6th December 1999 Archive

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Microsoft exec poo-poos 'Visual J++ dropped' claim

But he doesn't seem too sure about it

Microsoft has denied it has sold off its Visual J++ Java development tool and that it has no intention of doing so. The company's statement, made by Tony Goodhew, Visual Studio product manager, follows claims made to Computing by senior sources with Microsoft tools development team that Visual J++ is to be pulled from the next …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 00:02
Free Merced simulator posted on Web

It won't be the Itanic for us until it sails...

The buzz on Intel's 64-bit Merced processor has lessened a little since the company's CEO Craig Barrett triumphantly announced silicon at the last Developer Forum in September. But that doesn't mean that the whole world has suddenly gone quiet on Intel's flagship IA-64 chip. Instead, programmers and partners have been in a kind …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 08:44
Gulag, SMP markets shiver at Coppermine Stutterbug

Emission critical markets might stop to think twice

OK, maybe only one to two per cent of Coppermines might have the latest erratum which forced Dell to temporarily stop shipping some machines last week. Last week, Intel said it would not recall the affected chips because of the erratum, which is No.50, instead saying it would fix the problem in the next stepping. The bug, which …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 09:26
HP millionaire competition fails to live up to its name

You win some, you lose some, but you've gotta be in to win...

The prize for being the channel's Chris Tarrant wannabe went to Hewlett-Packard this weekend. Since August, the vendor had been running its HP MillionAIR competition, taunting the nation's smaller reseller community with the chance to win a million pounds before Christmas. The final round of the promotion took place at the …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 09:40
WTO: Everything you need to know about the Battle in Seattle

Special report All the deals the software companies didn't clinch after all...

The Battle of Seattle last week, swiftly followed by the complete collapse of the World Trade Organisation summit itself, left a stack of IT-related issues up in the air, and co-hosts Microsoft and Boeing are no doubt now ruefully looking at the bills and wondering - alongside President Clinton, who instead of a nice photo op …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 09:42
MS and OpenGL: supporting it to death?

Microsoft denies it's dropping OpenGL support; nevertheless, all roads seem to lead to DirectX

Last week's Register article suggesting Microsoft was pulling Windows support for OpenGL has generated considerable response, some of it critical, some positive and some positively menacing.** Microsoft itself has been particularly keen to stress that OpenGL will be supported by Windows 2000, and in a related matter that the …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 09:45
Seven Dramurai dwindle as PC-133 hopes kindle

Maybe the RIMMs will have it if the price is right

A quick look at the Rambus home page shows that the firm is claiming that its memory provides three times the performance of PC-100 synchronous DRAM. That is highly debatable, given a PC platform like the i820, and given comparisons we've seen and written about on the world wide web. And even if it is true, a RIMM is currently …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 11:48
MS Win2k-based consumer OS rides again as Millennium fades

Windows roadmap loops back a year after Win9x-based excursion

Microsoft now seems to be confirming the strategic change we read into the company's latest reorganisation announcement on Friday. By merging the two Windows divisions, Consumer and Business, into a single unit within Jim Allchin's Platforms Group the company was effectively signalling the end of the Millennium consumer Windows …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 11:52
Court approves latest stage of McCaw's ICO ‘rescue’

$350m more to be pumped into ailing satellite company

Entrepreneur Craig McCaw's attempt to rescue -- and in the process take control -- troubled satellite networking company ICO Global Communications on Friday won the backing of the US bankruptcy court. Last month, the court allowed McCaw to pump in $150 million in interim debtor-in-possession financing. The latest ruling permits …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 12:05
MS trial: what the DoJ is likely to demand

MS on Trial Later today the DoJ will offer its views on Findings of Law

Later today the DoJ will file the first of two briefs allowed for under the timetable established by Judge Jackson, but there will be no mention of proposed remedies since the judge has ordered that the briefs address only proposed findings of law. It is likely that the DoJ will press for a Sherman Act section two finding, which …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 12:08
Big Blue goes back to school with $1m scheme

