:58:29 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 12:58:29 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Toshiba Says It Developed Smallest DRAM Chips Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Toshiba Says It Developed Smallest DRAM Chips (01/08/99, 12:09 p.m. ET) By Reuters TOKYO -- Toshiba said Friday it had developed the world's smallest DRAM chip through cooperation with IBM and Siemens. A Toshiba spokesman said the companies had achieved achip-size reduction of 40 percent with 0.175-micron technology. Tokyo-based Toshiba said it plans to start mass-producing the new DRAM chips in Japan in late 1999, then transfer the technology to its joint-venture plant with IBM in the United States, the spokesman said. He added the volume of production had not been decided. Toshiba expects the smaller DRAM chips to enable it to reduce costs, though the amount of savings is still uncertain, the spokesman said. Toshiba has the capacity to produce 5 million 64-megabit DRAM chips per month, he said. For higher-density chip technology, Toshiba sought Fujitsu as a partner. In December, Toshiba and Fujitsu announced they would jointly develop and launch the next-generation 1-gigabit DRAM chips by the end of March 2002. The two companies said a joint team of about 100 researchers will assemble at Toshiba's development center to focus on ultra high-density 0.13-micron process technology. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 8 13:47:11 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 12:57:26 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 12:57:26 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Study: Microsoft overcharged consumers by $10B Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Study: Microsoft overcharged consumers by $10B By Will Rodger, Inter@ctive Week January 8, 1999 1:16 PM ET WASHINGTON -- Microsoft has collected $10 billion in overcharges to consumers over the past three years thanks to its monopoly on the PC operating system, consumer groups alleged in a study (http://www.essential.org/antitrust/ms/cfa/cfa-jan99.html) released Friday. As a result, officials of the Consumer Federation of America and other consumer groups said, the company could face a barrage of class-action suits designed to recoup those supposed overcharges if courts find Microsoft liable in the government antitrust suit under way here. The report was prepared by the CFA, the Media Access Project and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "We think those overcharges should be returned," said Mark Cooper, research director of the CFA, who estimates the overcharges amount to some $35 to $45 per computer. Jamie Love, director of the Consumer Project on Technology, called the overcharges a "tax" on PC users. Microsoft (MSFT) rejected the CFA analysis. Company officials in Redmond, Wash., said they face strong competition in the operating system market and so must keep their prices as low as possible. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Jan 11 12:08:21 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 11:18:25 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 11:18:25 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Lucent, Ascend said to be near $16 billion merger Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Lucent, Ascend said to be near $16 billion merger By Jana Sanchez InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:55 AM PT, Jan 11, 1999 Networking and telecommunications giant Lucent Technologies is reportedly nearing a merger with its smaller rival, Alameda, Calif.-based Ascend Communications, which is likely to be worth $16 billion. The announcement is expected by Wednesday, according to a report appearing in Monday's Financial Times, in London. Lucent, worth $152 billion, would most likely take over Ascend, which has a market capitalization of about $15.5 billion, the report said. Pressure to form the deal may have been brought on by last year's buyout of Bay Networks by Northern Telecommunications, which resulted in the formation of Nortel Networks. Ascend and Lucent have reportedly been talking for several weeks, according to the Financial Times report. Lucent, which was spun off from AT&T in 1996, supplies equipment to telecommunications carriers. Ascend's business is mainly in enterprise networking, IP telephony and ATM networking. Lucent Technologies Inc., in Murray Hill, N.J., is at www.lucent.com. Ascend Communications Inc., in Alameda, Calif., can be reached at www.ascend.com. Jana Sanchez is London bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Jan 11 12:10:00 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 11:20:22 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 11:20:22 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun backs Novell's directory Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun backs Novell's directory By Deborah Gage, Sm@rt Reseller January 11, 1999 11:22 AM ET Sun Microsystems Inc. will unveil Jini in San Francisco this month, and standing alongside will be Novell Inc. with its Novell Directory Services. The two companies have been in talks for several months on Jini, which ultimately will allow resellers to manage objects on networks that extend beyond corporate walls. In particular, the deal could extend NDS to manage handheld computers, cell phones, digital cameras and other devices that are only now becoming network-enabled. And while NDS may not be the only Jini-enabled directory, Sun partners say it will start out as the clear front-runner. The alliance is something of a coup for Novell (NOVL) . Although Jini's success depends on Sun's ability to drive acceptance of networks filled with Java-enabled devices and to control how the back-end infrastructure develops, Jini has the potential to create entirely new business models and generate millions of dollars in revenue for its supporters. The deal also is a tribute to both companies' abilities to work out their differences over Java, since Novell Vice President Chris Stone has been one of Sun's most vocal critics. A plugged-in world So far, Sun (SUNW) , of Mountain View, Calif., has portrayed Jini as a way for devices to find and use each other over a network. Plug a Jini-enabled camera into a network, and it sends a Java agent to the network's lookup service and announces itself. The camera is now an object, and a user interface pops up on your PC. Take a picture, and you can store it on the Jini-enabled Quantum disk drive you've just plugged in. There's more. Axis is making a network interface that can represent older devices, like bubble-jet printers, with a proxy, at least on Sun's Solaris. Dallas Semiconductor is making what Sun calls "a Web server on a card" that can be embedded into light switches or appliances. Theoretically, you could control your home network by finding any device with a Java-enabled browser and authenticating yourself with a Java smart card or Java ring. Ultimately, Sun envisions big banks of servers holding Java objects announcing themselves to each other. Some will be branded, some for sale. And as Sun CEO Scott McNealy pointed out at Sun's Java show in New York last month, networks will layer on networks. Your set-top box could provide the lookup service for your home Jini network, while your cable company could provide the lookup service for set-top boxes. Miles to go But for Sun's vision to come true, the Jini infrastructure must be much farther along than it is today, and Novell understands that. Novell, of Provo, Utah, wants to make NDS ubiquitous, and it has invested in ObjectSpace Inc., a Java company that plans to make money by making Jini work securely with less ethereal technology such as the Object Management Group's CORBA and Microsoft Corp.'s DCOM. "In the early days of telephony, the same thing was true," said ObjectSpace cofounder Graham Glass. "When you connect to a component, you have to talk in that protocol. It's like when I talk English, he hears German." Because of such unresolved technical issues, IBM is still not officially supporting Jini. But ObjectSpace is also working closely with IBM. All three companies have different lookup services --Sun's, called JavaSpaces, is totally Java-centric and is currently designed for a local area network. ObjectSpace cofounder David Norris says he is confident Jini will be a success and that IBM, Sun and Novell will work things out. And while NDS may not be necessary as Jini moves to the Internet -- Norris says you could use search engines to keep track of objects -- he is not concerned. "Novell will be important at the corporate level, and Internet adoption of Jini will follow corporate adoption," he said. Novell also has allied with Cisco Systems Inc., which demonstrated a Jini-enabled home network last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "Cisco's IOS is an object to NDS," said Stone, who won't comment on any alliance with Sun. "You can bring it inside our directory and remotely bring your routers up and down. Lucent [Technologies Inc.], Nortel [Networks] and Cisco control the backbone, and ObjectSpace is about living in the network. If you look at directories over time, you will need federated directories." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 12 12:02:59 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 11:12:55 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 11:12:55 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IT managers not swayed by Office 2000 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IT managers not swayed by Office 2000 By John G. Spooner, PC Week Online January 8, 1999 4:33 PM ET Microsoft Corp. is about to proclaim the arrival of Office 2000, but many corporate IT managers won't be listening. The Redmond, Wash., company is putting the final touches on the upgrade to its flagship Office suite and plans to ship the software late next month, sources said. There's only one problem: Many corporate customers that have been testing Beta 2 of the office productivity package say there's no compelling reason to upgrade. "The features I've seen don't yet warrant the upgrade and training nightmare," said Chris Luise, vice president and chief technology officer at insurance provider Skandia AFS, in Shelton, Conn., which has 13,000 Office 97 users. "I would be surprised if we were to roll it out [this year]. It's not even a budget item." That could spell trouble for Microsoft (MSFT) . Corporate users make up about 80 percent to 85 percent of Office's installed base, according to market researcher Dataquest Inc. And Office accounts for close to half of the software giant's product revenue, generating the lion's share of its $6.8 billion applications and content business. Office 2000 will provide tighter integration among the suite's applications. It adds HTML as a file format and enables some componentization of the suite through its Install on Demand feature, with which users can download only the features they wish to use. Unlike previous Office revisions, which included new file formats that forced users to upgrade, Office 2000 maintains file format compatibility with Office 97 and Office 95. As a result, documents created in the new suite can be viewed, edited and saved in earlier versions of the suite, said John Duncan, a product manager for Office. While backward compatibility is a welcome feature for customers, it ironically gives some sites less reason to upgrade. "I don't plan on upgrading [Office 97] unless I have to," said Eric Martin, network manager at Harley-Davidson Motor Co.'s York, Pa., final assembly plant. Harley-Davidson has about 2,000 Office 97 users in the United States. Microsoft will continue to support Office 97 and Office 95 through the Web, phone and other channels. "Products are supported until they are discontinued, and there is extremely low to zero demand for support for a significant period of time," Duncan said. The shadow of Y2K Outside factors are driving IT managers' plans as well. Most corporate sites are busy wrestling with more critical issues, such as year 2000 compliance. "It's going to be a long time [before we upgrade to Office 2000]," said the CIO of a large Midwestern food conglomerate who requested anonymity. "We're focused on Y2K issues right now." Companies holding off on upgrading to Office 2000 could seriously affect Microsoft's bottom line. "When you look at Microsoft's Office revenue over the last two years, it's clear that growth has slowed," said Chris Le Tocq, an analyst with Dataquest, in San Jose, Calif. "One of the reasons is that they've got a well-penetrated base. It makes it very challenging for Microsoft to continue the revenue stream that they would expect." That's what Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Greg Maffei told shareholders to expect during Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting in November. Microsoft, Maffei said during a presentation, has seen the average selling price of Office drop 27 percent over the last 12 quarters. Microsoft attributes the drop mainly to the larger number of less-expensive upgrades vs. brand-new copies of the suite sold. "The overwhelming threat or looming potential for saturation is very clear," he told attendees. "We do not expect to repeat the performance in Office revenue in fiscal '99 that we had in fiscal '98. There is no reasonable reason to expect it." Microsoft officials have not released figures for expected Office 2000 upgrades, and Duncan declined to specify the number of Office 95 users who upgraded to Office 97. According to Microsoft, there are 75 million users of Office, 45 million of whom use Office 97. In preparation for the Office 2000 rollout, Microsoft this week released the new suite's pricing, which will remain the same as Office 97. Pricing ranges from $499 for a new Standard version and $209 for an upgrade to $999 for the Developer edition. Le Tocq predicted that the next major transition -- possibly the post-Office 2000 version of the suite -- will offer fully Web-based versions of applications such as Word and Excel that operate inside a browser or an e-mail program. Those enhancements may finally give users a compelling reason to upgrade. But for the short term, many customers are standing pat. "We don't have anything on our plate at this point in terms of an upgrade," said Jim Nathlich, a technical analyst at Chevron Corp., in San Francisco, which has 34,000 Office 97 users worldwide. "We are pretty rooted in Office 97." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 12 13:34:32 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 12:44:37 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 12:44:37 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM backs Linux with solid DB2 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM backs Linux with solid DB2 Beta ably ports leading DB technology to Linux By Timothy Dyck for PC Week Labs January 11, 1999 9:00 AM ET IBM's pending release of DB2 for Linux spotlights both the benefits and hurdles to Linux's adoption in the enterprise. In PC Week Labs' tests of a beta of DB2 for Linux, the system demonstrated nearly all the power and capability of the steel-hided IBM database, and it will leverage Linux's reliability and cost-efficiency. However, Linux's immaturity on high-end hardware, combined with other technical issues and its relatively short corporate IT tenure, makes DB2 for Linux best-suited for workgroup and branch office implementations. (Linux kernel 2.2, due in the next few weeks, should resolve some of Linux's multiprocessor scalability issues.) We found some beta-typical glitches using and administering DB2 for Linux, but the core DB2 product is all there: IBM has ported the full DB2 5.2 database engine to Linux, with support for parallel queries, partitioning, Java and Web connectivity (via the Net.Data tool), row-level locking, and all the other features we'd expect in an enterprise-quality database. IBM hasn't decided how it will price or support DB2 for Linux when the product ships in the first half of this year, and this uncertainty over support is a key question mark hanging over DB2 for Linux and Linux itself. Developers can now get support only by posting questions to a product newsgroup. The DB2 for Linux beta lacks some of the high-end features found on other platforms, notably DB2's multimedia extenders, mainframe links and replication. (IBM officials said replication is planned for the final release.) DB2 for Linux works on any recent (at least Kernel 2.0.35) Linux release. After a simple installation on a Red Hat Software Inc. Red Hat Linux 5.1 server, we created several test databases, then connected and accessed data in them using Java and Windows clients on remote systems. The Linux-based DB2's administration tools were another story. On Netscape Communications Corp.'s Navigator and Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer, DB2 5.2's Java-based administration console hung like wash on a line. We got fairly stable performance using Java's applet viewer, both under the Blackdown Organization's Linux Java 1.1.7 and JavaSoft Inc.'s Java 1.2 on Windows, and recommend this approach. DB2 5.2, which shipped in October, is the first server database to include support for the new SQLJ (embedded SQL for Java) standard. In tests, the new SQLJ tools made writing Java-based database applications much easier than with Java Database Connectivity. Contributing Editor Timothy Dyck can be reached at timothy_dyck@dyck.org. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 12 16:47:49 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 15:57:49 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 15:57:49 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Netscape envisions lengthy takeover process Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Netscape envisions lengthy takeover process By Ben Elgin, Sm@rt Reseller January 12, 1999 3:18 PM ET Thanks to its impact on Microsoft Corp.'s ongoing case with the U.S. Department of Justice, the three-way deal involving Netscape Communications Corp., America Online Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. may not come to fruition until March or April. For Sun (SUNW) and Netscape (NSCP) resellers seeking direction in the channel, this is bad news. All three deal participants refuse to discuss specifics until AOL's pending $4.2 billion acquisition of Netscape earns approval from federal regulators. As part of the deal, Sun is expected to sell and support Netscape's server software. The delay means VARs will remain in the dark for several more months on critical issues, such as the converging Sun and Netscape channel programs and the two vendors' overlapping product lines. Speaking on Tuesday to a group of reporters in Bonn, Germany, Netscape Vice President Barry Ariko said that the three-way deal probably would not close until late March or late April, according to published reports. He also said that AOL's goal of a February close date was not very likely. The reason for the delay? Microsoft's ongoing litigation with the DOJ. While Ariko, according to the published reports, expressed confidence that nothing would stand in the deal's way, he is expecting a longer review process in light of the Microsoft case. Separately, Sm@rt Reseller has learned that Sun -- which is slated to license Netscape's enterprise software for three years -- could very well walk away from the deal with the Netscape product line in tow. Indeed, the pending licensing and co-development deal between Sun and AOL (AOL) gives Sun access to source code for most, if not all, of Netscape's products. According to an industry analyst briefed by executives from the three companies, nothing will prevent Sun from toting away the recipe to those products when its three-year deal expires. "Three years from now, Sun will end up owning all of Netscape's enterprise software," said Bob Chatham, senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc. In essence, the pending three-way agreement could boil down to what the deal likely would have been had tax-break considerations not interfered: AOL buying Netscape's portal and Sun buying Netscape's high-end software. "AOL people are painting this as a seamless, end-to-end e-commerce deal... But AOL bought Netscape for its portal. It just happened to come with all of this other stuff," said Chatham. Indeed, Chatham is not alone. Other analysts doubt AOL will ever touch the enterprise software division, beyond merely internalizing some of the technology. "AOL is not going to get into the enterprise server software business. How they resolve the [Netscape] channel issue will be interesting," said Zona Research Inc. industry analyst Jim Balderston. Officials from AOL, Sun and Netscape all declined to comment on the source-code agreements. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 13 10:13:05 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:22:52 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:22:52 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Ascend to merge with Lucent in $20 billion deal Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Ascend to merge with Lucent in $20 billion deal By Jana Sanchez InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:53 AM PT, Jan 13, 1999 In one of the largest-ever deals in the networking industry, Lucent Technologies and Ascend Communications have signed a definitive agreement to merge, the companies announced Wednesday. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by both companies' boards of directors, each share of Ascend will be converted into 0.82 shares of Lucent, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday. Based on Lucent's closing share price Tuesday of $107 7/8, the transaction is worth about $20 billion, the companies said. The transaction will most likely be completed during Lucent's third quarter, ending June 30, the statement said. It will be accounted for as a pooling of interests and Lucent said it expects the merger to be neutral to earnings in fiscal 1999 and accretive starting in fiscal-year 2000. The merger is designed to broaden Lucent's ability to sell next-generation networks to telecommunications carriers. Lucent Chief Executive Officer Rich McGinn noted in the statement that almost every major telecommunications carrier is deciding how to reengineer and deploy their networks for data, voice, fax, and video. Ascend provides WAN core switching and access data networking equipment for telephone companies, Internet service providers, and enterprises. The merger is the latest step by Lucent to boost its presence in the data networking business. In the past two years, it has acquired 11 companies in strategic data networking technologies; developed intelligent switching, access, and network management products internally; and signed a number of strategic partnership deals for sales and distribution, the company said. Lucent also needs Ascend to compete against networking giants such as Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks, the latter itself the result of last year's $9.1 billion merger between Bay Networks and Northern Telecom. Ascend's organization and Lucent's Data Networking Systems, Optical Networking, and Communications Software groups will be put together to form the Broadband Networks Group, which will be led by Dan Stanzione, Lucent's chief operating officer and group president. The unit will focus on selling broadband, multiservice networks, according to the statement. Mory Ejabat, chief executive officer of Ascend, will stay on during a transition period in an unspecified role, the statement said. Lucent Technologies Inc., in Murray Hill, N.J., is at www.lucent.com. Ascend Communications Inc., in Alameda, Calif., can be reached at www.ascend.com. Jana Sanchez is London bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 13 10:21:46 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:31:43 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:31:43 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft confirms 2001 time bug Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft confirms 2001 time bug By Stephanie Miles Staff Writer, CNET News.com January 12, 1999, 5:10 p.m. PT A newly discovered bug may cause many Windows-based applications to register the wrong time for at least a week in the year 2001, Microsoft has confirmed. The bug was discovered by Richard Smith of Phar Lap Software, who last week reported the problem to Microsoft and the BugTraq security mailing list, according to Microsoft. This bug affects the local time function during the daylight savings time change on Windows-based systems. Computers running Windows 95, 98, or NT 4 will delay the one-hour time change for a week in 2001, from April 1 to April 8. The problem has already been fixed for the upcoming Windows 2000 operating system. "The problem is caused by the Visual C++ runtime library being confused and assuming that daylight savings time doesn't start until April the 8th," explained Smith to the mailing list. "The confusion appears to be caused by the fact that April 1 falls on a Sunday in the year 2001. The same bug occurs in other years where April 1 also falls on a Sunday," such as 1990, and 2007, according to Smith's email post. He could not be reached for further comment. Microsoft has confirmed the existence of the bug but says it believes that any actual problems resulting from the glitch will be few and far between. "This has been blown a little bit out of proportion," said Chris Hargarten, a product manager with the Visual C++ group. "For daylight savings time on April 1 we failed to calculate the one-hour time difference for one week's time. An application that uses a specific function called 'local time' will be affected." Although Smith traces the problem to a specific file library, Microsoft contends that the presence of the library alone is not enough to trigger the bug. "Not every application that uses this certain [library] uses the local time function," Hargarten said. Calendar-related glitches like these, while rare, can wreak havoc with applications that depend on certain time-sensitive functions, like hotel wake-up call services. A similar bug which can throw off the date on Windows 98 computers was confirmed last summer. Microsoft will post information about the problem to its Web site in the next few weeks, and is working on a patch. At this time, the company has no estimates of how many people are affected. "We've got two years [to fix the bug]," Hargarten said. "We have bugs all the time, and we take them very seriously. We have the processes in place to take care of this." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 13 10:25:16 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:25:13 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:25:13 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Developer offers beta of encryption freeware Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Developer offers beta of encryption freeware By Mary Lisbeth D'Amico InfoWorld Electric Posted at 8:53 AM PT, Jan 12, 1999 A German software programmer has released over the Internet the beta version of a freeware encryption program that he says is an alternative to the widely used encryption software Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). The program, called GnuPG (GnuPrivacyGuard), runs on any Unix-based platform and features 128-bit encryption, the same strength encryption as PGP, according to Werner Koch, the Düsseldorf-based software developer who wrote the program. GnuPG is also compatible with PGP, Versions 5.0 and 6.0, so it can send and receive PGP-encrypted messages. One advantage of GnuPG over PGP is that not only is it secure, but it is also clearly in the public domain, according to Erich Moechel, editor of the Internet newsletter Quintessenz, who has tested the software. That means there is no chance it will be subject to government restrictions on exporting encryption software, he said. In Vienna last month, 33 countries signed the Wassenaar Arrangement, agreeing to put export controls on some kinds of secure software. Although "mass market" software is considered exempt from these controls, the software which falls into this category is not very secure, according to Moechel. "That stuff can be cracked in a matter of milliseconds," Moechel said. It is not clear whether PGP falls into the category of public domain software, Moechel said. PGP, Version 5.0 business edition is clearly a commercial program, according to GnuPG creator Koch. PGP is now owned by Network Associates and is sold commercially. Although a free version of PGP 5.0 exists, Koch said, it is not being used for commercial purposes. Another advantage of GnuPG is that it was developed outside the United States, so it also cannot fall under any U.S. restrictions on exporting encryption software, Koch said. The United States requires permits for the export of strong encryption software. Koch released early versions of GnuPG in December 1997, and has been improving it ever since. Now, he said, he feels he has a "good, stable program," which is ready for beta testing. In several months Koch plans to release Version 1.0, after which the program will only require patches, Koch said. Encryption technology scrambles a message so it can only be read by authorized users who possess a key to decrypt the message. GnuPG uses a symmetrical 128-bit key as well as an asymmetrical 1,024-bit algorithm, which are used to scramble and unscramble the message and to electronically sign the document. In its current form, GnuPG will mainly be of interest to software developers, according to Moechel. "It doesn't have a graphical user interface. It also lacks some of the extra features offered by PGP-based products that run on Windows, such as a key server, which allows a function that can search the names of people that hold a public key," Moechel said. Koch says that feature will be included in Version 1.0, however. GnuPG could easily be adapted for Windows, Koch said, but "I'm not going to do that for free. I'm not that interested in Windows," he said. The software is already in commercial use, Koch said, and is preferred by some companies who want a program written specifically for a Unix platform instead of for Windows. The software has some technical advantages over PGP, working better with other Unix-based programs and using less memory than PGP, according to Koch. GnuPG is already in commercial use and has been translated into 10 languages, Koch said. It has been used, for example, to encrypt a mailing list with sensitive medical information, to create anonymous e-mails in cases where someone does not want their identity traced, and to check the identity of certain parties who control Internet news forums, he said. A freelance software developer, Koch created GnuPG in his spare time. "I wanted to work on something exciting," he said. Publishing source code in the public domain is part of a movement that its advocates call freeware, or open-source software. The idea is to subject source code to what some have called "massive peer review,"which allows bugs in the software to be quickly detected and fixed by other users. Although software released as "freeware" is public, the copyright to the GnuPG program does exist and is held by the Boston-based Free Software Foundation, Koch said. For information on GnuPG go to www.gnuPG.org. Mary Lisbeth D'Amico is a correspondent in the Munich bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 13 10:37:36 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:47:27 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:47:27 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , Ruth Rozen From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Teenage email code's a cracker Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Teenage email code's a cracker Wednesday, January 13, 1999 Published at 11:42 GMT BBC News, Sci/Tech The prize judges could not completely understand the "brilliant" code Making your email secret is now 30 times faster, but the innovation has come not from a multinational computer computer but a schoolgirl from Blarney, Ireland. Sarah Flannery, 16, has developed a brand new mathematical procedure for encrypting internet communication. "The algorithm is based on matrices," her father told BBC News Online. Dr David Flannery is a mathematics lecturer at Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland. "Sarah has a very good understanding of the mathematical principles involved, but to call her a genius or a prodigy is overstated and she doesn't want that herself. "She's a normal young girl, who likes basketball and going out with her friends." International job offers But her number-crunching feat is undoubtedly remarkable and won her the top prize at the Irish Young Scientists and Technology Exhibition. International job and scholarship offers have flooded in, said Dr Flannery. Last year, Ms Flannery's cryptography skill took her to Fort Worth, Texas, as the winner of an Intel prize. Even when high security levels are required, her code can encrypt a letter in just one minute - a widely used encryption standard called RSA would take 30 minutes. "But she has also proven that her code is as secure as RSA," says Dr Flannery. "It wouldn't be worth a hat of straw if it was not." Ms Flannery currently has a bad cold and has not had time to consider the advice of the judges to patent the code. "She wouldn't mind being rich but she wants to stress the great joy that the project has given her," says Dr Flannery. She may publish the work to make it freely available to all. Her code is called Cayley-Purser after Arthur Cayley, a 19th century Cambridge expert on matrices, and Michael Purser, a cryptographer from Trinity College, Dublin, who provided inspiration for Ms Flannery. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 13 13:11:49 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 12:21:26 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 12:21:26 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Iomega to buy Syquest Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Iomega to buy Syquest By Stephanie Miles Staff Writer, CNET News.com January 13, 1999, 9:35 a.m. PT Removable drive maker Iomega will purchase all of Syquest's intellectual property and U.S. fixed assets, the companies announced today. Syquest, which filed for bankruptcy in November, had steadily been losing market share to Iomega in the removable storage market before filing for bankruptcy last year. In its chapter 11 filing last November 17, Syquest said it was selling the bulk of its assets to a strategic buyer, but did not name the party. Today the companies confirmed that Iomega will purchase Syquest's assets for $9.5 million in cash. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, Syquest said it was $85 million in debt. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court will hold a hearing on January 19 to establish sales procedures for the sale of the assets, the companies said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 14 10:28:03 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 09:37:43 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 09:37:43 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Grading student essays by computer Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Grading student essays by computer Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Christian Science Monitor Service By MARK CLAYTON (January 13, 1999 2:55 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Get ready, college students. That lovable "Star Wars'' robot R2-D2 may be grading your next term paper. Well, almost. A few kinks remain, but about 200 master's students at Florida State University may soon become the first in American higher education to have their writing graded by computer. Only last spring, two researchers announced development of the Intelligent Essay Assessor, Web-based software they said could first be trained to "understand" expert writing in various disciplines - then pass judgment on student essays. Thomas Landauer, a University of Colorado at Boulder psychology professor, and Peter Foltz, a psycholinguist at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, tested their creation first on their own students. To be fair, the students were given a choice of accepting the machine grade on essays, or having the professors grade them. Almost all preferred the machine. An interesting experiment? Surely. Yet efforts over the past decade to interest professors in such software hit a wall. This new approach, incorporating sophisticated ways of allowing a computer to put words into context, might also have remained a higher-ed footnote. But this time, overworked professors with large classes are signing up. Last fall's announcement generated a "big reaction," says Foltz, including both ire and unusual interest from professors nationwide. Predictably, many deride the idea. "How much should you predicate (on) a semantic system that considers 'the cat ate the thumbtack' equivalent to 'the thumbtack ate the cat?' " wrote one Stanford professor via e-mail. But others saw promise and volunteered to use the software. "I'm VERY interested in reducing my 'Sisyphean' task of grading student essays," wrote a professor from the University of Wisconsin. In fact, five professors will implement the computerized essay assessor in classes this semester, Foltz says. Another 45 to 50 have written to say they are strongly interested in doing so. Colleges, software companies, and even Princeton, N.J.-based Educational Testing Service (some of its tests include essay questions) have been calling. One of those charging fearlessly into the future is Myke Gluck, an associate professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee who helps teach a first-year graduate course in Information Studies. Along with three faculty colleagues and three graduate assistants, Gluck plans to use the computer program this semester to grade the final essay (several-thousand words) written by the class's 200-plus students. Besides reducing workloads, computer grading should also lend more consistency, which Gluck admits can vary among assistants. If any student decides the computer has been unfair - or simply does not wish to use it - a human will grade the paper, he says. "We understand that there are some essays it just won't be able to handle," he says. "Either the content or format will be a little off. So we'll do those by hand. ... We're just hoping to get the bulk graded by the software - that would relieve the burden." Landauer predicts the early, best use will be in distance learning, where students can get lots of practice writing - and quick grading and computer comments on what's not right. "They'll be able to write and get instant feedback," he says. "It will be useful for Internet classes with hundreds or thousands of students. It can give a student instant feedback about what's missing from their essay, and where in their textbook they might find it." Both Landauer and Foltz say their program can be taught to grade close to the way humans would - especially when student essays must include specific content in fields like chemistry, medicine, or biology. Both say the program cannot grade creative writing. Some are less than enthusiastic about the project. "I don't think students really want machines reading what they write - they want people," says Dennis Baron, chairman of the English department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. "It's seen as a labor-saving device to allow instructors to do more important things. What's more important than reading your students' writing? I'm not sure. I think you need a human interface." That sentiment notwithstanding, signs abound that computer grading of student writing may soon emerge in a full-blown way. In coming weeks, the Educational Testing Service plans for the first time to have a computer program - its own - grade essay questions on the Graduate Management Admissions Test, or GMAT, taken by those aspiring to a master's degree in business. A human and the computer will grade each essay question, says Lawrence Frase, executive director of research at ETS. If both agree, then the grade stands. But if the two disagree, another human will grade it to decide the matter. GMAT's owner, the Graduate Management Admission Council, decided to go ahead because "the rate of agreement (between computer and human) was as high as between two human readers," says Frederic McHale, vice president of assessment and research. "We're reaching a new stage in these computers where they're going to look intelligent," Frase of ETS says. "Right now we're thinking of keeping the humans in the loop." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 14 12:51:55 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:01:46 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:01:46 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, David Weinstein , Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM Demonstrates 32-Node PC-Server Cluster Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM Demonstrates 32-Node PC-Server Cluster (01/14/99, 12:58 p.m. ET) By Mitch Wagner, InternetWeek IBM said Wednesday that it has demonstrated a 32-node cluster of Windows NT servers supporting 1 terabyte of user data. The Armonk, N.Y.-based computer giant said the cluster has been benchmarked at 1 TB of TPC-D. The benchmark, which simulates database performance, was run using eight parallel query streams to simulate a real user environment. The Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) Benchmark D simulates data modeling and trend analysis of information in a large database such as a data mart or data warehouse. IBM built the cluster using its Netfinity PC servers and IBM Serial Storage Architecture Disk technology. The DB2 Universal Database software used for the benchmark will be available June 30. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 14 16:26:56 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 15:36:44 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 15:36:44 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft Appeals Java Injunction Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft Appeals Java Injunction (01/14/99, 4:00 p.m. ET) By Lee Pender, Computer Reseller News The dispute over Java between Microsoft and Sun Microsystems rose to a new level Thursday when Microsoft filed an appeal to a district court judge's preliminary injunction against the company. In November, Judge Ronald Whyte of the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., filed a preliminary injunction against Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft stating Sun would likely win the dispute between the two companies. The case began in October 1997, when Sun, in Palo Alto, Calif., sued Microsoft for copyright infringement after Microsoft released a version of Java that was not compatible with the version from Java-creator Sun. Microsoft, however, filed its appeal in a U.S. Appeals Court in San Francisco, claiming Whyte's court misinterpreted the companies' licensing contract in granting the injunction. Microsoft officials also said the court was mistaken in treating the case as a copyright issue rather than a contract dispute. "Microsoft believes the district court made several errors that should be reversed by the court of appeals," said Tom Burt, associate general counsel at Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, in a statement. "This lawsuit is about the contract between two companies. We believe the court's preliminary injunction ruling was based on an erroneous analysis of the contract." Meanwhile, Sun officials said the company's law firm received a copy of the appeal late last night. Sun officials said the company stands by Whyte's injunction and would like to work with Microsoft on bringing its version of Java into compliance with Sun's. "The ability to maximize compatibility and minimize switching costs is a central value of the Java platform -- millions of developers and users rely on that value," the Sun statement says. "They would be best served if Microsoft would come back into compliance with the Java specifications. We renew our invitation to Microsoft to do so, and renew our offer to assist them in coming into compliance." Last week, Whyte ordered Microsoft and Sun to schedule a settlement conference in front of a magistrate to resolve their dispute. In part, the judge said a conference would be productive because both parties had received the court's preliminary injunction rulings. No such conference has been scheduled. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 14 16:36:48 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 15:38:25 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 15:38:25 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: W3C namespace proposal strengthens XML Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to W3C namespace proposal strengthens XML By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com January 14, 1999, 12:00 p.m. PT XML documents are poised to become multilingual with a new recommendation from the W3C. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) today recommended "Namespaces in XML," which will let browsers interpret more than one XML-based language in a single document without confusing different elements with the same tag names. Extensible Markup Language is a metalanguage that lets authors create industry- or discipline-specific markup languages for the Web. MathML, for instance, has tags that are tailored to produce mathematical operations within the browser. Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL--pronounced "smile") is a W3C-recommended XML-based language that synchs images, text, and sound on the Web. It is not hard to imagine a Web document that would use both MathML and SMIL. If the two languages had tags with the same names, it could wreak havoc for the browser. Today's namespace recommendation, proposed in November, provides a way for the browser to distinguish those homonyms. With XML Namespaces, Web authors will have more freedom to mix and match XML-based languages. This more modular approach will let authors reuse existing languages instead of writing new ones from scratch. The namespaces recommendation uses the Web addressing infrastructure to mark each tag with a unique address. The W3C likens the effect to that of a telephone area code, which lets identical seven-digit phone numbers be used in different regions. The value of the URL to the recommendation is primarily its uniqueness, and the browser won't necessarily need to access the document located at the identifying address. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 11:38:38 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 10:48:13 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 10:48:13 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Standards change for real-time Java fails Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Standards change for real-time Java fails National standards body refuses to wrest control of real-time Java from Sun. By Antone Gonsalves, PC Week A national standards body has rejected a proposal that it oversee the standards process for real-time Java, staving off attempts to wrest the process from Sun Microsystems Inc., the creator of the Java language. The Washington-based National Committee for Information Technology Standards released voting results Friday at the request of several companies led by Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP). The two are members of the RealTime Java Working Group, which broke away in November from the RealTime Java Requirements Group, formed last July by more than 50 companies to establish specifications for Java extensions in real-time embedded systems. The latter group, which includes Sun (Nasdaq:SUNW) and IBM (NYSE:IBM), is working under the auspices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The splinter group claims Sun has too much control over the standards process, which, it argues, should be independent of any vendor. The stakes in the battle to control real-time Java are high. The market for embedded systems, found in toys, cars, missiles, cellular phones, pagers and any other device with a computer chip, is expected eventually to grow to billions of dollars. Two specs would be harmful Having two specifications would complicate development and force developers either to build products following both standards or to choose between them. As reported earlier this week, the threat of two specifications prompted the U.S. Department of Defense, which uses embedded systems in military hardware, to hold a meeting Monday to which both sides were invited. The DOD is a member of the NCITS, as are HP, IBM, Sun and Sybase Inc. Among the companies voting against the proposal were IBM, Sun, Xerox Corp., Sybase and Lucent Technologies Inc. Those voting for it included Apple Computer Inc., AT&T, Compaq Computer Corp., HP and Unisys. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 11:43:04 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 10:52:58 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 10:52:58 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, chonghua@lance.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , Noah Roselander , David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein , rozenn@megsinet.net From: Gary Weinstein Subject: China decrees airline bosses must fly on New Year's Day Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to China decrees airline bosses must fly on New Year's Day to assure they remedy Year 2000 problems Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Agence France-Press BEIJING (January 15, 1999 2:35 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - China has given its airlines the ultimate incentive for the managers of state-run airlines to find solutions for the Year 2000 computer bug -- ordering airline chiefs to personally board flights next New Year's Day. "All the heads of the airlines have got to be in the air on January 1, 2000," said the ministry of information industry official tasked with handling the massive Year 2000 problem, Zhao Bo. "We have to make sure there are no problems in aviation," he was quoted as saying by London's Financial Times Friday. Officials at Air China and Shanghai Airlines contacted by AFP said they were unaware the central government had issued such orders. Fears have been expressed of air disasters at the turn of the century, due to problems with computer software and embedded chips controlling aircraft navigation systems or traffic-control communications. Fears the millennium bug will hit airlines have forced the rescheduling of a conference in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post said Friday. Organizers of the 13th International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement 2000 told the paper delegates were afraid of flying to the territory for the Jan. 3 to 7 meeting. "Many would have to take a plane on Jan. 1 if they are to arrive in Hong Kong for Jan. 3," organizing committee chairman Moses Cheng said. "But they were worried about flying on the first day of 2000 for fear of Y2K bug chaos." The conference is now scheduled to run from Jan. 4 to 7. Older-generation computer systems identify years by the last two digits. The millennium bug refers to computers' inability to distinguish between the years 2000 and 1900, which is expected to cause massive disruptions. According to the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), the world's airlines will spend around $2.3 billion gearing up for the bug. "The threat of the bug is less than in developed countries because China is less reliant on computers," the South China Morning Post quoted Zhao as saying. "But for banks and other financial companies, it is a problem just as in other countries." Some leading state banks had already spent 700 million to 800 million yuan ($84 million to $96 million) dealing with the bug and are projected to see the bill rise to 1 billion yuan by the end of the year, said Zhao, the director of the ministry's division of computers and systems engineers. Foreign analysts say lower penetration of computers in Chinese society in no way assures a lesser impact from the bug. The country has more than 10 million computers in operation and untold numbers of embedded chips. The systems the country's power, transport, financial and communications machines depend on incorporate a mishmash of pirated software and outdated hardware more vulnerable to Year 2000, they say. Zhao admitted users of pirated software had a more difficult time expunging the bug because they could not seek help from the original supplier. His ministry has trained more than 5,000 computer engineers to tackle the problem, but even with more on the way some analysts say the efforts could be too little too late. China's State Council, or cabinet, did not start to address the Year 2000 problem until July 1997 and only published a circular ordering an evaluation of the problem in government offices and bodies in July last year. Financial authorities have announced the country's stockmarkets will close for an extra two weeks during this year's Chinese Lunar New Year holidays to allow for Year 2000 preparation and testing. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 13:29:41 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:39:25 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:39:25 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Government seeks information on AOL-Netscape deal Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Government seeks information on AOL-Netscape deal By Clare Haney InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:36 AM PT, Jan 15, 1999 The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly requested more information on the proposed $6.5 billion buyout of Netscape by America Online. The Justice Department's antitrust division has asked for extra information relating to the deal under the provisions of the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust act, according to sources cited in a report in Friday's Wall Street Journal. Such scrutiny is likely to focus on what effect the proposed merger between Netscape and AOL might have on the Internet software and online services markets, the report added. Microsoft, currently in the throes of an antitrust trial instigated by the Justice Department and 19 states, has previously attacked the U.S. government for not raising potential antitrust issues relating to AOL's earlier purchases, including those of CompuServe and Mirabilis, maker of the ICQ online chat software, the report said. In fact, last month the judge in charge of the Microsoft vs. Justice Department antitrust case described the proposed tie-up between AOL and Netscape as being potentially significant. "We are all aware that there has been what might be a significant change in the playing field, as far as the industry is concerned," U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson said in court last month as Microsoft's lawyers sought to obtain access to the AOL-Netscape merger documents. The judge didn't rule on the motion, saying he hoped the lawyers could sort that out themselves, and they agreed to do so. Then, earlier this month in court, Judge Jackson voiced an interest in having AOL Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Case testify in the Microsoft antitrust trial after having read a newspaper column. The column had an interview with Case where he was quoted as saying the merger with Netscape has "no bearing on the Microsoft case. ... We have no flight of fancy that we can dent in any way, shape, or form what is a [Microsoft] monopoly in the operating system business." The proposed stock-for-stock buyout of Netscape was first announced in November, when the deal was originally valued at about $4.2 billion . However, given the increase in the value of AOL's shares since that time, the purchase is presently valued at $6.5 billion. Netscape Communications Corp., based in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at www.netscape.com. America Online Inc., in Dulles, Va., can be reached at www.aol.com. Clare Haney is Hong Kong bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 13:31:01 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:40:54 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:40:54 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: India Warns Against U.S. Security Software Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to India Warns Against U.S. Security Software (01/14/99, 8:31 p.m. ET) By Malcolm Maclachlan, TechWeb Internet privacy advocates have said for years that limits on encryption exports could cripple the U.S. software industry, and now the Indian government has agreed with them. In a statement that has gone mostly unnoticed in the United States, the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on Monday issued a "red alert" warning against all U.S.