July, 2005 Issue

AV sez, "This week, Microsoft started requiring users to verifiy their serial number before using Windows Update. This effort to force users to either buy XP or tell them where you got the illegal copy is called 'Genuine Advantage.' It was cracked within 24 hours."

Hey everybody,

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told analysts Thursday that Microsoft is planning new, higher-priced versions of both Windows and Office in the coming years as part of its effort to grow sales.

Microsoft (Quote, Chart) confirmed to internetnews.com that it will deliver the beta 1 version of Longhorn Server on August 3, along with the beta 1 release Internet Explorer 7. They'll be available along with the beta 1 version of Windows Vista, the next-generation Windows client formerly known as Longhorn, which Microsoft announced Friday morning.

Who says nationalism is out of style? This week MEXT (the ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology-their acronym) in Japan unveiled plans to build a supercomputer by 2010 that will operate at a maximum speed of 10 petaflops, or 10 quadrillion floating point operations per second, according to the Japan Times.

Pols, analysts, and critics react to new AO sticker; most see limited downside for Rockstar as a "buy on the dip" attitude prevails.

The fight over Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came to a climax on Wednesday as the Parents Television Council called for a recall of the video game, and a statement from the game maker Rockstar seemed to confirm the Hot Coffee modification was indeed not a hack and was present within the game.

In a first of its kind move, Visa USA and American Express Co. have dropped the hammer on an affiliated payment processor several months after its was revealed that a massive security breach exposed the records of millions of its cardholders.

Microsoft has sent notices to testers announcing that the first beta release of Windows OneCare is now available to download. Windows OneCare builds on Microsoft's security acquisitions to offer customers a PC protection and maintenance package.

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Wednesday that it had charged seven companies with violating various laws related to the labeling of sexual content. Three of the suits seek civil penalties and to stop the organizations from sending out further spam. Four have already been settled, amounting to $1.2 million in penalties.

The battle over Grand Theft Auto has now reached the courts, BetaNews has learned. A Florida attorney who has been involved in several high profile obscenity cases has turned his sights on the controversial game.

Homework can be stressful—and not just for students. By the time children begin to struggle with complex assignments in middle and high school, most parents are a bunch of years out of the educational loop and not well-equipped to provide assistance. But now there's hope: Microsoft Student 2006 productivity software offers endless features, homework help for a range of subjects, and extensive multimedia—including music, artwork, and access to live radio and news—at a relatively affordable price ($100 direct).

Registered users at the promotional Mozilla community site SpreadFirefox were greeted this morning by an e-mail informing them that a July 10 security breach could potentially have enabled attackers to acquire a massive amount of private user data.

Number of systems infected with malicious software has jumped more than 300 percent, McAfee says.

Despite earlier plans not to do a browser update until Longhorn's release in 2006, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates confirmed that code for IE 7 will be available this summer in beta and in full by Christmas.

Microsoft's delayed Longhorn operating system appears to be taking a page from the Unix management book by curbing user's administration rights.

Microsoft's MSN business unit is trying to hook customers onto "Kahuna." Kahuna is code name for an upcoming version of Hotmail that will sport a new style of interface, automatic inbox refreshing and a preview pane that will enable Hotmail users to read and respond to e-mail without ever leaving their inbox.

SONOMA, Calif.--Electronic Arts showed off Need for Speed Most Wanted this weekend in Sonoma at the Infineon Raceway. On Saturday, the well-known Northern California track played host to the Formula Drift championship, the sole professional drift championship in the world (which EA sponsors). One of the key activities of the show was a contest revolving around the latest version of Need for Speed. Attendees were able to compete for the best time in a tollbooth race, which challenged them to make it through a series of checkpoints with the best time. We managed to try out the short demo of the game to see how the latest iteration of the popular racing franchise is shaping up.

Attendees to the 10th annual frag-fest will be treated to Quake 4 multiplayer and a John Carmack keynote.

You know you're in trouble when your adware fires you. Kazaa parent Sharman Networks issued a grumpy press release today noting that reports of its dissociation from adware maker Claria (formerly Gator) have been misunderstood.

LONDON -- Nokia is planning to offer free "push" e-mail on all its handsets, according to software vendor Seven, in a bid to boost the use of mobile e-mail.

PDF files could be used to take control of your system, security firm warns.

Microsoft Money's upgrades (like Intuit Quicken's, for that matter) tend to run hot or cold. Either they're stuffed to the gills with new tools that will truly simplify money management and provide insight into your financial past, present, and future; or they include a couple of marquee features and some rather insignificant ones.

The speed with which PCs can become infected has now shortened. If your Windows computer is not properly protected, it will take 12 minutes before it becomes infected, according to London-based security company,Sophos. Sophos has detected 7,944 new viruses in the first half of 2005, a 59-percent increase over the same time span last year.

Raid makes dent in what Feds call an organized online piracy underground.

Marc Sachs, director of the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center, chats with Ziff Davis Internet News about network worms, browser vulnerabilities and the general state of Internet security.

Microsoft on Tuesday launched Money 2006, the latest version of its consumer finance software. The application now allows people to pay their bills from multiple accounts and includes enhancements to the Spending Tracker and other features. Pricing ranges from $29.95 for the standard edition to $79.95 for the premium version; a small-business version is available for $89.95. (Rebates range from $5 to $30.)

Arthur Sorkin has been courted by Microsoft twice now, and both times the computer scientist has been put off by the software giant's approach.

Sun Microsystems' James Gosling, who initiated and led a project code-named Green that eventually became Java, talked to CNET News.com this week about how the technology became a fixture in the computer realm. During the Green project days, Gosling said his team talked a lot about the long-distance future and wrote up scenarios, but couldn't have predicted their work's significance in what was to come.

Bill Gates hinted to Japanese reporters Thursday that Microsoft might be interested in licensing the Xbox software to third parties. The move could turn the Xbox into a platform, with clones flooding the market and giving Microsoft more leverage to oust Sony's PlayStation as the dominant gaming console.

In an extension of its strategy to build an audience on the open Web, America Online has rolled out a stealth release of its new Video Search product and an accompanying inline video player, BetaNews has learned.

PicaJet 2.5 (a.k.a "Picasa Killer") now comes with plug-ins for popular online photo sharing services. The first two services that are now fully supported by the software are Fotki.Com and Flickr.com, a Yahoo! company and currently the largest online photo community today judged by the number of active members.

Yahoo said on Monday that a new beta version of its Web e-mail service would be launched in the next two months. The site revision adds technologies that the company gained from its purchase of Outpost, such as drag and drop organization of mail, an instant preview pane, and upgraded search capabilities.

Flash designers have been raving about Flash Decompiler since its introduction and reviewers have awarded it their highest ratings. With the release of version 2.1, Eltima Software has redesigned the interface and added thumbnail views to the explorer function, among other tweaks and perfections.