Funds IT take up in 50 UK schools

IBM CEO Lou Gerstner shook hands with Prime Minister Tony Blair last week, sealing an agreement that will see the IT giant pump £625,000 ($1 million) into the British education system. As part of the initiative the government will also stump up the same amount of cash to help fund the scheme. The Big Blue initiative, " …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 12:14
Web-based shopping set for massive UK growth

Research claims traditional retailers will lose out online

Total retail sales in Britain are set to hit a whopping £7.4 billion by 2004, according to shopping researchers Verdict. Although online sales will increase 12-fold in just five years, Verdict warns that this will only represent around three per cent of Britain's total spend. What's more, Verdict reckons most of the growth seen …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 12:22
AMD-Intel price war: hard figures emerge

Site shows K7 the Storming Norman so far

Intel will have to act fast to regain the initiative in the price battle it has waged with AMD during 1999. According to Bill Henning at CPU Review, the latest set of figures he has collated on Athlon vs Pentium III prices show that AMD is winning the battle hands down. Henning states that AMD K7 Athlons are now cheaper than …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 12:57
Hacker apologises to Infineon

Press release denounces Register story

Well this is a Register first: Infineon has taken the trouble to issue a press release denouncing our story concerning a hack of Siemens' SLE44 microcontroller family used in Geldkartes. The least we can do is repay the compliment by publishing the release in full. First, we'd like to make the following points. Every now and …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 13:13
Oftel helps you leave BT

Just one click and you can find yourself an alternative telco

Oftel is to help consumers compare telcos in a bid to encourage them to change phone companies. The service, available online at its Phonebills site, reportedly lets consumers get an immediate set of telephone bill comparisons to help them find the cheapest deal in their area. Simply by answering a series of questions about the …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 13:51
Dell extends Linux install offer to servers

Strengthens deal with Red Hat

Dell today extended its Linux support when it announced that all of its PowerEdge servers can now be ordered with Red Hat's version of the open source OS pre-installed. Dell already offers Red Hat Linux as an alternative to Windows on selected workstation and desktop PC configurations, so extending the scheme to servers is …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 14:17
Pete Sherriff reads Computer Weakly

We've told him to keep his vices at home

Publishing giant Reed (home of such terrific titles as Water Power and Dam Construction, Electric Drives and the terminally dull Computer Weakly), has announced it is to specialise in "New Media". But clicking on the link on the Weakly site results in the following fascinating story: Issue date: 6 December 1999 Microsoft …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 14:46
Pets.com barks up British tree

Get your woofing dog off me

Pets.com, the Amazon-backed US online retailer, is moving into Britain through an equity stake in Petspark.com, online pet store and "community site", and perhaps the most twee site this side of Barbie. Terms of the deal were not revealed. Petspark was "conceived by a group of friends at a teatime meeting in London in August …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 15:27
Mac clone kill-off worst business move ever claims book

What's this guy on?

Apple's decision in 1997 to kill off its MacOS licensing programme has been dubbed the worst ever management decision in the history of management decisions. Writes one Stuart Crainer, in his book The 75 Greatest Management Decisions Ever Made and 21 of the Worst: "Playing by the old rules, Apple strove to retain total control …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 15:33
FCUK off to a flying start in URL battle

Updated: clothes chain cybersquatting gambit backfires

A high street clothing chain has had its attempt to grab a URL thwarted in the courts. French Connection was unhappy with a UK company using its Fcuk trademark in a Web address. It claimed this was an abuse of the goodwill generated by its £3 million advertising campaign. Fcuk.com belongs to Tony Sutton and was registered in …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 15:59
Security alert for CallNet users

Someone's after your password and account details

CallNet 0800 is urging users to be on their guard after someone masquerading as an official from CallNet Security was found asking for user names and passwords. "On no account offer this information to ANYBODY!!," explained Keith Goodyer, chief technical officer at World CallNet. The email message was a fake and the net was …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 17:43
Hammer claws free from 4Front

Puts distribution (name) into storage

Hammer Distribution regained its independence via an MBO from parent company 4front plc on Friday. The $13.1 million (£8 million) buyout was led by Hammer founders Paul Sangster and Steve Easterbrook. The headline price includes $4 million of debt assumed by the new owners. In 1996, 4front paid £2 million for the business. …

Business 6 Dec 1999, 22:04