-made network-security software. In a letter to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), an Indian intelligence agency, the DRDO cited the limits the U.S. government places on encryption exports as the reason for the alert. The U.S. National Security Agency limits most exported products to relatively weak 64-bit encryption. "To put it bluntly, only insecure software can be exported," the DRDO letter states. "When various multinational companies go around peddling 'secure communication software' products to gullible Indian customers, they conveniently neglect to mention this aspect of U.S. export law." The head of the CVC indicated that he might soon make it mandatory for all Indian financial institutions to buy only security software developed in India. In its announcement, the DRDO said it was working on a prototype security protocol for India, due out within three months. U.S. encryption limits are damaging, according to Sameer Parekh, CEO of Berkeley, Calif., software company C2Net and an encryption advocate. But the alert from India is more a reflection of tense India-U.S. relations, damaged by India's nuclear program and its ongoing war with Pakistan, he said. "One reason the Indian government would make such a pronouncement is because the U.S. has put a number of embargoes on exports to India," Parekh said. "This could be just their form of retaliation." Strangely, Parekh said, if U.S. companies were permitted to sell strong cryptography products overseas, the Indian government would probably restrict them. Despite its role as a technology leader, India is not a bastion of free speech and privacy rights, he said. And things aren't getting any easier in India for free-speech and privacy advocates, said Alexander Fowler, director of public affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Indian legislators are now debating a bill, the Information Technology Act of 1998, that would set domestic controls on encryption, which don't exist in the U.S. The act would also let law-enforcement agencies use any message intercepted through an ISP in court. Furthermore, ISPs could be held responsible for "illegal acts" committed over their networks. "This law, if it goes through, is as restrictive as the things we've seen coming out of China and Singapore," Fowler said. "We haven't seen anything to suggest that they are more enlightened than the U.S." The Indian alert is certain to be the subject of lively debate at next week's RSA Data Security Conference in San Jose, Calif. RSA has been a leader in the security market in the U.S. and a thorn in the side of U.S. regulators. Last week, the company said it would circumvent U.S. restrictions by selling encryption technology through its Australian subsidiary. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 13:37:17 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:47:19 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:47:19 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Win2000: Later '99 (and counting) Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Win2000: Later '99 (and counting) Can Microsoft beat the Year 2000 budget blues? Time's running out. By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller Online If you were among those expecting Microsoft Corp. to ship Windows 2000 by mid-1999, don't hold your breath. Beta 3 of the long-awaited operating system is now not expected to reach testers until April, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) officials confirm. And Microsoft itself, in a tacit acknowledgment that Windows 2000 won't be a first-half product, told resellers this week that it is extending its Windows NT Server 4.0 upgrade promotion through June 30. If Windows 2000 slips much beyond a mid-year ship date, Microsoft could find itself facing head-on problems that the company has claimed are figments of analysts' imaginations: Namely, that IS departments, faced with Year 2000 budget concerns, may hold off for a year or more from deploying Windows 2000 en masse. Microsoft officials this week acknowledged that April is now the Beta 3 target, and claim any date slippage in the beta won't negatively impact the final ship date. "We're still shooting, hopefully, for an end of year ship date," says a corporate spokeswoman. "We are still expecting we can get it out before year-end." Beta tests on hold? Microsoft steadfastly has declined to say exactly when to expect Windows 2000 to ship, other than to claim that most flavors of the product will be available before the end of calendar 1999. Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server are slated to ship in 1999, with the higher-end Datacenter Server following within 60 days, Microsoft officials have maintained. Microsoft shipped in mid-December Release Candidate 0 of Windows 2000 Beta 3. To many, that was a sign that the company was close to finalizing the code which Microsoft is expected to make available to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of testers. At that time, Microsoft officials said Beta 3 would ship in the first quarter of 1999. Beta 3 in April? Since December, Microsoft has made a number of subsequent release candidates available to small groups of select testers. But according to sources close to Microsoft, the company is now talking April as the date when U.S. testers will be able to obtain Windows 2000 Beta 3 code. If Windows 2000 slips much beyond a mid-year ship date, Microsoft could find itself facing head-on problems that the company has claimed are figments of analysts' imaginations. Meanwhile, testers outside the U.S. are being told that Microsoft will crank up its Windows 2000 Corporate Preview Program in March, according to Nate Mook, Webmaster with BetaNews.Com. Mook says that testers in Austria, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom will be able to order preview copies of Windows 2000 Beta 3 and Office 2000 Beta 2 together. In the past, notes Mook all of Microsoft's public betas have been available in the U.S. only. But, "at the moment, no public Windows 2000 Beta 3 release has been announced for United States consumers," he says. Resellers in dark, too In another sign that Windows 2000 is running late, resellers say they were told this week that Microsoft is extending its price reduction for its Windows NT Server 4.0 upgrade promotion through the end of June. Customers who upgrade to NT 4.0 from previous NT versions or competitive operating systems between May 8, 1998, and June 30, 1999, are now eligible for the reduced-cost upgrade. Microsoft is even throwing in a free copy of Microsoft Services for NetWare, which sells for $149, as an added incentive for customers to upgrade as part of the promotion. How much later than June Windows 2000 will ship is anyone's guess. Last year, market researchers at Gartner Group were advising clients to exercise caution in implementing Windows 2000 "due to the number of new functions and the lack of available skills for NT Server v.5.0 [Windows 2000], but mainly because of the conflict of staff resources with those needed to prepare for 2000." Wait to deploy At the time Gartner issued this note, it expected Windows 2000 to ship in Q2 1999. It was advising all but its most risk-taking customers to wait for at least one or two service packs before deploying the new operating system. Summit Strategies is a little less dire in its predictions. "If Microsoft has a solid [Beta 3], it still could hit Q3 1999 for production," says Summit analyst Dwight Davis. "If it slips into Q4, it's questionable as to whether Microsoft will ship it or wait for next year. But Platinum [Exchange Server 6.0] and other new Microsoft products are gated on this, so Microsoft needs to get it out there." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 13:51:53 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:01:52 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:01:52 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein , Noah Roselander , Elisa & Ophir Trigalo , Ophir Trigalo , rozenn@megsinet.net From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Is human chip implant wave of the future? Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Is human chip implant wave of the future? January 14, 1999 Web posted at: 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT) by Sam Witt (IDG) -- Is the human body a fit place for a microchip? The debate is no longer hypothetical. The same computing power that once required an entire building to harness now can be inserted in your left arm. Better yet, somebody else's left arm. Professor Kevin Warwick, director of cybernetics at the University of Reading in the U.K., is that somebody else. On Monday, Aug. 24, 1998, Warwick became the first human to host a microchip. During a 20-minute medical procedure described as "a routine silicon-chip implant" by Dr. George Boulos, who led the operation, doctors inserted into Warwick's arm a glass capsule not much bigger than a pearl. The capsule holds several microprocessors. The British Broadcasting Corp. was on hand to document the historic event - and to trouble the professor's already frayed nerves. "In theory, I was able to see what was going on," Warwick says in a phone interview several days after the operation (which he described as slightly more pleasant than a trip to the dentist), "but I was looking in the opposite direction most of the time." Although Warwick winces at the comparison, Boulos likens him to a latter-day Edward Jenner, who injected himself with cowpox in 1776 to further his research into a smallpox vaccine. "The doctor pinched the skin and lifted it up and sort of burrowed a hole... underneath the skin and on top of the muscle," Warwick says. "It's well inside my body, in my left arm, just above my elbow. [It's] held in place by three stitches - partly so that the wound is held together, but also so that the capsule doesn't float around anywhere." Though he declines to reveal the chip's manufacturer, Warwick did disclose that it's a "commercial" product. "For obvious reasons, both positive and negative, they didn't want us shouting about what the name of the exact product was," he says. The approximately 23mm-by-3mm device stayed in Warwick's arm for only nine days - partly to avoid medical complications, partly because it was fairly limited in power. "Half of it is an electric coil," Warwick says, "and half is a number of silicon chips." The chips used only eight of an available 64 bits of information to communicate with the University of Reading's intelligent building. Which brings us to the question: Why? Warwick has spent more than 20 years researching and developing intelligent buildings. "In our building in the Cybernetics department, we've got quite a number of doorways rigged up so that they pass a radio signal between the door frame," he says. "When I go through the doorways, the radio signal energizes the coil. It produces an electric current, which the chips use to send out an identifying signal, which the computer recognizes as being me." And so, for a little better than a week, doors that normally require smart cards swung open for the professor. A system of electronic nodes tracked his movements throughout the building. Lights blinked on when he entered a room. "Hello, Professor Warwick," his PC announced when Warwick crossed the threshold of his office, before casually mentioning how many E-mail messages he had received. It also was reported that Warwick used the device to run a bath and chill his wine. Warwick How did he like it? "In my building I feel much more powerful, in a mental way," Warwick says. "Not at one with the computer, but much, much closer. We're not separate. It's not as though we're good friends or anything. But certainly when I'm out of the building, I feel as though part of me is missing." Asked if he named his chip, Warwick laughs. "I don't see it as a separate thing," he says. "It's like an arm or a leg." Warwick's family was a little slower than his body to accept the chip. "My wife finds it really strange," he says. "She didn't want to go near my arm for a couple of days. It was as though I had some funny disease." His 16-year-old daughter reportedly called him "crazy." And the day after the operation, Warwick played a game of squash with his son, but not before issuing a stern warning: "Whatever you do, don't hit my arm. The implant could just shatter, and you'll have ruined your father's arm for life." Real-world applications Though the experiment sounds like an episode of Dr. Who, its real-world implications are "right around the corner," says Warwick, who foresees enormous medical applications. Through a system of embedded chips interfacing with an artificial motor system, Warwick imagines paraplegics walking. And that's just for starters. "Simply take measurements off muscles and tendons and feed them into the transponder," Warwick says. "That means, ultimately, that you wouldn't need a computer mouse anymore. You wouldn't need a keyboard." Charles Ostman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Futures and science editor at Mondo 2000, agrees. "Neuroprosthetics are . . . inevitable," he says. "Biochip implants may become part of a rote medical procedure. After that, interface with outside systems is a logical next step." Warwick's eagerness is palpable, engaging, contagious. "This is where you can speculate," he says. "This is where we take a technical thing and say, 'Right-o, got the signal, got the implant; all I've got to do is run a wire from the implant to my nervous system.' . . . I'm so excited about it, I want to get on with the next step straight away. Let's see if we can control computers directly from our nervous system." Witt is a freelance writer in San Francisco. Top photo by Mark Harrison. Bottom two photos provided by INS Newsgroup. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 13:51:53 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:01:52 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:01:52 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein , Noah Roselander , Elisa & Ophir Trigalo , Ophir Trigalo , rozenn@megsinet.net From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Is human chip implant wave of the future? Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Is human chip implant wave of the future? January 14, 1999 Web posted at: 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT) by Sam Witt (IDG) -- Is the human body a fit place for a microchip? The debate is no longer hypothetical. The same computing power that once required an entire building to harness now can be inserted in your left arm. Better yet, somebody else's left arm. Professor Kevin Warwick, director of cybernetics at the University of Reading in the U.K., is that somebody else. On Monday, Aug. 24, 1998, Warwick became the first human to host a microchip. During a 20-minute medical procedure described as "a routine silicon-chip implant" by Dr. George Boulos, who led the operation, doctors inserted into Warwick's arm a glass capsule not much bigger than a pearl. The capsule holds several microprocessors. The British Broadcasting Corp. was on hand to document the historic event - and to trouble the professor's already frayed nerves. "In theory, I was able to see what was going on," Warwick says in a phone interview several days after the operation (which he described as slightly more pleasant than a trip to the dentist), "but I was looking in the opposite direction most of the time." Although Warwick winces at the comparison, Boulos likens him to a latter-day Edward Jenner, who injected himself with cowpox in 1776 to further his research into a smallpox vaccine. "The doctor pinched the skin and lifted it up and sort of burrowed a hole... underneath the skin and on top of the muscle," Warwick says. "It's well inside my body, in my left arm, just above my elbow. [It's] held in place by three stitches - partly so that the wound is held together, but also so that the capsule doesn't float around anywhere." Though he declines to reveal the chip's manufacturer, Warwick did disclose that it's a "commercial" product. "For obvious reasons, both positive and negative, they didn't want us shouting about what the name of the exact product was," he says. The approximately 23mm-by-3mm device stayed in Warwick's arm for only nine days - partly to avoid medical complications, partly because it was fairly limited in power. "Half of it is an electric coil," Warwick says, "and half is a number of silicon chips." The chips used only eight of an available 64 bits of information to communicate with the University of Reading's intelligent building. Which brings us to the question: Why? Warwick has spent more than 20 years researching and developing intelligent buildings. "In our building in the Cybernetics department, we've got quite a number of doorways rigged up so that they pass a radio signal between the door frame," he says. "When I go through the doorways, the radio signal energizes the coil. It produces an electric current, which the chips use to send out an identifying signal, which the computer recognizes as being me." And so, for a little better than a week, doors that normally require smart cards swung open for the professor. A system of electronic nodes tracked his movements throughout the building. Lights blinked on when he entered a room. "Hello, Professor Warwick," his PC announced when Warwick crossed the threshold of his office, before casually mentioning how many E-mail messages he had received. It also was reported that Warwick used the device to run a bath and chill his wine. Warwick How did he like it? "In my building I feel much more powerful, in a mental way," Warwick says. "Not at one with the computer, but much, much closer. We're not separate. It's not as though we're good friends or anything. But certainly when I'm out of the building, I feel as though part of me is missing." Asked if he named his chip, Warwick laughs. "I don't see it as a separate thing," he says. "It's like an arm or a leg." Warwick's family was a little slower than his body to accept the chip. "My wife finds it really strange," he says. "She didn't want to go near my arm for a couple of days. It was as though I had some funny disease." His 16-year-old daughter reportedly called him "crazy." And the day after the operation, Warwick played a game of squash with his son, but not before issuing a stern warning: "Whatever you do, don't hit my arm. The implant could just shatter, and you'll have ruined your father's arm for life." Real-world applications Though the experiment sounds like an episode of Dr. Who, its real-world implications are "right around the corner," says Warwick, who foresees enormous medical applications. Through a system of embedded chips interfacing with an artificial motor system, Warwick imagines paraplegics walking. And that's just for starters. "Simply take measurements off muscles and tendons and feed them into the transponder," Warwick says. "That means, ultimately, that you wouldn't need a computer mouse anymore. You wouldn't need a keyboard." Charles Ostman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Futures and science editor at Mondo 2000, agrees. "Neuroprosthetics are . . . inevitable," he says. "Biochip implants may become part of a rote medical procedure. After that, interface with outside systems is a logical next step." Warwick's eagerness is palpable, engaging, contagious. "This is where you can speculate," he says. "This is where we take a technical thing and say, 'Right-o, got the signal, got the implant; all I've got to do is run a wire from the implant to my nervous system.' . . . I'm so excited about it, I want to get on with the next step straight away. Let's see if we can control computers directly from our nervous system." Witt is a freelance writer in San Francisco. Top photo by Mark Harrison. Bottom two photos provided by INS Newsgroup. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 15 17:24:28 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 16:34:01 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 16:34:01 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Compaq to serve up Linux bundling, support plan Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Compaq to serve up Linux bundling, support plan By Carmen Nobel and Scott Berinato, PC Week Online January 15, 1999 4:48 PM ET Jumping fully onto the freeware bandwagon, Compaq Computer Corp. is about to ship and offer support for Linux servers. Next month, Compaq and Red Hat Software Inc. plan to announce a deal to deliver Red Hat Linux Version 5.2 preloaded on Compaq servers, according to sources close to the companies. Compaq will also offer 24-by-7 service and support for the Linux-based servers, the sources said. Compaq (CPQ) now offers Linux on its servers only upon request, so a formal bundling strategy from the world's largest PC server vendor is a big step up for the open-source Unix operating system. While many IT managers have been adopting and supporting Linux on their own, backing from hardware vendors has been limited. But that's changing, with Compaq on board and IBM and Dell Computer Corp. also offering custom Linux systems. A Linux server that comes with service and support may further sway cautious corporate customers. "[Preloading Linux on servers] will save us time. Normally, we'd buy blank servers and have to do the installation ourselves," said a network administrator at a major aerospace firm. "The service and support angle, for my management, will make a lot of difference. That could be the difference between them buying into Linux or not." Gateway Inc. has signed a similar deal with Red Hat to ship Linux preinstalled on servers. Officials of the San Diego company said users could expect to see such servers by year's end. Red Hat is trying to ink a similar service and support deal with IBM. Compaq officials would not comment on which servers will ship with Linux, but the Houston company offers its custom Linux installations on ProLiant servers for use as Apache Web servers and for customers that prefer Linux over Windows NT. A range of Unix offerings With its Linux support, Compaq will be able to offer a range of Unix products. On the high end it offers Digital Unix on Alpha servers, and for the midrange and low end it ships ProLiant X86 servers with SCO's UnixWare. It is Compaq's relationship with SCO that could be the most affected by the Linux plans. "This [decision to preinstall Linux] is a statement that SCO is down in the dumper with Compaq -- that they're walking away from SCO," said Kim Brown, an analyst at Dataquest Inc., in San Jose, Calif. "Linux is starting to be acknowledged as the low-end Unix alternative." Compaq is expected to make more Unix news next month when it renames Digital Unix to Tru64Unix, according to sources. Later in the year, Compaq will unveil clustering software for Tru64Unix that has features similar to those in the company's midrange operating system, OpenVMS, including advanced load-balancing and file-sharing capabilities, sources said. Those enhancements are good news for users who want more than just failover protection. "We're looking to leverage the same kind of clustering technology on our Unix environment as we have on our VMS system," said Joe Pollizzi, deputy division head at the Space Telescope Science Institute, in Baltimore. While happy with the prospect of new software, Pollizzi said he'd like to see more innovations for Alpha hardware. "Compaq has done a good job in saying they'll continue to support the product that we know and love," he said. "I haven't seen any announcements that focus on Alpha lately. I'd like to see something that really shows off the Alpha technology itself." To meet such demand, Compaq later this month will announce AlphaServer DS20, an entry-level server that runs one or two EV6 processors, sources said. Initial Standard Performance and Evaluation Corp. benchmark tests indicate that the DS20 is as fast as the GS140, its bigger, more expensive counterpart, according to Terry Shannon, a consultant in Ashland, Mass. Officials at Compaq and at Red Hat, of Research Triangle Park, N.C., declined to comment on unannounced products or partnerships. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sat Jan 16 11:20:20 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 10:29:59 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 10:29:59 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Waiting for Windows 2000: Possible interim NT release Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Waiting for Windows 2000: Possible interim NT release may offset concerns By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:29 PM PT, Jan 15, 1999 The old cliche "What's in a name?" is resonating at Microsoft, where the new moniker Windows 2000 really means the year 2000. Several sources confirmed that the software giant is now aiming to release the chronically late server-desktop operating system in February 2000. The company may look to fill the gap, however, with an interim release -- possibly called Windows NT 4.5 or even NT 5.0, Windows 2000's previous name -- which would include all of its ostensibly stable features. According to sources who requested anonymity, many ISVs and large corporate customers are pushing Microsoft to go the point-release route. If there is an interim release later this year, the ship date for Windows 2000 -- which one source said Microsoft now has pegged for Feb. 25, 2000 -- will be pushed back even further. "This product is horribly late, no matter how you look at it," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at the Gartner Group, in Stamford, Conn. According to Ed Muth, group product manager for enterprise marketing at Microsoft, Release Candidate 1 (RC1) for Beta 3 of Windows 2000 will be released in March of this year, and therefore Beta 3 will not be released at least until April. RC0 was released in December 1998. Muth would not discuss a final ship date for Windows 2000. Several factors have come into play for this latest of many delays, and the complexities of Microsoft's Active Directory services and IntelliMirror technologies are at the top of the list. But delays beget more delays, and as the industry continues to push ahead without Windows 2000, Microsoft is aiming at a moving target, observers said. "The hardware is rapidly changing underneath it, which makes it almost impossible to complete the product they outlined," said Rob Enderle, a senior analyst at the Giga Information Group, in Santa Clara, Calif. For instance, Intel's Pentium III will not be available until March 1, and the mobile version of the chip will not debut until the last quarter of the year at the earliest, according to Enderle. Microsoft is touting Windows 2000 as the first NT system designed with both mobile and desktop users in mind. "The Pentium III timing, coupled with Y2K overhead and the fact that this is the most complex and largest product ever attempted, is weighing heavily," Enderle said. "I don't know of another product that has more lines of code than this." One source, who asked not to be named, added that "the creeping internal 64-bit stuff in the beta versions we have seen, along with reworking the whole OS with Windows 2000 naming instead of Windows NT -- [and] rewriting docs, online help, scripts, etc. -- seems to be a factor in the slippage." Steve Ballmer, Microsoft president, and Brian Valentine, newly promoted vice president of Windows development, are the driving forces behind the Windows 2000 machinations. Ballmer, who has taken responsibility for product shipping dates, nixed a fourth-quarter release of Windows 2000. And once Valentine evaluated what features would have to be omitted to accommodate a June 1999 release, the February 2000 date -- as well as the possibility of an interim release -- became a reality, according to sources. An interim release without the complete functionality that was originally promised in Windows 2000 would be a mixed bag to many IT managers, but Muth said Microsoft has no immediate plans to offer one. "The absence of Active Directory would be very hurtful if that [absence] included things like IntelliMirror and the object repository," said Roger Abell, technology support analyst coordinator for the Arizona State University School of Engineering, in Tempe, Ariz. "On the other hand, an NT 4.5 could be a welcome thing. But there is so much pinned on Active Directory that [its absence] would give a lot of pause for thought." Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott, based in Seattle, is a senior editor at InfoWorld. Michael Vizard, Cara Cunningham, and Stannie Holt contributed to this article. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 19 10:50:47 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 10:00:07 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 10:00:07 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Excite, @Home To Merge Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Excite, @Home To Merge (01/19/99, 10:04 a.m. ET) By Mo Krochmal, TechWeb @Home Network announced Tuesday that it is purchasing Excite, one of the most heavily trafficked Internet sites, in an all-stock transaction valued at $6.7 billion. @Home Network is a high-speed Internet-service company. Excite is a portal with nearly 20 million unique visitors each month. Portals offer search capabilities, e-mail, and other services and serve as the place where most people navigate the Internet. They are expected to become even more important as more people use the Internet for the first time. Excite, founded in 1993 by five friends from Stanford University, has carved a niche among portals such as America Online, Yahoo, and Microsoft by concentrating on personalization. George Bell, the CEO of Excite, will report to Tom Jermoluk, the chairman and CEO of Redwood City, Calif.-based @Home Network, and will joint the @Home board of directors. @Home Network will issue 1.041902 shares of its stock for each share of Excite stock in a deal that is expected to take three months to close. The deal eclipsed the $4.2 billion purchase of Netscape by AOL two months ago. Excite had previously turned down a merger proposal by Zapata, a Texas-based food-processing company. @Home Network has outstanding shares with a value of $10.4 billion, while Excite's outstanding shares are valued at about $3.5 billion. In a news release issued Tuesday, @Home Network says it plans to "accelerate broadband addoption by exposing the millions of Excite narrowband users to that of a media experience enhanced by the broadband platform." Broadband is the next issue the exploding Internet industry faces. Companies are jockeying into position to be able to provide broadband service to homes and businesses through the cable-TV or telephone industry infrastructure. AT&T is acquiring Tele-Communications Inc., the major shareholder in @Home Network. With the purchase of Excite, @Home Network can leverage Excite's direct-marketing MatchLogic division and offer advertisers a unified way to target, measure, and report advertising on all devices on which the Excite and @Home Network combination is offered. This would include cable modems, the chief medium of distribution for @Home Network. @Home Network has approximately 300,000 customers. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 21 10:14:58 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 09:09:01 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 09:09:01 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Group seeks refunds for bundled versions of Windows Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Group seeks refunds for bundled versions of Windows By Jeff Walsh InfoWorld Electric Posted at 5:56 PM PT, Jan 20, 1999 An online group is seeking refunds from Microsoft for unused and unwanted copies of Windows that shipped with their PCs. The group, referring to the unwanted operating system as a "Microsoft tax" on all computers, is rallying Linux, BeOS, BSD, OS/2, and NetWare users to demand a refund on Feb. 15 because of wording in Microsoft's end-user license agreement (EULA). According to the group, Windows users are required to agree to the terms of the EULA, and if they are unwilling to license the software according to the terms Microsoft describes, they are entitled to a refund. The group's Web site, which was launched Tuesday, traces the successful case of Australian Linux user Geoffrey Bennett who secured a $110 refund from Toshiba after saying he was unwilling to agree to the terms of his Windows license, although the operating system was pre-loaded on his laptop. A Toshiba America Information Systems spokesperson said the company does not sell any systems without an operating system, and has no plans to do so. However, customers can choose whether they want Windows NT or Windows 98 pre-loaded. "There's no money-back agreement if they don't want an operating system. It's a whole package," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson, based in the company's Irvine, Calif. office, did not go into details regarding Bennett's rebate, which he obtained in Australia, but did warn other users seeking refunds that it's "not the typical policy and not what other people will run into if they try it." The Windows Refund Center can be reached at www.thenoodle.com/refund. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., in Irvine, Calif., can be reached at www.toshiba.com. Jeff Walsh is an InfoWorld senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 21 12:38:33 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:47:36 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:47:36 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel invests $100 million in Samsung Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel invests $100 million in Samsung By Terho Uimonen InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:57 AM PT, Jan 21, 1999 Intel has signed a letter of intent to invest $100 million in Samsung to speed up the supply of next-generation PC memory chips based on Rambus' high-speed interface technology, the two companies announced late Wednesday. Under the terms of the proposed deal, which is subject to approval by both companies' boards of directors, Intel will acquire convertible bonds exchangeable for common stock representing about 1 percent of Samsung's outstanding common stock, the companies said in a statement. Full approval of the transaction is expected by early February, the companies said. The deal is aimed at accelerating the supply of Direct Rambus DRAMs (RDRAMs), which in this year's second half are expected to gradually start replacing synchronous DRAMs (SDRAMs) as the main memory used in PCs. The two companies did a similar deal nearly two years ago when Intel made an undisclosed investment in a Samsung memory plant in the United States to secure supplies of SDRAMs. "With this investment, our goal is to help ensure an adequate supply of Direct RDRAM for the PC market segment over the next few years," said Patrick Gelsinger, Intel's vice president and general manager for the desktop products group, in the statement. The Samsung deal follows on from Intel's $500 million investment in Boise, Idaho-based memory maker Micron Technology last year, which was also intended to secure the future availability of RDRAMs. Despite Intel's efforts, however, RDRAMs may still end up in short supply later this year, analysts said, with several major memory makers, particularly in Japan, recently showing limited enthusiasm for quickly ramping up RDRAM production. Some Japanese memory makers, such as Fujitsu, are betting on a new generation of 133-MHz SDRAM chips to become popular ahead of the RDRAM wave, which is expected to begin with Intel's June introduction of the Intel 820 chip set, formerly code-named Camino, with support for Direct RDRAMs. Earlier this week, Samsung said it has already started volume production of RDRAMs, which the company expects will be used as the main memory in as many as 30 percent of PCs this year. In this year's first half, Samsung's monthly output of 72Mb and 144Mb RDRAMs will be around 500,000 chips in 64Mb equivalent units, but that output is expected to reach as high as 5 million units per month as the market picks up speed in the second half of this year, the company said. RDRAMs include one extra bit per byte for error correction, which is why a 64Mb equivalent RDRAM chip comes in a 72Mb density. One byte equals 8 bits. Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at www.intel.com. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., in Seoul, South Korea, is at www.samsungelectronics.com. Terho Uimonen is a correspondent in the Taipei, Taiwan, bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 21 12:40:43 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:49:59 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:49:59 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft expands NT 4.0 clustering Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft expands NT 4.0 clustering By Nancy Weil InfoWorld Electric Posted at 8:04 AM PT, Jan 21, 1999 Microsoft has released the Windows NT Load Balancing Service, which allows users to cluster TCP/IP network services across up to 32 systems, expanding networks and applications on the NT Server operating system 4.0 Enterprise Edition. The service is available now and included in new Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition licenses, Microsoft said in a statement Thursday. Existing customers can download the system component free at www.microsoft.com/ntserverenterprise. The clustered systems show up as a single TCP/IP address space. The Load Balancing Service enables users to perform maintenance and upgrades without interrupting service. That capability, along with scalability, is expected to be particularly appealing to users whose Internet-commerce and other Web-based applications are key to their business, Microsoft said. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Nancy Weil is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 21 12:55:43 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:48:55 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:48:55 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft cuts thin-server pricing by half Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft cuts thin-server pricing by half By James Niccolai InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:57 AM PT, Jan 21, 1999 Microsoft has announced new licensing terms for its Windows Terminal Server (WTS) software that cuts the cost of deploying a Windows terminal by as much as a half, the company said this week. The move comes in response to criticism from users and resellers that Microsoft's licensing terms for WTS were expensive and inconsistent, admitted John Frederiksen, group product manager for Windows NT. The shift in strategy, which also includes new multiuser packaging options aimed at small and medium-size businesses, could help ignite a boom in WTS shipments in 1999, according to one industry analyst. WTS, formerly known as Hydra, is based on technology licensed from Citrix Systems and forms the basis of Microsoft's thin-client strategy. The server software allows multiple copies of Windows software to be run on a single server and accessed by a variety of client devices, including Unix workstations, older PCs that don't run 32-bit Windows applications, and handheld appliances. The main difference with the new licensing scheme is that customers are no longer required to fork out $250 for a Windows NT workstation license for each WTS client. Instead, Microsoft has introduced a new WTS client access license (CAL) priced at $109. As before, customers must still purchase a separate Windows NT server CAL, priced at $40, Frederiksen said. The net result is that users pay around $150 for the software license to deploy each Windows client instead of about $300, Frederiksen said. The new WTS CAL is due to ship Feb. 1, with localized versions for French, German, Spanish, and Japanese markets due a month later. When Microsoft releases Windows Server 2000, expected later this year, WTS will be bundled with it at no additional cost, Frederiksen said. "Basically we're merging two NT server products together," Frederiksen said. Microsoft originally pitched WTS to enterprise customers, but the software is proving equally popular among small and mid-size businesses as well, Frederiksen said. To better target those customers, Microsoft also introduced CALs in five-user, 10-user, and 25-user packages, priced at $1,299, $1,899, and $3,999, respectively. They will be available in 60 to 90 days, he said. Customer surveys show that WTS deployments ramped up steeply late last year, according to research from Zona Research. The trend is likely to accelerate in 1999 as users begin to realize the efficiencies and cost savings of centrally managing software, and as part of an overall trend towards "access-based applications," said Zona analyst Greg Blatnik. Further fueling momentum, Wyse Technologies in a separate announcement this week said it will cut prices of its WinTerm thin-client terminals by as much as 25 percent. The company said increased shipments of the product made the price cuts possible. However, Zona doesn't think growth in the terminal clients market will cause PC sales to drop. "What this does is create more options for businesses, it gives them another model for accessing applications and for offering different services, and the model resonates strongly in a number of organizations," Blatnik said. Microsoft also introduced the Terminal Server Inter Connector, software based on WTS that enables companies to "publish" Windows applications on the Internet so they can be accessed by up to 200 concurrent users. "If you had an extended intranet, and external customers or partners or suppliers or buyers that wanted to access applications using the Internet -- they [Microsoft] now make that possible. That's a big deal," Blatnik said. To keep Inter Connector from cutting into its WTS licensing revenues, Microsoft requires that none of the 200 users are company employees. Companies could potentially try to get around buying single-user licenses by allowing workers to access applications through Inter Connector, Frederiksen acknowledged. "It's true that [the license] is just a piece of paper, so we depend on customers acting honorably," Frederiksen said. Internet Connector will be licensed as an add-on to Terminal Server, priced at $9,999, and is also due to be available Feb. 1. Separately, Citrix this week said it will release a new version of its MetaFrame server software that also allows concurrent non-employees to access Windows applications over the Internet. Pricing and availability will be announced at a later date, the company said. Microsoft Corp., based in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Wyse Technologies Inc., in San Jose, Calif., is at www.wyse.com. Citrix Systems Inc., in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., can be reached at www.citrix.com. James Niccolai is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 21 16:08:07 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 15:17:41 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 15:17:41 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft brings Java tool into compliance with order Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft brings Java tool into compliance with order By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 12:39 PM PT, Jan 21, 1999 Microsoft quietly brought its Java development tool into compliance with a court order on Thursday by releasing Service Pack 2 for Visual Studio 6.0, the company's suite of developer tools. The service pack, available for free download from the company's Web site (msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/sp/default.asp), includes files for Visual J++ 6.0 that Microsoft said brings the Java tool in line with the preliminary injunction issued in November 1998 by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald H. Whyte. Sun Microsystems is suing Microsoft for allegedly breaching its Java licensing contract by using an incompatible version of Java in Visual J++, Internet Explorer, and other products. The suit also accuses Microsoft of illegally using its market strength to induce software developers and others to adopt its supposedly incompatible version of Java. Service Pack 2 also includes the updates and fixes that were released in Service Pack 1 in 1998, as well as a new fix that addresses a Visual C++ bug that causes some third-party software to behave erratically or crash after Visual Studio 6.0 is installed. The pack is available in two formats, a full installation and a "core" download that offers only the new run-time redistributable files. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trottis InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 22 13:45:04 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 12:54:09 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 12:54:09 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft says Visual J++ complies with Sun's Java Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft says Visual J++ complies with Sun's Java By Antone Gonsalves, PC Week Online January 22, 1999 9:58 AM ET Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it has released a service pack for Visual Studio 6.0 that makes Visual J++, the suite's Java development tool, compliant with a court order stemming from Sun Microsystems Inc.'s lawsuit. "We are absolutely in compliance with the preliminary injunction at this point," Lead Product Manager Bill Dunlap said of Visual J++. Service Pack 2 includes a new Java Virtual Machine that supports the Java Native Interface and switches the tool's default development mode from Windows extensions to the language to cross-platform Java, Dunlap said. In addition, if developers choose to add Windows extensions to an application, a message box will warn them that the application will run only on the Windows platform. "There is a change in the user experience," Dunlap said. "But the actual functionality of the tool and the applications that you build are unchanged from before." The service pack is available now on the Microsoft Web site in two versions: one contains only bug fixes and updates to key executables to Visual Studio, while the other also includes debugging libraries for C++ developers. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte in November handed down a preliminary injunction giving Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., 90 days to conform any product that ships with Java technologies to Sun's standards. Sun (Nasdaq:SUNW) claimed Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) had violated its contract as a Java licensee by not following those standards. The products affected included Internet Explorer 4.0, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Visual J++. Microsoft (MSFT) is at www.microsoft.com. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sat Jan 23 10:49:13 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 09:58:22 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 09:58:22 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Linux bandwagon grows Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Linux bandwagon grows By David Pendery, Dan Briody, and Ed Scannell InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:15 AM PT, Jan 23, 1999 Momentum behind the Linux platform will soon surge again with both Hewlett-Packard and Tivoli Systems planning to extend their management platforms to the open-source Linux platform, according to high-ranking officials at the two companies. In addition, Compaq is expected to Linux-enable its Alpha systems soon, according to a source familiar with Compaq's plans. Also, Lotus officials this week confirmed that the company plans to release Notes on Linux before the end of the year in response to market demand. In the midst of growing Linux activity, Linux inventor Linus Torvalds next week plans to announce Version 2.2.0 of the Linux kernel, which will feature improvements in file systems, multiprocessing, and security, as well as platform support for Sparc64, Alpha, and PowerPC. Detecting an opportunity to move to the forefront of the Linux arena, HP likely will be porting its OpenView network management system to Linux in the near future, a move characterized as a "no-brainer" by HP's Nigel Ball, general manager of Internet and Applications Systems, in Cupertino, Calif. HP, which is a major Microsoft partner for NT in the enterprise, is also considering making available support services for Linux, according to HP sources. IBM, meanwhile, has slowly been expanding is Linux commitment, first with beta releases of its DB2 database and Transarc network file system, and now with pending support from Lotus and Tivoli. "We have done a fair amount of engineering, and have a version of Tivoli running Linux in our labs," said Tom Bishop, chief technology officer at Tivoli Systems, in Austin, Texas. "We see no technical or engineering hurdles that would prevent us from delivering a Linux product. Our view is that it's a good platform, a high-quality Unix implementation." Bishop added that Tivoli Enterprise for Linux would be generally released when demand is high enough, perhaps in late 1999. Support for Linux has been growing throughout IBM. "I have to admit that I was skeptical about why the world needed another Unix, but the advantages are now clear to me," said Lotus CEO Jeff Papows this week during the Lotusphere conference in Orlando, Fla. As part of its effort, IBM is also pondering a Linux support service offering. On the hardware front, a source familiar with Compaq's plans said the company will announce support for Linux on its Alpha systems later this month, and that various support and development programs are planned. HP, for its part, believes the OS has promise, particularly in the emerging "thin-server" market, for dedicated, single-function servers with minimal hardware and software. These devices could be deployed for applications such as e-mail, virtual private networks, directory services, and caching, according to the company. "We would strip off the bits of software and hardware you don't need," Ball said. "At some point, the operating system becomes irrelevant. It's the application that you care about." The growing interest in Linux comes as a breath of fresh air to one Linux customer. "I'm starting to see more [support] come out; vendors are not quite as skittish when you mention Linux any more," said Jeff Noxon, programmer and consultant at Data Processing Resources, in Dallas. "It's a best-of-breed Unix," Noxon added. David Pendery is an InfoWorld reporter. Dan Briody is the Client/Server section editor at InfoWorld. Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Jan 25 10:23:38 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 09:34:54 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 09:34:54 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun To Unveil Much-Vaunted Jini Technology Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun To Unveil Much-Vaunted Jini Technology (01/25/99, 10:01 a.m. ET) By Reuters SAN FRANCISCO -- Sun Microsystems will formally unveil Monday a much-vaunted new technology called Jini that seeks to make connecting any computing device to a computer network as easy as plugging in a telephone. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun will announce 35 companies -- from disk-drive makers such as Seagate and Quantum, to consumer-electronics giants Philips Electronics and Sony, to printer behemoth Hewlett-Packard -- are licensing the technology, which it hopes will be used in everything from printers to TV set-top boxes to dishwashers. Jini, which has already garnered much media attention, is software Sun said it hopes will make computers and all kinds of devices much easier to use. Sun's Java programming language, which lets programmers write an application once to run on many systems, is the core of the Jini technology. A Jini-enabled device works by announcing itself to the network, which will immediately be able to understand what kind of device was just plugged in and what kind of software drivers are necessary and the capabilities of the device. ``That is the goal, to make it as simple and as intuitive as how you use your telephone and your cell phone,'' said Mike Clary, general manager for Jini. For a few years, Jini was a top-secret project, headed by Bill Joy, Sun's co-founder and now chief scientist, who works in a remote Sun location in Aspen, Colo. Almost two years ago, more engineers joined the project, including Jim Waldo, now Jini's chief architect. Sun said it plans to offer Jini in a community source-code model, similar to what it has done with the Java language. The code is free to software developers who are working in research or using Jini for their own internal deployment. If a company has a commercial use of Jini, it will pay Sun a nominal licensing fee for the use of its Jini logo to cover the trademark costs -- either 10 cents per unit or $250,000 per year, per product line. Some of the companies are expected to have products incorporating Jini rather soon, such as Quantum, which is expected to have a Jini-ready disk drive this year. But analysts and industry executives said Jini is still in its very early stages in the new technology product cycle. ``This is a real immature marketplace,'' said Rod Smith, director of Internet technology at IBM. ``Our joy is to participate to sort things out. There are parts of Jini that are in pretty good shape.'' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That is the goal, to make it as simple and as intuitive as how you use your telephone and your cell phone." -- Mike Clary Sun ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- IBM, Microsoft, and Lucent Technologies are also working on technologies with a goal of connecting disparate devices on a network. Smith said IBM's T-Spaces project is complementary with Jini because T-Spaces lets computers and devices share network services such as messages, database queries, and print jobs. ``Jini represents a whole new economic opportunity for these people who get involved,'' said Clary, adding Jini will make it easier for companies to offer network services that have not been possible before. For example, Kinko's, the chain of printing and computing centers, said it plans an application where one Kinko's outlet can have a document printed in a remote city for someone else to pick up. Bosch Siemens in Germany said it plans a dishwasher that can be remotely diagnosed for problems by technicians. ``Jini is a great idea, but Sun has a ton of work to do to get it into something I can buy,'' said Eric Brown, an analyst at Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Mass. ``Sun is outstanding in technology vision, and like Java, they now have execution on their plate. But I would not hold my breath for Jini this year.'' Competition from other technologies, such as the recently announced Universal Plug and Play effort from Microsoft, could also cause some confusion and may foster a wait-and-see attitude in the industry, analysts said. "Microsoft still has to deal with the legacy and the installed base of the millions of PCs out there,'' said David Smith, a Gartner Group analyst. ``When you start with a clean slate, such as Sun has with Java, you can do a lot of things.'' Sun said it is making the Jini technology source code available Monday, and some of the first products will be available later this year and in 2000, targeted to the small home-office market. ``Initially, we will see it in the small office/home office market, where they don't have professionals configuring this stuff [networks],'' Clary said. ``Then we will see it as these networks invade the home.'' From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Jan 25 12:10:52 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 11:22:06 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 11:22:06 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Groups call for Intel boycott Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Groups call for Intel boycott Advocacy groups says users should not buy Intel products until chip ID technology is turned off. By Staff, ZDNN Privacy groups are scheduled to announce a boycott Monday of products made by Intel Corp. following news the company plans registration technology in future Pentiums that could identify consumers on the Internet. The boycott was called by the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, a consumer advocacy group, and Junkbusters Inc., of Green Brook, N.J., a high-tech lobbying group. Intel did not immediately respond today. Security features in chips Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) announced last week that it would put several security features in future processors, starting with the Pentium III later this quarter. One plan is to put processor-specific IDs on each chip that can be accessed by software and transmitted over the Internet. Will you support this boycott? Add your comments to the bottom of this page. The ID will be a 64-bit number created by fusing wires on the chip together during its manufacturing. Along with the current 32-bit CPU ID -- a number that groups CPUs depending on when and where they were manufactured -- the ID will create a 96-bit unique serial number accessible by software. The processor ID can be hidden from Net access by turning off a software "switch. Each machine will default to having the ID on, but a Windows control panel will allow users to turn it off. 'Big Brother' inside? Companies could require remote users to use the technology, while banks may offer more features to its customers that have processor IDs turned on. The ID could also help enable the ultimate in software copy protection, tying applications to a specific machine. But groups including the American Civil Liberties Union raised red flags over the technology, saying it could be used to track consumers over the Internet. Intel has said it has no plans to match the processor IDs with names in a database. Boycott organizers will introduce a parody of Intel's famous "Intel Inside" advertising campaign, but this one called, "Big Brother Inside." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Jan 26 10:46:17 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 09:29:21 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 09:29:21 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Compaq to reveal AltaVista plans Tuesday Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Compaq to reveal AltaVista plans Tuesday By Rob Guth InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:17 AM PT, Jan 26, 1999 Compaq's chief executive officer and president, Eckhard Pfeiffer, Tuesday is expected to announce plans to spin off all or part of the company's AltaVista search-engine unit into a separate company, according to published reports Tuesday. Under the plan reported in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, Compaq will install new management at the AltaVista unit and take the Internet search engine public. The report cites an analyst placing an estimated initial valuation on AltaVista of $2 billion. Compaq could not be reached for immediate comment. Palo Alto, Calif.-based AltaVista was absorbed by Compaq when the computer vendor bought Digital Equipment last year. AltaVista was a unit of Digital. Digital had previously considered taking AltaVista public and went as far as to file an initial public offering registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in August 1996 for AltaVista Internet Software Inc. However, in June 1997 Digital opted to roll the unit back into its main product division. Pfeiffer is expected to announce the spinning off of AltaVista Tuesday morning at a news conference in New York, according to the report. With him at the news conference will be Rod Schrock, a Compaq senior vice president and group general manger of the company's Consumer Products Group, who is expected to become CEO of the new AltaVista company, the report added. Compaq Computer Corp., in Houston, can be reached at www.compaq.com. Rob Guth is a correspondent in the Tokyo bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 20 17:21:12 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 16:30:28 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 16:30:28 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , Ruth Rozen From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel to electronically ID chips Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel to electronically ID chips E-commerce, anti-theft and anti-fraud efforts to benefit, but privacy concerns are real. By Robert Lemos, ZDNN Intel Corp. will unveil plans to embed identification numbers in its PC processors on Thursday, said industry insiders and cryptographers familiar with the company's efforts. In doing so, the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker could be sounding the death knell for anonymity on the Internet. "The application is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it offers more security -- for e-commerce and information security," said Barry Steinhardt, associate director and privacy expert at the American Civil Liberties Union. "As a pure privacy issue, it allows for a means of tracking individuals on the Net." Intel briefed the ACLU and others on the details of its new identification scheme in hopes of heading off any protest by privacy advocates about its new initiative. The plan calls for Intel to put a machine-specific ID and a random number generator in every processor, said sources familiar with the plans. The random-number generator will aid e-commerce by allowing PCs to encrypt data more securely, while the ID numbers will allow merchants to verify a user's identity and prevent stolen PCs from getting on the Internet. What of privacy? In fact, the plan is sort of a cross between vehicle identification numbers and caller ID. Users who buy a PC will have the ID number feature turned on automatically. Merchants and other "trusted" parties will be able to verify a user's identity. 'The application is a double-edged sword. It offers more security ... [and] it allows for a means of tracking individuals on the Net.' -- Barry Steinhardt, ACLU For those users who want to remain private, Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) will provide a software patch to turn off the function. This sort of scheme -- which is referred to as "opt out" because consumers have to opt out of participating -- mimics the current state of the industry. That bodes ill for privacy, though. "We would rather that Intel have the patch installed as the default," said the ACLU's Steinhardt, who stated that such a policy would let consumers choose whether they wanted to e-commerce-enhance their PC. But more significantly, if the technology is seen as enabling e-commerce, then users may (effectively) not have a choice of opting in or out -- the feature may be required of users by companies before any transactions are made. Such worries also extend to the collecting of identification information. "Intel says they're not keeping a database matching users to their ID numbers," said Steinhardt, "but the temptation down the road for someone to keep a database will, most likely, be too great. It will happen." Stronger security Still, even with such concerns, there is no denying the benefits of the scheme. "It's a matter of pros and cons," said Michael Slater, principal analyst for chip watcher Micro Design Resources Inc. "There is a lot of benefit for e-commerce with [Intel's] method." The identification numbers could act like their vehicular counterparts -- essentially blacklisting stolen PCs from the Internet. "This kills theft," said one cryptographer at this week's RSA Data Security Conference, who had been briefed by Intel on its plans. "As soon as you go on the Internet, you will be detected." For merchants on the Internet, having proof-positive of their customers will end consumer fraud and cut the cost of doing business with customers you can't see. End of overclocking And for Intel, the ID scheme takes care of a problem that has been plaguing them for years: Illegal overclocking. Overclocking is the act of running the processor at higher speeds, usually an act of the hardware hacker. But Intel has repeatedly run into companies that buy, say, a 300MHz Celeron processor, overclock it to 400MHz, and then sell it as a 400MHz processor. Not only does this result in lost profits for Intel, but if the processor has problems running at the higher speed, Intel is the one blamed -- not the PC maker. But with an electronic ID attached to each processor, consumers will be able to check their processor against Intel's database of products and find out at what speed the processor was sold. This still allows hobbyists who want to overclock their PCs to do so, while cracking down on the frauds. Intel refused to comment for this story. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Jan 27 17:08:50 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 16:19:54 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 16:19:54 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein , Randi Weinstein , Sandra Ancell , Elisa & Ophir Trigalo , Ophir Trigalo , rozenn@megsinet.net, Ruth Rozen , Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Pharmacy-on-a-chip coming? Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Pharmacy-on-a-chip coming? By Reuters Special to CNET News.com January 27, 1999, 1:40 p.m. PT A silicon microchip could one day replace painful injections, difficult-to-swallow pills, and foul-tasting medicines. Instead of packing it with data, scientists plan to load the tiny chip with drugs. It could then be swallowed or implanted under the skin and programmed to release tiny quantities of drugs at precise times. It may sound far-fetched but researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say a "smart tablet" or a "pharmacy-on-a-chip" could soon be a reality. "It's a drug delivery system, but it could be used for anything," Dr. Robert Langer told Reuters. The prototype that he developed with John Santini and Michael Cima could one day be used to deliver pain relief or cancer drugs, in medical diagnostic tests, in jewelry to emit scents, or in any capacity to deliver one or more chemical compounds in specific amounts at specified times. Do you want to know more? Read related news View story in The Big Picture Go to Message Boards Search News.com It may even be possible to create a microchip that could be put in televisions to release scents. Scenes of oceans could be matched with salt air smells or gardens with floral aromas. "This is the kind of prototype that may one day make those things possible," said Langer, a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at MIT. The device is the first of its kind enabling the storage of one or more chemicals inside of the microchip with the release of the compounds on demand. A microprocessor, remote control or biosensors can be used as a trigger mechanism. In a letter published in the science journal Nature today, the scientists described how they tested a solid-state, microchip the size of a U.S. 10-cent coin. It had 34 pinprick-sized reservoirs that could hold 25 nanoliters of chemicals in solid, liquid or gel form. A nanoliter is one thousand-millionth of a liter. The researchers said they could reduce the size of the chip even further, to as tiny as two millimeters (0.08 inch), depending on its desired use. There is also the potential for more than 1,000 reservoirs, maybe thousands, if the reservoirs are smaller. "Envision a container with tiny little wells. Each well has a drug or chemical and each of those wells is covered with gold. You can, by remote control or it can be self-contained, individually remove any of those gold caps," Langer explained. "The second you release it, and it does it immediately, all the contents will come out on demand." Another benefit of the chip is that it's cheap. Langer and his team are making them in a research lab for about $20 each, but, if they are produced in larger batches, a chip could cost just a few dollars, or less. Patents pending It's still to early to predict when the microchip will be widely available, but the researchers already have two patents pending--a U.S. patent on the fabrication of the microchips and a foreign one covering all aspects of the technology. Langer and his colleagues hope to test the device in animal studies and eventually with humans. They used gold and saline as electrode material and a release medium but they are already working on degradable plastics and other materials. Story Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 28 10:18:57 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 09:29:56 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 09:29:56 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Yahoo! agrees to buy GeoCities for $4.58 billion Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Yahoo! agrees to buy GeoCities for $4.58 billion Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Associated Press NEW YORK (January 28, 1999 8:46 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Yahoo! Inc. on Thursday announced it would buy GeoCities Inc. for $4.58 billion in a deal that creates the largest Web gateway and speeds the fevered spree of consolidations among Internet companies. The terms represent a substantial premium over GeoCities' current market valuation of about $3.02 billion including outstanding stock options. Yahoo! is a Web search and directory service based in Santa Clara, Calif., and already has a minority investment in GeoCities, a Santa Monica, Calif., company that hosts Web pages created by individuals. The deal would give Yahoo! another powerful brand name while helping GeoCities reach more Web users. The combination of Yahoo and GeoCities traffic could vault it to the No. 1 spot in terms of Internet traffic, according to figures from Media Metrix Inc., a research firm. Dealmaking has accelerated recently in the Internet business even as the stock market has pushed the prices of many Internet companies to new highs. At Home Corp. agreed last week to buy Yahoo competitor Excite Inc. in a deal valued at $6.7 billion at the time of the announcement. America Online Inc. agreed last fall to buy Netscape Communications Corp. for about $4.2 billion. On the Nasdaq Stock Market, GeoCities stock closed Wednesday at a new high of $75 a share, up $4 from the previous close. It has traded as low as $13.25 over the past year. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 28 10:20:01 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 09:31:07 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 09:31:07 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft overtakes GE as world's most valuable company Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft overtakes GE to top list of world's most valuable companies Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Agence France-Press LONDON (January 27, 1999 11:11 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Microsoft has overtaken General Electric as the world's most valuable company, according to the FT500, the Financial Times' annual ranking of companies around the world. The paper said the reversal of the rankings for the two U.S. giants reflected the markets' continuing enthusiasm for technology stocks over the last 12 months. The survey orders firms by their market capitalization -- their stock price multiplied by the number of shares issued. Microsoft was worth $271,854.4 million, said the FT, while GE was worth $258,871.3 million. Next came Exxon, Royal Dutch/Shell -- the only non-American company in the top 10 -- Merck, Pfizer, Intel, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart Stores and International Business Machines. Overall 244 of the top 500 firms were American, said the paper; 173 were European, 46 were Japanese, 20 were from the Asia-Pacific region, 10 were Canadian, four were Latin American, two were Middle Eastern and one was British-Australian. Changes from the previous year reflected surging U.S. and European equity markets over 1998, according to the FT, as well as poorly performing emerging markers, economic crisis in Japan, a wave of mergers in the U.S. and Europe and increasing values for technology stocks. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 29 10:36:25 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 09:47:21 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 09:47:21 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Bluestone moves to marry Java and XML Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Bluestone moves to marry Java and XML By Jeff Walsh InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:20 AM PT, Jan 29, 1999 Bluestone Software on Monday will launch a new freeware project that makes the Java Swing application programming interfaces and foundation classes available to the Extensible Markup Language (XML). The XwingML (pronounced as zwingML) project, available now from the Bluestone Web site, enables developers to represent an entire Java graphical user interface as an XML document, which has an upside and a downside to developers, according to one analyst. "The upside is that you're not hard-coding these user interface declarations in code," said JP Morgenthal, analyst with NC.Focus in Hewlett, N.Y. "This means you don't have to go into code that is debugged and tested, you just have to change the template to the layouts. The less you have to test production code the better." Morgenthal said the downside is that everybody is doing this in a proprietary way, even though companies are making these projects available on their Web sites. "Everybody thinks that because they put something out in the public domain it automatically matters, it doesn't," Morgenthal said. IBM has also delivered proof-of-concept technologies that marry Java and XML. In much the same way that XML is separating form and content on Web sites, it is being used in development environments to separate the graphical user interfaces from the programming logic. While Sun Microsystems has been absent in delivering an XML strategy, other vendors are stepping up to the plate to bring Java and XML together. "XML completes the picture of ubiquitous programming," said Pat O'Connor, an XML Strategist at IBM, in Cupertino, Calif. "I don't think XML affects Java as a platform because XML is representing data and Java is the programming language." On Monday, Bluestone will ship XML-Server, a dynamic XML application server, which can also be integrated with CodeWarrior to build applications for PalmPilot users. Looking ahead, Bluestone will deliver Visual-XML, a toolset built with XwingML that will enable users to visually design Web applications that link to legacy data or are built to accommodate an existing document type definition. Bluestone's XML-Server costs $2,995 and will ship next week. Bluestone Visual-XML costs $99 and will go beta in March and ship in April. Bluestone's application server, Sapphire/Web, will go into beta with its 6.0 version in April and ship in May. Bluestone Software Inc., in Mount Laurel, N.J., is at www.bluestone.com. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., is at www.ibm.com. Jeff Walsh is an InfoWorld senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Jan 29 10:37:40 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 09:48:28 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 09:48:28 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Boycott widened over new Intel chip ID plan Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Boycott widened over new Intel chip ID plan By Elinor Mills InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:20 AM PT, Jan 29, 1999 Intel's plan to ship its Pentium III chips with a processor serial number in the "off" position hasn't satisfied privacy groups, who decided Thursday to expand their call for a boycott to include any PC manufacturer who ships a Pentium III system with the ID number, not just Intel. Intel announced last week that it would include a processor serial number (PSN) in every one of its new Pentium III chips for online merchants to use in identifying and authorizing users for secure Internet commerce. After privacy rights advocates complained that the PSN would allow sites to monitor and profile users without their consent, Intel announced on Monday that it would ship the chips with the PSN switched off. The company also said it would offer software that would allow users to switch the PSN on and off, and alert them if the PSN's mode was to be changed. That move temporarily appeased an Arizona state lawmaker who previously planned to introduce a bill banning the manufacture or sale of Pentium IIIs. But privacy rights groups are still outraged after meeting with Intel Thursday. "This serial number is designed to facilitate tracking," said Dave Banisar, policy director for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). "Given Intel's marketplace share of 85 percent of the microprocessors," it is likely that online merchants will try to monitor and profile the great number of users with PSNs in their machines who surf the Internet, he added. EPIC, Junkbusters, and Privacy International -- the three groups who are leading the boycott -- are also considering sending a letter of complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the issue, according to Banisar. More groups are expected to join the trio in leading the movement, he added. Banisar and others pointed out several flaws in the latest Intel plan. For one, it is not within Intel's control to set the PSNs in the off default. The PC manufacturers who assemble the machines ultimately decide whether to ship the systems with the PSN de-activated. "You're relying on PC manufacturers, who in some cases want to identify users and were behind some of the initial demands for [PSNs]," Banisar said. With desktops managed by OEMs, "all the defaults are set to extract the maximum amount of information from the user," said Jason Catlett, president of Junkbusters. "It's another way to get information to trade and sell." An Intel spokesman said PC manufacturers will have to answer to end-users, ultimately. "The naysayers are going to look for holes wherever they can find them," said Intel spokesman Seth Walker. Secondly, critics say, the software utility that users need to activate or de-activate the PSN is vulnerable to hacking -- something even Intel acknowledges. Software can be used to obtain the PSN and, if the application is Internet-enabled, can transmit it anywhere without the user knowing it, Junkbusters said in a statement on its Web site at www.bigbrotherinside.com. In addition, hackers could write programs that transmit a fake ID number, or which hide the alert that the software utility is supposed to show to notify the user that the PSN is about to be turned on, said Bruce Schneier, president of security firm Counterpane Systems and author of "Applied Cryptography." "The basic problem is there's no secure way of querying the [ID] number, so you have no verification the number is accurate," Schneier said. Intel's Walker acknowledged the security vulnerability with the software utility, but said users should go to Web sites they trust. In addition, users will have to reboot their computers before the PSN mode can be changed, reducing the chance that the PSN could be turned on without their knowledge, he said. Web sites that want to use the PSN will also warn users that they are entering an area where their processor serial number could be identified, he added. "There is the ability for a malicious piece of software to try and disable that [alert], but users will have to go to sites that they trust and be careful about this feature," Walker said. A third flaw with the PSN plan, according to critics, is that online merchants and other service sites, who want to know as much about customers as they can, are likely to require users to enable the PSN as a condition for access, according to Catlett at Junkbusters. In fact, Intel has said more than 30 companies are planning to take advantage of PSNs. Intel spokesman Howard High agreed that some Web sites and chat rooms are likely to restrict access to only those users who volunteer their PSNs. But most businesses aren't likely to turn their backs on users, he said. High and Intel colleague Walker pointed out that companies will find the PSN helpful in keeping track of their computers, and some users may find it helpful to be tracked for marketing and transactional reasons. "For consumers, the potential of the Internet promises new ways to shop online," Walker said. "But greater levels of security are required. ... The processor serial number adds a level of security that doesn't exist today." However, Counterpane's Schneier points out that the same flaws that make the PSN less than secure for end-users worried about protecting their privacy also undermine the security level of the feature for I-commerce. One critic who was appeased by Intel's new plan to ship the PSNs in the off position was Steve May, a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives. He said Thursday that he won't submit a bill banning the production or sale of Pentium IIIs, which are manufactured in his state, because Intel is taking steps to address the security and privacy concerns. May is working on legislation, to be submitted by Feb. 8, that would address the misapplication of the technology in general going forward, he added. "Even if Intel fixes the current problem with the Pentium III, we now know that this technology exists and it could be a problem from AMD [Advanced Micro Devices] next year," May said. However, Intel chip rival AMD has reportedly said it will not put serial numbers in its chips. Meanwhile, Intel said the software utility will either be pre-installed on machines or available separately from retailers, as well as downloadable from its Web site by the time computers containing the Pentium III are available to customers, according to company spokesman High. The chips will be shipped to PC manufacturers before April, he said. In response to speculation that Intel wants to be able to use the PSNs for its own purposes, Intel spokesman Walker said the company will not use the PSNs to track chips, to recover stolen chips, or to check that manufacturers don't run the chips faster than the speed for which they are rated. "We're not going to keep any list of [ID] numbers," Walker said. Intel Corp., based in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at www.intel.com. Elinor Mills is an editor at large in the San Francisco bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Feb 1 10:33:13 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 09:44:01 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 09:44:01 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ophir Trigalo , Noah Roselander , David Weinstein From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Y2K nips NT users Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Y2K nips NT users By Bob Trott and Jessica Davis InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:19 AM PT, Feb 1, 1999 Windows NT 4.0 users who have been wary of Service Pack 4 (SP4) had better get used to it, because their systems will not be completely year-2000-compliant without it. Microsoft now is recommending that NT 4.0 users implement SP4 to achieve year-2000 compliance -- a shift from the company's previous position that Service Pack 3 (SP3) would do the job, albeit leaving minor year-2000 issues. However, implementing SP4 -- which includes more than 650 new bug fixes, repair of 28 memory leak conditions, several new features, and all of the patches from Service Pack 1 to SP3 -- could be a big project for many IT shops. SP4's size and scope, along with the difficulties and incompatibilities associated with it, led analyst companies such as the Gartner Group, in Stamford, Conn., to recommend that shops spend months testing, evaluating, and deploying SP4. The complexity of the service pack, coupled with the approaching year 2000, has left many users anxious. One corporate user told Microsoft officials that his shop did not intend to deploy SP4 because "we have assessed the risk to be too high," and had created a Systems Management Server package of year-2000 fixes that were issued after SP3. The user was not sure how to proceed, however, after Microsoft's pronouncement that SP4 is required for year-2000 compliance. "We are now putting that deployment on hold, pending Microsoft's response," the user said. "There is no point in doing it if Y2K problems will still exist." Mark Light, Microsoft year-2000 product manager, said that SP3 -- even with all of the hot fixes issued in the meantime -- would not offer users the year-2000 compliance available via SP4. The company has no plans to release the hot fixes necessary to bring SP3 into full compliance, Light said. But it does intend to maintain SP3 at "compliant with minor issues" status, a rung down from the "compliant" status of SP4. It will release a document about SP3 and its issues this month. Microsoft will maintain SP4 at "compliant" status -- issuing fixes to it if other year-2000 flaws are discovered, and assuring users who upgrade to SP4 that they will not have to implement yet another service pack by the end of the year. Still, some may want to stay with SP3, Microsoft officials said. "Customers have to look at their definition of compliance," Light said. "We recommend that customers move to SP4 for Y2K compliance, but some customers have built their euro solutions upon SP3 and want to stay there for a while." Other users are also waiting for more information before deploying SP4. "We are very leery about the SP," said Robert De Cardenas, distributed systems and network coordinator for the State of Florida Supreme Court. "I have heard from other colleagues that the SP did not go as expected, and this scares me." But analysts at the Gartner Group are recommending users do the upgrade. "IT managers need to deploy now or take the risk," said Michael Silver, an analyst at Gartner. Gannett, a publishing company in Silver Spring, Md., is already in the process of implementing SP4 after completing the extensive testing that it performs on any new product, according to Eric Kuzmack, a senior analyst at the company and a member of the InfoWorld Corporate Advisory Board. The testing revealed only one application conflict on something that was not mission-critical. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott is a Seattle-based senior editor at InfoWorld. Jessica Davis is an editor at large at InfoWorld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Feb 1 16:56:29 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 16:07:16 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 16:07:16 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: AT&T, Time Warner ink local telephony deal Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to AT&T, Time Warner ink local telephony deal By Marc Ferranti InfoWorld Electric Posted at 12:45 PM PT, Feb 1, 1999 Even as long-distance phone giant AT&T waits for its pending acquisition of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) to close, it has plunged ahead into another cable deal -- a joint venture with Time Warner to offer local telephone service in 33 U.S. states via cable television infrastructure. The two companies expect to test the AT&T-branded service in one or two cities by the end of the year and to offer it commercially in 2000. And as part of a broader, strategic partnership also announced Monday, the two companies have agreed to jointly market communications services and to develop other broadband communications services, such as video telephony. Together with the TCI merger, the Time Warner joint venture will enable AT&T to reach more than 40 percent of U.S. households over the next four to five years, said AT&T Chairman and CEO C. Michael Armstrong in a statement released Monday. The joint venture's services will be "priced competitively," according to AT&T, and will offer multiple phone lines per household, along with a variety of other features including conference calling, call waiting, call forwarding, and individual voice mail boxes for family members. AT&T will be responsible for the joint venture's capital expenditures, and estimates it will have to spend about $300 to $500 per home to hook up homes to the new cable telephone service, depending on whether or not they already subscribe to Time Warner's video service. Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T will own 77.5 percent of the joint venture and Time Warner will own 22.5 percent. AT&T expects the joint venture to have positive cash flow and net earnings after three full years of operation, and annual revenues of $4 billion in the same time period. AT&T and Time Warner said they expect to finalize the deal within 90 days and to close it in the second half of the year. The deal is subject to certain conditions, including various approvals. The AT&T purchase of TCI is still awaiting shareholder and Federal Communications Commission approval. Jeffrey Kagan, a telecommunications analyst, in Marietta, Ga., said the TCI and Time Warner deals are just the beginning for AT&T. "I think we should continue to expect to see AT&T forming alliances or merging with other cable companies," Kagan said. However, Kagan also warned that "cable telephony as a local phone service has a long way to go before they are perceived [to be] as reliable as the local phone company." AT&T Corp., in Basking Ridge, N.J., can be reached at www.att.com. Time Warner, in New York, can be reached at www.timewarner.com. Marc Ferranti is news editor for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. Laura Kujubu, an InfoWorld senior writer, contributed to this article. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 3 10:38:23 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 09:48:19 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 09:48:19 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , David Weinstein , Ophir Trigalo From: Gary Weinstein Subject: MS confirms that Win 9x kernel lives Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to MS confirms that Win 9x kernel lives NT Consumer is two to three years away, so Microsoft says at least one 'minor' update to Win98 is necessary. By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller Online Microsoft Corp. is planning on at least one more Windows 9X-kernel-based updates to Windows 98 before the company delivers its NT-kernel based consumer platform, company officials confirm. For at least two years, the Redmond, Wash., company has said that the next version of its desktop OS would be based on the NT kernel. Instead, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) is now planning to update Windows 98 with one, and perhaps more, "minor" Windows 9X-based desktop upgrades before it rolls out its next "major" Windows 98 upgrade, tentatively called NT Consumer, company officials say. "Our next major consumer release is two to three years off," said Microsoft spokesman Bill Zolna. "It's still in the drawing-board phase." Zolna confirmed the next "major" consumer release is NT Consumer. For consumers, this likely means there will not be a need to make wholesale changes to applications and peripherals any time soon. Not a change Zolna denied that Microsoft's decision to perpetuate the Windows 9X kernel is a change in company strategy. "Microsoft always said we would provide enhancements and features to our customers. We have offered no specifics in terms of what this means beyond Service Packs and OSRs [OEM Service Releases]," he said. Zolna would not confirm that Microsoft will call the next Windows 98 follow-on "Windows 2000 Personal Edition," as sources close to the company have indicated. He also said he had no information on when users should expect beta or final code for the new Windows release. Customers can expect the product to ship some time after the first Windows 98 Service Release, which is currently in beta test and expected to be available from OEMs preloaded on new systems around mid-year. Different theories Zolna also said he wasn't certain on the reasons for Microsoft's decision to deliver one or more Windows 9X-based updates prior to rolling out NT Consumer. Yet he added, "If I were to speculate -- and this is pure speculation -- I'd say Microsoft realizes moving to the NT kernel will take a long time. It's not an easy move for anybody. And OEMs want something on the consumer side earlier than two to three years from now." But beta testers and IS customers have their own theories about why Microsoft may be shifting its plans. Some testers have reported that Microsoft has had difficulties porting Windows 9x features, such as Plug and Play, to the NT kernel and is facing a number of incompatibilities with current Windows applications. Others say NT's large footprint and onerous memory and disk requirements at present make NT an unwieldy consumer OS candidate. "I haven't heard anything on this [Windows 2000 Personal Edition] specifically. But you've got to wonder: How much Plug and Play and PCMCIA support can they get into NT? And the games compatibility issue could be huge [between the 9x and NT kernels]," said one Windows developer. Big challenges Microsoft will definitely have some challenges on its hands if it does decide to release another version of Windows. "At one point, every Windows developer was put on NT 5.0 [now known as Windows 2000]," said one developer, who requested anonymity. "Almost all of Microsoft's developers are focused on getting Beta 3 [of Windows 2000] out the door." IT managers, so far, are showing little interest in the pending new release. "From the corporate IT perspective, is it something meaningful or is it just window dressing? If it's window dressing, who cares?" said Steve Curcuru, resident Wizard at Mugar Enterprises in Boston and a PC Week Corporate Partner. PC Week's John G. Spooner and Scott Berinato contributed to this story. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Feb 4 13:35:41 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 12:45:30 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 12:45:30 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , Ron Weinstein , David Weinstein , Noah Roselander , rozenn@megsinet.net From: Gary Weinstein Subject: New Computer Screen Offers 3-D Effect Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to New Computer Screen Offers 3-D Effect DUNCAN GRAHAM-ROWE c.1999 New Scientist Designers and computer gamers could soon be watching 3D computer images minus the unwieldy headgear. The new screen, developed by the London-based company RealityVision, plugs into a standard computer like any normal display. As with other stereoscopic systems, the RealityVision display achieves a 3D effect by projecting a slightly different image into each eye. In the new system, the two images are interlaced on a standard LCD: the image destined for the left eye is displayed on even-numbered rows of pixels, and the right image is displayed on odd rows. The key to making this work is a novel backlighting unit, in which light from an ordinary light source is directed towards each eye by a holographic pattern recorded on a plate fixed to the back of the LCD. The unit ensures that light passing through even-numbered rows is directed toward the left eye, while light passing through the odd-numbered rows only reaches the right eye. Provided that the viewer's eyes are in the correct area, they will see separate images. The signal that drives the LCD can come from either a pair of video cameras, or 3D software such as a game, a computer-aided design program or a virtual-reality simulator. According to co-inventor David Trayner, the screen could also be used to show two different TV programs to two people sitting side by side. The only constraint is that the viewer's head must stay within a certain area in front of the screen. Move too far to the left or right and you lose the 3D effect. But Trayner says most people naturally sit in front of a display in the right position. Trayner says his system provides a wider viewing zone than other 3D techniques. Rival systems are also limited by the fact that sideways movement leads to what he calls the ``picket-fence effect'', where the image periodically disappears when the eyes are in certain positions. Even worse, the left and right images can swap over as the viewer's head moves. RealityVision is now working on increasing the viewing zone, and increasing the resolution from its current 800 x 600 pixels to 1280 by 1024. The company also hopes to develop a system that tracks the motion of the viewer's head and moves the light source to maintain the stereo effect over a wider range of angles. The display can be changed to 2D by repositioning the light sources so that odd and even rows are illuminated identically. ``As far as the computer is concerned it's a normal display,'' says Trayner. ``You just switch to 3D when you want to.'' The relatively simple design of the display should make it easy to replicate on a mass scale, says Chris Williams, chair of the European Society for Information Displays. ``It's been developed on a shoestring budget and yet it works incredibly effectively.'' From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Feb 9 10:17:21 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 09:26:44 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 09:26:44 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft's Vizact blurs line between Word, HTML Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft's Vizact blurs line between Word, HTML By Ephraim Schwartz and Matthew Nelson InfoWorld Electric Posted at 1:50 PM PT, Feb 8, 1999 INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Microsoft and others are using the Demo 99 conference held here this week to announce new Internet capabilities and what may be new communications standards. Microsoft has introduced a concept product called Vizact, which will eventually be part of the Office 2000 product suite from the company. Vizact is intended to blur the difference between an HTML page and a Word page, with the capability to add hot buttons and images to Word files. Vizact will also allow for text, images, and hot buttons to be wrapped and delivered within an e-mail, as well as for a time limit to be placed on how long the text and images can be viewed. Microsoft, along with Macromedia and Compaq, submitted the HTML + Time part of the Vizact technology to the World Wide Web Consortium three months ago as a possible standard for limiting the amount of time a document or image can be viewed, according to the company. While Vizact will be part of the Office 2000 product line, it will not be in the initial release of Office 2000, as the company developed the idea too late and "couldn't integrate the code," according to Karl Jacobs, a product unit manager at Microsoft. Vizact is expected to be released by the second quarter of this year. Pricing is to be determined. Also at the show, Perry Kivolowitz, Hypercosm president and CEO, gave a demonstration of small file interactive 3D objects. With the Hypercosm product -- which uses a proprietary language called OMAR -- users will not only be able to see and capture modeling behavior, but also to interact with it. Kivolowitz demonstrated the capability with an image of a barbecue grill that could be rotated and viewed from different angles but could also be interacted with by turning dials and pushing buttons on the graphic. Another company hoping to redefine the operations of the internet is Digital Fountain, which introduced a one way transmission scheme technology. Using the Digital Fountain system, Internet connections or the sending of files over the Internet will not have to be checked and rechecked for acknowledgement of transmission, but simply delivered. The company intends to lessen bandwidth constraints by removing the number of connections necessary between messages. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Hypercosm Inc., in Madison, Wis., can be reached at www.hypercosm3d.com. Digital Fountain, in Oakland, Calif., can be reached at www.dfountain.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartzis based in San Francisco. Matthew Nelson is an InfoWorld senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Feb 9 10:19:59 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 09:29:32 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 09:29:32 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM Gives Linux PowerPC Boost Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM Gives Linux PowerPC Boost Edward F. Moltzen February 08, 1999, Issue: 828 Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM Corp. plans to initiate a companywide effort that should next month lead up to full-blown support of the Linux operating system. A cross-divisional working group within IBM, examining the computer giant's response to the growing market acceptance of Linux, has pushed the company into making several key decisions, said sources who had been briefed. Those decisions will lead to a series of unveilings on March 1, the sources said. First, IBM plans to unveil wide-ranging support for Linux throughout its product lines. The company also plans to preload versions of Linux, initially on low-end versions of its RS/6000 systems. These bundles will be focused primarily on the education and Web-serving solutions markets. Armonk-based IBM is talking with a range of independent software vendors, including LinuxPPC Inc. and Red Hat Software Inc., about cooperative efforts to put the freeware onto IBM hardware, sources said. The moves, and other key decisions, are expected to be unveiled on or before the LinuxWorld trade show next month, said a source who had been briefed. Robert Ramos, RS/6000 product manager for Champion Computer Corp., Boca Raton, Fla., one of IBM's largest North American midrange distributors, said Champion already configures some systems with the open-source-code operating system, and described the performance of those systems as "smoking." "The last six months or so is when things have really come to life," Ramos said. Linux now competes head-to-head with Windows NT, and the fact that the next release of NT, Windows 2000, is delayed "plays into the favor of the Linux community," he said. Linux began to draw interest in accounts where an NT investment of $10,000 to implement is compared to a free investment in Linux, along with improved support, Ramos said, adding that he had not heard, officially, about the specifics of IBM's plans. "The momentum and excitement is there," Ramos said. "If you don't ride the wave, you're going to be left out." IBM is talking with LinuxPPC about different cooperative efforts, said Jason Haas, marketing director at the Madison, Wis. start-up that provides versions of Linux ported to the PowerPC processor platform. "They've spoken with us about working on a demo model of the RS/6000 running Linux in their booth at LinuxWorld," Haas said. LinuxPPC has ported a version of Linux to the PowerPC processor platform, he said. While IBM has dabbled with Linux-and even offers a version of its DB2 Universal Database for the operating system-it has, on the surface, been tepid in its support, analysts said. IBM subsidiary Lotus Development Corp. has promised a Linux version of Notes/Domino. IBM declined for several weeks to return phone calls while its working group continued hammering out a companywide strategy. One spokeswoman, though, last week said IBM for years has said it would support a variety of operating systems. A recent survey inside the company showed that 90 percent of IBM accounts use at least three different operating systems, she said. Pricing and market pressures, however, have put IBM in the position where it will make a bold, supportive statement of Linux next month, industry experts said. Competitor Compaq Computer Corp. last week said it would offer a series of midrange servers based on the Alpha processor. Systems with Unix-based operating systems will be $19,900, while those with Linux will be $15,000. Those servers will compete with IBM's RS/6000. Copyright ® 1999 CMP Media Inc. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Feb 9 14:18:14 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 13:07:22 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 13:07:22 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Lycos merger creates online giant Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Lycos merger creates online giant By Jana Sanchez and Terho Uimonen InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:21 AM PT, Feb 9, 1999 USA Networks, Lycos, and Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch on Tuesday announced a three-way merger deal that will result in a new Internet-commerce giant leveraging both the Internet and cable television. Under the terms of the complex deal, Lycos will merge with Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch, in which USA Networks holds a controlling stake. USA Networks will also add its other I-commerce assets, including the Home Shopping Network (HSN) cable television unit, into the combined company that will be called USA/Lycos Interactive Networks, the companies said in a statement. Financial details of the agreement were not immediately available. The merger is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year. Barry Diller, chairman and chief executive officer of USA Networks, will become the chairman of USA/Lycos, while Robert Davis, president and CEO of Lycos, will become president and CEO of the new company. There is no reason why the new company cannot be a dominant player in the transition towards interactive systems, Diller said in the statement. On a historical pro forma basis, USA/Lycos will have combined revenues of more than $1.5 billion, the companies said. On its first day of operation, it will have the capacity to reach 70 million television homes and approximately 30 million Internet users through its Web sites, according to the statement. USA Networks will hold a majority 61.5 percent stake in the new company, with Lycos shareholders owning a 30 percent stake, and Ticketmaster Online shareholders other than USA Networks holding the remaining 8.5 percent, the statement said. Tuesday's announcement is the latest in the Internet portal merger frenzy that kicked off last June when the Walt Disney bought a 43 percent stake in Infoseek for $70 million by selling its interest in Web developer Starwave to the portal. Last month, @Home announced its intention to purchase Excite for an all-stock transaction valued at $6.7 billion. The deal followed a surprise announcement in November that America Online would buy Netscape. Earlier this month, speculation arose that NBC might take a 35 percent stake in Lycos and merge NBC's Snap portal with Lycos. Other names circulating as potential Lycos suitors included Time Warner and Bertelsmann. Lycos' Davis, meanwhile, has publicly maintained that the company would remain independent. Lycos' stock price has benefited from all the rumors, which have helped raise the company's market capitalization to more than $6 billion. The deal must still be approved by regulators and Lycos shareholders, but Lycos' largest shareholder, CMG Information Services, which owns about 20 percent of Lycos, has said it supports the deal, according to the statement. The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year. Lycos Inc., in Waltham, Mass., is at (781) 370-2885 or www.lycos.com. Jana Sanchez-Klein is London bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. Terho Uimonen is a correspondent in the Taipei, Taiwan, bureau of the News Service. Clare Haney and Rob Guth of the News Service contributed to this report. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Feb 9 17:06:07 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 16:15:33 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 16:15:33 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Installation, security woes dog NT 4.0 SP4 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Installation, security woes dog NT 4.0 SP4 By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 1:01 PM PT, Feb 9, 1999 Microsoft is dealing with more woes surrounding Service Pack 4 (SP4) of Windows NT Server 4.0. The software giant is working on an SP4 installation problem that affects users with specific configurations, and plans to issue a fix this week. And Microsoft support line engineers compounded worries for some customers by describing the fix as a "major re-release" of the service pack. According to Microsoft, the Y2ksetup.exe file included with the "full download" and CD versions of SP4 causes Microsoft Message Queue Server (MSMQ) to be uninstalled on NT servers that have both Site Server Express 2.0 and the NT Option Pack version of MSMQ. A Microsoft representative said that no core SP4 components were affected, and that the problem does not affect users who installed MSMQ from NT Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition. However, the company's handling of the issue confused some customers. One user, who was working to deploy SP4 over hundreds of NT servers worldwide, said he was told by Microsoft engineers to hold off on the deployment until a "major re-release" of the service pack was released. One Microsoft official, referring to an internal document, called the service pack refresh "SP4a." "In our particular case it throws off months of preplanning to hit 400-plus servers worldwide," said the IT manager, who requested anonymity. The representative said Microsoft was not planning a re-release of SP4, and said the reference to "SP4a" was a "typo." However, the representative also said Microsoft would use the installation fix as a chance to update NT's Java virtual machine to bring it into compliance with a federal judge's order in the lawsuit brought against Microsoft by Sun Microsystems. Microsoft this week also posted to its Web site a fix for a security hole in SP4 that could allow a user to log on interactively and connect to network shares using a blank password. Information on the bug can be found at www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-004.asp. The flaw mainly affects NT servers that serve as domain controllers in environments with DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, OS/2, or Macintosh clients. "In general, customers who have deployed only Windows NT, Windows 95 and Windows 98 client workstations are not at risk from this vulnerability," the company stated. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott, is InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Feb 9 17:09:57 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 16:19:19 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 16:19:19 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Power struggles, brain drain cloud Windows' future Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Power struggles, brain drain cloud Windows' future By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller February 9, 1999 2:56 PM ET For any company, managing 2,000-plus developers is no picnic. But for Microsoft Corp., where big egos and fat stock options are the norm, it's becoming next to impossible. According to a report first published in The Seattle Times on Sunday, Microsoft is expected to reorganize the company within the next few weeks into four divisions. While the company routinely reorganizes annually, this anticipated move -- which could end up dividing responsibilities for consumer and enterprise operating systems -- could be Microsoft's attempt to stem some of the inner turmoil. Product shipment delays are a mere crack in the Microsoft "we're-on-track" facade. In recent months, the entire Windows 2000 development process has started to show signs of severe stress fractures. With Windows 2000 still a no-show, Microsoft finally has confirmed that it has abandoned plans to push consumers directly from Windows 98 to the Windows NT kernel. The change in direction is just the latest indication that Microsoft's developers are drowning in a sea of mixed messages, design changes and product delays. Consider the evidence: - Established product directions are shifting. - Long-time Windows marketing veterans have been reassigned to other parts of the company. - Many of Microsoft's midlevel managers are now millionaires (at least on paper), which means its difficult to keep them motivated and on board. - The less-than-stellar Department of Justice court appearances by Senior Vice President Jim Allchin and Group Vice President Paul Maritz, coupled with the meteoric rise in popularity of Linux, are taking their toll on Microsoft's Windows Everywhere campaign. Allchin in the middle Caught in the eye of the storm is Allchin, who heads up Microsoft's Personal and Business Systems Group. As if delivering Windows 2000 wasn't difficult enough, Allchin has been forced to manage developer infighting, staff departures and employee burnout among the ranks. The mild-mannered Allchin managed to survive a showdown with former Vice President Brad Silverberg, who took a sabbatical in 1997 around the time Allchin emerged as the top Windows dog at Microsoft. Silverberg, who currently consults for Microsoft, is a long-time Allchin rival and is said to be contemplating a comeback. Microsoft officials won't disclose whether the prodigal "Bradsi" will return. But beta testers note that Silverberg has become much more visible on Windows 2000-related messages in recent weeks. Other management issues also are rocking Allchin's boat. To wit, Brian Valentine, a vice president and the design leader on Windows 2000, was brought in to replace 11-year veteran Moshe Dunie, a former leader of Microsoft's Windows and NT teams. Valentine also must work with Dave Cutler, the father of Windows NT 3.1 and current leader of Microsoft's 64-bit NT efforts. Cutler, known to be difficult to manage, is said to prefer racing cars to writing code. Meanwhile, a number of Microsoft's top minds have stepped away from the Windows 2000 effort since NT 4.0's release. The defectors include marketing guru Rich Tong, who so successfully branded Windows NT 3.x and 4.0. Rather than stay on for Windows 2000, Tong decided to spend more time with his family and moved onto the BackOffice team. Other high-profile Windows veterans, such as Jonathan Roberts and Phil Holden, have jumped onto the Windows CE team. But it is midlevel management defections that have Microsoft's top brass most worried, say partners close to Microsoft. "Microsoft has started calling its millionaire managers 'volunteers,'" said one integrator who has worked with the company over the years. "Microsoft knows there's not much they can do to keep people who can afford to retire whenever they want because their stock is worth so much." In the last 12 months alone, shares in Microsoft have risen from $50 to more than $150. Because of these distractions, Microsoft's core operating systems business faces a challenge unlike any trial the company has experienced to date. Broken promises Just last week, Microsoft was forced to acknowledge that it cannot make good on a promise to move its mainstream operating system efforts directly from Windows 9x to the NT kernel. Instead, the company will take one or more stutter steps, in the form of "minor" Windows 98 upgrade releases, before it manages to achieve its long-term goal of moving to a "major" NT Consumer release. Microsoft officials say the move does not signify a change in strategy. However, the company's stated goal, since at least 1996, has been to move its entire Windows development effort to a single code base. The original strategy, in theory, would have simplified life for Microsoft, its developers and its customers. Now, Microsoft will be forced to pull a number of the developers off Windows 2000 and put them back onto Windows 9x. One developer close to Microsoft claims the software giant already has assembled a Windows 9x follow-on team under David Cole, vice president of Microsoft's Web client and consumer experience division. Others speculate that Silverberg's responsibilities, if he returns, could include management of any Windows 98 follow-ons based on the 9x kernel. > A Microsoft spokesman says the company decided to add new Windows 9x releases to its lineup because the company had decided hardware vendors and customers could not wait two years or more for NT Consumer. Some developers, however, tell a different story. Many say Microsoft changed course because it underestimated the effort required to make all Windows 9x applications run on Windows 2000. Further complicating matters, Windows 2000 contains 35 million lines of code and requires 64MB to 128MB of memory -- which doesn't make for a nimble consumer operating system, developers note. Trouble at the top Developing Windows 2000 and Windows 9x enhancements aren't Microsoft's only problems. The company's high-end 64-bit development effort also has hit some bumps. Publicly, Microsoft insists it will deliver a 64-bit NT release simultaneously with Intel Corp.'s IA-64 "Merced" processor, which is due out in mid- to late 2000. Microsoft and Intel maintain that the effort is going well. But privately, the "intellectual crossfire" between the two companies is intense, says one developer, who requested anonymity. "We have front-row seats at the fights. The dirty little secret is 32-bit Windows applications won't run as fast on Merced once they are compiled. Microsoft is pissed," he said. Enter Microsoft's Cutler, who heads Microsoft's 64-bit development team. Allchin is counting on Cutler to help Microsoft navigate the 64-bit waves, but it won't be smooth sailing. Cutler, who earlier designed Digital Equipment Corp.'s VMS operating system, is a renegade captain, to put it nicely. He tolerates no fools -- and leaves an e-mail trail laced with profanity to prove it. Cutler has his own ideas of how operating systems are best designed and has no qualms about executing his vision. Sources say Microsoft's Valentine is trying to keep Cutler in check by putting some 64-bit code into Windows 2000. "New cuts of [Windows 2000] Beta 3 have lots of new 64-bit code in them -- like #IFDEF64 conditional compilation statements," said one NT source-code licensee, who requested anonymity. "We hear Valentine said, 'We better bring back Cutler and his 64-bit team from going their own way.'" Translation: Microsoft insiders may be concerned that NT will fragment into two incompatible code bases (Windows 2000 and a 64-bit NT), which would cripple Microsoft's compatibility strategy. Microsoft officials insist the company is on target with its 64-bit plans. Group product manager Ed Muth notes that NT64 will include a 32-bit compatibility subsystem that will allow 32-bit applications to run seamlessly on 64-bit systems. Muth declined to talk about interim builds of Windows 2000 Beta 3. "To the best of my knowledge," he said, Microsoft isn't including any new 64-bit functionality in new beta builds. Whatever the truth, a 64-bit NT, Windows 2000 and NT Consumer remain a long way off. At this point, it's unclear how internal squabbles, executive brain drain and changing development schedules will affect Microsoft's future success. But these storm clouds certainly warrant a close watch. See more Sm@rt Reseller news. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Feb 12 12:19:52 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 11:29:14 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 11:29:14 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ophir Trigalo , Ruth Rozen , Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Dell Lands $7 Million Sale Online Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Dell Lands $7 Million Sale Online (02/12/99, 10:25 a.m. ET) By Tom Davey, InternetWeek Need proof that Internet commerce, at least in the PC industry, is thriving? Dell has landed its biggest-ever online sale, a $7 million notebook purchase by Norwest Mortgage. The large Des Moines, Iowa, originator of residential loans purchased more than 4,500 Dell Latitude notebooks to issue to its sales force. Dell shipped the notebooks to 50 locations throughout the country, where the salespeople gathered for training on how to use the hardware and Norwest's custom software, which Dell installed on the machines. A unique asset tag, which Dell attached to each notebook at the factory, will let Norwest IS managers keep track of the notebooks, a spokesman said. Norwest, a division of Wells Fargo Bank of San Francisco, made the purchase through a password-protected extranet site at Round Rock, Texas-based Dell called Premier Pages. That site also provides order status, help-desk support, and purchase histories. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sat Feb 13 11:20:45 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 10:29:49 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 10:29:49 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft jilts Java tool Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft jilts Java tool By Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:48 AM PT, Feb 13, 1999 Just months ago, Microsoft professed love for Java-the-language, but jeered at Java-the-platform. Now that a court ruling has forced Microsoft to adopt pure Java in its products, the company may be ready to jilt its own Java tool, Visual J++ 6.0. Sources said the company is seriously considering dropping further development of Visual J++, which was updated last fall as part of Visual Studio 6, and is instead working on an alternate C++-like object development model tightly aligned with Windows 2000 and the forthcoming Component Object Model+ (COM+) environment. Microsoft will not go so far as to say it is dropping Visual J++, but company officials do warn that the outcome of the lawsuit between the company and Sun Microsystems over Java purity may not make "innovation" around Java worthwhile. "Java is under serious constraint and uncertainty over how any vendor can innovate around it, whether it's our tools or any other. We have to determine if that uncertainty is acceptable," said Greg Leake, lead product manager for Visual Studio. "It depends on the lawsuit. I can't speculate further than that." For its next generation of tools, however, Microsoft is building a Java-like development model, code-named COOL (C++ object oriented language), that brings COM+ support to C++ developers, Leake said. "It makes C++ programming simpler. We like Java-the-language because it is simple -- and simpler than C++ -- but there has to be ways to make that easier," Leake said. "Can we not take the things that are wonderful about C++ and marry them with an easier model?" The COOL model is dependent on COM+, due out with Windows 2000 by the end of this year. But given that the oft-delayed Windows 2000 is very much a work in progress, Visual J++ 6.0 users should have plenty of time to get used to Java during the interim. And aside from fitting Microsoft's aggressive posture of protecting its platform and APIs, the idea of abandoning Java this late in the game for another object model has little merit, analysts said. "Creating a pseudo-C++ or alternatively easy object-oriented language would be a disaster. There is just too much support for Java for Microsoft to entice people away from it," said Dave Kelly, an analyst at the Hurwitz Group, in Framingham, Mass. "Microsoft has to think carefully about what it's doing. It could alienate its enterprise customers, who our research indicates are very interested in Java," said Phil Costa, an analyst at the Giga Information Group, in Cambridge, Mass. Nevertheless, there are many reasons to believe that if Microsoft loses its suit with Sun, Java will no longer be supported by the software giant, and the stage will be set for the new COOL model to take its place. Earlier this month, Microsoft asked District Court Judge Ronald H. Whyte, who is presiding over the Sun suit, whether Microsoft can distribute an independently developed technology that performs "the same or similar functions" as Java. Whyte has yet to rule on the request, but it demonstrates a clear intent to pursue COOL, Costa said. "Indications are that they are moving away from the Sun version of Java; they've pulled Java from other products, which means they will probably pull it from the core technologies," Costa said. Another indication Microsoft is abandoning its Java efforts is that it has not announced plans to update or upgrade Visual J++ 6.0 or its other Java implementations to comply with the Java 2 specification, which arrived from Sun in December. "Microsoft's original strategy was to protect its installed base against the onslaught of Java and maintain its Windows clientele. When they lost the court [preliminary injunction] it took their product strategy and thwarted it," said Tom Dwyer, an analyst at the Aberdeen Group, in Boston. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com. Dana Gardner is based in New Hampshire. Bob Trott contributed to this article. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 17 10:09:29 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 09:18:29 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 09:18:29 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: 'Cool' faces hot fight inside MS Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to 'Cool' faces hot fight inside MS Some at Microsoft hope it will kill Java, but 'Cool' programming technology may never see the light of day. By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller February 16, 1999 5:04 PM PT Whether Microsoft Corp.'s rival to Java ever makes it off company whiteboards depends as much on internal Microsoft politics as on legal and technological concerns. The company's would-be Java killer, code-named "Cool", has factions within Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) battling over whether or not to create an entirely new language, a new variation on C++, or to stay the course and attempt to ride out the company's legal battles over Java with Sun Microsystems Inc. Little is known about Cool's timing or feature set. Microsoft officials say that no one at Microsoft has written a line of code for the potential language. But developers outside of the company insist that members of Microsoft's tools group are actively evangelizing Cool as an alternative to Sun's Java. Will MS ice Cool? Indeed, advocates within Microsoft's Developer Tools Division are the ones pushing the entirely new language approach, say sources. But other Microsoft developers and executives -- primarily those who have been with the company for a number of years -- are advocating staying the course and either betting on a COM+-enhanced version of Microsoft C++ and/or Microsoft Visual J. Sources say the leader of the latter, more conservative, camp is none other than David Vaskevitch, vice president and chief architect of Microsoft's Distributed Applications Platform Division. Vaskevitch, who reports directly to Microsoft Senior Vice President Jim Allchin, currently drives much of the data access, data architecture and component services strategies for the company. Vaskevitch also is rumored to be the lead candidate for the head of a new developer group that Microsoft is considering forming as part of an expected company-wide reorganization in the next couple of months. Microsoft may form up to four new divisions -- Enterprise, Consumer, Knowledge Worker and Developer -- as part of the reorganization, according to industry reports. And if Vaskevitch is appointed to head the developer division, the Cool project could die an untimely death, say sources close to the company. "If Vaskevitch gets the job, Cool is dead," said an official with one company developing for Windows, who requested anonymity. Vaskevitch and other Microsoft officials contacted for comment did not respond to questions about Cool by press time. J++ still kicking Meanwhile, Microsoft insists it plans to continue work on its Visual J++ Java product simultaneously with any other programming language work in which it is engaged. Company officials deny talk that Microsoft intends to halt work on J++, despite a number of rulings that have not favored Microsoft by the judge overseeing the Sun vs. Microsoft Java case. So far, Microsoft has fixed some of its products by adding Java Native Interface support, but it has done nothing to alter its J++ language, other than to add a warning of possible noncompliance of the product and applications developed with it. Microsoft's Research Group also continues to work on a number of Java-related projects. Among these is a Microsoft-developed optimizing Java compiler and run-time environment, code-named "Marmot." Microsoft has built a Marmot prototype that is aimed at improving the performance of Java when used in developing large, object-oriented, threaded applications. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Feb 18 10:19:29 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 09:28:07 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 09:28:07 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein From: Gary Weinstein Subject: In a Major Breakthrough, Danish Physicist Slows the Speed of Light Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to In a Major Breakthrough, Danish Physicist Slows the Speed of Light By MALCOLM W. BROWNE When light travels through empty space, it zips along at a speed of 186,171 miles a second -- the highest speed anything can attain, even in principle. A moonbeam takes only a little over one second to reach Earth. But a Danish physicist and her team of collaborators have found a way to slow light down to about 38 miles an hour, a speed exceeded by a strong bicyclist. The physics team, headed by Dr. Lene Vestergaard Hau, who works concurrently at the Rowland Institute for Science in Cambridge, Mass., and at Harvard University, expects soon to slow the pace of light still further, to a glacial 120 feet an hour -- about the speed of a tortoise. "We're getting the speed of light so low we can almost send a beam into the system, go for a cup of coffee and return in time to see the light come out," Dr. Hau said in an interview. The achievement, by Dr. Hau, two Harvard graduate students and Dr. Steve Harris of Stanford University, is being reported on Thursday in the journal Nature. Physicists said it had many potential uses, not only as a tool for studying a very peculiar state of matter but also in optical computers, high-speed switches, communications systems, television displays and night-vision devices. One of the most desirable features of the apparatus that the researchers built for their work is that it does not transfer heat energy from the laser light it uses to the ultracold medium on which the light shines. This could have an important stabilizing effect on the functioning of optical computers, which operate using photons of light instead of conventional electrons. A switch using the system could be made so sensitive that it could be turned on or off by a single photon of light, Dr. Hau said. The medium Dr. Hau and her colleagues used in slowing light by a factor of 20 million was a cluster of atoms called a "Bose-Einstein condensate" chilled to a temperature of only fifty-billionths of a degree above absolute zero. (Absolute zero is the temperature at which nothing can be colder. It is minus 273.15 degrees on the Celsius scale, minus 459.67 on the Fahrenheit scale and zero on the Kelvin scale. Dr. Hau's group reached an ultralow temperature in stages, using lasers to slow the atoms in a confined gas and then evaporating away the warmest remaining atoms. The temperature they attained, one of the lowest ever reached in a laboratory, was far colder than anything in nature, including the depths of space. Bose-Einstein condensates (named for the theorists who predicted their existence, Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein) were first prepared in a laboratory four years ago and became the objects of intense research in the United States and Europe. They owe their existence to some of the rules of quantum mechanics. One of these is Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which states that the more accurately a particle's position is known, the less accurately its momentum can be determined, and vice versa. In the case of a Bose-Einstein condensate, atoms chilled nearly to absolute zero can barely move at all, and their momentum therefore approaches zero. But because zero is a very precise measure of momentum, the uncertainty principle makes the positions of these atoms very uncertain. In a condensate, as a result, such atoms are forced to overlap each other and merge into superatoms sharing the same quantum mechanical "wave function," or collection of properties. It was such a superatom, made of a gas of superpositioned sodium atoms, that provided Dr. Hau and her associates with the optical molasses they needed to slow light down. Beginning their project last spring, the group tuned a "coupling" laser to the resonance of the atoms in their condensate, shot the laser into the cold cluster of atoms and thereby created a quantum mechanical system of which both the laser light and the condensate of atoms were components. At this stage, the system was no more transparent than a block of lead, Dr. Hau said. The next step was to send a brief pulse of tuned laser light from a "probe" into the condensate, at a right angle to the coupling laser, in such a way that the laser-condensate system interacted with the probe laser. Under these conditions about 25 percent of the probe laser light passed through the "laser-dressed condensate," but at an astonishingly slow speed. The light that emerged from the apparatus, not visible to the naked eye, was only 25 percent as strong as the light that entered, but detectors found that it had roughly the same color. The speed of light is reduced in any transparent medium, including water, plastic and diamond. Glass prisms and lenses, for example, slow light by differing amounts that depend on the thickness of the glass. The slowing of light causes the bending by which lenses focus images. But the reduction of light speed in a laser-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate works in an entirely different, quantum-mechanical way. Not only is the speed brought to a crawl, but the refractive index of the condensate becomes gigantic. Refractive index is a measure of the degree to which a medium bends light. The refractive index of the condensate created by Dr. Hau's group was about 100 trillion times greater than that of a glass optical fiber. Although Dr. Hau said it might take 10 years before major applications were developed, the huge refractive index of the condensate, which can be precisely controlled, may make it a basis for "up shifting" devices that increase the frequencies of light beams from the infrared end of the spectrum up through visible light to ultraviolet. Possible applications include ultrasensitive night-vision glasses and laser light projectors that could create very bright projected images. Laser-condensate combinations may also lead to ultrafast optical switching systems useful in computers that would operate using one light beam to control another light beam. Such a system could function as an optically switched logic gate, replacing the electronic logic gates computers now use. Slow light could also be exploited in filtering noise from optical communications systems, Dr. Hau said. Dr. Jene Golovchenko, a physics professor at Harvard familiar with Dr. Hau's work, commented, "She has worked long and hard on this, and now she's really hit a home run." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 17 17:12:20 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 16:20:58 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 16:20:58 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM embraces Linux on client/server hardware Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM embraces Linux on client/server hardware By Ed Scannell and Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 1:38 PM PT, Feb 17, 1999 IBM will take the next step toward making Linux an integral part of its enterprise strategy next month when it announces it will bundle the open-source operating system with two of its PC- and non-PC-based servers. IBM on Thursday will announce an alliance with Red Hat Software under which the company will ship a wide array of its products with Red Hat Linux. Under the agreement, developers from both companies will work to maximize performance, reliability, and security for Red Hat Linux on IBM server and client systems, including Netfinity servers, PC 300 commercial desktops, IntelliStations, and ThinkPads. Red Hat will also perform hardware certification testing and provide dedicated customer training, the two firms said. "Our customers are asking for Linux solutions," said Bill McCracken, marketing and strategy general manager for IBM's Personal Systems Group. "The Red Hat alliance demonstrates IBM's commitment to the open-source movement and to provide our customers with an unmatched range of platforms, operating systems, solutions and services." At the LinuxWorld show, in San Jose, Calif. in March, IBM will announce it will bundle Linux with its lower-end RS/6000 servers and workstations as well as with its Intel-based line of Netfinity servers, along side the native operating systems for those platforms. The company will also announce plans to port Linux over to the PowerPC chip, which now powers the company's RS/6000 servers and AS/400 line of servers. The decision to push a strategy to sell Linux across multiple server platforms has to do, in part, with better establishing IBM in a variety of strategic markets in which currently it lacks a meaningful presence, sources said. "It is a move that can only help us sell more RS/6000s into markets where we are not all that strong, like ISPs and universities where [Linux] grew up," said a source close to IBM. "Plus we are seeing substantial demand from customers and we tend to listen to them. It is a fairly easy decision to make." Some observers question whether bundling an open-source operating system might threaten proprietary software businesses surrounding AIX, including the operating system and the thousands of AIX-compatible applications. IBM officials reportedly believe the opportunity available to them in the Linux market can cover any losses they would suffer elsewhere. "It isn't a dangerous decision if it creates a whole other business for IBM. And not just for software but services and support," an IBM insider said. "Besides most of the play for Linux will be on the Intel-based platforms." IBM will still back AIX as its "bulletproof enterprise operating system," and will continue to aggressively develop and support it, according to one source. In addition to IBM's work with Red Hat, the company next week will announce support for Pacific HiTech and Caldera Systems. "More than any other computer company, we are worldwide. We realize that different distributors have different strengths in different parts of the world. So to play on a world stage, it is necessary to deal with different distributors,'' another IBM insider said. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com. Red Hat Software Inc., in Research Triangle Park, N.C., can be reached at www.redhat.com. Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large based in Framingham, Mass. Bob Trott is InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Feb 19 21:40:07 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 20:48:56 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 20:48:56 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Caught in the crossfire Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Caught in the crossfire By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 3:55 PM PT, Feb 19, 1999 Confusion in the Windows developers' community continues to mount as Microsoft ponders its next Java moves - both in court and in its own product plans. The most recent by-product of this confusion emerged last week, when several members of Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN) said they had not received all of the Java-related software they were promised when they signed up for MSDN. Microsoft's efforts to bring its products into compliance with Sun Microsystems' Java implementation following a court order is creating a series of cascading delays across a range of products. For example, although Microsoft recently released a new version of its Java virtual machine, that version is not yet available through MSDN. The MSDN software shipment hiccup belies Microsoft's state-ments that the Java lawsuit, in the preliminary injunction requiring it to comply with Sun's guidelines, would not affect its product plans and schedules. "This ruling will not impact Microsoft's ability to deliver any Windows operating systems product to our customers," according to a page on Microsoft's Visual J++ Web site. Doug Ward, a developer in Beede, Ark., spent $2,400 to become a "Universal" member of MSDN last week. But instead of the 42 software CDs he was expecting, he received only one. According to Ward, MSDN representatives told him that because of Java-compliance issues, he would not receive the full software library until April. "I complained about the impact this will have on my [project] deadline, and they suggested I purchase the individual components," Ward said. Another developer, in France, did not get his January MSDN software shipment on time, according to a message he posted in an MSDN newsgroup. When he checked with Microsoft, he was told that "no product related to Java may be shipped by Microsoft." He was told that "applies to about 70 percent of MSDN." "Because of the injunction, we had to reconfigure a little bit ... and anything we had that wasn't compliant, we couldn't ship," said Eric Rothenberg, MSDN lead product manager. One analyst said the MSDN situation was an example of the little guy getting caught in the crossfire. "A lot of people [are] pleased Microsoft has been told it's been naughty, but tens of thousands of developers now have to wait," said Clay Ryder, chief analyst at Zona Research, in Redwood City, Calif. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott is InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Feb 19 21:42:01 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 20:50:57 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 20:50:57 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Host of vendors puts weight behind Linux Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Host of vendors puts weight behind Linux By Jeff Walsh InfoWorld Electric Posted at 3:55 PM PT, Feb 19, 1999 Linux will be in the spotlight in March at the first-ever LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, in San Jose, Calif., with several vendors delivering key announcements at the show. IBM (www.ibm.com) will bundle Red Hat Linux with its servers and workstations, and the company will announce its intent to port the OS to its PowerPC chip. Infoseek (www.infoseek.com) will announce it is porting two of its key search products to Linux, and GraphOn (www.graphon.com) will showcase its remote-access technologies. One vendor that will not be making any strategic announcements at LinuxWorld is Oracle (www.oracle.com), although the show will feature a keynote speech by Mark Jarvis, the company's senior vice president of worldwide marketing. The company announced in July 1998 that it would release its entire Oracle Applications enterprise resource planning suite on Linux. One Oracle representative said the company is still "on track for applications on Linux," but said these applications would not be available for two months. Database vendor Informix (www.informix.com) will announce new channel programs to distribute Linux solutions at the show, and will also make a joint announcement with a new hardware vendor, according to the company. Infoseek will ship Linux versions of its Ultraseek Server 3.0 and Ultraseek Server Content Classification Engine (CCE) in March, according to the company. The Ultraseek Server port, which can index documents in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format and has Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, encryption, will run on Red Hat Linux 5.1 for PC and require a TCP/IP network. The Ultraseek Server CCE is a server add-on that enables large corporate intranets and Web sites to categorize their content for faster and more relevant search results. The CCE port will support text files, HTML, PostScript, Adobe's Portable Document Format, and XML files, but unlike the Windows NT and Unix versions, it will not support Microsoft Office documents. GraphOn will unveil a Linux Playpen at the show, in which show attendees will be able to test various GraphOn products that enable companies to use Windows, Java, and multiuser NT systems to access Linux applications remotely. The playpen will feature Go-Between, a thin-client PC X-Windows server; Go-Joe, a thin-client Java X-Windows server; and Go-Global, a thin-client PC X-Windows server designed for low-bandwidth connection over the Internet. Fastlane Systems (www.inetd.com) will be showing XniRT, a package featuring conversation-based network analysis, security and accounting. The product provides real-time viewing of network traffic flow with reporting and remote monitoring through a Web front end. XniRT works with Fastlane's existing Web-based reporting product, Xni. Information on the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo can be found at linuxworldexpo.com. Jeff Walsh is an InfoWorld senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Feb 19 22:09:03 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 21:18:03 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 21:18:03 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Win 2000: New code will demand most applications be rebuilt Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Win 2000: New code will demand most applications be rebuilt February 19, 1999 Web posted at: 11:43 a.m. EST (1643 GMT) by Sharon Gaudin (IDG) -- The mostly new code in Windows 2000 makes it such a different beast than its NT 4.0 predecessor that corporate developers had better brace themselves: Most of their existing applications will have to be rebuilt, or at least revised, to make them compliant. The issue isn't the stability of the current Windows 2000 beta. Even if the code in the final release of Windows 2000 is completely bug-free, many applications that run on NT 4.0 simply won't be able to use the new features, such as Active Directory or COM+, available in the upgraded operating system. "Eighty percent of the code in Windows 2000 is new," said Daniel Kusnetzky, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. "If that's not a new operating system, I'm not sure what is. With the Windows platform, each migration from one version to the next has been tough. This will be tougher." Of course, there also are bugs in the early release of the Windows 2000 Beta 3 code that are causing some application incompatibility problems. "That doesn't surprise me, with 25 million lines of new code," said Jon Oltsik, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge. "That's what betas are for. Fixing them might further delay an already late piece of software.... The trade-off, though, is going to be if Windows 2000 is worth all the trouble of messing with all those applications." [25 million new lines of code and they expect people to bet their companies on it? They've gone completely over the edge... --Gary] New Features Are Problem Karan Khanna, Microsoft's lead product manager for NT Server, explained that applications that run under NT 4.0 will run under Windows 2000 if they don't access the new features. But if information technology managers want to take advantage of the reasons companies want to buy in to Windows 2000, such as public-key security and the new directory, then they will have to change those applications. Khanna said Microsoft is trying to ease that workload by building some of the changes into the application programming interfaces (API) so developers can write to the APIs instead of building the coding into the applications. But John Scannello, director of IT planning at Consolidated Edison of New York Inc., said he thinks his developers still have a lot of work ahead of them. "That will be a big negative," Scannello said. "The thought of rewriting applications is not something a large company wants to deal with. If it's one or two applications, that would be one thing. I don't know how we'll deal with something bigger." Isaac Applbaum, senior vice president at Concord, Calif.-based Concorde Solutions, a subsidiary of Bank of America, said he will probably deal with it by devoting some developers to the task of bringing their custom applications into Windows 2000 compliance. "It's going to be a bigger job than expected," he said. "I can tell you that we won't be an early adopter. When someone tells you there will be 80% new code, I can tell them we'll be on the careful side." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Feb 22 12:43:08 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 11:51:26 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 11:51:26 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM's system-on-a-chip breakthrough Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM's system-on-a-chip breakthrough By Reuters Special to CNET News.com February 22, 1999, 4:55 a.m. PT IBM announced today an advance in semiconductor technology that would allow entire electronic systems to be built onto a single semiconductor chip. The so-called system-on-a-chip technology will enhance the performance of many electronic products--including personal computers and mobile phones--while also making the products both smaller and less expensive. IBM, the world's biggest computer maker, said in a statement that it had found a way to put both logic and memory circuits on a single piece of silicon. Logic circuits process information and memory circuits store information, and both are used together to add "intelligence" to electronic products. "Until now, having processing power and data on separate chips was like having the materials you need to do the job in another office," Bijan Davari, vice president of development for the IBM Microelectronics Division, said in the statement. IBM aims to start designing chips with this system-on-a-chip capability in April. The New York Times earlier quoted IBM executives as saying that while the company is not the first to create such systems, its technology would work faster than current system-on-a-chip products. Story Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Feb 22 16:57:56 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:06:15 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:06:15 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft IE 5.0 to reach multiple platforms at once Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft IE 5.0 to reach multiple platforms at once By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 10:32 AM PT, Feb 22, 1999 Criticized in the past for its "Windows now, everybody else later" approach, Microsoft will release the latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer 5.0, on March 18 for a wide range of platforms, the company announced Monday. Versions of Explorer 5.0 for Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 3.1, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX will be available for free download, Microsoft promised. Also, versions in 10 languages will be released, and OEMs will be able to begin pre-installing Explorer 5.0 then. Typically, Microsoft has completed work on Explorer for the latest versions of Windows and NT months before it gets to Unix, Windows 3.1, and other less prevalent platforms. Nevertheless, Macintosh users will have to wait until this summer for Explorer 5.0. Microsoft released an interim version, Explorer 4.5, in January. Microsoft is aiming to make Explorer easier for end users with Version 5.0, which includes some IntelliSense technology -- also found in Office 2000, due to ship in the second quarter -- that includes a Search Assistant and expanded AutoComplete functionality. On the developer side, Explorer 5.0 will include enhanced support for Extensible Markup Language. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott is Seattle Bureau Chief at InfoWorld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Feb 23 17:09:51 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 16:18:03 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 16:18:03 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Forte unveils jForte beta version, forms Java business unit Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Forte unveils jForte beta version, forms Java business unit By Jeff Walsh InfoWorld Electric Posted at 1:09 PM PT, Feb 23, 1999 Forte Software Tuesday formed a new Enterprise Java Business Unit and released the beta version of its product suite that is code-named jForte, which enables companies to deliver scalable, distributed Java applications. The new suite provides full import and export of Java source, Java binaries and JavaBeans/Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), company officials said. The suite is written in module form and can be used in conjunction with other development environments. The developer module supports Java, JavaBeans, EJB, and CORBA, and it can be used to build HTML, Extensible Markup Language (XML), Dynamic HTML, and Java clients, officials said. A team-builder component enables collaborative testing and debugging. The jForte Application Server supports the EJB standard, and features fail-over and load balancing. Forte's new Enterprise Java Business Unit includes dedicated engineers, consulting, marketing, and sales personnel focused on finding new business opportunities and partnerships involving Forte's products, company officials said. Currently, Forte delivers products for Apple, Computer Associates, Data General, Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Informix, Microsoft, Netscape, Oracle, Sequent, Siemens Nixdorf, Sybase, and Sun Microsystems, according to company officials. Forte Software Inc., in Oakland, Calif., can be reached at www.forte.com. Jeff Walsh is an InfoWorld senior writer. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Feb 25 16:47:43 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 15:55:43 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 15:55:43 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , Elisa & Ophir Trigalo , Ophir Trigalo From: Gary Weinstein Subject: FCC rules ISP calls are long-distance in nature Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to FCC rules ISP calls are long-distance in nature By Nancy Weil InfoWorld Electric Posted at 10:58 AM PT, Feb 25, 1999 In a long-anticipated vote, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday decided that dial-up Internet calls are interstate in nature and not local. The ruling overturns state decisions holding that dial-up calls to the Internet are local. The decision also could mean that local phone companies will be able to assess usage-sensitive access charges on ISPs, the FCC suggested in a statement Thursday regarding its vote. Without the so-called "ESP Exemption," consumers might have to pay per-minute fees for dialing into the Internet on local lines, though not all Internet-access calls necessarily will be charged at long distance rates. The matter has been under discussion for months by the FCC, which ruled in October 1998 that high-speed Internet access provided by GTE is interstate in nature because a certain percentage of Internet traffic originates in one state and winds up in another. In a statement regarding the ruling, the FCC said that Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth did not participate in the vote out of protest over what he contends was the denial of his process rights. The five FCC commissioners have, "for at least 25 years" been allowed to put off by one month any action set for consideration at a commission meeting. According to the statement, William Kennard, the FCC's chairman denied Furchtgott-Roth's request to push back the decision for three weeks. Furchtgott-Roth questioned whether it is in the public interest to risk Internet access charges, according to the statement, which went on to say that the decision had been delayed from January at the behest of Kennard. The Federal Communications Commission, in Washington, can be reached at www.fcc.gov. Nancy Weil is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Feb 25 10:28:52 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 09:36:46 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 09:36:46 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft opens doors on online shopping site Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft opens doors on online shopping site By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:52 AM PT, Feb 25, 1999 Microsoft this week quietly opened up a preliminary version of its new online consumer shopping site, formerly code-named Nitro. The Web store, shop.microsoft.com, will be a highlight of the company's I-commerce strategy day, which will hosted by Chairman and CEO Bill Gates and President Steve Ballmer next week in San Francisco. Nitro -- or New Interactive Technology for Resellers Online -- features Microsoft home and business software, such as Office 97 and Encarta Africana, a multimedia encyclopedia. It also offers hardware from Microsoft and books from Microsoft Press. The Web store, which went into development a year ago, was due to go online last fall, but technological problems delayed its opening until now. Microsoft also has had to walk a fine line with its reseller partners. "They have to be careful not to drive anyone out of business or look like they're muscling in on [retailers'] territory," said one observer, who requested anonymity. To that end, Microsoft plans to offer products on its site at prices 10 percent to 25 percent higher than retailers, according to company officials. Once a product with Microsoft's "estimated retail price" is selected, a customer is guided to a Web page that features a list of online reseller partners, such as Beyond.com or CompUSA, that may offer the products at lower prices. Based in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft Corp. is at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trottis InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Feb 25 10:42:13 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 09:50:21 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 09:50:21 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel funds move to boost Linux on Pentium Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel funds move to boost Linux on Pentium By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 25, 1999, 4:00 a.m. PT Linux got a serious shot in the arm with news that it will benefit from an Intel-funded effort to add support for Pentium MMX and Pentium III instructions. Cygnus and Intel announced that core Linux programming tools will gain support for the Pentium MMX instructions and optimization for Intel's chip architecture. In addition, Cygnus has begun work on bringing the Pentium III's new SSE instructions to Linux, and early versions of those improvements will begin emerging in the summer, said Scott Petry, vice president of marketing at Cygnus. According to Cygnus, the company that performed the work, Linux programs running on Intel hardware will run 30 to 40 percent faster as a result. The improved software is in beta testing now and should reach full distribution by the end of June, Petry said. Intel's continuing support for Linux is in line with the Santa Clara chipmaker's efforts to make its chips the basis for lots of different operating systems: It's not just Windows anymore. Intel wants its chips to be the "unifying architecture of choice where you can have your operating system of choice," said Mike Pope, manager of enterprise software programs at Intel. "We want to make sure that operating systems that are relevant and demanded by users are optimized to take advantage of the latest features." "Clearly, Intel wants to expand its market share beyond the Microsoft-oriented desktops and servers," said Tom Henkel, an analyst at Gartner Group. "They seem to be willing to invest in anything that might foster that cause." Intel is investing very heavily in several Unix vendors' efforts to move their operating system to Intel's upcoming 64-bit chips, Henkel said. "You can pretty much get a million dollars out of Intel if you can get them to stay awake through the whole presentation," he quipped. Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Santa Cruz Operation, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard are making their versions of the Unix operating system work on Intel's forthcoming 64-bit chips. Under contract from Intel, Cygnus has been updating the software that's used to make chips like the Pentium understand the software that people write. This technology, called the compiler, translates programs written in high-level languages like C or C++ into machine language for the chip. But not all compilers are created equal, and the default Linux compiler, GNU's GCC, has some catching up to do. Linux software still speaks the language of the 386 chip, which Intel introduced in 1985. It doesn't include support for the MMX multimedia instructions added in 1997 or for the new SSE instructions that arrived with the Pentium III. Cygnus personnel, who write compilers for the Pentium and other chips for a living and who wrote about 80 percent of the code for the GNU compiler, have been updating the compiler to support the newer chips. Intel said the new compiler will deliver a double-whammy performance boost. Not only will software compiled with the new technology run faster on Intel hardware, the operating system itself will too, Pope said. Because the MMX and SSE instructions improve a Pentium's number-crunching abilities as well as its two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawing features, the compiler enhancements will improve Linux' workstation performance, Pope said. The GNU compiler is released as open source software, meaning that anyone can see and modify it. Some programmers have been improving the compiler to improve Linux performance, said Cygnus' Kim Knuttila, and Cygnus has incorporated some of those patches into its work. Last year, Intel invested in Linux distributor Red Hat, though Pope is careful to mention it's not an exclusive relationship that precludes work with other Linux distributors. "Our objective was to use them to make sure the right Linux operating system features are being incorporated to match our product releases," Pope said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 24 10:09:50 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 09:17:51 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 09:17:51 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel details 64-bit Merced plans Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel details 64-bit Merced plans By Ephraim Schwartz InfoWorld Electric Posted at 2:19 PM PT, Feb 23, 1999 PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Intel announced this week at its Professional Developer Conference here that it will ship manufacturing samples of its 64-bit Merced processor by midyear and that the processor will be in production in mid-2000. The company also announced that it has successfully booted seven different operating systems on the Merced simulator, including Microsoft's 64-bit Windows OS. Other operating systems booted include Sun's Solaris, SCO UnixWare Monterey, Novell's Modesto, HP-UX, plus full support for Linux. By 2001, Intel 64-bit processors should be performing at 1,000 MHz, or 1 GHz. On stage at the Conference, the company actually demonstrated 1-GHz performance using a Pentium III processor. However, brute megahertz alone may not put the Intel processor at the top of the performance heap. "To get performance out of the EPIC [Intel's Explicit Parallel Instruction Computing] architecture, the software has to be optimized to use it," said Nathan Brookwood, chief analyst at Insight 64, in Saratoga, Calif. "To do that is a very challenging compiling task. That's where performance will come from, and it is not clear Intel has done that yet." The Merced chip along with the 64-bit Windows OS will be able to address at least 4 terabytes of memory, and will have a 128-bit wide system bus, according to an Intel representative. The follow-on 64-bit chip to the Merced is called McKinley, and it is actually this chip that will run in excess of 1 GHz and have three times as much bandwidth as the Merced. Samples of McKinley are slated to ship in late 2000, and production quality parts in late 2001. According to Intel officials, the processor will help OS vendors create high-availability features for enhanced error handling support and monitoring, which will result in downtime measured in minutes per year. Systems will include four eight-way clusters on introduction with the chip scaling as high as 512 ways, and they will include three levels of memory caching, according to Hemant Dhulla, IA-64 programs manager at Intel. However, according to Brookwood, other chip manufacturers, including Compaq/Digital Equipment and Sun Microsystems, are not standing still, and it will still be a race to see whether Merced will outperform RISC processors. "For IA 64 to have an impact on the industry, Intel will have to demonstrate superior value and performance, and they haven't shown that yet," Brookwood said. Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at www.intel.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz is based in San Francisco. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 24 10:14:31 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 09:19:10 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 09:19:10 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Hewlett-Packard Leaps On Linux Bandwagon Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Hewlett-Packard Leaps On Linux Bandwagon (02/23/99, 8:32 p.m. ET) By Stuart Glascock, Computer Reseller News At LinuxWorld in San Jose, Calif., next week, Hewlett-Packard will formally unveil a companywide Linux strategy stretching across its platform, services, and software groups and joining a growing number of hardware vendors to fully embrace the alternative operating system. "HP really sees Linux as a significant force in the industry," said Wayne Caccamo, HP Internet planning manager, Internet Application Server Division. "We really expect it to emerge as a platform of choice in selected environments, particularly in ISPs and in e-commerce software development." To take advantage of Linux momentum, HP is forming an Open Source Solutions Operation, which will drive HP's Linux strategy, Caccamo said. HP already has announced support for the HP NetServer product line with Linux vendor Red Hat Software, in Research Triangle Park, N.C. And an HP project is already underway to post Linux to IA-64. At LinuxWorld, HP will further join the Linux bandwagon by supporting Linux for PA-RISC. In an unusual twist, the PA-RISC effort will be a pure open source development, coordinated by a group of Ottawa-based open source developers called The Puffin Group. "The Puffin Group is coordinating this porting project on behalf of HP," Caccamo said. In the software area, HP plans to bring its entire software and applications lines to Linux, with the aim of positioning Linux as the preferred development strategy for HP. In addition, the company will be starting a Linux training program and an electronic support system for Linux. Embracing Linux does not compete with HP's own flagship enterprise operating system, HP-UX, Caccamo said. "We see them as complementary," he said. "While they will go after similar things, Linux just doesn't do high-availability clustering. It doesn't scale." In other areas, there are plans to include support for Linux users on OpenMail, HP's Unix-system enterprise-messaging and collaborating product. Also, HP Firehunter service-level management application is available on Linux. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 24 13:09:09 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 12:17:25 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 12:17:25 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , Noah Roselander , David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Virginia lawmakers ban spam Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Virginia lawmakers ban spam By Reuters Special to CNET News.com February 23, 1999, 9:45 p.m. PT Lawmakers in Virginia adopted a bill that would make it a crime to spam. The legislation, which Gov. James Gilmore has promised to sign, makes illegal spamming a misdemeanor punishable by fines of up to $500. "Malicious" spamming, defined as causing more than $2,500 in losses for the victim, could be prosecuted as a felony. Additionally, Internet service providers could sue the sender for damages of $10 a message or $25,000 a day, whichever is greater. A spammed Internet subscriber could seek similar damage amounts. The bill would make Virginia the first state in the nation to have the power to criminally prosecute people accused of spamming. It could have far-reaching implications, because about half of the nation's Internet infrastructure is routed through the so-called Silicon Dominion. The American Civil Liberties Union said it expected to challenge the anti-spamming bill on constitutional grounds, but Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley said through a spokesman he would defend the new law. "Spam is a scourge on legitimate Internet commerce," Earley spokesman David Botkins said. "This legislation is crucial to the high-tech business community, and Attorney General Earley is prepared to help with its enforcement, where appropriate." The anti-spamming law is backed by the governor's Commission on Information Technology, which in December presented recommendations for the nation's first comprehensive Internet policy. But ACLU of Virginia's executive director, Kent Willis, said there was little evidence that spamming was enough of a problem to justify constraints on free speech on the Internet. "Expression is protected in the commercial context as well as the noncommercial context, and no one has yet to come up with a valid or compelling state interest in limiting the way email is sent," he said. Dulles, Virginia-based America Online, which serves about 16 million of the estimated 50 million U.S. Internet users, has filed about 40 civil lawsuits under existing Virginia laws, associate general counsel Randall Boe said. But existing spam laws only allow the company to seek compensation for actual, not potentially higher punitive, damages. "We have only been able to recover the cost of sending the email," which is a very small amount, he said. Story Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. [By the way, this message does *not* count as spam ;-) --Gary] From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 24 16:31:03 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 15:39:18 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 15:39:18 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM gets first corporate access to Internet2 backbone Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM gets first corporate access to Internet2 backbone By Ed Scannell InfoWorld Electric Posted at 11:44 AM PT, Feb 24, 1999 IBM on Wednesday became the first corporate partner to be approved to connect to the Abilene, which will serve as the backbone network for Internet2. IBM will be connecting several of its research facilities using Abilene, including the company's Yorktown Heights, N.Y. and Almaden, Calif. labs. In so doing IBM will also be able to work with other major Internet2 research labs in trying to sculpt the first advanced Internet applications, such as middleware products to govern traffic over high-speed networks and a range of different applications that will tightly integrate video, audio, and voice. "Working with the Internet2 community, we will be building more powerful applications that will be feasible only on a backbone like Abilene," said John Patrick, vice president in charge of IBM's Internet technology. "We hope this will lead customers into the next era of e-business as these applications migrate over to the commercial Internet." IBM has spent over $5.6 million to date in supporting the universities that are participating in the Internet2 initiative. The company has had an influence in shaping the Internet2 Distributed Storage Infrastructure initiative as well as the Internet2 Digital Video Network projects. Abilene's primary purpose is to support Internet2 development of broadband applications and engineering management tools for research and education. The backbone began operation in January. More information about Internet2 can be found at www.internet2.edu. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com. Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large based in Framingham, Mass. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Feb 24 17:58:22 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 17:06:29 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 17:06:29 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft targets app server software market Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft targets app server software market By Mike Ricciuti Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 24, 1999, 12:50 p.m. PT Microsoft knows a hot market when it sees one. The company today took steps to plant its flag in the booming market for application server software. Microsoft also announced that it has signed deals with Compaq, CSC Consulting, Ontos and other companies to support various technologies in its Windows NT operating system that the company is now referring to as its application server. Analysts and competitors have long referred to various Microsoft technologies, such as Microsoft Transaction Server, Message Queuing Services, Active Server Pages, Internet Information Server, and the company's Component Object Model (COM), as its application server offering. But Microsoft has not used the term itself until recently. Those technologies has also been grouped under the "COM+" moniker. By adopting the application server label, Microsoft has finally succumbed to competitive pressures, said Eric Brown, an analyst with Forrester Research. " We knew Microsoft had one [application server]--they finally fessed up and said 'yes we do'. This is a late and long coming decision from Microsoft," he said. Brown argues that Microsoft's real application server is Windows NT itself, since the company does not sell a standalone application server product. "All five COM+ products are free -- there's no separate product on the SKU list. NT is the application server that you pay for," said Brown. Brown said every major infrastructure software company in the market today must have application server product to survive. Application server software sits behind a Web server and handles users' browser-based requests for dynamic Web pages or information coming from back-end databases. The software has become hugely popular--at least in the marketing departments at software makers--as the number of Web-based applications being deployed by corporations grows. By Brown's estimates, there were more than 50 application server makers in the market last fall, which he considered the peak of application server mania. That list has since been winnowed down through acquisitions and partnerships, he said. Joe Maloney, a marketing manager at Microsoft, said competitors, including Netscape Communications, Oracle, and IBM, sell separate products called application servers, which offer the same features as Microsoft's collection of technologies, which are being bundled into Windows 2000, due later this year. Maloney also points to a recent survey by Forrester Research as proof that Microsoft already owns a sizable chunk of the application server software market. Forrester polled Fortune 1,000 companies and asked them which application server they were currently using. Forty-six percent said they were using Microsoft's Transaction Server, even though the software has not been specifically marketed as an application server. To drive it even further into the application server space, Microsoft has signed up Compaq to provide consulting services to help customers install Windows-based applications. The company will devote 200 engineers and six development centers to Microsoft applications, said Maloney. CSC will also dedicate a service to installing Microsoft technology. Ontos will provide consulting services. Also, XtremeSoft, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based software developer, has announced COMitor, a performance monitoring tool for Microsoft Transaction Server and COM+ applications. Microsoft's application server package is limited to Windows-only applications, but can pull data from Unix-based and mainframe systems. Competitors products run on both Windows NT and Unix, and favor Enterprise Java Beans over Microsoft's COM technology. Steven Robins, an analyst with the Yankee Group, said that Microsoft's Windows bias may not be issue to application server buyers. "It's still limted to Windows, yes. But they can work with other object models, and they can certainly pull information from various sources." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sun Feb 28 14:01:47 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:10:30 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:10:30 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft creates a BackOffice bonanza Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft creates a BackOffice bonanza By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 3:36 PM PT, Feb 26, 1999 Microsoft is looking to push its enterprise software over the top by coupling Windows 2000 with its line of BackOffice servers, and adding to the mix new technologies that tackle issues such as knowledge management. At a BackOffice design review, scheduled for April 19 to April 22 in Bellevue, Wash., Microsoft will lay out the future direction of its server offerings, with an emphasis on three products in particular - SQL Server; a new knowledge management product, code-named Tahoe; and Exchange Server. The next version of SQL Server, code-named Shiloh, will include decision-support and analysis tools that go beyond what is offered in SQL Server 7.0, which became widely available in January. "Shiloh is an opportunity to exploit the [SQL Server 7.0] platform for added scalability, availability, ease of use, and business intelligence," said Barry Goffe, lead product manager for SQL Server. One feature added to SQL Server will be materialized views, which lets SQL Server precompute commonly used data points so they are ready almost instantaneously when queried for that information. "If someone sends a big, ugly query to your database, materialized views will create a view that stores the result of that query in a table," Goffe said. Ironically, Microsoft has cried foul when database archrival Oracle used similar technology to win TCP-D benchmark contests and claimed that its Oracle8i database is faster than SQL Server 7.0. Tahoe, an upgrade to Microsoft's Site Server 3.0, is expected to feature document management, workflow, search capabilities, Extensible Markup Language support, document version control, integration with the MSN portal, and template-based publishing functions. "Tahoe is a future BackOffice technology that will provide document services, including enterprise searching and Web-accessible views," stated Microsoft documentation for the design review. The next version of Exchange, code-named Platinum, will include the capability to support virtual sessions, which lets a single server support more than one company. "Currently, you need a dedicated server for each company," said Dwight Davis, an analyst at Summit Strategies, in Kirkland, Wash. "But in the hosted applications world, you need to support a bunch of small companies." Sources say Microsoft is looking to release the next version of BackOffice soon after the release of Windows 2000. Windows 2000 is not expected to ship until early 2000. The BackOffice server products will be enhanced to take advantage of Windows 2000 technologies, such as IntelliMirror and Active Directory, said Pat Fox, BackOffice group product manager. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott is InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sun Feb 28 14:03:27 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:12:05 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:12:05 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel fills in details of its 64-bit chip story Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel fills in details of its 64-bit chip story By Ephraim Schwartz InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:45 AM PT, Feb 27, 1999 Intel announced this week at its Professional Developer's Conference in Palm Springs, Calif., plans to ship manufacturing samples of its 64-bit Merced processor in mid-1999, with the production version following in mid-2000. The company also announced that using a PC running the Merced simulator, it successfully booted seven different operating systems, including Microsoft's forthcoming Win64, Sun's Solaris, SCO's UnixWare Monterey, Novell's Modesto, and Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX. Intel also plans to fully support a 64-bit version of Linux. At the developer's conference, a Microsoft executive said the 64-bit version of Windows, referred to as Win64, is under development for both Intel's IA-64 processor and Compaq's Alpha chip. Win64 for the Intel platform will ship when systems based on the Merced chip are released, and will be compatible with 32-bit Windows applications, according to Oscar Newkerk, technical evangelist in Microsoft's Developer Relations Group, in Redmond, Wash. Despite a great deal of talk within the industry about the need for next-generation I/O technology to support 1-GHz processing, Merced's chip set -- the 82460GX -- will be PCI-based and run at only 66 MHz, Intel said. But the chip set will be I/O upgradable when Intel's next-generation I/O becomes available in 2002, officials said. The Intel chip set will also limit the addressable memory space to 64GB, but an Intel representative said PC makers designing their own chip sets will be able to address "multiple terabytes" of memory. One feature that will be available when the new chip set debuts is three levels of cache -- Level 0, Level 1, and Level 2 -- up from the two levels currently found in Intel's chips. Level 0 and Level 1 will both perform at processor speed, but it will perform with almost no latency because Level 0 is closest to the registers, officials said. By 2001, other Intel 64-bit processors -- such as McKinley, which is the follow up to Merced and is slated to ship in production in late 2001 -- should perform faster than 1 GHz. In addition, the McKinley chip will have a system bus speed three times faster than Merced, officials said. On stage at the conference, Intel demonstrated 1-GHz performance using a Pentium III processor. However, brute megahertz alone may not be able to put the Intel processor at the top of the performance heap, according to one industry observer. "To get performance out of the EPIC [Intel's Explicit Parallel Instruction Computing] architecture, the software has to be optimized to use it," said Nathan Brookwood, chief analyst at Insight 64, in Saratoga, Calif. "To do that is a very challenging compiling task. That is where performance will come from, and it is not clear that Intel has done that yet." According to Intel, new error-correcting technology in Merced will help OS vendors create high-availability features for enhanced error-handling support and monitoring, which will result in downtime measured in minutes per year. Merced will be able to power systems such as eight-way, four-node clusters, and will be able to scale to Silicon Graphics' 512-way systems, according to Hemant Dhulla, IA-64 program manager at Intel. Despite such advances in scalability, other chip manufacturers such as Compaq and Sun are not standing still, Brookwood pointed out, and there will still be a race to see whether Merced will outperform RISC processors. "For IA-64 to have an impact on the industry, Intel will have to demonstrate superior value and performance, and they haven't shown that yet," Brookwood said. Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at www.intel.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz is based in San Mateo, Calif. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sun Feb 28 14:07:02 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:15:33 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:15:33 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , Ruth Rozen , Elisa & Ophir Trigalo , otrigalo@wppost.depaul.edu, David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Satellite seizure, blackmail reported Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Satellite seizure, blackmail reported By Reuters Special to CNET News.com February 28, 1999, 7:35 a.m. PT LONDON--Hackers have reportedly seized control of one of Britain's military communication satellites and issued blackmail threats. The Sunday Business newspaper, quoting security sources, reported today that the intruders altered the course of one of Britain's four satellites used by defense planners and military forces around the world. The sources said the satellite's course was changed just over two weeks ago. The hackers then issued a blackmail threat, demanding money to stop interfering with the satellite, according to the report. "This is a nightmare scenario," one intelligence source said. Military strategists said that, if Britain were to come under nuclear attack, an aggressor would first interfere with military communications systems. "This is not just a case of computer nerds mucking about. This is very, very serious, and the blackmail threat has made it even more serious," a security source said. Police said they would not comment because the investigation was at too sensitive a stage. The Ministry of Defense made no comment. Story Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sun Feb 28 14:08:52 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:17:30 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 13:17:30 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel To Invest In Linux PC Vendor VA Research Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel To Invest In Linux PC Vendor VA Research Sunday February 28 1:42 PM ET By Therese Poletti SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - VA Research Inc., a developer of Intel-based PCs, servers and workstations running the increasingly popular Linux operating system, is expected to announce Monday that it will receive an investment from chip giant Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news), according to industry sources. The investment, which will also include some venture capitalists, is Intel's second in a Linux-related startup company. The announcement will be made the day before Linux World -- the first big trade show devoted to Linux -- begins. Linux is an alternative version of the UNIX operating system which runs on Intel-based systems and on other computer architectures such as Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news)'s Alpha chip. Developed by Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds in 1991, the software is maintained by a group of far-flung programmers and given away over the Internet. While the number of Linux users is still small compared to Windows, the momentum for Linux has been gaining steam in recent months, as more and more computer makers have said they will offer Linux on their hardware, including International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) Late last year, Intel, Netscape Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:NSCP - news) and two venture capital firms invested in Red Hat Inc., a distributor of Linux which charges to distribute and support Linux software, which mostly runs on computer servers. VA Research, based in Mountain View, Calif., was founded in 1993 to provide Linux-based hardware, software, service and support. Its co-founder, Larry Augustin founded the company while he was an electrical engineering graduate student at Stanford University. Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital of Menlo Park, Calif. is already an investor in VA Research. ``I can't confirm or deny anything,'' said Augustin, when asked about Intel's investment. An Intel spokesman in Santa Clara, Calif., declined to comment. With its investment in Red Hat, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and now with VA Research, Intel is continuing its strategy of ensuring that its processors run on all major software environments, including versions of the UNIX operating system, which was designed for multi-user networked computing. From Owner-HyperNews@dept102.it-ias.depaul.edu Sun Feb 28 14:23:13 1999 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 15:02:30 GMT X-Authentication-Warning: dept102.it-ias.depaul.edu: nobody set sender to Owner-HyperNews@hermes.depaul.edu using -f To: HyperNews@dept102.it-ias.depaul.edu From: kdoshi@shrike.depaul.edu (Kishore Doshi) X-Hn-Forum: Foundations of Distributed Systems X-Hn-Re: Virtual Private Networks (Clark Elliott) Subject: More: VPN Implementation at Protocol Leve X-Hn-Url: http://hermes.depaul.edu/HyperNews/get/w99/ds-420/58/6.html Precedence: list Newsgroups: /HyperNews/get/w99/ds-420.html HyperNews notification of new message. See: http://hermes.depaul.edu/HyperNews/get/w99/ds-420/58/6.html Links: Information for this posting comes from the following source: http://technet.microsoft.com/cdonline/content/complete/boes/bo/winntas/prodfact/vpnovw.htm This VPN overview from Microsoft is full of detailed information, registration for Technet is free like MSDN Other sources to look at: http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-pppext-pptp-08.txt - Draft of PPTP protocol by MSFT, ASCEND, 3Com/USR and others -------------------------------------------------------------- >From the prior postings to this question, we know that: 1. VPN's are a possible solutions to allow company employees to connect to the LAN through the internet instead of through direct dial-up connections that become expensive for the company to maintain 2. A VPN in it's simplest form is essentially a remote client communicating with a private network through any intermediate public or private network 3. A viable VPN solution must provide the following characteristics: User authentication Assign client addresses Data Encryption -------------------------------------------------------------- Let's build on this a little by looking at the key concept behind implementing a VPN, tunneling. Then we will look at the protocol many of the tunneling solutions are built on, PPP(Point to Point Protocol) The basic method(protocol) for sending packets back and forth over any intermediate network is called tunneling. The procedure is that on the originating end, the packets or frames(usually PPP frames) have an additional header added to them, unique to the tunneling protocol. This special tunneling header that contains additional information to push the packet/frame through the intermediate network to the other end of the tunnel. The packet/frame is encapsulated with the tunneling header, and then wrapped with a header for whatever protocol is being used over the intermediate network: IP, ATM, and so on. The packet is then sent over the intermediate network. Once the packet reaches the other end of the tunnel it is unencapsulated(the tunneling header is removed) and the PPP frame continues on to the proper location. A good tunneling solution needs to support multiple protocols. While the intermediate network the majority of corporations will try to use is the internet, there could be other possibilities for intermediate networks that use protocols other than IP. For example, say a company has two divisions doing separate work and would like to keep them on separate networks connected by a VPN. Let's say the internal intermediate network they use implemets ATM instead of IP. Now at the same time they want to allow employees to access the networks from home through the internet(IP). The same tunneling protocol now needs to be able to work for both ATM and IP. The basic procedure for data exchange through a tunnel is summarized by this example: Let's say we have a packet that we want to send from our network to a remote client, let's say our internal network is using IP so we have an IP packet. 1. The remote access server on the network takes this network packet and creates a PPP frame out of it. The protocol for making this PPP frame(described below) takes care of user authentication, addressing and encryption. So by building the tunneling protocol on top of PPP we inherit the necessary characteristics of a viable VPN solution for free. 2. Next the PPP frame is encapsulated with the tunneling protocol header 3. Then the encapsulated PPP frame is wrapped up in the protocol of the intermediate network(IP, ATM, IPX and so on) and sent into the tunnel. 4. The packet is recieved on the other end, the tunneling protocol header is removed(unencapsulated) and the packet is forwarded to it's final destination as described by the PPP frame. Tunneling protocols such as PPTP(Point to Point Tunneling Protocol) and L2TP(Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) are built on PPP for the simple reason that they can inherit many of the required features of a VPN solution from it. PPP provides the tunneling solution with the following features: 1. User Authentication 2. Dynamic Addressing 3. Data Compression and Encryption plus more that are not mentioned here. -------------------------------------------------------------- Since many specific tunneling solutions encapsulate - PPP(Point to Point Protocol) - what is it and how is it part of tunneling? The protocol defines the following sequence to create a remote connection to the network. The first phase uses Link Control Protocol to establishing the physical connection between the remote user and the network. Here the network control protocols are setup(IP, IPX, ATM and so on) With the link established the user must authenticate themselves to the remote server that will give them access to the network. Microsoft remote access server for Windows NT networks uses a modified a challenge handshake protocol for authentication. What does this this mean? In it's simplist form, the challenge handshake protocol is as follows, the remote server sends a arbitrary "challenge string" to the client. The remote client takes the users entry for the password and a propritary hashing algorithm to encrypt the challenge string. It then sends the encrypted challenge string, the session ID, user ID and the passwork back to the server. Since the server knows the users password it can decrypt the challenge string of the user with the proper password. If the decrypted version of the challenge string is the same as the original, then the server accepts the connection. The server never directly checks the password. Throught the course of the session the server will send repeated challenges to the remote client at random intervals to protect against somebody impersonating an authenticated user. The remote server collects all this authentication information and passes it on to a central authentication server for the Windows NT network, this is usually the primary domain controller. With authentication complete, the networking protocols are now invoked. The remote client is given an address so that it can be identified on the network. At this time the data compression and data encryption schemes are setup also. With the setup complete, we now have a PPP frame for the remote connection. This frame is wrapped by the tunneling header, compressed and encrypted by the procedures agreed when the tunnel was created. At this point the encapsulation is complete and the packet is ready to be wrapped up and sent over the intermediate network -------------------------------------------------------------- Kishore J Doshi - DS420 Thursday section From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Mar 1 12:53:55 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:01:42 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:01:42 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun debuts new Java Embedded Server Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun debuts new Java Embedded Server By Nancy Weil InfoWorld Electric Posted at 9:32 AM PT, Mar 1, 1999 Sun Microsystems on Monday said the next version of its Java Embedded Server is available now and a future release will allow service providers to deploy Jini technology. The next version of the Java Embedded Server will include a look-up and registry service component that allows service providers to use Jini technology's "Simply Connect" software for homes, offices, and remote environments that connect intermittently to networks, Sun said. The component currently goes by the code name "Project Aladdin," according to Sun. The Java Embedded Server is a small-footprint server designed to extend Sun's reach into the remote environment market. Jini technology, launched recently to great fanfare, was created to allow any device to connect to a network, regardless of the software or hardware used. Sun also said Monday that the next release of its Java Embedded Server will comply with the Open Services Gateway Initiative's (OSGI's) 1.0 specification dealing with deployment of network services to remote environments. As for the upcoming OSGI specification, it is expected to be out in the second half of this year. The specification deals with services gateways, which are connection points between enterprise data centers and LANs in homes or small offices. Service providers use the gateways to install, uninstall, and administer network applications via the Internet. Banks can use a gateway server to upgrade the functions offered in automatic teller machines at remote locations, for instance. The Java Embedded Server, announced Monday and available now, is Version 1.0. The next version will be out in the second half of this year, Sun said. Additional information regarding the server software can be found at java.sun.com/embeddedserver. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., can be reached at www.sun.com. Nancy Weil is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Mar 1 12:57:54 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:05:59 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:05:59 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Major Unix flaw emerges Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Major Unix flaw emerges Built-in bug lets hackers shut down ISPs at will, but Unix vendors don't seem overly concerned. By Randy Barrett, Inter@ctive Week Online March 1, 1999 9:30 AM PT A newly discovered Unix design flaw threatens thousands of computers that operate on the Internet. The vulnerability opens Unix-based servers to a new kind of denial-of-service attack that overloads the servers' ability to answer incoming queries, according to security expert and Internet service provider (ISP) owner Simson Garfinkel. Garfinkel's ISP, Vineyard.Net, experienced such an attack in early 1998, but Garfinkel soon realized the situation was an accident caused by a subscriber's faulty software. "The buggy software would finger our computer every minute, but it never hung up," Garfinkel said. By not terminating the connection, the program quickly loaded up his Unix server's "process tables" and brought the ISP to a standstill for two hours. "We didn't go looking for this. It hit us. It's not theoretical," Garfinkel said. The attack entails sending repeated open-connection requests to a Unix server. Subprograms - like Internet Daemon, Secure Shell Daemon and Internet Message Access Protocol Daemon - are written to automatically answer the connection and carry out requests. But if the connection is initiated with no request, most Daemons keep the line open, using resources from the server's process table, which can handle between 600 and 1,500 simultaneous tasks. Repeated connections eventually overload the process table and crash the server. Garfinkel publicly outlined the vulnerability - which affects nearly all Unix-based platforms, including Irix, Linux and Solaris - on a security newsgroup Feb. 19. This was after his repeated attempts to notify programmers at Berkeley Software Design Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics Inc. and Sun Microsystems of the problem last year. None of the vendors gave it any notice, Garfinkel said. "It wasn't new enough to immediately gain attention. It's a design flaw, not a bug," said Gene Spafford, professor of computer science at Purdue University. Sabotage can come from outside Process table attacks are old news to Unix programmers, but Garfinkel discovered that the assault can come from the outside. Previously, developers only thought such sabotage could come from someone with internal access. AT&T Fellow Steven Bellovin said the vulnerability is real. "If I were running a popular server, I would at least try to add some resource limitation." Garfinkel said the servers most open to attack are those used for electronic mail, file serving and Web hosting. Protecting against it is relatively easy: Daemon programs can be rewritten to limit incoming connections or drop them after 30 seconds. "They need to have a governor installed," Garfinkel said. BSDI Director of Product Marketing Douglas Urner said the process table threat is hardly catastrophic. "In theory, there is a vulnerability here, which is like saying the gas in your car might explode." BSDI software safe Urner said the flaw probably wouldn't affect most BSDI software, because of existing safeguards. SGI Principal Engineer Bill Earl said the threat exists but isn't a big deal, because the Daemons can be easily configured to limit incoming connections. Red Hat Software spokeswoman Melissa London wasn't familiar with the process table problem, but she said holes in Linux usually are solved quickly on public open source bulletin boards. "If there is any breach, we'll work to fix it," she said. A perceived lack of responsible vendor action to patch the problem is partly what spurred Garfinkel to make the attack known. "They don't do anything unless its publicly exposed," he said. "I can shut down any one of their servers on the Net." Hard to stay hidden But if he did, Garfinkel wouldn't be able to easily cloak his identity. Because the onslaught can take up to 10 hours to complete, Unix experts and vendors agree that maintaining stealth is nearly impossible. "It's an attack you're unlikely to see people get away with," Urner said. That fact doesn't assuage the fears of many Unix experts who take the vulnerability seriously as yet another sign that the Internet isn't robust enough to handle 21st century threats. "The real deeper problem is that the whole infrastructure is pretty rotten," said Peter G. Neumann, principal scientist at the Computer Science Lab at SRI International. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Mar 1 13:00:15 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:08:03 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:08:03 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel throws weight behind Linux Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel throws weight behind Linux By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 1, 1999, 4:40 a.m. PT update VA Research is receiving an investment from Intel and has acquired the coveted Linux.com domain name for use as a portal site dedicated to the Unix-like operating system, industry sources said. The announcements are expected to occur this week at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Jose, California. VA is expected to help get Linux running on Merced, the first chip based on Intel's next-generation IA-64 architecture, sources said. Intel's Linux-related investment, on the heels of others, furthers the chipmaker's support of operating systems other than those developed by Microsoft. In a related announcement, database maker Oracle plans to make an unspecified equity investment in Red Hat Software, according to the Wall Street Journal. Red Hat sells the operating system along with customer support. In another boost for Linux, Silicon Graphics, Hewlett-Packard, and other companies are expected to join in a show of support for the fast-growing OS this week. HP, a partner with Intel in the IA-64 chip plan, also has pledged to bring Linux to IA-64 chips. SGI's Intel-based Visual Workstations get a 15 percent to 30 percent performance benefit from graphics capabilities in Intel's new Pentium III chip, and SGI has made part of its OpenGL 3-D graphics system available to the open-source community--the group of programmers who have helped make Linux successful. SGI also is working with Red Hat and others to make OpenGL useful under Linux. Obtaining the Linux.com domain is a coup for privately held VA Research, which has sold Linux computers since 1993. The company plans to use the domain for a general-purpose Linux site, complete with archives, technical information and news, Linux community sources said. VA Research will maintain the site and it will be governed by an advisory board from the Linux community. The address has been registered to Linux developer Fred van Kempen. Sources said competition for the domain name was intense. VA Research spokespeople declined comment on whether it had obtained Linux.com or whether it would receive an investment from Intel. Spokespeople for Intel could not be reached for comment. Although VA Research faces increased competition as giants such as IBM, Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, and HP join the Linux trend, the company is holding its own. VA, for example, was able to offer new Pentium III-based systems Friday--timed with the debut of the new chip. In a previous interview, VA Research chief executive Larry Augustin said part of his company's goal is to help the Linux community push Linux into heavier-duty hardware systems, where many processors are running side-by-side. Intel's move boosts Microsoft competition Intel's stake in VA Research comes less than a week after the chipmaker teamed with development tool company Cygnus Solutions to bring support for new Pentium chips to Linux software development tools. Five months ago, Intel announced an investment in Red Hat, which sells distributions of Linux packaged with other software and technical support. Acting like a venture capitalist, the chip giant typically makes minority investments in these companies. Intel executives have said the support for Linux is part of the company's plan to make its chips the "unifying architecture" that many different companies choose as the hardware beneath their operating systems. Intel is helping Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Santa Cruz Operation, Compaq, and others port their operating systems to IA-64 chips. "They don't care what it's running as long as there's an Intel chip inside it," said Tom Henkel, an analyst with Gartner Group. When computer users are demanding a new operating system, Intel wants to make sure that the OS works on Intel chips, Mike Pope, manager of enterprise software programs at Intel, has said previously. That's why Intel invested in Red Hat and Cygnus. Microsoft concedes that Linux poses competition but claims that the Intel investments aren't a threat. "We have to earn our way in the marketplace every day," said Ed Muth, group product manager for Windows 2000. "We have always had a good relationship with Intel," Muth said. "We understand the business opportunities Intel perceives [that are] unrelated to Windows." He added that Microsoft has taken similar steps by selecting non-Intel chips for Windows NT and Windows CE. Muth also argued that Linux competes more with Unix operating systems than it does with Windows, and "most of the world does not want to run Unix, particularly on their desktop." But some analysts think Microsoft downplays the threat. The fast growth of Linux "has come at the expense of Windows NT and second-tier Unix vendors," Gartner's Henkel said. Linux has hit a sweet spot by offering Unix reliability without the high price. "Customers are opting for the blue light special over the blue screen special," Henkel said, referring to the Linux's low cost and the "blue screen of death" that displays when Windows NT crashes. News.com's Jeff Pelline contributed to this report. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Mar 1 13:02:15 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:03:26 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:03:26 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft to mount multifaceted I-commerce offensive Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft to mount multifaceted I-commerce offensive By Matthew Nelson and Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 1:15 PM PT, Feb 26, 1999 In one fell swoop, Microsoft is poised this week to shake up several aspects of the electronic commerce landscape, including commerce applications, commerce system connectivity, and the emerging commerce portal market. Among the company's announcements will be the latest version of its Site Server Commerce Edition -- likely to be renamed Commerce Enterprise Server -- that will be so closely tied to Microsoft's future Windows 2000 that it will not operate with Windows NT 4.0, according to sources close to the company. Another change in Commerce Enterprise Server will be that a staple of the current Site Server Commerce Edition, the Commerce Interchange Pipeline (CIP), will be removed and offered as a separate product, referred to as Commerce Interchange Server. Although CIP previously provided its own way of conveying transmissions between commerce applications, Commerce Interchange Server will now include Extensible Markup Language (XML) technology to facilitate interoperability, sources close to Microsoft said. Commerce Interchange Server will include an interchange engine, a data transformation engine, mapping tools, and an application connector architecture, all of which will support XML Document Type Definitions, the sources added. Microsoft officials declined to comment. One analyst said Microsoft is playing catch-up in one of the Internet's hottest markets. "They're way behind the eight ball, relative to IBM having mind share for I-commerce ... Microsoft has been envying IBM's campaign for a long time," said Dwight Davis, an analyst at Summit Strategies, in Kirkland, Wash. "Microsoft at long last is coming out with a strategy around Site Server and SQL Server and other things they will claim as their I-commerce solution. Microsoft will say that this solution already blows [IBM] away in terms of actual installation." Microsoft will also announce next week that it is moving into the commerce portal arena with the creation of Microsoft Network (MSN) Marketplace, sources said. MSN Marketplace will be similar to Yahoo Store and Lycos Shop. It will be based on the Microsoft New Interactive Technology for Resellers Online, or Nitro technology and will also utilize XML. MSN Marketplace is intended to attract consumers to use the portal for the selling of wares in a type of "federation" of merchants. The software giant's move into the commerce portal market demonstrates the rapid acceptance such portals are expected to see. But Microsoft does not have all of the pieces in place yet, one analyst said. "MSN Marketplace is the most technically advanced vision of using XML to create a trading community [to date]," said Vernon Keenan, an Internet analyst at Keenan Vision, in San Francisco, which next week will release The Keenan Report: The E-Merchant Opportunity. "But they lack a complete solution that includes banking and other financial services. They still require you to get your own merchant account." Microsoft's announcements will be made at its Commerce Solutions Briefing, hosted by Chairman and CEO Bill Gates, in San Francisco. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Matthew Nelson is an InfoWorld senior writer. Bob Trott is InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Mon Mar 1 17:09:42 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 16:17:36 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 16:17:36 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, chonghua@lance.cs.depaul.edu, liu@lance.cs.depaul.edu, hao@lance.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Oracle ships 8i database Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Oracle ships 8i database By Wylie Wong Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 1, 1999, 12:35 p.m. PT A key component in Oracle's strategy to render Microsoft's Windows unnecessary is finally hitting the streets. Oracle today began shipping its Oracle 8i database, two months after the company's initial release date. "We had a minor hiccup with an eight-week slip, but for a two-and-half year development for Oracle, we almost hit our date on the nose," said Jeremy Burton, Oracle's vice president of server marketing. "We said two months ago that we were...doing integration and testing of software and development tools, and we're happy today to ship the product out the door," he said. Oracle has touted its Oracle 8i as a product that could kill off or at least hurt Microsoft's Windows NT Server operating system. It is packed with new features the company says offers customers a complete application deployment platform for the Internet, including built-in development tools, directory services, and a Java Virtual Machine to run Java application code. With the new release, Oracle is trying to free itself from relying on core Windows NT functions, such as the NT file system. The upcoming Internet File System, now in beta and planned for a final release in late summer, will store and manage Web pages as well as Windows application files. A sister product--the forthcoming Oracle 8i "Raw Iron" appliance, with a Solaris operating system kernel from Sun Microsystems--will allow businesses to build and use applications without having to use an operating system, such as Windows NT. The product will be sold by Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Merv Adrian, vice president of Giga Information Group, said Oracle's challenge now is to do a good job marketing and selling the new database. "What they need to do to make 8i successful, which they already are doing, is put together an effective, coherent, and focused strategy for competing with Microsoft--and they're doing a hell of a job." Jeff Grant, IT manager for record company Nettwerk Productions, said he was jazzed about 8i, but doesn't think it or the "Raw Iron" appliance will kill off Windows NT. Grant, who began tinkering with the beta version of 8i two weeks ago, raves about the built-in Java Virtual Machine that executes Java application code. The company has between 40,000 to 60,000 subscribers to its mailing lists for artists such as Sarah McLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies--and using the Java Mail package will save him time because he can send email directly from the database, he said. "It's like a life saver," he said. "No more using another mail server. No more screwing around with building data cartridges for the server. Now you have the ability to call the Java routine straight from the database and no longer have to use a go between." He doesn't see 8i--or the upcoming appliance--as the Windows NT killer Oracle hopes it will be, but it can hurt Microsoft's sales. "8i gives you a lot of stuff, but it can't get rid of NT," Grant said. "The whole Sun, HP, NT thing: It's politics. And some guys live and breath and swear by NT." Grant, who uses Solaris on the Web site, but uses NT to code software with his laptop, said he's excited about the 8i appliance "You no longer have to deal with an operating system. You don't have to be a specialist in NT. In order to be a good database administrator, all you need is to understand the Oracle side of things." Oracle 8i is available for Windows NT, Solaris, HP-UX, IBM-AIX, Compaq Tru64 Unix, and Sequent DYNIX/ptx. Pricing is the same as Oracle 8, starting at $1,475 for a five-concurrent user license. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 2 10:08:45 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:16:22 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:16:22 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ophir Trigalo From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM Says Its Internet Sales Rise to About $1 Billion a Month Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM Says Its Internet Sales Rise to About $1 Billion a Month JEFF BLISS c.1999 Bloomberg News ARMONK, N.Y. -- International Business Machines Corp. is selling about $1 billion a month online and expects to save $340 million this year as the No. 1 computer maker uses the Internet to reach buyers and cut costs. Last year, the company sold a total of $3.3 billion of software and computers via the Internet. IBM is looking to duplicate the success of Dell Computer Corp., the world's top direct seller of personal computers, Cisco Systems Inc., the No. 1 networking company, and others that conduct business online. Companies like Dell and Cisco sell their products via the global computer network and save money by purchasing parts and answering customer requests online. ``They are doing what Dell and Cisco have been doing successfully for some time,'' said Ulric Weil, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., who rates IBM ``buy.'' Armonk, New York-based IBM will save $240 million this year by purchasing materials electronically. It will conduct more employee training on the Internet to save another $100 million. IBM also will switch more of its customer service to the World Wide Web. ``The Internet is 70 percent to 90 percent cheaper than any (service) transaction involving a human,'' said Richard Anderson, IBM's general manager of enterprise Web management. Dell, based in the Austin suburb of Round Rock, Texas, expects Internet sales to account for half of its sales in two years. Dell plans to further cut inventory levels by buying components on the Internet. San Jose, California-based Cisco sells $10 million of products every day via the Internet and provides almost all of its customer service on the World Wide Web. In November, John Chambers, Cisco's president and chief executive, said the company saved $500 million by using the Web. Distributing software via the Internet instead of on compact disks or floppy disks accounted for about half of the savings. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 2 10:12:55 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:20:43 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:20:43 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Windows may crash after 49.7 days Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Windows may crash after 49.7 days By Stephanie Miles Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 1, 1999, 5:50 p.m. PT A bizarre and probably obscure bug will crash some Windows computers after about a month and a half of use. The problem, which affects both Microsoft Windows 95 and 98 operating systems, was confirmed by the company in an alert to its users last week. "After exactly 49.7 days of continuous operation, your Windows 95-based computer may stop responding," Microsoft warned its users, without much further explanation. The problem is apparently caused by a timing algorithm, according to the company. Microsoft has posted a fix for the problem, but cautions that the patch has not yet been completely tested and should only be downloaded by users affected by the problem. However, if you have used your computer for two months straight without a problem, it is probably safe to assume that you are not affected. Microsoft confirmed the bug warning, but could not be reached to elaborate on how many users the problem will hit, exactly why the glitch occurs, or when a more reliable fix will be available. Microsoft is in the process of testing a collection of bug fixes for Windows 98, and in fact released the second version of the OEM (original equipment manufacturers) Service Release (OSR) to beta testers, according to a report from beta tester Web site BetaNews. Microsoft confirmed it has released the second OSR beta. Microsoft will likely include the fix in the OSR, which will eventually be shipped to PC makers to load onto new systems. In addition to this fix, OSR also includes: Internet Explorer 5 Microsoft Active Accessibility WebTV for Windows Update Microsoft NetMeeting Internet Connection Sharing Signature Verification Tool Related news stories From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 2 10:14:45 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:22:21 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:22:21 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft Windows To Use Dialogic Phone Software Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft Windows To Use Dialogic Phone Software Tuesday March 2 9:49 AM ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Promising to merge phone and fax functions into computers, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) and Dialogic Corp. (Nasdaq:DLGC - news) Tuesday said Microsoft planned to build Dialogic software into the Windows computer operating system. By agreeing to incorporate Dialogic software directly into Windows, Microsoft will make such features standard in the computer industry. More than 90 percent of personal computers run Microsoft Windows. The plan marks a breakthrough endorsement for the so-called computer telephony industry, which has labored in obscurity for years while awaiting mainstream acceptance. Microsoft said it will license Dialogic's CT Media server software, and Dialogic will provide development services to Microsoft in return for $20 million and an equity investment of $24.2 million, giving Microsoft a 5 percent stake in Dialogic. Dialogic is a Parsippany, N.J.-based manufacturer of components that allow voice, fax, data, voice recognition, speech synthesis and phone operator call center management features to be offered in computers. The company's separate CT Media software allows a computer user to send voice calls or faxes over the Internet. It also incorporates what is known as ``unified messaging'' features that allow users to view on a single screen incoming phone calls, faxes and e-mail and to automatically route outgoing calls. The deal promises to accelerate the use of computer telephony add-on boards. The Dialogic software is based on open standards that will allow Windows PCs to use equipment from a range of manufacturers including Dialogic and rivals like Brooktrout Technology Inc. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 2 13:29:42 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 12:37:26 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 12:37:26 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun gives away major chip designs Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun gives away major chip designs By Brooke Crothers and Stephen Shankland Staff Writers, CNET News.com March 2, 1999, 8:50 a.m. PT update Sun Microsystems will give away core chip technology, mirroring the open computer code movement in the Linux world. Sun Microsystems is distributing the basic designs of its two major chip architectures : Sparc and PicoJava. This is analogous to what's happening in the Linux world where computer code is basically free. Netscape also does this with its widely used Communicator browser. The company will make tools and reference materials for its processors available for download beginning at the end of this month. "We'll proliferate this technology much more widely than the way we would under the old model," said Harlan McGhan, manager of architecture marketing for microelectronics at Sun. The licensing terms let people use the information for research purposes, requiring royalty payments to Sun only when people actually ship products, McGhan said. "Anyone can download, modify, and synthesize the processors for free. Sun will charge a royalty only if customers ship the processors for revenue," according to Jim Turley writing in the Microprocessor Report's Embedded Processor Watch. "In the old days, Sun told start-ups and small companies, 'Thanks for your interest, now come back when you're big enough.' Now we don't have to say that," said McGhan. "The maneuver is not unlike the open-source movement that is growing in popularity among software developers. Like Linux, Apache, Netscape's Communicator, and other software products, the 'source code' for 'synthesizing' Sun's processors will be free for the asking," according to Turley. After downloading the data, users may alter the core of the PicoJava or SPARC processors in any way, even if they break a basic level of compatibility--called binary compatibility--with other SPARC or Java processors. "Users will be encouraged--but not required--to give any such modifications back to the community, so that third parties may benefit from the enhancements," Turley said. There is an important distinction compared to Linux, however. The design freedom does not extend to shipping products. Before customers can make chips and ship for revenue, they must demonstrate compliance. Moreover, royalty terms must be negotiated with Sun before any chips ship based on the downloaded designs. Royalty rates are negotiated on a case-by-case basis. The PicoJava-I technology will be available for download at the end of March. Sun expects to make SPARC technology available by midyear, according to Sun's McGhan. By the end of the summer, the designs for a 32-bit UltraSparc chip will be on the Web, and the last microprocessor family, the 64-bit UltraSparc, will be up by the end of 1999, he said. "On the surface, it appears to be a good move to broaden the appeal of Sun's two processor families. Developers can evaluate SPARC and Java processors with no up-front cost or risk." Turley said. Sun's plan is similar to the way Sun is releasing the source code of the Java 2--the original programming instructions before they're converted into the low-level languages spoken by computer chips. Until today, licensees had to pay an up-front royalty, a large impediment to companies without lots of money, lawyers, or time, McGhan said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 2 16:17:49 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 15:25:22 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 15:25:22 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: HP splits into two independent companies Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to HP splits into two independent companies By Marc Ferranti InfoWorld Electric Posted at 11:01 AM PT, Mar 2, 1999 Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday announced a corporate reorganization that will split the company into two independent organizations. HP is making the move to sharpen its strategic focus, improve its agility, and increase responsiveness to partners and customers, said Lewis E. Platt, the company's chairman, president, and CEO, in a statement. The company's board of directors approved the move, one of the largest splits in corporate history, at a special meeting called Tuesday. Under the plan, HP stockholders will hold shares in each company. The plan calls for the creation of two distinct companies -- one focused on the measurement business, the other on computing and imaging, according to Platt's statement. The companies will be independently managed, each with its own board of directors and its own research and development organization. The new, as-yet unnamed, measurement company will comprise HP's test and measurement, components, chemical analysis, and medical businesses. Edward Barnholt, currently HP's executive vice president and general manager of the Measurement Organization, has been named CEO of the new measurement company. HP may issue an initial public offering for the new measurement company by the end of this year, company officials said. Meanwhile, the new computing and imaging company will continue to operate as HP, retaining the HP name and include all of HP's enterprise computing systems, software, and services; personal computer; and printing and imaging solutions businesses. A search is being conducted for a CEO for the new HP, reconstituted as a computing and imaging company. Platt will act as HP chairman, president, and CEO until the separation plan is completed. Hewlett-Packard Co., in Palo Alto, Calif., can be reached at www.hp.com. Marc Ferranti is the news editor for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 2 16:29:18 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 15:36:55 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 15:36:55 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Oracle: Brave new world of Linux, Java Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Oracle: Brave new world of Linux, Java By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 2, 1999, 12:35 p.m. PT SAN JOSE, California--Linux and Java will form the core of a brave new computer world that is centered on the Internet and eventually bypasses Microsoft, according to the view espoused by database company Oracle. And to assure that Oracle has a place in that future, the company will give Linux developers free versions of its new flagship "Internet database" Oracle 8i software, said Mark Jarvis, head of worldwide marketing for Oracle, during a keynote address today at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo here. Oracle 8i will be available for the Linux operating system in 60 days, and Oracle will make the software free for developers in 30 days, the company said. Oracle has 1,465 Linux servers in use in the company--one out of every 10--Jarvis said. Oracle is working to help Linux scale so it can be used on bigger and bigger systems, leading to a world where Linux is on big servers instead of lots of little servers, Jarvis said. Jarvis, liberally plugging Oracle 8i and slamming Microsoft during his talk, said Oracle is the database that powers Amazon.com, the CIA, and the KGB. Oracle 8i comes with a Java virtual machine that can handle as many as 10,000 users, Jarvis said, and within three years, Java will be the dominant technology in the computer world. "We're betting on Java," he said. To support Java, Oracle is giving away two versions of Java development software, one for professional programmers and one for "Sunday programmers," he said. Java, Oracle, and Linux will be key in moving to a world where people do their computing with simple Internet browsers connected to powerful servers over the Internet, he said. The approach saves money, makes it easier to backup data or upgrade software, and typifies what is being done today on the Internet's most powerful sites, he said. You don't need a CD-ROM of software to use Amazon.com, he said. Linux is a Unix-like operating system developed by Linus Torvalds and countless other programmers across the Internet. It's growing both in popularity and reputation, and most of the computing industry has moved to embrace it in one way or another in recent months. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Mar 3 10:08:54 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 09:16:32 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 09:16:32 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM launches biggest Linux lineup ever Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM launches biggest Linux lineup ever On March 2, at LinuxWorld, IBM announced support for Linux, the open-source operating system. The announcement, of planned key alliances, flagship products, and the industry's most comprehensive service offering, makes IBM the only company to provide complete solutions of hardware, software and technical support for Linux. The news includes: IBM will support major versions of Linux globally, giving customers a single point of contact for all of their technical support needs; IBM will work with four commercial distributors of Linux -- Caldera Systems Inc., Pacific HiTech Inc., Red Hat Software Inc., and SuSE Holding AG -- to pave the way for co-marketing, development, training and support initiatives that will help customers deploy Linux; Key IBM WebSphere products will ship later this year, including two application servers and a performance pack, enabling Linux customers to exploit the Web to perform tasks ranging from simple Web publishing to Java-based transactional processing; Availability of the industry's first commercial, Java-based emulator for Linux -- IBM Host On-Demand -- which provides secure access to core enterprise data and applications via a Web browser; IBM will begin beta testing, in the second quarter, its On-Demand Server for Linux, which manages access to e-business applications by users, groups, and devices ; IBM is working with the Linux community to port Linux to selected IBM RS/6000 models. According to IDC Research, Linux is the fastest-growing server operating environment. In 1998, some 750,000 Linux servers were installed, reflecting a 212 percent growth rate and 17 percent of all new server placements. To learn more about IBM's Linux initiatives, visit the Linux at IBM overview page (http://www.software.ibm.com/is/mp/linux). From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Mar 3 11:55:44 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 11:03:25 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 11:03:25 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: HP, SAP Beef Up Linux Support Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to HP, SAP Beef Up Linux Support (03/03/99, 10:56 a.m. ET) By Eileen Colkin, InformationWeek Linux continues to gain momentum and credibility as it receives increasing support from dominant industry vendors. Hewlett-Packard and SAP on Monday each touted individual efforts to increase offerings on the platform, starting off what promises to be a big week for Linux-related announcements. Beefing up its efforts to speed the adoption of Linux in the enterprise and in the Internet software-development arena, HP outlined a new organization designated to develop tools and technologies for applications deployed on Linux, Windows NT, or HP-UX systems. The Open Source Solutions Operation will be a subdivision of HP's Internet and applications systems unit. According to HP, Linux is becoming the platform of choice, particularly in the e-commerce and ISP market, and therefore, the company intends to make Linux a key part of its operating-system strategy. The Palo Alto, Calif., company also plans to provide services, training, and electronic support for developers and system administrators using Linux. HP earlier this month integrated Linux into its NetServer and IA-64 architecture systems. Companies like HP have brand weight and resources, which make announcements such as this important to the Linux cause. But according to Stacey Quandt, an analyst with the Giga Group, the trickle-down effect is equally significant. "When the big companies make their announcements, there are more opportunities for the smaller applications vendors to support it, so there's even more room for Linux to grow," she said. Quandt said she believes HP's support of the platform is important, but said other vendors such as IBM have made equally strong Linux pushes without forming formal organizations. Only a few months ago, analysts were unsure how far the open platform would go, and if vendors would offer more than words to support the system. But as products continue to roll out, credibility is growing, notably among the reselling community. According to a spot survey published yesterday by Computer Reseller News, a sister publication to InformationWeek, 54 percent of responding resellers think Linux's low cost and open source code are key selling points over other operating systems, and more than half the respondents see Linux as a viable alternative to Windows in the next 12 months. Quandt agrees that's a compelling story. "Linux is challenging Windows NT and Windows 2000 on the server level, but it'll take a while for it to get to the desktop," she said. SAP also jumped on the Linux train Monday, outlining plans to offer its R/3 enterprise application on the open platform by the third quarter. The company said it is responding to demands by its customers that it include the platform in its ERP offerings. SAP will be joined by several of its hardware and software partners when it presents a full-scale offering of Linux systems, tools, databases, and support services next week at the CeBit 99 conference in Hanover, Germany. Tuesday also promised to be a big day for the platform, as companies including Computer Associates, IBM, and Intel were preparing to make Linux development announcements and outline partnerships with Linux software distributors Caldera Systems, Red Hat Software, and VA Research. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Mar 3 12:36:43 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 11:44:13 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 11:44:13 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sybase says Linux now a priority Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sybase says Linux now a priority By Erich Luening Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 3, 1999, 8:20 a.m. PT Support for Linux just keeps on growing. Sybase today said it plans to ship a fully supported, feature-complete version of its flagship database, Adaptive Server Enterprise, for the Linux operating system. The move follows the recent wave of Linux support from a large group of major vendors. Sybase said the database will now include the same features and technical support as Sybase's core Unix and Windows NT database releases. Linux is a Unix-like operating system developed by Linus Torvalds and supported by countless other programmers across the Internet. It's growing both in popularity and reputation, and most of the computing industry has moved to embrace it in one way or another in recent months. Sybase is no newcomer to the Linux market. The Emeryville, California-based company has offered a free, unsupported version of Adaptive Server Enterprise for Linux since last August. After months of strong customer enthusiasm for Adaptive Server Enterprise for Linux, Sybase is extending its commitment to Linux by supporting it as a core platform. In addition, Sybase also announced its plans to offer a fully-supported Linux version of its mobile and embedded database product, SQL Anywhere Studio, targeting such applications as monitoring systems and point-of-sale devices. Sybase said it plans to begin shipping versions of the Adaptive Server Enterprise for the Linux platform in the second quarter of this year. Pricing details will be released upon general availability, the company said. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Mar 4 10:18:53 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 09:26:17 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 09:26:17 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Dell, IBM to sign multibillion-dollar pact Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Dell, IBM to sign multibillion-dollar pact By Jana Sanchez InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:04 AM PT, Mar 4, 1999 IBM and Dell are going to announce a strategic multibillion-dollar technology pact, which the companies claim to be the largest of its kind ever, at a press conference in New York Thursday. The companies announced the press conference via a statement. Senior executives of each company, likely to include Louis Gerstner of IBM and Michael Dell, will speak at the press event Thursday morning. The pact is likely to involve Dell hiring IBM to support Dell's customers with computer services, according to a report in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. Another possibility is that IBM may want to partner with Dell on PCs, the report said. Although it's as yet unclear exactly what kind of partnership the two companies might have in mind, IBM may be looking for a deal to help boost its dwindling market share in PCs. Dell is currently the No. 2 PC maker behind arch-rival Compaq in first place, according to a recent report from International Data Corp. Dell is in third place behind Compaq and IBM internationally, according to IDC. But it's most likely that the deal will involve services, where IBM is strong and Dell is weak, since the direct PC vendor is currently without a single powerful services organization to support the machines it sells. Last May, Dell moved its services contract from Digital Equipment after Digital was purchased by Compaq. At that time, Dell struck replacement services contracts with Wang Global and Unisys. Neither Dell nor IBM was reachable for comment. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., is at www.ibm.com. Dell Computer Corp., in Round Rock, Texas, is at www.dell.com. Jana Sanchez is London bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Mar 4 13:51:42 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 12:59:21 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 12:59:21 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, web@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft Intensifies E-Commerce Strategy Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft Intensifies E-Commerce Strategy (03/04/99, 1:41 p.m. ET) By Tim Scannell and Amy Rogers, Computer Reseller News Microsoft will release on Thursday details of an extension of its e-commerce initiative that includes increased collaboration with industry partners, particularly those offering specialized services or applications. The technology aspects of this announcement and overall strategy -- called BizTalk -- center primarily on Windows NT Server 4.0 and application-server technologies such as Site Server Commerce Edition and SQL Server 7.0. To date, Microsoft says nearly 200 Microsoft Certified Solution Partners (MCSPs) have deployed Microsoft e-commerce solutions using Site Server Commerce Edition. Companies that have invested heavily in Microsoft e-commerce tools include Dell, which uses the platform to generate up to $14 million per day in online sales. Another online user, 1-800-Flowers, averages roughly 100,000 shoppers per day on its site during a typical week. IPNet Solutions, in Newport Beach, Calif., is among partners Microsoft is expected to reel off at its E-Commerce Solutions Briefing in San Francisco. Bob Shields, vice president of marketing at IPNet, said the company will add support for Microsoft's Site Server and Commerce Interexchange Pipeline (CIP) to its suite of e-commerce applications. Using CIP, "you can plug in best-of-breed applications developed on Microsoft platforms for a highly compatible, almost turnkey solution," Shields said. Microsoft customers are working with more than 100 leading ISVs, eight global alliance partners, 70 hosting service providers, and thousands of MCSPs to develop e-commerce solutions based on Microsoft technologies, said the Redmond, Wash.-based company. Nearly 11,000 MCSPs worldwide are implementing e-commerce solutions, said Microsoft. At least 150 MCSPs have expertise on Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition, and about 1,200 MCSPs and Site Builders within the United States were part of an Advanced Web Developer training series hosted by Microsoft. More than 5,000 Web developers were trained in 1998 on deploying Microsoft e-commerce solutions, said company sources. At the briefing, scheduled to take place in San Francisco, Microsoft is expected to release the names of top ISVs and others working with the company to develop e-commerce solutions, many for Fortune 500 vendors involved in ERP activities. These vendors include The Baan Co., J.D. Edwards & Co., SAP, and PeopleSoft. Clarus, Commerce One, and Concur Technologies are among the corporate-minded ISVs to be specifically emphasized by Microsoft. More than 180 ISVs and system integrators are presently members of the Microsoft Value Chain Initiative, a consortium of customers and leading vendors dedicated to providing a framework that lets companies integrate applications and link "value chains" of trading partners. More than 600 ISVs are supporting and building applications on the Microsoft Windows Distributed interNet Applications architecture in various industries, including financial services, health care, manufacturing, energy, retail, and distribution, Microsoft said. As part of its strengthened e-commerce push, Microsoft also is expected to restate Thursday its dependence on global alliance partners and professional services and support organizations such as Cambridge Technology Partners and Ernst & Young. These companies presently are working to revamp their current business models to offer more Web-centric services. In fact, New York-based Ernst & Young was expected to announce Thursday a service designed to help large and small businesses establish a Web-based and e-commerce presence in less than 30 days. Called RapidStart, the program is designed to make use of Ernst & Young's worldwide consulting and service resources, as well as e-commerce applications and tools offered by Microsoft. It is described as an extension of Microsoft's e-commerce initiatives. As part of this effort, Ernst & Young allied with Microsoft, using the vendor's e-commerce-related products, including those that support the Windows Distributed Internet Applications Architecture, Site Server, BackOffice, and Exchange. Microsoft has a history of working with global systems integrators, consulting companies, and other enterprise services organizations, Microsoft is able to provide high-end e-commerce solutions that enable organizations to forge stronger relationships with their own customers and partners. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Mar 4 16:48:19 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 15:55:59 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 15:55:59 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: High-tech group recommends dividing up Microsoft Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to High-tech group recommends dividing up Microsoft By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 1:03 PM PT, Mar 4, 1999 One of the high-tech industry's leading organizations has recommended to the U.S. Department of Justice that Microsoft be broken up if the software giant is found guilty of antitrust violations, a source said Thursday. In a 40-page document, the 23 board members of the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) suggested splitting Microsoft into separate companies that are focused on specific markets, such as operating systems or development tools. Another alternative would be creating three or four smaller versions of the company, according to a source familiar with the report. Such an extreme measure is necessary to ensure that Microsoft does not flout any remedies or circumvent them via loopholes, the source said. The 1995 antitrust consent decree signed by Microsoft and the Justice Department has been criticized by many Microsoft critics as being too lenient. The document was forwarded to the Justice Department recently by SIIA spokesman David Byer, who would not comment on the substance of the report. "It was commissioned at the request of the [SIIA's] board of directors, who wanted to look at all the issues related to what could happen if Microsoft is found guilty and what the potential remedies out there are," Byer said. Microsoft is one of the 1,400 organizations the SIIA counts among its members. The SIIA was created Jan. 1 when the Software Publishers Association and the Information Industry Association merged. Discussion about what will happen if Microsoft loses the antitrust case, which is now in recess at least until April, has intensified in recent weeks. Most legal experts and analysts agree that the software company's defense did not go well, and they expect the government to prevail. If Microsoft loses, the company no doubt will appeal U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's decision. Another potential remedy being considered is forcing Microsoft to make the source code for its ubiquitous Windows widely available. "They've always assumed that the source code for Windows OSes would remain under their control," said one source familiar with Microsoft's thinking, who requested anonymity. "Instead, it looks like that's the only punishment the [Department of Justice] is really interested in." The Software and Information Industry Association, in Washington, can be reached at www.siia.net. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott is InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 2 10:06:45 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:14:26 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:14:26 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: HP plans major restructuring Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to WSJ: HP plans major restructuring Plans restructuring that may split company into at least two public entities. By Steve Lipton and Don Clark, WSJ Interactive Edition March 2, 1999 4:35 AM PT Hewlett-Packard Co., which makes everything from personal computers to medical instruments, is expected to announce a major corporate restructuring that could break up the company into at least two separate publicly traded entities, people familiar with the matter say. A transaction, if completed, could rank as one of the biggest split-ups in corporate history. HP (NYSE:HWP), based in Palo Alto, Calif., wouldn't comment. But people familiar with the matter say the company, which has annual revenue of $47 billion and a stock-market value of over $70 billion, is planning a major announcement after the stock market closes Tuesday. In composite trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, HP closed at $65.875, down 56.25 cents. HP, one of Silicon Valley's most storied companies, was founded by engineers Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1938 in a garage. It began by selling audio oscillators to Walt Disney Studios, and expanded into other technologies. HP was considered one of hottest big technology companies of the early 1990s, brilliantly building up high-volume businesses such as computer printers that once seemed lost to Japan. It remains a leader in large computers, called servers, that use the Unix operating system, as well as personal computers and low-end servers that are based on Intel Corp. chips and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software. HP also still has large businesses in test equipment, medical instruments and related products. Lately, however, several of HP's cylinders have been misfiring. PCs have produced market-share gains but low profits, due to plunging prices. The company has been late to deliver some servers, resulting in market-share losses to rivals such as Sun Microsystems Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. In its latest quarter, HP said sales of Unix servers fell, while total sales edged up only 1 percent to $11.94 billion. Revenue from test and measurement equipment alone dropped 14 percent, compared with a year earlier. Moves to improve focus In recent years, companies ranging from AT&T Corp. to ITT Corp. to Dun & Bradstreet Corp. and Tenneco Inc. have split up to create newly formed companies focusing on one line of business. The goal of these moves is to increase stockholder value, with the combined stocks of the broken-up companies being worth more than the former parent company's stock. AT&T, for instance, spun off the equipment-making business of AT&T into Lucent Technologies Inc. and carved out the old NCR Corp. into a separately traded company as well. The stock market likes "pure plays," and spinoffs have been used by companies frequently in the 1990s to get rid of weaker businesses and obtain better multiples on newer companies. HP has underperformed the overall stock market significantly. According to Baseline, a New York financial-data concern, shares of HP are up about 17 percent over the past two years, compared with a nearly 56 percent return for the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. An index of computer-hardware companies returned 137 percent in the same time period, according to Baseline data. Pressure for improvement Lewis E. Platt, HP's chairman and chief executive, has been under pressure to produce better results. Given that situation, Mr. Platt has cut expenses and improved HP's profitability. But he has expressed exasperation with the lack of progress on the company's revenue growth, stating that the first quarter showed "we're not meeting our growth objectives." The company hired the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to examine strategic alternatives, setting off widespread speculation that some sort of breakup was possible. One obvious possibility is to spin off the company's test and measurement business, which has different growth dynamics from the computer business. But one person close to the company said HP will likely try to stress faster-growing markets, including Internet-related hardware, that could command a premium on Wall Street. "They have to do something dramatic," he said. HP gets about 86 percent of its sales from computer products, with about half of that derived from printers and supplies such as toner. Test and measurement equipment represents about 8% of sales, with medical equipment representing about 3 percent. Kara Swisher contributed to this article. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Mar 5 11:03:19 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 10:10:53 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 10:10:53 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun ready to roll out NetDynamics application server Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun ready to roll out NetDynamics application server By Emily Fitzloff InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:30 AM PT, Mar 5, 1999 Sun Microsystems will host an event next week in San Francisco to launch the first major makeover of the NetDynamics Application Server since acquiring the technology last year. Sun is positioning this release of the product as a foundation for building business portals -- what Sun calls the third wave of computing after client/server and the Web -- and is introducing better cross-platform and standards support. NetDynamics (ND) 5, based on Java 2 and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 1.0, delivers "beyond mega-site scalability," according to Zack Rinat, vice president of ND at Sun, and former CEO of NetDynamics, prior to the acquisition. The server can support more than 225 million Web interactions per day with a response time of less than half a second, according to Rinat. "That's more than the daily number of transactions performed by Yahoo and eBay combined," Rinat claimed. The open architecture of ND 5 enables native connectivity to major databases, enterprise management systems, and third-party platforms and tools. Sun will announce next week the ND Platform Adapter Component (PAC) for Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM) for integration with COM services and components, Microsoft Transaction Server, COM clients, Windows NT, Internet Explorer, Internet Information Server, and SQL Server. "NetDynamics had a good relationship with Microsoft before the acquisition, and Sun customers are tired of the religious wars -- they want integration," Rinat said. Sun will also announce integration with Symantec's Visual Café and Computer Associates' Unicenter enterprise management platform. In addition to its existing PACs for PeopleSoft and SAP R/3, Sun is offering additional PACs for XML, LDAP, CICS, MQSeries, and AS/400. Other added standards support includes SMTP, IMAP/POP, SNMP, and Java Database Connectivity, according to the company. At least one Sun end-user said he is very excited about the technology included in ND 5. "NetDynamics helps us connect our clients with background data sources," said Jim Thannum, managing director of technology management and integration at FedEx, in Memphis, Tenn. "It lets you go in there and write an application, especially now with the EJB support, manipulate the information, and present it to our customers so they can use it to their advantage," Thannum said. Thannum said FedEx intends to use ND 5 to create a personalized business portal for its customers that will help the company create personal business-to-business relationships. The NetDynamics 5 Studio is now available to developers for $895. The NetDynamics 5 server will ship at the end of this month on Solaris and Windows NT, with prices starting at $25,000 per CPU. HP-UX and IBM AIX versions will be available in the second quarter of this year. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., is at www.sun.com. Emily Fitzloff is a senior writer at InfoWorld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Mar 5 20:29:22 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 19:37:37 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 19:37:37 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM leads drive to give EJB control to a standards body Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM leads drive to give EJB control to a standards body By Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:46 PM PT, Mar 5, 1999 IBM is leading the call for Sun Microsystems to cede stewardship of its Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) specification to a neutral standards body, such as the Object Management Group (OMG). This call from IBM and other vendors comes as Sun plans to unveil in April Java2, Enterprise Edition. An "enabling solution," it comprises a collection of server-side Java technologies - with EJB at the core - for creating server-centric applications, said Bill Roth, product line manager for Java2, Enterprise Edition, at Sun's Java Software division, in Cupertino, Calif. Formerly code-named Java Profile for the Enterprise, the Enterprise Edition of Java2 builds on Sun's Java2, Standard Edition, that was announced in December 1998. It gives application server vendors and developers the means to serve up JavaBean and Java Server Page-based Web applications using elements such as EJB run times and deployment models, Roth said. The EJB specification, about seven months into a 2-year maturation process overseen by Sun, is currently in the review process for Version 1.1, code-named Moscone. Now at 292 pages, the specification is expected to arrive in a final form in June. Once that occurs, the specification should be opened up to a standards organization, said vendors such as IBM and application server maker Bluestone Software. "The EJB spec is getting bogged down and bloated," said Bob Brickel, senior vice president of products at Bluestone Software, in Mount Laurel, N.J. "The problem with any Java API is how to control it. It would be good to open it up to get higher quality." IBM views the OMG as an appropriate steward of EJB. "I can imagine OMG becoming the logical body for the EJB spec. It's an object spec more than a language spec," said John Swainson, general manager, application and integration middleware at IBM, in Somers, N.Y. "OMG already has work under way in CORBA 3 to converge CORBA 2 and EJB." An OMG official welcomed IBM's idea. "We believe Java and EJB should be in a process where it's truly open," said Bill Hoffman, president of the OMG, in Framingham, Mass. "We would welcome the move." Sun's Roth said such a scenario is not likely during the next two years. "We are gratified that IBM thinks EJB is so mature that they would suggest we turn it over to a standards body," Roth said. "But we have no specific plans to turn a specific technology on top of Java2, like EJB, over to a standards body. ... We believe our process is the most inclusive and efficient way to advance the technologies, and we will use our process probably throughout the end of our road map." One analyst agreed. Known for its time-consuming methods, the OMG would slow the EJB process too much, said Anne Thomas, an analyst at the Patricia Seybold Group, in Boston. "EJB needs two more releases" before Sun relinquishes control, Thomas said. "If Sun does it, it will get done. Going to the OMG will throw molasses on the process." InfoWorld Editor at Large Dana Gardner is based in New Hampshire. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Fri Mar 5 21:00:52 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 19:38:28 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 19:38:28 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Movement to halt Pentium III grows Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Movement to halt Pentium III grows By Stephanie Miles Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 5, 1999, 4:55 p.m. PT Consumer and privacy organizations are lining up to stop shipments of Intel's Pentium III processor until additional controls are in place to address the chip's controversial serial number feature. Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Consumers League, the Consumer Federation of America, Privacy Times, and the Center for Media Education signed a letter supporting the Center for Democracy and Technology in a complaint filed to the Federal Trade Commission. They are asking the government to stop shipments of Intel's Pentium III processor, which contains serial numbers ostensibly designed to aid in secure e-commerce transactions and help track computers in large corporations. Privacy advocates have charged that the serial numbers can compromise security by making it easier to track Internet users based on the way they use the Web. In addition, these groups argue that security based on hardware identification is weak. "The complaint describes the substantial harm that the Pentium III serial number may cause, not only to individual consumers but to the Internet itself," the letter states. "It is vital to the growth of the Internet as a means of communication for people to be able to browse the Net with anonymity. "The countervailing argument that the [serial number] is needed for security purposes is not convincing," the letter adds. Intel began shipping Pentium III chips to PC makers last month, and systems offering the chip were available on February 28. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 9 10:02:13 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 09:09:11 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 09:09:11 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft moves to avert Windows 98 privacy issue Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft moves to avert Windows 98 privacy issue By Nancy Weil InfoWorld Electric Posted at 9:26 AM PT, Mar 8, 1999 Microsoft will modify future releases of Windows 98 to allow greater user control over a feature that could be used to collect private information on users of the popular operating system, the company said Monday in a letter to customers. The software giant will offer a free utility to current users of Windows 98 who want to delete the feature, called Registration Wizard, which sends to Microsoft a globally unique number that is tied to a given user's hardware configuration when the user registers. The objective of having the hardware information on file is to shorten customer service call times, Microsoft said. However, the company learned on Friday that "the Registration Wizard might inadvertently be sending a specific hardware identifier to Microsoft during user registration, regardless of whether the user chose to send his or her hardware diagnostic information," Yusuf Mehdi, director of Windows marketing said in a letter posted Monday on the Microsoft Web site. "This hardware ID is only used by the software system and is not used for customer record-keeping purposes," Mehdi wrote. "Nonetheless, there are hypothetical scenarios under which this number could be used to learn something about the user's system without his or her knowledge." Microsoft, meanwhile, will sift through its own database and delete information that had been "inadvertently gathered" through the Windows 98 numbers, Mehdi wrote. The company also will modify the feature in future Windows 98 versions so that hardware ID information is not sent to Microsoft unless a users checks the option to provide it. The number was first discovered by a programmer in Cambridge, Mass., who contacted Microsoft last week, according to published reports. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Nancy Weil is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 9 10:05:43 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 09:12:56 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 09:12:56 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft promises solid Beta 3 of Windows 2000 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft promises solid Beta 3 of Windows 2000 By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 2:59 PM PT, Mar 8, 1999 Beta 3 of Windows 2000, which Microsoft has targeted for a wide release in April, will go a long way toward fixing many of the problems reported in earlier versions of the next-generation operating system, a key Microsoft executive said Monday. Since Beta 2 of Windows 2000, formerly called Windows NT 5.0, was given to testers in August 1998, Microsoft has identified several areas of concern that it will fix in Beta 3, according to Yusuf Mehdi, director of marketing for Microsoft's Applications and Internet Client Group. Among the problems were compatibility with existing applications; the upgrade from Windows 9x systems; broader device coverage in Windows 2000 Professional, the desktop OS formerly called NT Workstation; the large memory footprint; installation woes with Active Directory; and a lack of Component Object Model+ (COM+) integration in Windows 2000 Server, Mehdi said at a briefing for journalists at Microsoft's headquarters. COM+, the coming COM update, will be a key addition to the beta version of Windows 2000. Many developers and users have said that COM+, along with the Active Directory, is the most important new capability in NT 2000. Additions to Beta 3 of Windows 2000 Professional will include Internet Explorer 5.0, which will ship next week; other user interface enhancements; support for a digital cameras and other devices; and setup improvements. Beta 3 of Windows 2000 Server will include COM+ integration, wizards to help administrators set up the Active Directory, and integration with Windows Terminal Server, Mehdi said. Mehdi said Windows 2000 Server consisted of roughly 23 million lines of "core" code, a figure that is significantly smaller than other estimates from other Microsoft officials, beta testers, and others familiar with the product. Mehdi said estimates of the product having 50 million or 60 million lines of code were erroneous. Mehdi repeated Microsoft's public statements that it hopes to ship Windows 2000 by the end of this year, although he was quick to add that if the product is not deemed ready, Microsoft will take longer. Microsoft also is touting Windows 2000 for laptop computers, the first time the company has aimed NT technology at portable PCs. "It will be the best laptop OS, that's for sure -- even if you use Windows 98," Mehdi said. The oft-delayed Windows 2000 has been under development at Microsoft for years, and now the successor to the consumer-oriented Windows 98, which will be based on the NT kernel, has been delayed past 2000 because of work on the enterprise software. Mehdi acknowledged that Microsoft's foot-dragging on NT has let competitors such as Novell and Sun Microsystems get the jump in the enterprise. "Novell has benefited a little" by NT's delays, Mehdi said. "People think that Windows 2000 is the migration OS from Novell." However, he pointed to a release Microsoft issued last week trumpeting the fact that Window NT 4.0 now is licensed on 28 million desktops. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Bob Trott is InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 9 10:30:54 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 09:10:13 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 09:10:13 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft eyes Internet-content protection Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft eyes Internet-content protection By Marc Ferranti InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:11 PM PT, Mar 8, 1999 Microsoft announced Monday that it is acquiring a $15 million stake in Reciprocal, a company that develops copy-protection technology for Internet content. The stake will give Microsoft a 10 percent to 15 percent share of Reciprocal, according to officials at the companies. The companies have also entered into a technology and marketing agreement that calls for them to work together to speed up Reciprocal's digital rights management technology for the Windows operating system. Reciprocal, which until today had been known as Rights Exchange, develops digital-rights management technologies designed to prevent copying of content delivered via the Internet. The announcement comes after Microsoft announced last week a broad electronic-commerce initiative, and its intent to boost Microsoft's Web portal, Microsoft Network, with new services. Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates also said last week at the launch of the company's e-commerce initiative in San Francisco that the software giant is working on compression technology for music. Right now, the music-download market is in disarray, as the most popular music compression format, MPEG Audio Layer 3, or MP3, is under attack by the major music labels because it offers no copy protection. But Microsoft officials were somewhat coy about what the company would do with Reciprocal's technology. "Microsoft is really looking at the platform and infrastructure initiative here, so we're not really talking about any specific segment right now," said William Poole, senior director for business development at Microsoft, during a teleconference Monday. "We have a long-term plan we've been working on for a number of years for making Windows a secure platform for content." Reciprocal was more direct about the first markets it wants to get into. "Initially, what we're focusing on is really the music -- educational publishing as well as professional, business-to-business publishing" markets, according to Paul Bandrowski, CEO and president of Reciprocal. Reciprocal is working on "end-to-end" digital-rights management solutions for content providers, Bandrowski said. It wants to provide ways to access, use, and purchase different types of content online, including music, images, and text. As yet, it has no users of its technology who want to speak publicly about what they are developing, he said. Reciprocal technology has been rolled out so far only in limited releases. But the company's approach distinguishes it from competitors that offer "point solutions" for more specific content protection and transaction problems, Bandrowski said. However, many companies, including major record labels, may end up shying away from all-encompassing types of content-protection-and-transaction applications, according to Mark Hardie, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Mass. "Record labels are telling me they just want tools ... they're not sitting still waiting for software developers to save them; many of them are putting their own [digital-content] infrastructure in place, so they don't need end-to-end solutions," Hardie said. Meanwhile, although Microsoft was vague about its plans for Reciprocal technology, Hardie said that it makes sense for the software giant to be investing in the technology. "Microsoft is thinking about Windows ... as a platform for third-party innovation. So if they can invest $15 million -- which is not much at all for them, really -- in technology that might help them answer the question of what they're doing about digital content on Windows, why not?" Hardie said. Reciprocal Inc., in Buffalo, N.Y., can be reached at www.reciprocal.com. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached www.microsoft.com. Marc Ferranti is the New York bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Mar 10 10:53:40 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 10:00:49 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 10:00:49 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Domain Names Get Wiped Out Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Domain Names Get Wiped Out (03/10/99, 8:58 a.m. ET) By David Greenfield, Data Communications Internic, the organization responsible for administering Internet domain names, dropped thousands of names from its database last week, rendering heaps of e-mail undeliverable. While exact numbers aren't available, ISPs contended as many as 18,000 names were lost. Users who have lost names will basically be forced to get new ones from Internic's parent company, Network Solutions Inc. (NSI), in Herndon, Va. That's led critics to speculate about why NSI bagged the names. "They [NSI] seem to be embarking on a campaign to benefit their [Worldnic.net domain name registration] service," said Mike Sandburg, vice president at ISP 1,000 Islands Internet, in Watertown, N.Y. NSI dismissed the charges. "This is part of targeting people who register thousands of domains and sell them for a profit," said Nancy Huddleston, a spokeswoman for NSI. Still, such skepticism makes sense, considering NSI will lose its monopoly over domain administration in September 2000. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, in Portola Valley, Calif., will begin handing names out then. ISPs will be able to join NSI in assigning names to customers. A key step in the whole process will occur on May 1, when NSI is slated to begin testing an interface that lets thecompetition tap into its database. From Scott_Pfeiffer_at_MPN003@ccmailgw.mcgawpark.baxter.com Wed Mar 10 13:58:57 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix From: Scott_Pfeiffer_at_MPN003@ccmailgw.mcgawpark.baxter.com Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 12:48:47 -0600 Subject: An interesting bit of news! To: elliott@lance.cs.depaul.edu Content-Description: cc:Mail note part Hi Clark, Knowing how much you like to read press releases, check out the following URL regarding Sun's commitment to XML: http://java.sun.com/pr/1999/03/pr990309-01.html News like this is music to my ears! I have a HUGE interest in XML and have been trying to find good resources/books about it ever since Paul did his XML seminar last fall in DS513. It looks like Java and XML will have a tight "marriage" in the future! Regards, Scott From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Mar 10 17:14:26 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 16:21:31 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 16:21:31 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, jdp@daphnis.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Sun extends Java to support XML Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Sun extends Java to support XML By James Niccolai InfoWorld Electric Posted at 10:31 AM PT, Mar 10, 1999 Sun Microsystems said on Tuesday it is creating an extension for the Java platform to provide support for Extensible Markup Language (XML), a move the company said will make it easier for developers to build applications that integrate the two technologies. The extension will take the form of a standard API that will be developed using the Java Community Process, which takes input from multiple vendors to define Java standards. XML is used to create documents that are distributed over networks such as the Internet, and is sometimes seen as a successor to HTML. While HTML describes only how a document is formatted, XML provides more complete information about the data, making it a more flexible tool. Several XML proponents, including Sun, IBM, and Microsoft have already developed programs that allow applications written in Java to read XML. Sun's goal is to define a standard that will ensure that those programs, known as "parsers," will all work together, said Nancy Lee, Sun's senior product manager for XML. "There are a lot of different implementations out there at the moment. [A common extension for XML] will benefit enterprises because they'll be able to count on this API to be stable and secure, and they needn't be concerned about incompatibilities with each vendor using a proprietary parser," Lee said. XML also offers a standard format for exchanging data between businesses and could help lower the cost of developing applications for electronic commerce, supply-chain management, and other programs that rely on business-to-business communications, Lee said. "That's the promise of XML, but there's still a lot of work to be done," Lee said. For starters, vertical industries need to define common vocabularies for the information they want to exchange, she said. The extension for XML will provide standard classes to generate and manipulate XML, as standard extensions should be available for just about every Java platform, Lee said. "Developers won't need to build these classes themselves, and XML documents won't be as bulky as they might be because we won't need to include these classes in the application code," Anne Thomas, a senior consultant at the Patricia Seybold Group, in Boston, Mass., said in a statement. Sun has outlined an initial version of the XML extension, which provides basic functionality including the capability to read, manipulate, and generate XML-based data streams and formats, the company said. That version will provide a starting point for the Java Community Process. More information on Sun's work with Java and XML technologies can be found at java.sun.com/xml. Sun Microsystems, in Palo Alto, Calif., can be reached at www.sun.com. James Niccolai is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Mar 11 09:56:58 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 09:04:02 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 09:04:02 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Intel's Pentium security woes continue Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Intel's Pentium security woes continue By Ephraim Schwartz and Dan Briody InfoWorld Electric Posted at 5:29 PM PT, Mar 10, 1999 Intel will not be waking up any time soon from the public relations nightmare the chip giant is enduring surrounding the serial number ID on its Pentium III chips, with two new controversies cropping up this week. In a report of errata given to PC vendors this month, Intel notified its partners that Pentium II and Celeron chips shipped in the Mobile Module packaging have the Pentium Serial Number (PSN) technology turned on. "In some Mobile Module products we had some prototype circuitry that we were supposed to disable as part of the process," said George Alfs, an Intel spokesman. "On some of the processors the circuitry was not disabled." Alfs said the PSN was not turned off in some systems that shipped since Jan. 25 of this year. PC makers will be receiving a BIOS upgrade to turn the PSN off, according to Alfs. Meanwhile, Zero-knowledge, a company which offers its customers anonymity while Web surfing, claims to have hacked Intel's software utility program meant to turn the serial ID off for users that do not want it. A Zero-knowledge programmer created an ActiveX application that goes around Intel's PSN Control Utility and places a cookie file inside the user's system. Once the cookie is in place, even if the user turns off the unique chip serial number, the number can be broadcast. Austin Hill, Zero-Knowledge's president, says he was concerned with his customers' right to privacy. "We are developing privacy software. Our users are putting a certain amount of trust in us to make sure information about them can't be leaked," Hill said. "Any scheme that can be used to track users on the Internet we frown upon. We don't see the real benefit of having a serial number for identification purposes." Intel saw things differently. "In a transaction, you have to give up anonymity because when you do a stock trade for example, they want to know who it is," Alfs said. As to whether or not the program developed by Zero-Knowledge programmer Mario Contestabile works, Intel's Alfs said they hadn't tried it yet. According to Hill, PSN is a bad model for authentication. "Authentication belongs in your wallet in smart cards and personal certificates that are protected with a pass phrase. This is traditional security: Something you know, something you have, something you are. Very rarely do you carry around a PC," Hill said. Hill believes his ActiveX program demonstrates that hackers and unscrupulous companies can steal the number and use it maliciously to do anything including selling your stocks or stealing your money through illegal wire transfers. "If you have a cookie that contains the serial number, an ad company can look for that cookie and track you. That cookie can keep coming back even if you erase it. It's the cookie that never goes away," Hill said. The PSN technology has been an issue that has hounded Intel since it was first announced. After privacy groups boycotted the company on the grounds that the chip invaded people's privacy, several security flaws in the chip have been uncovered. "It has kept us employed," said Howard High, a spokesman in Intel's public relations department. "There are probably some that wish it had never happened, but at our core we believe that security is critical for growing e-commerce and we believe that this feature adds value to that process." Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at www.intel.com. Zero-Knowledge Systems Inc., in Montreal, can be reached at www.zks.net. InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz is based in San Mateo, Calif. Dan Briody is the Client/Server section editor at InfoWorld. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Mar 11 21:58:29 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:06:17 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:06:17 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: MS porting Office to Linux? Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to MS porting Office to Linux? It may sound crazy, but developers say all the signs -- and rumors -- are there. By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller March 11, 1999 4:34 PM PT Could Microsoft Corp. be doing the unthinkable in porting Office to the Linux operating system? Rumors concerning the existence of an Office port to Linux have been circulating increasingly in recent weeks. '[Microsoft] techies are programmers in the dev [development] group. They are running Linux on boxes at Redmond and most have Linux on their home computers' -- An anonymous developer Since last fall, when open source advocate Eric Raymond published an internal Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) document outlining the company's view on Linux, Microsoft's interest in the open source operating system has been well documented and analyzed. The so-called "Halloween Memos" did not mention any intention on Microsoft's part to port Office, one of its cash cows, to Linux. However, when asked earlier this week whether anyone at Microsoft is currently involved in porting Office to Linux, Steve Sinofsky, vice president of Microsoft Office, said "I can't talk about that right now." He added that, "Linux is not there yet for end-user productivity applications. Lots of factors need to gel before we make a commitment [to delivering Office on Linux]." Developers: Work is underway But developers outside of Microsoft claim that the software maker has gone beyond the contemplation stage. Last week, Unix expert and technical author Simson Garfinkle mentioned on a radio talk show broadcast in the Boston area that he had corresponded with developers with inside knowledge of Microsoft's Office Linux porting efforts. Garfinkle declined to comment beyond what he said during the radio show. Another developer active on a number of industry news groups mentioned that he had been in touch with developers working for Microsoft who were working on moving Windows application programming interfaces (APIs) to Linux. "These [Microsoft] techies are programmers in the dev [development] group. They are running Linux on boxes at Redmond and most have Linux on their home computers. I don't think that MS is afraid of Linux but they ought to be," said the developer, who requested anonymity. Another developer and Linux advocate, who also requested anonymity, agreed that a decision by Microsoft to port Office to Linux could have the unintended effect of fueling Linux at NT's expense. A Microsoft Office port to Linux "will be good for corporate adoption of Linux," the developer said. "I can tell you that I would be able to move my main workstation over to Linux if I had Office for it, since that is what my employer standardized on." Hurdles ahead If Microsoft decides to field an Office Linux product, it will have to overcome some major hurdles first. Porting Windows applications to Linux is not easy, especially if the Windows apps are tied tightly to the operating system, notes Scott Petry, vice president of marketing with Cygnus Solutions, a cross-platform Windows-Linux porting tool vendor based in Sunnyvale, Calif. Cygnus is working with Corel Corp. to port WordPerfect to Linux via the WINE Windows-to-Linux translation layer. "Office would be one of the most challenging apps to move to Unix or Linux," Petry notes. "There's the Win32 APIs and Microsoft's implementation of the Win32 APIs, which is what Office relies on. A lot of hand-coding would need to be done to move Office just to the standard Win32 API set, let alone to Linux." Microsoft also will need to create a viable business model, via which the company and its partners can make money from Office running on an open-source platform. While Corel (Nasdaq:COSFF) and Star Divison GmbH have made public their intentions to offer desktop suites on Linux, Microsoft's main rival, Lotus Development Corp., has not announced any intentions to move SmartSuite to Linux. "Customers are asking us about Linux, but we can't make money on it today," says Howard Diamond, chief executive officer of Corporate Software & Technology, a Norwood, Mass., software reseller. "Our challenge is walking the line between shareware and the corporate market. The wrap-around things -- like applications services and support, is what you need to sell." If Microsoft does undertake an Office Linux port -- even if it is only a prototype or test -- it wouldn't be the first time that the company has made sure to cover all its bases with the Office platform. Microsoft historians will remember that Microsoft denied to the bitter end that the company was doing a version of Office written in Java, only to admit officially last year that the company was working on a Java-ized Office project, which it ended up scrapping. Additional reporting by John Spooner, PCWeek. [This is a pretty interesting strategy by Microsoft: kill off Linux by introducing the largest virus ever invented--Microsoft Office --Gary] From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Mar 11 22:00:59 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:07:47 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:07:47 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Silverberg walks away from Microsoft Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Silverberg walks away from Microsoft Microsoft's Mr. Fix It won't return from his leave of absence, sources say. Is it a blow to the company's Internet plans? By Charles Cooper, ZDNN March 11, 1999 6:44 PM PT Microsoft won't get its man after all. Brad Silverberg, a highly regarded executive who has taken a leave of absence since the summer of 1997, is not returning to the company, according to knowledgeable sources. Silverberg did not respond to an e-mail request for comment and a Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) spokesman said the company did not discuss unannounced personnel moves. "There's still a 2 percent chance he'll come back, but I'd be shocked," said one source. Blow to Internet plans Barring a last-minute reversal, the decision would be a blow to Microsoft, which was especially keen on bringing Silverberg back to help sharpen the company's Internet focus. The software maker is expected to soon announce a broad restructuring and wanted Silverberg to head up a consumer unit that would embrace the responsibilities of the Interactive Media Group. 'It'd be great if Brad came back. I still hope he does but I think he's enjoying life too much' -- Microsoft insider "Brad's been doing this a stuff a long time. If they offered him something perhaps a little more mainstream, perhaps he'd go for it," said Dataquest analyst, Chris LeTocq. "IMG is currently a hot potato and Brad knows better." Even while Microsoft's sales and earnings have soared, the performance of IMG has been spotty, LeTocq noted. "It would be both a challenge and an opportunity," he said, adding "How do you motivate a guy who has everything?" Mr. Fix It? It wouldn't be the first time Microsoft has looked to Silverberg for a needed fillip. The bearded, lanky executive has played a central role in the company's growth since joining Microsoft from Borland in 1990. As senior vice president of the company's Personal Systems Division, Silverberg shepherded the Windows 95 project to completion and was named PC Magazine's person of the year for 1995. Silverberg added an even bigger notch to his belt when he subsequently spearheaded the company's frantic race to catch up to Netscape Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:NSCP). Under his direction as head of the Internet Platform and Tools Group, Microsoft recovered from a late start on the World Wide Web to ultimately trump its chief rival. But Silverberg, who was a proponent of putting the Internet Explorer browser wherever Microsoft could -- including computers that ran operating systems other than Windows -- lost that battle to vice president Jim Allchin, who argued that the company's efforts need to revolve around its cash cow operating system. By mid-1997, Silverberg decided to take a break from the grind and received permission from Bill Gates to take a couple of months off for a cross-country bicycle trip. The sabbatical ended, but Silverberg never returned. Although he retained an office on the Redmond campus, Silverberg has not been involved in day-to-day affairs since then. "It'd be great if Brad came back. I still hope he does but I think he's enjoying life too much," said a source close to Silverberg. "It's our loss." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sat Mar 13 10:47:31 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 09:17:48 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 09:17:48 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Big Blue's open-source computer beats Cray Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Big Blue's open-source computer beats Cray By Ed Scannell InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:42 AM PT, Mar 13, 1999 Trying to burnish its engineering image as well as demonstrate the technical possibilities of Linux, IBM showed an "open-source supercomputer'' at the LinuxWorld Expo, held earlier this month, that was built around a cluster of Pentium II Xeon chips. Using a subset of the Beowulf clustering technology, 17 of IBM's Netfinity servers containing 36 Pentium II chips and running an off-the-shelf copy of Linux matched the scalability and performance of a Cray supercomputer. The IBM system executed a computer graphics-rendering application called the PovRay benchmark. The PovRay benchmark is intended to serve as a guide for the relative mathematical performance of a wide variety of chips, systems, and compilers. It is a ray-tracing, image-rendering application with which a picture or image can be inserted in a movie such as Toy Story or Antz and subsequently be rendered displaying all of the shadows and the rays of light falling relative to that picture or image. "It is a big computational job. Ten years ago it would take a [Digital Equipment] VAX [minicomputer] 10 or 15 minutes to do. A Cray can do it in 3 seconds today,'' said Tom Figgatt, IBM's e-business manager, in Somers, N.Y. During the demonstration, IBM's Linux-based supercomputer matched the current benchmark record of 3 seconds, which was set by the Cray T3t-900-AC64. That mark had surpassed what is now the second-fastest time of 9 seconds. The message IBM was trying to convey to users is that Linux has some innate capabilities for linking together parallel computers that are not only working in clusters but also working robustly using existing hardware and software off the shelf or from the Web. "I think we showed how easily Linux clusters together and allows you to link multiple systems readily so you can spread your workload across multiple systems,'' Figgatt said. In addition to the 17 servers, IBM used a 100MB Ethernet network and hub to connect the servers, and a piece of parallel computing software to ensure the system's computations connected. As for the copy of Red Hat's Linux, IBM purchased it at a local Barnes & Noble the day before the demonstration. Although the demonstration of the application would be considered exotic by most Fortune 1000 companies, IBM officials said they believe many commercial accounts need this level of computing power for many of the company's existing and upcoming electronic-commerce applications. The advantage of the IBM-based system over the Cray, of course, is its more attractive price performance, according to company officials. The Netfinity/Linux benchmark was executed on approximately $150,000 worth of equipment, while the cost of the Cray was $5.5 million, IBM's officials said. IBM also used the demonstration to flex the muscles of its X-architecture features and capabilities, which now are included in all of IBM's servers up to the mainframe-class machines. For example, during one of the rendering demonstrations IBM took one of the servers offline. The rendering screen missed several pixels during the fail-over process, but it filled them in by the time the rendering was complete. The benchmark results are available at www.haveland.com/povbench. Users must click on the button labeled "list all parallel results.'' IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Sat Mar 13 10:47:31 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 09:17:48 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 09:17:48 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Big Blue's open-source computer beats Cray Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Big Blue's open-source computer beats Cray By Ed Scannell InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:42 AM PT, Mar 13, 1999 Trying to burnish its engineering image as well as demonstrate the technical possibilities of Linux, IBM showed an "open-source supercomputer'' at the LinuxWorld Expo, held earlier this month, that was built around a cluster of Pentium II Xeon chips. Using a subset of the Beowulf clustering technology, 17 of IBM's Netfinity servers containing 36 Pentium II chips and running an off-the-shelf copy of Linux matched the scalability and performance of a Cray supercomputer. The IBM system executed a computer graphics-rendering application called the PovRay benchmark. The PovRay benchmark is intended to serve as a guide for the relative mathematical performance of a wide variety of chips, systems, and compilers. It is a ray-tracing, image-rendering application with which a picture or image can be inserted in a movie such as Toy Story or Antz and subsequently be rendered displaying all of the shadows and the rays of light falling relative to that picture or image. "It is a big computational job. Ten years ago it would take a [Digital Equipment] VAX [minicomputer] 10 or 15 minutes to do. A Cray can do it in 3 seconds today,'' said Tom Figgatt, IBM's e-business manager, in Somers, N.Y. During the demonstration, IBM's Linux-based supercomputer matched the current benchmark record of 3 seconds, which was set by the Cray T3t-900-AC64. That mark had surpassed what is now the second-fastest time of 9 seconds. The message IBM was trying to convey to users is that Linux has some innate capabilities for linking together parallel computers that are not only working in clusters but also working robustly using existing hardware and software off the shelf or from the Web. "I think we showed how easily Linux clusters together and allows you to link multiple systems readily so you can spread your workload across multiple systems,'' Figgatt said. In addition to the 17 servers, IBM used a 100MB Ethernet network and hub to connect the servers, and a piece of parallel computing software to ensure the system's computations connected. As for the copy of Red Hat's Linux, IBM purchased it at a local Barnes & Noble the day before the demonstration. Although the demonstration of the application would be considered exotic by most Fortune 1000 companies, IBM officials said they believe many commercial accounts need this level of computing power for many of the company's existing and upcoming electronic-commerce applications. The advantage of the IBM-based system over the Cray, of course, is its more attractive price performance, according to company officials. The Netfinity/Linux benchmark was executed on approximately $150,000 worth of equipment, while the cost of the Cray was $5.5 million, IBM's officials said. IBM also used the demonstration to flex the muscles of its X-architecture features and capabilities, which now are included in all of IBM's servers up to the mainframe-class machines. For example, during one of the rendering demonstrations IBM took one of the servers offline. The rendering screen missed several pixels during the fail-over process, but it filled them in by the time the rendering was complete. The benchmark results are available at www.haveland.com/povbench. Users must click on the button labeled "list all parallel results.'' IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com Ed Scannell is an InfoWorld editor at large. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 16 00:13:35 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 23:21:20 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 23:21:20 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Windows 98 -- a whole new edition? Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Windows 98 -- a whole new edition? Microsoft's Win98 refresh is looking more and more like a whole new OS release. By John G. Spooner, PC Week, and Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller March 15, 1999 5:57 PM PT Microsoft Corp.'s forthcoming Windows 98 refresh will be more than just a routine point-release update to the operating system. The Service Release -- which has evolved into a combination of Microsoft's planned Windows 98 Service Pack, plus its expected Windows 98 OEM Service Release -- is now being called Windows 98 Second Edition, sources said. Whether Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) will end up selling Windows 98 Second Edition at retail is not certain, but some OEMs say they expect Microsoft to do so. If Microsoft does sell the service release, this will be a marked change in the company's service release strategy. With Windows 95, Microsoft did not offer the two OEM service release updates to retail customers; it made them available only preloaded on new PC systems. A Microsoft spokeswoman said it was too early to say whether or not Microsoft will offer Windows 98 Second Edition as a retail product. She also declined to comment on whether or not Microsoft is using or will retain the Windows 98 Second Edition as the final name of the product. On the road to Neptune Windows 98 Second Edition will be the first of what could be several Windows 9x-kernel-based updates to Windows 98 before Microsoft delivers its first NT-kernel-based consumer Windows release, code-named Neptune. Until recently, Microsoft had said it planned to move directly from Windows 98 to an NT kernel-based consumer operating system. The Microsoft spokeswoman denied that Microsoft's decision to field one or more Windows 9x-based update to Windows 98 was a departure in strategy. "We have said we will continue to keep the 9x line updated for as long as customers need it," she says. At Local Media Day in Redmond last week, Microsoft Windows marketing director Yusuf Mehdi acknowledged Microsoft is still evaluating how and if to release Win9x updates to Windows 98 beyond Windows 98 Second Edition. But sources have said Microsoft already is preparing another Windows 9x-kernel-based update beyond Windows 98 Second Edition, tentatively called Windows 2000 Personal Edition, which it will likely release some time before 2003. Interim build hits testing Microsoft introduced the Windows 98 Second Edition name along with Interim Build 2162 of the second beta of the Service Release within the past few days. The build is the first widely released beta version since beta 2 late last month, sources said. The Redmond, Wash., software developer confirmed that the latest version of the Windows 98 update adds a number of new features, ranging from Internet Explorer 5.0, slated to ship this week, to a new version of Dial-Up Networking and added support for universal serial bus modems. The release of the final version of the update, however, remains a moving target. Sources had said it would be available in the first quarter, ending this month. However, it now looks like it will not ship until the second quarter. "Microsoft used Q1 as a goal -- Beta tester feedback was telling for the [Service release] was getting very bulky, so we went back to figure out a new way to have users test it. Of course that takes time," said a Microsoft spokesperson. From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 16 10:29:12 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: iso-latin-1-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:35:59 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:35:59 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , Elisa & Ophir Trigalo , Noah Roselander , David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein , Randi Weinstein , Sandra Ancell , rozenn@megsinet.net From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Motorola, MIT team up to develop interactive houseware Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Motorola, MIT team up to develop interactive houseware Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Associated Press By ERICA NOONAN CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 15, 1999 5:33 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Kitchen computers that take drink orders like "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" aren't just for Buck Rogers anymore. "Smart" technology, which lets machines communicate not only with humans but with other devices to keep a whole household running smoothly, is on the horizon. The technology moved closer to daily life Monday as Motorola announced plans for a new partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company donated $5 million to the university to create the Motorola DigitalDNA Laboratory at MIT's Media Lab. The center will be a part of the Media Lab's new building, set to be completed in 2003. At the new lab, scientists will work on a whole new wave of smart product applications - like clothing with computerized labels that can tell a washing machine which cycle to use. And dishwashers that communicate to other household appliances about noise levels and energy usage. Such products would improve on appliances that have the capacity to be smart, but aren't linked with other machines by a computerized network. "Wouldn't it be great for the consumer if smart products could be smarter and talk to each other?"' said Hector de J. Ruiz, president of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector. Appliances able to chat with each other would make everyday life far easier, Ruiz said. For example, a home entertainment center with "talking" components would free users from having to struggle with several different remote controls or download each machine's specifications into a universal remote. A refrigerator may someday read the bar codes of the products inside, so you could dial in on the way home find out if you're out of milk. While the technology behind smart products has been available for years, few applications are available to average consumers at affordable prices. Greg Nelson, marketing director of the Semiconductor Products Sector, said Motorola has been working with MIT for five years. The new partnership however, stemmed from market surveys that found consumers think many technological advances are useless to the average person, and that many products are hard to use. The partnership between Motorola - one of the world's largest electronics companies - and the 400-employee MIT Media Lab may help bring smart products to mass markets within the next decade, said Ruiz. "Why should people have to read a 2-inch-thick manual to do something simple?" said Ruiz. Eventually, when "networked" homes are the norm, people will wonder how they ever lived without doors that recognize and open for specific people and thermostats that respond to voice commands, said MIT Media Lab Director Nicholas Negroponte. "The front door can open as it sees you coming with a load of groceries," said Negroponte, who also serves on Motorola's board of directors. "Or it can let the dog out but not let 10 dogs back in." Such technology is already in use in Mercedes' new line of S-Class cars, which features a front passenger seat that automatically recognizes when a child safety seat is being used and reduces the air bag power. The line also features a chip-card key equipped with a profile of the driver. "If it's a teenager driving, (a parent) can program it to not go faster then 50 mph," Ruiz said. "If you like country-western music and your child likes rock-and-roll, the car will know." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Tue Mar 16 13:31:18 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:37:55 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:37:55 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: HP Java Test Kit Strikes Blow Against Sun Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to HP Java Test Kit Strikes Blow Against Sun (03/16/99, 12:26 p.m. ET) By Guy Middleton, Network Week Hewlett-Packard has struck a blow in its Java war with Sun by releasing an open source test kit to encourage developers to build products compatible with its Chai Virtual Machine. The company said the ChaiVM would be packaged with Microsoft's Windows CE 3.0 and could become the most widely distributed non-Sun Java environment. The test kit, which runs 500 tests to check for compliance with Chai, has been added to Mauve, a developers' resource supporting open source Java projects so anyone can develop Java without paying fees. Last December Sun allowed its licensees to develop Java, but required them to pay royalties once they shipped a Java-compatible product. HP - which leads the breakaway Real-Time Java Working Group - has been applauded for the move by some in the Java development world, but there are concerns that rival testing specifications could lead to fragmentation in Java, threatening the 'write once, run anywhere' ideal of its technology. Java Lobby president Rick Ross said: "When Sun announced the Sun Community Source License program at the Java Business Expo last December, I immediately thought they should have made the Java Compatibility Kit free and freely available.....If Sun doesn't have the sense to open up the testing tools, then they should at least have the decency not to disparage the efforts of others to make quality testing tools available." And Sun spokesman Guy Martin was skeptical about HP's move: "There's a lot of support needed to get the testing right, with Sun's JCK you can see how comprehensive the testing suite is." From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Mar 17 15:41:42 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:48:19 -0600 X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:48:19 -0600 To: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft to take $1 million Oracle database challenge Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft to take $1 million Oracle database challenge By Clare Haney InfoWorld Electric Posted at 11:16 AM PT, Mar 17, 1999 Well, it didn't happen overnight, but Microsoft claimed that on Wednesday it will be able to demonstrate that it can indeed meet the $1 million challenge issued by database arch rival Oracle in November 1998. Oracle Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison laid down the gauntlet to Microsoft at his keynote address at Comdex in Las Vegas last November. He challenged anyone using Microsoft's SQL Server with a 1 terabyte TPC-D database to run a standard data-warehouse business query within 100 times of Oracle's best published performance. "If you can make SQL 7 run no less than 100 times slower than Oracle8i, we'll give you a million dollars," Ellison said at his keynote speech. Microsoft officially launched SQL Server 7.0 at Comdex, positioning it as a highly scaleable piece of software and a vast improvement on the previous release, Version 6.5. One of the features Microsoft talked up was that its database could now run online analytical processing (OLAP) queries against terabyte-size data warehouses. According to a Microsoft statement issued late Tuesday, the software giant in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard, will meet the Ellison challenge Wednesday at less than one-sixteenth of the cost of the Oracle solution. The Microsoft/HP response will involve using SQL Server 7.0 Enterprise Edition, SQL Server OLAP Services, and HP's NetServer LXr 8000 server to create a database capable of handling 1 terabyte of data. Microsoft will solve the Oracle problem using a $600,000 system vs. a $10 million system from Oracle, Microsoft claimed in the statement. The demonstration of the solution will take place online Wednesday at 11 a.m. PST at www.microsoft.com/sql/gettingresults, and will be hosted by Jim Gray, senior researcher at Microsoft; Paul Flessner, general manager for Microsoft SQL Server development; and Michael Mahon of HP, Microsoft officials said. Speaking in December 1998 to the IDG News Service, Rich Tong, vice president of applications product management for Microsoft's applications and tools group (and whose remit includes SQL Server), welcomed Ellison's challenge as proof that Oracle saw SQL Server as a serious competitor to Oracle8i. At that time, Tong predicted, "Larry's multimillion-dollar computer will beat our $50,000 one by two-tenths of a second, because it's his test. It's likely that the cost of the Oracle database software alone will be more than the whole thing for Microsoft, including SQL Server, consulting, software, and hardware." Neither Microsoft nor Oracle officials were available for comment. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Oracle Corp., in Redwood Shores, Calif., can be reached at www.oracle.com. Details on the Oracle challenge can be found at www.oracle.com/challenge. Clare Haney is the Asia-Pacific bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Fri Mar 19 21:12:13 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 20:18:51 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 20:18:46 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: XML to play bigger role in development Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to XML to play bigger role in development By Michael Vizard and Ted Smalley Bowen InfoWorld Electric Posted at 3:41 PM PT, Mar 19, 1999 As part of an effort to make its technology more accessible to developers, IBM plans to deliver during the next 12 months an Extensible Markup Language (XML) toolkit within its WebSphere Studio application development environment. With the increasing deployment of Internet-commerce applications escalating the demand for robust transaction processing infrastructures, IBM needs to find a way to make its application server technology - including CICS mainframe query system, MQSeries, and IBM Transarc Lab middleware - easier to work with for a broad range of developers. Currently, the only way developers can invoke these technologies is through either their existing set of complex native interfaces or by writing an application that makes use of JavaBeans. However, IBM now plans to make a third path to these technologies available by leveraging XML. For customers, this means that they can make use of IBM's transaction processing technologies without necessarily having to hire developers that are fluent in either IBM's native interface technologies or in Java. "What customers are looking for is simplification. They want the system to automatically understand the transaction semantics that are coming in and choose the right execution path so the administrators spend less time in setup and it becomes more transparent," said Steve Mills, general manager of IBM's Software Solutions division. XML offers a way for IBM to open middleware services to developers versed in HTML, rather than Java programming or the intricacies of low-level APIs, according to Mills. "[Customers] want another set of interfaces for certain classes of developers who are looking for a simple way to attach to the transaction processor without having to understand any of the low-level structures, and that will be accomplished with both EJB [Enterprise JavaBeans] and XML," Mills said. According to Mills, the company will also utilize XML to help integrate disparate middleware offerings by making use of XML tags to map functions across those environments. "We have yet to deliver the toolkit for the tags that tie to the interfaces, but we're going to deliver an XML alternative to EJB because we think that that's going to be a growing market," Mills said. Because customers deploying I-commerce applications routinely run into scalability problems, the prospect of being able to use IBM's tried-and-tested middleware without having to use complex and difficult-to-master development tools is compelling, according to industry analysts. Opening access to IBM middleware services via XML promises to speed up and bring down the cost of development projects, according to Martin Marshall, an analyst at Zona Research, a market research company in Redwood City, Calif. "Ultimately, we could all go back and build everything from scratch, but that's not the RAD [rapid application development] way to do it," Marshall said. "CICS programmers are few and far between, and an expensive resource," Marshall added. "The rationale [of an XML toolkit] is that you can get the same thing in many cases without the high barrier of skill levels." Marshall also noted similar XML tools initiatives from Bluestone Software, which is shipping products, as well as from Microsoft, which recently signaled plans to make its tools XML-enabled. "XML is going to be huge, and this is just the first generation of tools. [The XML toolkit for WebSphere] is a practical way of expanding the pool of developers targeting the WebSphere server, but IBM is not the only one working on this. There is a lot of competition," Marshall said. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at www.ibm.com. Michael Vizard is InfoWorld's executive news editor.Ted Smalley Bowen is InfoWorld's Boston bureau chief. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Fri Mar 19 21:15:53 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 20:22:31 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 20:22:30 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Dell plans to offer Linux on its Optiplex PCs Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Dell plans to offer Linux on its Optiplex PCs By John G. Spooner, PC Week Online March 19, 1999 2:30 PM EST Dell Computer Corp. is getting ready to preinstall Linux on its Optiplex line of desktop PCs. The Round Rock, Texas, company has been pre-installing Linux for large customers for some time, and it claims to be one of the first top-tier PC makers to make the open-source operating system available as an option on its workstations and servers. Dell is currently preinstalling RedHat Software's Linux on its workstations and will do the same with its servers beginning Monday. "We're working toward making a similar announcement for Optiplex soon," said a Dell spokesman. "It's not that far away." Dell's midrange Precision 410 and high-end Precision 610 workstations are available with RedHat 5.2 OEM System Builder Edition. The models running Linux are available with a single Pentium II or Pentium III chip from Intel Corp. and a Diamond Multimedia Permedia graphics card. RedHat 5.2 OEM System Builder Edition, which includes additional drivers for SCSI de-vices and graphics cards, will also be available soon on entry-level Precision 210 models as well, according to Dell officials. In order to get Linux preinstalled on their machines, users must foot a $20 fee (which is $20 more than a system with Windows NT preinstalled). Dell, however, expects those interested in Linux will find paying the fee easier than installing the OS themselves. Workstations running RedHat include 90 days of phone and e-mail support from LinuxCare. On Monday Dell will begin installing RedHat 5.2 System Builder Edition on its single-processor PowerEdge 1300 and 2300 server models. The installation will cost $99, and Linux-Care support will be an option costing $75. Dell can be reached at www.dell.com. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Sat Mar 20 09:02:07 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 08:08:38 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 08:08:24 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Report: Big Netscape layoffs Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Report: Big Netscape layoffs An online financial site says AOL will cut 30 percent of Netscape's work force. By Lisa M. Bowman, ZDNN March 19, 1999 3:30 PM PT Four months after offering Netscape employees an extra month's salary to stay with the company, America Online Inc. may be firing some of them. AOL could cut as much as 30 percent of Netscape's 2,500-person work force, according to a report on the financial Web site The Street.com. The site said the layoffs could come as early as next week. AOL (NYSE:AOL) unveiled plans to buy Netscape (Nasdaq:NSCP) last November in a stock deal worth $4.2 billion at the time. AOL's stock has soared since then. The report said some of the people cut could be hired back as the company expands into new areas. AOL spokesman Jim Whitney would not confirm the report, saying only that details on the merged company will come out soon. "We'll have more information next week," he said. Netscape officials were not immediately available for comment. Andreessen staying put Shortly after the companies unveiled their merger plans, AOL CEO Steve Case promised Netscape employees an extra month's salary if they stayed until the deal closed. Netscape shareholders approved the deal Wednesday. Some of the 5-year-old company's original employees have fled the company already, and several are starting new firms. But co-founder Marc Andreessen agreed to stay put as AOL's chief technical officer. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Mon Mar 22 10:06:03 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 09:12:07 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 09:12:49 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Comcast buys MediaOne in $60 billion stock swap Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Comcast buys MediaOne in $60 billion stock swap By Kristi Essick InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:24 AM PT, Mar 22, 1999 In a deal that would bring together the third and fourth largest cable providers in the United States to create a broadband delivery giant, Comcast said Monday it will acquire MediaOne in a stock swap valued at $60 billion. The combined Comcast/MediaOne entity will serve 11 million cable customers, with its network passing more than 18 million homes, the companies said in a statement. As one organization, Comcast/MediaOne hopes to capitalize on the growing demand for interactive, broadband content delivery, such as cable Internet access and cable-based telephony. Under the terms of the agreement, MediaOne shareholders will receive 1.1 shares of Comcast common stock for each MediaOne share, or $80.16 per share based on Comcast's closing price of $72.875 on Friday. The deal represents a 32 percent premium over MediaOne's closing price on the same day of $60.75. The boards of directors of both companies have already approved the transaction, but the deal still has to obtain shareholder and regulatory approval. Comcast and MediaOne expect the deal to be completed at the end of 1999. Together, the companies have a market capitalization of $97 billion. Comcast/MediaOne plans to offer broadband Internet access, television programming, and cable-based telephony services, the companies said in their joint statement. Customers will benefit from the merger through the offering of more advanced, bundled cable services, they added. While the majority of services will be offered in the United States, MediaOne also offers broadband Internet services in Asia and Europe. The new company's chairman will be Ralph Roberts, president of Comcast. Meanwhile, Charles Lillis, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of MediaOne, will become president of the joint company. Cable companies have been in the limelight recently, as more communications and content providers seek to cement their foothold in the broadband services market by acquiring or investing in cable operators. AT&T completed a $55 billion acquisition of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) earlier this month in a move to provide local telephony and cable Internet access. Comcast Corp., in Philadelphia, can be reached at www.comcast.com. MediaOne Group Inc., based in Englewood, Colo., is at www.mediaonegroup.com. Kristi Essick is a correspondent in the Paris bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Mon Mar 22 10:10:23 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 09:16:27 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 09:17:11 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Users Test Win 2000 Beta 3 Release Candidate Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Users Test Win 2000 Beta 3 Release Candidate (03/22/99, 7:42 a.m. ET) By Jeffrey Schwartz, InternetWeek The third beta release of Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system is in the hands of a few beta testers and is on track for a more broad release next month. Although to fully discern how stable it is will require widespread testing, the early release candidate of Beta 3, dubbed RC0, is looking better than the last test release, according to two participants in Microsoft's Early Adopter Program. The Windows 2000 beta still has its share of bugs and problems related to compatibility with older applications, although the latter is a problem Microsoft officials virtually acknowledged in the release of its Application and Developer Readiness Program, which offers tools to help developers address those problems. But based on a week of testing, one customer was bullish on theimprovements. "It's pretty stable for most of our applications out there," said Jason Bruner, manager of network systems administration at VoiceStream, a PCS carrier. "On the workstation side, it seems to work almost seamlessly. We haven't discovered any major errors yet," Bruner said. "On the server side, it appears fairly stable. It's ready to go." Memory leaks appear to be fixed. "Now we run many applications at once and it's pretty solid," he said. Microsoft has also added tools for improved cluster management. Windows Internet Naming Services (WINS), Domain Name Services and DHCP "are vastly improved," Bruner said. But another beta 3 tester, an IT director at a Fortune 500 company that has a large installed base of Windows NT servers, said while it was improved, it was not yet ready for prime time. "In my opinion it still needs work; they are not there yet," the IT director who spoke on condition of anonymity said, noting the biggest problem was with Active Directory. "I don't see that it is as scalable as NDS is and it's not as easily manageable as NDS," he said. Peter Houston, Microsoft's lead product manager for Windows NT marketing, said it was possible the user didn't properly configure the directory, or perhaps there were other issues. "We are running the RC0 at Microsoft without any kind of performance or crashing problems. I know this is a high-quality release," Houston said. Microsoft last week cited a benchmark performed at Compaq's European Benchmark Center in France where 16 million user objects were loaded into Active Directory on a four-CPU AlphaServer 3100 machine with 2 gigabytes of memory. The database took up 68.8 GB with no degradation of response time. Microsoft also cited tests by Cisco where 7 million objects in the directory were able to handle 5,000 queries per second, generated from 100 clients. "We're pretty confident the directory is very stable," said Ray Bell, Cisco's director of engineering. Microsoft officials said the commercial beta release was still on target for release next month. Microsoft officials also took aim at addressing the compatibility questions of applications designed for earlier versions of Windows NT. The company last week inaugurated its Windows 2000-based Application and Developer Readiness Program, aimed at providing guidelines to ISVs and corporate developers to make sure their applications are compatible with features in Windows 2000. Nevertheless, analysts do not expect Windows 2000 to ship until later this year at the earliest, while major deployments most certainly won't begin until next year, after Y2K implications are clear. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Mon Mar 22 17:00:18 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 16:06:18 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 16:07:00 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , Ruth Rozen From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Printers to get their own Web addresses Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Printers to get their own Web addresses By Ephraim Schwartz InfoWorld Electric Posted at 11:27 AM PT, Mar 22, 1999 Sending e-mail messages over the Internet may take a new twist by early next year, when users will be able to send e-mails and files, not to another PC, but directly to someone else's printer. The Printer Working Group, composed of all major printer vendors, ratified this week Version 1.0 of the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) and sent it on to the parent body, the Internet Engineering Task Force, for final approval which is expected in a matter of weeks. Once approved companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark International are expected to incorporate the IPP into their printer products so that users will be able to submit print jobs to a printer, learn the status of a print job, cancel a print request, and discover a printer's features, such as color capability, paper size, and number of paper bins, officials said. "Eventually, if you had a printer that is IPP compliant, that printer will have a Web address and anyone around the world who can get on the Internet can print to that URL," said Robert Palmer, the editor of HardCopy Report, in Boston, a publication that reports on the printer industry. However, another industry expert warns that there is still some distance between the acceptance of a technology as an industry standard and its implementation by printer companies. "You need a sponsor or an intermediary that will host the service so that if you are not online the server will resend the print job to you or directly to your printer when you get back online. An ISP might offer this service," said Grey Held, a senior analyst at Lyra Research, in Boston. The IPP also offers an alternative to sending faxes, especially when color hard copy output is preferred, Held said. Microsoft holds the final key for implementation of direct printing over the Web. "The real bottleneck is Microsoft," Held said. "You need software on your computer that will allow you to select and talk to a destination device." The Redmond, Wash. giant is promising that client-side software will be available with Windows 2000, Held said. On the commercial side, industry players are lining up to support the IPP. "Netware Distributed Print Service [or NDPS] incorporates printers with Novell Directory Services, for manageability. We are integrating the IPP into our NDPS so that printers are not just available over IP but manageable," said Brad Christensen, product manager at Novell, in Provo, Utah. "A system administrator could manage his printers from a hotel room." By putting IPP into Novell's printer management suite, administrators will also be able to make older printers available over IP, Christensen said. Lexmark's commercial division also announced support for the IPP and will make the software available as an upgrade to its print server software. A member of the Printer Working Group from Hewlett-Packard also expressed her support. "Everything is moving toward TCP/IP in the corporate world and this dovetails nicely with that transition. It basically allows you to use a printer like you would a fax by addressing its IPP address. It is a powerful way of transmitting documents in corporations," said Sandra Matts, a member of the Printer Working Group and an engineer scientist for Workgroup Color LaserJets at Hewlett-Packard, in Boise, Idaho. Hewlett-Packard Co., in Palo Alto, Calif., can be reached at www.hp.com. Novell Inc., in Provo, Utah, can be reached at www.novell.com. The Printer Working Group can be reached at www.pwg.org. InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz Ephraim Schwartz is based in San Francisco. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Tue Mar 23 16:26:47 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 15:32:34 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 15:33:04 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft Shifts Gears, Aims For Settlement Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft Shifts Gears, Aims For Settlement (03/23/99, 3:52 p.m. ET) By Darryl K. Taft, Computer Reseller News Microsoft officials confirmed Monday the company is open to resolving its legaldispute with the federal government and 19 states. The Seattle Times reported two weeks ago that the software giant had indicated a willingness to pursue ways to resolve its case with the U.S. Department of Justice, on the heels of news of a settlement offer Intel made to the Federal Trade Commission. At that time, Microsoft officials told CRN the company was open to trying to use the recess in the trial "wisely" in reference to a comment U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson made in his chambers to attorneys from both sides in the case. Urging the parties to try to resolve the case outside the courtroom, Jackson, who is hearing the case, told the attorneys to use the time wisely. "We're taking pretty seriously the judge's suggestion that both sides pursue settlement discussions," a Microsoft official said, adding Microsoft has "always said" it was open to negotiation. However, a source close to the company said Microsoft continues to feel strongly that it should "maintain the fundamental right to build new features" into Windows and to keep the "destiny" of Microsoft's products in the company's hands. It appears Microsoft and the government remain at an impasse, as at least some representatives from the states appear interested in gaining not only conduct changes from the software giant, but structural remedies against it should the government prevail in court. Such remedies could include splitting up Microsoft along business segments or breaking the company into three identical parts, each with access to Windows code. Some observers said they find a settlement hard to believe. James Love, director of the Consumer Project on Technology, said unless Microsoft is willing to give in on the so-called integration issue, "they probably won't settle." Meanwhile, the government is open to negotiations with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. In a statement released Monday, Joel Klein, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's antitrust division, said the government had not yet received a settlement proposal from Microsoft, but is open to a settlement that "protects consumers and assures that similar antitrust violations do not occur in the future." Microsoft sources provided no details as to a schedule for any talks with the government. However, a source said if the company could "resolve this without further litigation, that would be in everybody's best interest." However, the Microsoft source said the company is preparing to return to court next month for the rebuttal phase of the trial. Judge Jackson ordered a recess in the trial that could end no earlier than April 12. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Tue Mar 23 16:28:01 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 15:33:49 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 15:34:21 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IBM Adds Linux To ServerProven Program Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IBM Adds Linux To ServerProven Program (03/23/99, 4:02 p.m. ET) By John Longwell , Computer Reseller News DANA POINT, Calif. -- IBM will add support for Linux-based solutions to its ServerProven certificationprogram sometime in the second quarter, the company said Monday at the ResellerXChange conference here. "The majority of our ISVs are going toward Linux, so we're going there with them," said Sandy Carter, director of Netfinity Partners in Development at IBM Personal Systems Division, in Raleigh, N.C. Through the ServerProven program, ISVs obtain compatibility certification for their applications running on IBM's Netfinity line of Intel-based servers. ISVs also obtain sales incentives for recommending IBM hardware with their solutions. Carter said more than half of IBM's ISV partners indicated they plan to use Linux for applications that will run on Intel's 64-bit architecture. "I wasn't expecting Linux to show up in the I-64 space," she said. "It was a good surprise." IBM earlier said it was going to expanding its certification program to include cluster technology, providing support for ERP and database-type applications from vendors such as J.D. Edwards and Oracle. ClusterProven will provide the same type of testing and certification as the ServerProven program, she said. "Clustering is really hard so the value proposition goes up pretty astronomically," Carter said. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Tue Mar 23 16:32:57 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 15:38:45 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 15:39:13 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft Hasn't Killed Off Java Yet Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft Hasn't Killed Off Java Yet By Deborah Gage, March 20, 1999 IE 5.0 relegates Microsoft's Virtual Machine to an optional download; competitors ready their own strategies. Microsoft Corp. is making its customers work a little harder to use Java. Microsoft has included no Java Virtual Machine with the minimal install of Internet Explorer 5, requiring users to manually download a Virtual Machine if they want to use one. While Microsoft still includes its Virtual Machine with the full and typical installs of IE 5, confirms Rob Bennett, group product manager for Windows, customers using Microsoft's minimal install are asked if they would like to download the Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java when they hit a Java-enabled Web page. Java applications cannot run without some vendor's version of a Virtual Machine. Microsoft says downloading its Virtual Machine, which weighs in at about 2 MB, should take "several minutes." Bennett says Microsoft will not provide pointers to any alternative Virtual Machines, such as offerings from Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., Novell Inc. or Sun Microsystems Inc. MS Competitors Answer Back Sun is working on several new Java browsers as part of its deal with America OnLine Inc. and Netscape Communications Corp., and customers who install Sun's current Java Plug-in can run the most up-to-date Sun Java Virtual Machine in both Netscape and IE on either Windows or Solaris. But Sun's plug-in doesn't cover the use of other Virtual Machines, such as IBM's or Novell's. In addition, developers have complained to Sun that the plug-in is missing important features and say the source code should be made public so developers can fix it. Sun officials say the company is considering offering the Java Plug-in under its Community Source License. IBM, meanwhile, says Microsoft simply is trying to distance itself from Java. "We're encouraged that Microsoft believes Java still has enough momentum that they haven't killed it off in their own products," says program manager Jason Woodard. "Our advice to customers using Java is to count on Netscape if they have any control over their browser. We also continue to be very client-agnostic in the sense that a lot of customers building HTML or dynamic HTML applications can use Java on the server." On another front, Microsoft has reported "a few minor issues" with the way IE 5 interacts with its Visual Studio 6 suite of development tools, which includes Microsoft's Visual J++ Java tool. Microsoft has issued warnings to developers to check technical information on the Visual Studio Web site before installing IE 5. The problems will be fixed in the next Visual Studio 6 service pack due this spring, a Microsoft spokeswoman says. From Owner-HyperNews@dept102.it-ias.depaul.edu Wed Mar 24 16:07:27 1999 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 16:54:29 GMT X-Authentication-Warning: dept102.it-ias.depaul.edu: nobody set sender to Owner-HyperNews@hermes.depaul.edu using -f To: HyperNews@dept102.it-ias.depaul.edu From: Owner-HyperNews@dept102.it-ias.depaul.edu (Kishore Doshi) X-HN-Forum: Foundations of Distributed Systems Subject: Java Stuff X-Hn-Url: http://hermes.depaul.edu/HyperNews/get/w99/ds-420/90.html Precedence: list Newsgroups: /HyperNews/get/w99/ds-420.html HyperNews notification of new message. See: http://hermes.depaul.edu/HyperNews/get/w99/ds-420/90.html I don't know if anyone has seen these, in case not, they are kind of interesting, maybe we will have Java Quake? Java 3D(tm) 1.1.1 API RELEASED. Provides a set of classes for writing three-dimensional graphics applications and 3D applets. It gives developers high-level constructs for creating and manipulating 3D geometry and for constructing the structures used in rendering that geometry. This release includes the 1.1.1 implementation, documentation, and the documentation for the utility classes. To access see: http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/3D/index.html JAVA(tm) CRYPTOGRAPHY EXTENSION (JCE) 1.2 SOFTWARE NOW AVAILABLE. Provides a framework and implementations for encryption, key generation and key agreement, and Message Authentication Code (MAC) algorithms. Support for encryption includes symmetric, asymmetric, block, and stream ciphers. The software also supports secure streams and sealed objects. The product is restricted to the United States and Canada. To access see: http://java.sun.com/products/jce/ From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Thu Mar 25 15:20:58 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 14:26:19 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 14:27:31 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: W3C's Berners-Lee urges agent-readable Web sites Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to W3C's Berners-Lee urges agent-readable Web sites By Jeff Partyka InfoWorld Electric Posted at 11:19 AM PT, Mar 25, 1999 BOSTON -- Internet-commerce Web site developers need to make the data on their pages more easily identifiable by search engines and agents, according to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Director Tim Berners-Lee. "Your data needs to be understood not by people, but by machines," Berners-Lee said during his Internet Commerce Expo (ICE) keynote address here Thursday. Berners-Lee strongly urged I-commerce developers to start migrating toward the Resource Description Framework (RDF), which, according to the W3C's Web site, "integrates a variety of Web-based meta-data activities including site maps, content ratings, stream channel definitions, search engine data collection (Web crawling), digital library collections, and distributed authoring, using XML [Extensible Markup Language] as an interchange syntax." Berners-Lee said widespread RDF adoption will vastly improve Web searching. "It's amazing how much you can do with a search engine -- and it's also amazing how much you can't do with a search engine," Berners-Lee said. As an example of the problem with Internet searching today, he asked the audience to imagine a shopper looking for a yellow car on the Internet. "If you have an ad on a page somewhere, it probably says something like, 'Honda for sale, good runner,' " Berners-Lee said. "Nowhere does it say 'car.' ... In cases like this, simple screen scraping just isn't effective. You need to present your content in a format where there is data behind that is apparent to an agent. It will have an unbelievable effect." By embedding RDF into HTML documents, however, vocabulary that agents can understand may be established for the type of item, the color, the model number, the price, and other information, Berners-Lee said. Berners-Lee stressed the importance of I-commerce site visibility to agents and search engines, which he said will increase in the future. "Lots of people feel that [electronic-] commerce is just people browsing, but there's more to it than that," Berners-Lee said. "More and more people are using programs and agents to shop for the best deal, and that's how they're going to be getting to your site." Addressing the question of how developers around the world might be able to agree on an RDF vocabulary, Berners-Lee urged his listeners not to look to groups such as the W3C, but to "get together with people like yourselves and develop one." Over time, incremental agreements between various groups of developers can eventually lead to global standards, he said. "Eventually, people looking for automobiles will start to find the cars," Berners-Lee said. Berners-Lee also touched upon the topic of privacy on the Web. He said a current W3C project centers around the automation of privacy-policy creation and maintenance. He also said privacy is a subject that is seen differently in different nations. "In the U.S., the general feeling is that it's OK to pass along personal information with the person's consent," Berners-Lee said. "In Europe, however, it's seen as an unalienable right -- you can't pass around someone's shoe size under any circumstances." Berners-Lee also made time in his address for two brief "rants." In the first, he railed against the dangers and annoyances of "Web rot" -- the phenomenon of running into "Error 404" messages when a Web address is no longer valid. "If you keep changing your URL, your company is letting down anyone who's noted [the old URL] down," Berners-Lee said. "Find one you can live with for 20, 200, or 2,000 years." His second rant centered around form-submission buttons, which can lead to the inability to bookmark certain pages. "I like to do my banking at home and pay my bills without leaving the house," Berners-Lee said. "But I can't bookmark my account page. It's nowhere; it doesn't have a URL. It's not a page, it's a form. I even saw one site where you couldn't even use the 'back' button -- when you hit it, a page comes up that says, 'Please don't use the back button.' Give me a break!" The World Wide Web Consortium can be reached at www.w3.org. Jeff Partyka is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Fri Mar 26 15:43:31 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 14:49:36 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 14:49:16 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Easing browser interface development Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Easing browser interface development By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 26, 1999, 11:40 a.m. PT Browser engineers are cooking up a new way to create user interfaces that could have broad ramifications for application programming. Engineers at America Online's newly acquired Netscape Communications unit, along with developers working under the auspices of AOL-backed Mozilla.org, have drafted the Extensible User Interface Language (XUL), which would let developers create a browser's user interface using common Web development languages. If successful, the move could fuel a trend toward creating more application components with Web languages, which have the twin benefits of being both cross-platform and easier to use than traditional application programming languages. Browser developers currently rely on standard, interpretive Web languages such as HTML and CSS to render content in a browser window, and programming languages such as C to create the graphical user interface, or "chrome." Chrome refers to the hard-coded features on the periphery of the browser window, including menu items, buttons, and the address bar. "XUL is our attempt to use the power of the layout engine to do all the chrome," said Mike LaGuardia, group product manager responsible for Communicator's Navigator browser. "We're using all of the standards we're supporting within Gecko to actually provide our engineers and potentially others working with this code base to create the user interface for Communicator and other applications as well." Gecko is the code name for the Communicator layout engine, or renderer, which was unveiled in a developer preview in December. XUL is based on Extensible Markup Language (XML), a metalanguage for the creation of other industry- or task-specific languages. The trouble with the current method of creating user interfaces is that native code has to be rewritten for every operating system AOL wants to support. That duplication of highly specialized effort is expensive and wasteful, LaGuardia pointed out, making XUL attractive from a bottom-line perspective. "This would mean that the UI could be written once and work across multiple platforms, and the level of knowledge that you need to do UI development becomes less arcane," LaGuardia said. "All you need to know is how to create a Web page, albeit a fairly sophisticated one." In the cross-platform arena, XUL resembles Sun Microsystems' Java programming language. But Java requires a bulky Java Virtual Machine to make native code understandable to multiple operating systems. XUL promises to be far more lightweight. Moving to the cross-platform XUL makes even more sense as AOL prepares to implement its "AOL Everywhere" strategy of making its online service available from alternative Internet devices such as handhelds and set-top boxes, which typically have distinct, slimmed-down operating systems. But the nascent language, which AOL is considering sending to the World Wide Web Consortium for review as a Web standard, also could have broader implications for the future of application programming, according to its creators. "There's a trend toward using Web-building languages rather than native code," LaGuardia said. "And we think this could really spark a programming revolution." From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Fri Mar 26 21:40:27 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 20:46:28 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 20:46:17 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Massive e-mail virus outbreak spreads like wildfire Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Massive e-mail virus outbreak spreads like wildfire By Dan Briody InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:43 PM PT, Mar 26, 1999 A crippling and embarrassing virus has spent the day marauding countless e-mail inboxes around the world, replicating itself to end-user address books and sending an exhaustive list of pornographic Web sites to everyone therein. Dubbed the "Melissa" virus, the culprit has hampered -- and in some cases entirely shut down -- e-mail systems for companies the world over. For example, Microsoft has put a halt to all outgoing e-mails throughout the company. "Some users at Microsoft received an e-mail that contained a Word document that has attached to it a macro virus," said Andrew Dixon, group product manager for Office at Microsoft. "If that document is opened and the macro virus is allowed to run, it is possible [for the virus] to send e-mail to a number of other users." Dixon said that Friday afternoon, Microsoft "temporarily turned off outgoing e-mail" company-wide to guard against spreading the virus. Dixon said he did not know how many Microsoft employees received the marco virus, or how many may have triggered it At risk are Microsoft Exchange Servers running Microsoft Outlook. With an ever-changing subject heading of "Important Message From [end-user name], the attachment to the e-mail is a document entitled "list.doc" with a body of text reading "Here is that document you asked for ... don't show anyone else ;-)." Upon opening the attachment, Microsoft Word 97 will ask if you want to disable the macros, to which you should reply yes, or the e-mail will automatically be sent to the first fifty names on each company mailing list. "If you don't disable the macros, the virus resends itself to everyone in [your] address list," said John Berard, a spokesman for Fleishman Hillard, which was infected by the virus and inadvertently spread it around. "We've been shut down and working on the problem all day. It's hard working without the effective use of e-mail. But this thing did not originate with us." In addition, the virus automatically changes the security settings of an infected system to the lowest possible setting, a slick move that has IT managers wondering if they will have to manually reset every infected PC in their enterprise. Fleishman Hillard immediately shut down its systems when it discovered the virus and contacted federal authorities. Fleishman Hillard has more than 1,500 employees worldwide. Meanwhile, the list of companies affected is growing exponentially. An Intel spokesperson reported that the chip-giant had been "touched" by the virus and is working on correcting the problem. "It's all over," he said. Tom Moske, network manager for USWeb CKS, said the virus has made for a very long day. "It's going to propagate like crazy. It's gone to all of our client and personal addresses. We are kind of laughing, although it is pretty bad. This is a good one." A fix for the virus has been posted on the Trend Micro Web site. All major antivirus companies are expected to follow suit by Monday. Symantec is on a company-wide holiday today. Dan Schrader, director of product marketing at Trend Micro recommends that IT managers do not panic upon learning of the insidious virus, but shut down the e-mail system and go to Trend Micro's Web site at housecall.antivirus.com/smex_housecall for further instructions. Though Schrader could not say how many companies had been affected, he did say the his company was "getting swamped with calls and hits on the Web site. Obviously it spreads very rapidly." Schrader said the virus is easy to detect and not destructive in nature. But it can cause serious bandwidth constraints and contains several quirky characteristics. According to Trend Micro officials, the virus has a hidden message that is time triggered to reveal a quote from the popular TV series "The Simpsons." Dan Briody is the client/server section editor at InfoWorld. Bob Trott, Stannie Holt, and Michael Lattig contributed to this report. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Fri Mar 26 21:43:26 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 20:49:28 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 20:49:19 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Office 2000 To Go Gold Next Week Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Office 2000 To Go Gold Next Week (03/26/99, 6:34 p.m. ET) By Paula Rooney , Computer Reseller News Microsoft will release Office 2000 to manufacturing next week in preparation for April availability to select corporate customers, sources said. At its Office 2000 Deployment Conference in New Orleans next week, Microsoft officials will announce the Office 2000 testing is complete and will be available to licensed customers on CDs beginning in April, company sources said. The shrink-wrapped Office 2000 box will be available to retailers starting in early June, several retail sources said. "We're very close to it," said one source. "It will be completed by the end of the first quarter as promised. We're reaching that milestone." The Redmond, Wash.-based company also will detail next week a host of resources being provided to IT and reseller professionals to push Office 2000 as well as the forthcoming BackOffice 4.5 suite through Microsoft TechNet, Microsoft Direct Access and the Microsoft Certified Solution Provider Programs. Microsoft said it plans to release five versions of the Web-centric Office upgrade, including Office 2000 Premium, Office 2000 Developer, Office 2000 Standard, Office 2000 Professional and Office 2000 Small Business Edition. The Small Business Edition will incorporate a number of small-business tools including a Business Planner component, sources said. Microsoft first introduced Office 2000 at PC Expo last June and indicated it would ship in the first quarter of 1999. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Tue Mar 23 21:57:45 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 21:03:29 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 21:03:58 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu, otrigalo@wppost.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Dataquest finds IBM overtaking Oracle in database market Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Dataquest finds IBM overtaking Oracle in database market By James Niccolai InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:28 PM PT, Mar 23, 1999 IBM has overtaken Oracle to regain its lead in the database software market, according to preliminary research released Tuesday by Dataquest. IBM moved into the top slot thanks to strong sales of its System 390 and AS/400 systems, as well as "dramatic growth" for DB2 on Unix and Windows NT platforms, said Dataquest, which is based in San Jose, Calif. In 1997 Oracle toppled Big Blue from the top position in the database market. But in 1998 IBM's worldwide share of new license revenues reached 32.3 percent, up from 28.9 percent in 1997. Over the same period, Oracle's share dropped from 29.4 percent to 29.3 percent, according to Dataquest. While Oracle lost the top spot overall, it still leads the relational database management systems segment, as well as leading on the Unix and Windows NT platforms, Carolyn DiCenzo, director and principal analyst for Dataquest's database and data warehousing software worldwide program, said in a statement. Not surprisingly, Oracle sought to downplay Dataquest's findings, calling them "a blip" and "an anomaly." Some of IBM's growth came from existing customers in its huge installed base adding new user licenses in the course of examining their systems in preparation for the year 2000, according to Dom Lindars, Oracle's director of server marketing. Dataquest also found that worldwide database sales did not slow last year, despite fears that companies would freeze their spending in anticipation of year 2000 problems. Worldwide sales revenues in 1998 increased 15 percent over the previous year, to $7.1 billion, Dataquest's preliminary figures show. Microsoft, Informix, and Sybase kept their respective third, fourth and fifth place rankings in terms of share of new license revenues, Dataquest said. The database business is expected to be worth $10 billion by 2003, driven by Internet-related applications, electronic commerce, content management, and the need to support remote and mobile workers, Dataquest said. While IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft will be the dominant players, "there is still plenty of room for vendors that can cater to niche application areas or industry-specific markets," Dataquest's DiCenzo said. Additional information on the database market is available in the Dataquest Perspective "Worldwide DBMS Preliminary Market Statistics: 1998." Dataquest Inc., a unit of the Gartner Group Inc., in San Jose Calif., can be contacted at www.dataquest.com. James Niccolai is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Thu Mar 25 10:17:49 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 09:23:14 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 09:24:26 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: AOL reorganizes to fold in Netscape, to lay off 1,000 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to AOL reorganizes to fold in Netscape, to lay off 1,000 By Elinor Mills InfoWorld Electric Posted at 3:51 PM PT, Mar 24, 1999 America Online on Wednesday announced it would reorganize into four product groups, including one devoted to Netscape Communications' operations, and would lay off between 700 and 1,000 workers from AOL and Netscape combined. The new product groups will be the Interactive Services Group, focused on AOL's interactive services including CompuServe and Netscape's Netcenter portal web site; the Interactive Properties Group, built on properties that work on other platforms such as ICQ instant messaging; the Netscape Enterprise Group, which will also be a part of the AOL-Sun Microsystems electronic commerce strategic alliance; and the AOL International Group, overseeing AOL and CompuServe operations outside the United States. The company has a joint venture with Bertelsmann AG in Europe and Australia, and with Mitsui and Nikkei in Japan; AOL also has a wholly-owned subsidiary in Canada. The company also plans to launch services in Hong Kong with China Internet and in Latin America with The Cisneros Group, the statement said. Each of the four groups will report to Bob Pittman, president and CEO of AOL, and both AOL and Netscape executives will hold key management positions within the groups. Netscape operations will remain based in Mountain View, Calif., AOL said in a statement. Meanwhile, AOL said it would eliminate between 350 and 500 jobs both internally and at Netscape. Currently, about 12,000 people work at the two companies, including about 2,500 at Netscape. AOL spokesman Jim Whitney said the company would be finalizing over the next few weeks what jobs in which areas of the companies would be cut. Whitney declined to say which products or services of Netscape's may be phased out. It was clear from the company's statement, though, that Netcenter and Navigator's browsers would be maintained and developed. AOL plans to expand the reach of Netcenter, which it said would enable AOL to increase its daytime traffic and capture audiences by broadening its reach worldwide. In addition, AOL will release the 5.0 Versions of Navigator and Communicator later this year and will continue Netscape's policy of supporting open development and open source through the work of Mozilla.org, the organization that manages Netscape's open-source initiative for developers. "We will continue to build Netscape's successful businesses, including expanding the audience for the popular Netscape Netcenter and extending both the Navigator and Communicator browsers to the emerging market of next-generation Internet devices," Steve Case, AOL's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "This acquisition will greatly accelerate our business momentum by advancing our multiple-brand, multiple-product strategy and helping us take e-commerce to a new level." AOL will take a charge in its fiscal 1999 third quarter for the reorganization and integration of Netscape, but said the amount of the charge will be announced later. One analyst said it made sense for AOL to reorganize along product and service lines, particularly since Netscape's enterprise businesses are so different from AOL's and are more corporate rather than consumer focused. "AOL has diversified in a number of different areas, and of course their main business is the interactive services," said Joan-Carol Brigham, a research manager at International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass. However, Brigham wondered how long AOL can remain a "generic" site before moving into specialty areas. "Even though it's not necessarily so, AOL does have a perception of being a sort of closed system and I think that works against them somewhat," Brigham said. Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Giga Information Group, also praised the reorganization. "They're forming organizations that hover around their individual strengths," Enderle said. "It looks like they've done a great deal of thought." Specifically, Enderle said it was a good idea to have Jim Barksdale, president and CEO of Netscape, join AOL's board of directors, where he will be out of the day-to-day operations, and Mike Homer, Netscape's executive vice president and general manager of its Web site division, out of marketing and in charge of Netcenter. The stock-for-stock deal is believed to be worth as much as $10 billion. When AOL announced its intent to buy Netscape in November its stock was at about $45, making the deal worth about $4.2 billion. Since then AOL's stock has more than doubled to just over $116 as of Wednesday afternoon. Netscape Communications Corp., in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at www.netscape.com. America Online Inc., in Dulles, Va., can be reached at www.aol.com. Elinor Mills is an editor at large in the San Francisco bureau of the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Mon Mar 29 18:16:22 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 17:21:46 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 17:12:45 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Office 2000 suite set to hit the street in June Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Office 2000 suite set to hit the street in June By Bob Trott InfoWorld Electric Posted at 10:26 AM PT, Mar 29, 1999 NEW ORLEANS -- Microsoft announced June 10 retail availability for Office 2000 at its Office 2000 Deployment conference here Monday, and said its bigger customers will get the desktop productivity suite in late April. The company also unveiled deals with partners such as Unisys, which will unveil Unisys Office 2000 Solution, a program aimed helping IT managers deploy and integrate the new suite. In his keynote speech, Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president of applications and tools, called Office 2000 the most IT-friendly version of the suite yet. He said Microsoft used customer feedback in making improvements in three key areas: cost of ownership, connectivity, and infrastructure. "This certainly has the largest IT focus ever," Muglia told about 850 conference attendees. "We think we've built something that will lower your cost of management." Another key focus, particularly for international companies, is Office 2000's multilanguage functionality. The suite allows users to use a Language Pack to move from one language to another. "We needed one user desktop application to support everyone we have from Boston to Hong Kong," said Sue Hallihan, IT director for Wang Global, a Microsoft partner, in Billerica, Mass. Muglia said members of Microsoft's Select/Enterprise and Rapid Deployment programs would receive CD-ROMs of Office 2000 in late April, but did not give an exact date. The delay in shipping Office 2000 -- which originally was scheduled for release this month -- has cost Microsoft financially, at least in the short term. The company expects to report a $400 revenue shortfall for the current fiscal quarter. Microsoft is deferring that revenue, which can only be recognized when customers redeem coupons for Office 2000 when they bought Office 97, until the last quarter of its current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Support specialist Unisys's offering -- which will employ standard templates and tools, well-defined milestones, and proactive project management -- will be available through the company's Microsoft Solutions Practice, or MSP. "With the release of Office 2000, Microsoft is delivering a true productivity tool, with new features that address cost of ownership, Web integration, and ease of use," said Gerry Gagliardi, president of Unisys Global Customer Services. "Unisys is uniquely qualified to provide the consultative services that organizations will need to quickly take full advantage of these new capabilities." At the conference, Microsoft is pushing its Office Web components, Component Object Model controls for publishing spreadsheets, charts, and databases to the Web. Also on tap are deployment of Office 2000 on Windows Terminal Server machines, and integration between Office 2000 and the SQL Server 7.0 database. Through the use of SQL 7.0 wizards and tools, users will be able to build data-warehousing and analysis applications in Office 2000. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. Unisys Corp., in Blue Bell, Pa., can be reached at www.unisys.com. Bob Trottis InfoWorld's Seattle bureau chief. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Mon Mar 29 18:16:23 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 17:21:46 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 17:11:36 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft decentralizes self with 'Vision Version 2' Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft decentralizes self with 'Vision Version 2' By Dana Gardner InfoWorld Electric Posted at 12:55 PM PT, Mar 29, 1999 Microsoft said Monday it will reorganize itself into five autonomous businesses that target specific sets of customers in a bid to re-energize its vision of empowering computer and Internet users at home and at work. "This is not a break-up into small companies," said President Steve Ballmer. "We need to get business divisions that own a broad charter, that have the individual resources to do their jobs ... to give our customers the power when they want it, and where they need it." In coming weeks and months, Microsoft will "reinvent itself" into the Business and Enterprise Division, which will cater to the needs of IT managers in large organizations; the Consumer Windows Division, which will work on improving the Windows platform; the Business Productivity Group, which will address the needs of knowledge workers and remote workers; the Developer Group, which will help developers design software for Microsoft platforms; and the Consumer and Commerce Group, which will get companies online and link them to consumers, including via portal sites. Ballmer and CEO Bill Gates downplayed any association between the move Monday to set up more independent divisions and settlement talks due to begin Tuesday in its antitrust litigation with the U.S. Department of Justice. "It would be nice if a settlement could be reached ... if the right set of principle [were agreed upon]," said Gates of the ongoing trial now in recess d in a conference call to press and analysts. "[But] this has nothing to do with any lawsuit." Instead, the reorganization -- what Ballmer called "Vision Version 2" -- is aimed at bringing "parallelism" to Microsoft so it can act with more regard to customers and provide focus beyond just the PC to other devices and on the Internet, said Ballmer, who became president of the leading software maker just eight months ago. "It became clear [since he took over] ... that if we're going to succeed and do the right thing for customers, that we'll need to reinvent ourselves," said Ballmer. "We want those running the business divisions to act as if they were in independent companies" and to partner with third parties as well as the other Microsoft divisions, he said. Microsoft's reinvention brings many of the company's chieftains into different roles, breaking them out of the executive committee, which has been renamed, and giving them fiefdoms of their own to organize and run. The developer division will be headed by Paul Maritz, the enterprise division will be lead by Jim Allchin, the business productivity unit by Bob Muglia, the consumer Windows division by David Cole, and the consumer and commerce division by Brad Chase and Jon DeVaan, Ballmer said. Among the more wholesale changes for Microsoft as a result of the reorganization is an emphasis on giving consumers more choice on their devices and development languages. "We want to give people the power, connectivity, and the ability to choose how they want to use computing in their lives," Gates said. "The PC will continue to have a central role in this future, but it will be joined by an incredibly rich variety of digital devices accessing the power of the Internet." The new developer division, Gates said, will work to allow the "use of any language ... for development of applications on the Internet, servers, and clients using a common approach; a framework for rapid innovation." The work will build on Component Object Model (COM), COM+, and the Extensible Markup Language, and is being done under the Advanced Visual Studio project headed by Maritz. The development strategy will be further detailed later this year, Ballmer said. Ballmer also announced the creation of the Business Leadership Team as replacement for the Executive Committee. It will consist of Allchin, Orlando Ayala, Ballmer, Chase, DeVaan, Gates, Bob Herbold, Laura Jennings, Joachim Kempin, Greg Maffei, Maritz, Mich Mathews, Muglia, Bill Neukom, and Jeff Raikes. Brad Silverberg will become an adviser to Ballmer. Some analysts expressed skepticism at the true extent of the reorganization. "To say you're suddenly reorganizing around customer-focused units is one thing, but if you look behind the curtain it's still Jim Allchin over Windows 2000 and Windows 98," said Dwight Davis, a Kirkland, Wash.-based analyst at Summit Strategies. "It's not quite that dramatic reorg in my mind. There's some realignment, but there's still really the same product groups." The reorganization could pose some concerns, because many products will overlap in the new groups. Office, for example, could be categorized as an enterprise product, a "knowledge" product and a development product, because Microsoft is pushing the suite as a development platform, Davis said. "It's [public relations] to say 'We're now focused on customer needs," Davis said. "On the other hand, they are doing some things, and there is some element of change here ... and they still have been much better than, say, Oracle in soliciting from customers on their products." Davis noted that at least one key position remains unfilled. Davis said the Consumer and Commerce group, headed jointly by Chase and DeVaan, still essentially had an opening at the top, and the company needed a "big name" to get that division on the move. "On Java, it's still open and [Chase and DeVaan] understand that there could be someone [eventually] above them," Davis said. "They're painting this as moving forward, but how far are you moving forward if you don't have a person in charge of this?" Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Dana Gardner is based in New Hampshire. Seattle bureau chief Bob Trott contributed to this article. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Tue Mar 30 12:39:58 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 11:45:11 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 11:46:05 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Novell Breaks NetWare Secrecy Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Novell Breaks NetWare Secrecy (03/30/99, 11:10 a.m. ET) By Karen Rollins, Computer Reseller News UK Novell is to release parts of its networking software to the open source community, as it attempts to attract software developers to its technology. At Novell's U.S.-based annual user group conference, Chris Stone, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, revealed the company would release core protocols for the company's flagship network operating system, NetWare, to computer programmers. However, Stone said Novell will not release any security-related protocols, which are key components of NetWare and NDS. "The company has always had this fear people would re-engineer NetWare. Who would want to do that?" Stone said. Peter Joseph, corporate strategist at Novell U.K., said it is trying "to determine which elements [of Novell software] would best suit the open source space. But we have no official announcements to make yet." Peter Dawes, sales director at Linux reseller Linux IT, said: "A lot of vendors are wondering why Linux is so popular, and are pointing the finger at its openness. Some of these moves are half-hearted and do not inspire confidence in the developer community that they are genuine and will remain forever." From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Tue Mar 30 13:04:19 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 12:09:32 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 12:10:27 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: SAP invests in Red Hat Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to SAP invests in Red Hat By Erich Luening Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 30, 1999, 6:50 a.m. PT A major commercial-grade supplier of Linux scores a chunk of investment dollars from Germany's leading software company. SAP today announced an equity investment of an undisclosed amount by the SAP Venture Fund in Red Hat Software, adding more support to the Linux bandwagon and the open source movement. SAP, a long-standing partner with Microsoft, said Linux is a stable, reliable, and viable operating system developed according to the open source model that is now mature enough to run mission-critical business applications. "The SAP Venture Fund is designed to foster innovative technology developments that will have significant impact and benefits for SAP customers," Howard Lau, executive vice president of the SAP Venture Fund, said in a statement. "Linux is becoming a significant force in the industry. We expect it to emerge as an attractive platform for enterprise computing, and Red Hat is a leading Linux distributor." Founded in 1994, Red Hat Software is based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, where it develops open source operating software, such as RPM and the disk druid installation tool. Red Hat Linux is available for Intel, Compaq Alpha, and Sun SPARC platforms. With its SAP Venture Fund, SAP provides funding to companies it believes have "promising" technologies that are expected to further innovation in enterprise computing. Today's announcement comes just a few weeks after the German software giant said it will support Red Hat's version of Linux for R/3 on Intel-based systems. As reported earlier, SAP said customers will be able to order preinstalled and preconfigured R/3 systems on Linux. The firm plans its first shipment of SAP R/3 on Linux in the third quarter. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Tue Mar 30 21:27:49 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 20:32:58 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 20:33:24 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu, Ruth Rozen , Elisa & Ophir Trigalo , otrigalo@wppost.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander , David Weinstein , Ron Weinstein From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Russia reportedly halting Y2K work to protest NATO air strikes Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Russia reportedly halting Y2K work to protest NATO air strikes By James Niccolai InfoWorld Electric Posted at 6:01 PM PT, Mar 30, 1999 Russia's defense ministry on Friday reportedly said it will cease cooperating with the United States on preparations for possible year-2000 computer problems -- apparently in a show of protest over NATO's military intervention in Kosovo, Yugoslavia. Government officials in Russia and the United States would not confirm the reports, published by a variety of media outlets. The two countries have been developing a proposal to station officials at each other's nuclear facilities during the months before and after Jan. 1, 2000, with the goal of preventing any false alarms if a software problem in an early warning system indicates that a nuclear strike has been launched. The countries are also involved in a joint effort to make computers year 2000-compliant at several Soviet-designed nuclear power plants located throughout Eastern Europe. In a statement Friday, the chairman of a government committee examining the year-2000 issue called Russia's reported action, "a short-sighted and dangerous thing to do." "It doesn't mean something bad is going to happen. But it means that our chances of preventing something bad from happening just went down," said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, who is chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. The year-2000 problem is occurring because older software code was written with a two-digit date field that might interpret the "00" in 2000 as "1900" and therefore could fail to make correct calculations. U.S. officials have frequently cited concerns regarding lack of preparedness in Russia, as well as worries that the computer problem will trigger a false alarm indicating a nuclear attack is underway. The Senate committee, along with several other U.S. government offices contacted this week including the Pentagon and the State Department, said they have not received any official notification of Russia's actions. A representative at the National Security Council declined to comment. An official with Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also could not confirm or deny that his country had changed its cooperation plans with the United States, but did say that he found the situation highly unlikely. "I haven't seen a declaration that our government has the intention of interrupting our cooperation in this domain," said the official, who asked not to be named. "I think that the development of year-2000 cooperation may [ultimately] depend on the situation with the Kosovo crisis, but for the moment any disruption of our cooperation in this area would not be constructive," the official added. U.S. officials also said Western involvement in Kosovo could contribute to problems in the countries' joint efforts to prepare for 2000. "We have to tread lightly because of U.S.-Russian differences over Kosovo, but when the dust settles we'll do our best to resume the Y2K effort," said a representative of the Senate's year-2000 committee. In related news, the U.S.' Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it will begin an inspection next Thursday of the U.S.' 103 operating nuclear power plants to ensure the facilities will not run into year 2000-related problems on Jan. 1, 2000 and beyond. The U.S. Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem can be reached at www.senate.gov/~y2k/home.html. James Niccolai is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. Tom Diederich of Computerworld, an InfoWorld affiliate, contributed to this article. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Wed Mar 31 09:56:39 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 09:01:40 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 09:01:53 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu, Noah Roselander From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Windows 2000 Beta 3 On Track To Ship April 21 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Windows 2000 Beta 3 On Track To Ship April 21 (03/31/99, 6:43 a.m. ET) By Paula Rooney, Computer Reseller News Microsoft Tuesday outlined specific product timing and plans for Windows 2000 and its family of related Backoffice servers, notably SQL Server and BizTalk Commerce Server. Windows 2000, formerly known as NT 5.0, is "on track" for Beta 3 to ship on April 21 with release to manufacturing expected in the fourth quarter, according to company documents. One analyst source said the long-awaited upgrade is now slated to ship in early October. The details on the beta 3 timing and the other servers were provided to large account resellers attending the company's annual Executive Synergy 99 Conference in Seattle, Wash. Microsoft will hold a Windows 2000 ISV workshop April 7 through 8. In addition, Microsoft provided some details about its next-generation SQL Server, code-named Shiloh, which will focus on ease-of-use, scalability, business intelligence and Internet commerce. The SQL Server upgrade, based on Windows 2000, will support advanced parallelism, fail-over clusters and log shipping, English queries, data mining and materialized views, according to the documents provided at the Seattle resellersummit. The server will also be XML-enabled. Microsoft has talked sporadically of Shiloh, mostly when addressing integrators and VARs concerned that SQL Server was not scalable enough for large enterprises. CRN first reported on Shiloh in November 1997. While Microsoft executives on Tuesday claimed to have sold 6.5 million seats of its recently-released SQL 7.0 during fiscal year 1999, other sources say SQL Server 7.0 sales, especially relative to sales of Oracle's database have been disappointing. Recent CRN research shows more VARs named Oracle than Microsoft as their best-selling database in February. These figures were striking given Microsoft's huge advantage a year ago over Oracle and given Oracle's historical problematic relationship with the channel, observers said. Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., also filled in details about its e-commerce framework for Windows 2000, known as BizTalk. The BizTalk server, which will be used by Microsoft Office, BackOffice, Commerce Server and Windows, will ship to beta in July, according to the documents. Commerce Server is also scheduled to ship to beta this summer, officials said Tuesday. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Wed Mar 31 12:10:33 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 11:15:32 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 11:15:55 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Microsoft To Put APIs On Settlement Table Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Microsoft To Put APIs On Settlement Table (03/31/99, 7:14 a.m. ET) By Darryl K. Taft, Computer Reseller News Microsoft has expressed a willingness to put the Windows APIs on the table for discussion as part of the antitrust settlement negotiations, according to sources and written reports. The software giant began talks Tuesday with the U.S. Departmentof Justice and 19 states on settling the Justice Department's antitrust suit. The Seattle Times reported Tuesday afternoon that Microsoft, in a document forwarded to the government listing topics for discussion, said it was willing to discuss its process for developing and making available the APIs critical to applications developers. An opening up of the API process could gain industry support, as several Microsoft competitors have alleged Microsoft withholds key APIs from companies either in retaliation or to hamper a competitor's progress. Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash., has steadfastly denied these claims. Real or not, some independent software vendors said they believe the software giant takes care of its own developers long before they release code to third parties. A source close to the government was suspicious of Microsoft's proposal to put APIs up for discussion: "I'm skeptical. The mere definition of what's an API is an issue." At a recent news conference of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), Jonathan Zuck, president of ACT, said, "The industry thrives on two things among others, intellectual-property protection and platform standards. Any settlement deal that represents an erosion of either of these would not be supported by ACT or, for the matter, the majority of the industry. We believe Microsoft owes it to the industry to walk away from the table rather than concede on these points." On Wednesday morning, Microsoft and representatives from the Justice Department and the states are slated to meet in court with U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson for a status hearing to discuss scheduling and other issues related to completing the trial, should the parties fail to reach a settlement. The trial is scheduled to resume no earlier than April 12, but sources said the judge was now presiding over a criminal trial that may run through April, putting off a resumption of the Microsoft trial until some time in May. Microsoft delivered an initial settlement proposal to federal and state regulators last week. The states promptly discounted the proposal as not going far enough. In that document, Microsoft offered to relax some of its contractual requirements on ISPs and OEMs. However, a proposal gaining popularity with government regulators is one that would force Microsoft to auction off the Windows source code to the top three bidders, thus enabling other companies to distribute Windows and breaking the so-called Microsoft monopoly. Officially, Microsoft and the government would not comment on Tuesday's settlement negotiations. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Wed Mar 31 16:23:19 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 15:28:17 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 15:28:35 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: IDC: Linux likely to lead OS growth through 2003 Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to IDC: Linux likely to lead OS growth through 2003 By Nancy Weil InfoWorld Electric Posted at 10:29 AM PT, Mar 31, 1999 Growth in commercial shipments of the Linux operating system will outpace other client or server operating environments through 2003, according to market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC), which for the first time has removed the increasingly popular Linux from the "other" category in its OS reporting. Linux commercial shipments will grow at a compound annual rate of 25 percent from this year through 2003, compared to 10 percent for all other client operating environments IDC tracks, and 12 percent for all other server operating environments combined, IDC said Wednesday. The market researcher has prepared its first-ever Linux forecast in a new bulletin, "Linux Operating System Market Overview." IDC, which is based in Framingham, Mass., decided to view Linux separately because analysts there have tracked increased use of Linux and demand for research regarding the OS, a cousin to the multi-flavored Unix platform. Linux was developed in 1991 by Linus Torvalds and remains an open-source OS, available free on the Internet, with vendors selling commercial implementations. In recent months, a flurry of top-shelf vendors have announced support for the OS, for which more applications also are hitting the market. IDC expects that to continue as more application vendors port their products to Linux and hardware makers expand the number of machines that operate on Linux for server-side use. Linux also has the potential to hit the desktop OS market as 2003 approaches, IDC said, with an enhanced graphical user interface and more desktop applications boosting that market. International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass., can be reached at www.idc.com. Juan Carlos Perez is Latin American bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Thu Apr 1 10:26:57 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1999 09:31:45 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Thu, 01 Apr 1999 09:32:26 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Yahoo!, Broadcast.com gain on merger pact Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Yahoo!, Broadcast.com gain on merger pact By Larry Dignan April 1, 1999 10:10am ZDII The Web's worst kept secret is finally official. Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Broadcast.com Inc. (Nasdaq: BCST) merged Thursday in a stock swap valued at about $5.7 billion. In early trading, Yahoo! shares jumped 4 7/8 to 173 1/4 and Broadcast.com gained 8 3/8 to 126 9/16. Under the acquisition, Yahoo! will issue 0.7722 of a share of Yahoo! common stock for each share of Broadcast.com common stock. All outstanding options of Broadcast.com will be converted into Yahoo! options. Excluding options, the deal is valued at $4.8 billion. Options add another $900,000 to the deal. Officials also said there are no collars on the stock swap and that there's a "substantial break-up fee." The deal, which had been rumored for weeks, was reported last night by Inter@ctive Week, Dow Jones and CNBC among other news outlets. Yahoo! said the acquisition will be accounted for as a pooling of interests and that the company expects to take a charge in its third quarter. Broadcast.com will operate as a separate unit. On an analyst conference call Yahoo! CEO Tim Koogle said the acquisition is all about leverage. "We love leverage," said Koogle, who added that the combined company can integrate streaming media, sales operations and audience to develop new revenue opportunities. "This deal is also about speed and time to market." Broadcast.com president Mark Cuban said Yahoo! gives the company a "whole new scale" for its multimedia programming. Cuban added that Broadcast.com events will be integrated into Yahoo!'s properties and speed the expansion into new revenue streams such as ads within programs and pay-per-view programming. Including Geocities and Broadcast.com, Yahoo! president Jeff Mallett said Yahoo! will have an unduplicated reach of 63 percent. More acquisitions on the way? Koogle said Yahoo! will still be in the market for acquisitions, but the company's approach will be more measured. "We are a big believer of partnering and acquisitions," said Koogle. "We are very serious about extending our leadership and see a lot of potential deals." Koogle added that there are a number of smaller deals that could be made before the year is out. Koogle said he expects future acquisitions to be accretive to earnings. However, since Yahoo! will be integrating both Geocities and Broadcast.com, the approach will be more measured. "We will be more measured about the rate of acquisition so we get this right," said Koogle. Broadcast.com's effect on earnings Yahoo! financial chief Gary Valenzuela said the Broadcast.com acquisition will add to earnings after the third quarter of 2000. Valenzuela said the acquisition in the first 12 months after closing will be neutral to earnings as a best case scenario. "In the first 12 months we expect some dilution to EPS," said Valenzuela. "We remain focused on operating margins of 30 percent to 36 percent. This fits into that model." Koogle said the strategic benefit of the deal was worth any dilution to earnings. "We do see a real opportunity to leverage the business from the revenue standpoint, said Koogle. Yahoo! will be able to add Broadcast.com's advertising sales and open a new revenue stream with Broadcast.com's business services side. Expenses, however, will also increase and be a challenge, said Koogle. The Geocities acquisition will be accretive to earnings in the first quarter of 2000. Koogle said he couldn't get too specific regarding the impact on cash flow, but added that "right now we are expecting to remain cash flow positive." Yahoo! reports its first quarter 1999 earnings April 7. "Going forward, it's going to be dilutive, and this may be important, since its share price is so closely tied to earnings," said Dalton Chandler, an analyst at Needham & Co. The Broadcast.com premium Valenzuela also addressed the valuation question regarding Broadcast.com. The $5.7 billion, or $130 a share, price tag for Broadcast.com is above the $110 to $120 range Yahoo! was hoping to pay. Yahoo! went high to block out networks and other bidders such as America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL). Press leaks also fueled run-up in Broadcast.com shares. Valenzuela said Yahoo! paid a 10 percent premium on Broadcast.com's closing price Wednesday. Based on Broadcast.com's 30-day trailing stock price of $93, Valenzuela said Yahoo! paid a 40 percent premium. Don't expect, Wall Street to sweat the valuation though. Alex Cheung, portfolio manager at the Monument Internet Fund, said the steep price tag might soon look like a bargain. "It's pricey, yes, but it should be more than worth it," he said. "Think back to the Victoria's Secret event. Where did everyone go? Who was making it possible? It's worth the investment because while there are other competitors, they are quite a bit behind. Yahoo! and Broadcast.com have now moved the curve significantly farther away." From unknown@hawk.depaul.edu Thu Apr 1 13:32:46 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Coding-System: undecided-unix Resent-Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1999 12:37:33 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: gary@lance.cs.depaul.edu (Unverified) Date: Thu, 01 Apr 1999 12:38:14 -0600 To: compnews@cs.depaul.edu From: Gary Weinstein Subject: Surprise moves at Inprise -- Yocam, CFO quits Sender: compnews-request@gbw.cs.depaul.edu Resent-From: compnews@gbw.cs.depaul.edu X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'LEAVE' to Surprise moves at Inprise -- Yocam, CFO quits By Clare Haney InfoWorld Electric Posted at 10:17 AM PT, Apr 1, 1999 Del Yocam, Inprise's chairman and CEO, has suddenly resigned along with Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Kathleen Fisher, the software company announced late Wednesday. To steer the now rudderless Inprise, a management committee has been formed, Inprise said in a statement issued Wednesday. Members of the management committee which will report to Inprise's board of directors include the presidents of the company's two divisions -- James Weil of the Inprise division and John Floisand of the Borland.com division. Jay Leite, previously Inprise's vice president of business development, now takes on the role of interim company CFO. The news comes out of the blue. Yocam was bought on board in late 1996 when the tools vendor was known as Borland International to try and stem its serious financial problems which led to the company regularly bleeding plenty of red ink. He took over from Borland's flamboyant founder Philippe Kahn who left to establish Starfish Software which is now owned by Motorola. Yocam was formerly at Apple and Tektronix and is widely credited with helping to turn both companies' respective operations around. Once in the saddle at Borland, Yocam embarked on a series of restructuring exercises, all of which were designed to reinvent the company to focus its attentions on enterprise-level customers, not Borland's traditional core user base of developers and desktop end-users. Under his leadership, Borland was renamed Inprise in April of last year. The most radical of Yocam's restructuring efforts occurred in late January of this year. Inprise was effectively split into two operations -- Inprise, based in San Mateo, Calif., focusing on enterprise software and Borland.com, based in Scotts Valley, Calif., acting as a Web tools and services vendor for both itself and third-party companies. At the same time, Inprise also announced plans to cut its global workforce of around 950 staff by 20 percent and declared fiscal 1998 earnings for the year ended Dec. 31, 1998, of $8.3 million on revenues of $189.1 million. Such refocusing appeared to be paying off when Oracle substantially upped its commitment to Inprise technology in February of this year. The database giant signed a multimillion dollar licensing deal centered around Inprise's VisiBroker object request broker technology. Inprise acquired VisiBroker when it purchased Visigenic Software in November 1997 for $150 million. At least one analyst did not interpret Inprise's high-level personnel departures as a telltale indicator of company doom. "There's a lot of value in Inprise right now -- certainly from a technical standpoint," said Eric Brown, an industry analyst at Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Mass. "My sense is that, to date, Inprise's strategy has been to get out of the [Visual Basic] market, and into the distributed applications and platforms space. They've paid much more than lip service to that vision. The overall organization, to whatever extent Del Yocam was involved, saved itself from a perilous downward spiral that resulted from an effort to make the fat client model work." "But, they've entered into a marketplace that is going to be significantly influenced by the gorillas of Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, etc.," Brown added. "There are two realistic futures for a company like Inprise -- to try to be a free-standing force, or to find the right dance partner. And there are few Cinderella success stories in the market." Among potential suitors for Inprise, Sun seems the most compatible, according to Brown. Inprise Corp., in Scotts Valley, Calif., can be reached at www.inprise.com. Clare Haney is Asia-Pacific bureau chief for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. InfoWorld's Boston bureau chief Ted Smalley Bowen contributed to this story.