7th January 2000 Archive

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Day by day: Intel shares drop $5, AMD gains $2

Rambus gains $9 -- Seesaw Marjorie Daw

News that Gateway would second source AMD processors after the company laid into Intel (INTC) for an inability to supply enough CPUs saw Chimpzilla's (AMD) shares rise by $2, day on day, on Wall Street yesterday. While AMD's stock rose, Chipzilla's fell by nearly $5 compared to the day before. Rambus Ink (RMBS), meanwhile shot …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 07:53
Y2K bug lurking in Microsoft VB, Access

Woodwork, worms? But fix is at hand

Some of the problems Web sites had ticking over successfully from 1999 to 2000 are likely to be caused by a Y2K bug in Visual Basic 3.0, as evidence emerges of Y2K problems with old versions of Microsoft Access 2.0. Although Microsoft has upgraded Visual Basic several times since version 3.0, the program was used for many years …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 08:43
Papows resigns – Lotus drops the ‘pilot’

And now he's on the lookout for a new line...

Lotus president Jeff Papows is resigning after spending most of last year in a somewhat discredited state. Last April the Wall Street Journal published a hilarious (if you weren't Jeff, that is) expose of his highly colourful and imaginative resume, and shortly afterwards was named in a sexual harassment action by a former Lotus …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 11:16
TurboLinux outselling Windows in China

Have we got a trend developing here?

As Microsoft sniffily denies suggestions that the Chinese government is poised to ban Windows 2000, TurboLinux has opportunistically leapt into the fray by claiming it's been outselling Windows in China for the past four months. The good news: TurboLinux is basing its claims on what seems to be a pretty substantial data set. The …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 11:20
Corel to add remote Windows app support to Linux

GraphOn Bridges software to be bundled

Corel is to integrate GraphOn's Bridges software into its Linux distribution, giving Linux desktop clients the ability to run Windows applications remotely on NT servers running Bridges host software. The approach isn't new (it's functionally similar to Citrix's MetaFrame, and Citrix itself has a Linux client, so the uniqueness …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 12:14
PC safe from digital TV onslaught

Couch potatoes in one room, surfers in another

Digital television is not a threat to the PC and nor will it replace computers as the primary way most people access the Internet. According to a report published today, 13 million households are set to embrace digital TV in Britain by 2004. But such mass market acceptance of interactive technology won't signal the death knell …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 12:19
Jolly Roger sails away from Landis

Former UK MD plans to leave IT all behind

Roger Paul is to leave Landis by April after a two and a half year stint at the networking distributor. The European sales officer, and former Landis UK MD, today announced he was quitting the company. No replacement had yet been found, the company said. His next move was unknown, but a Landis representative said Paul had no …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 12:42
Intel-AMD speed war megahurts too much

Analysis Battle of chip shark and chip barracuda begs questions for consumers

x.86 companies AMD and Intel will play hop,skip and jump for the whole of this year, with the object of desire apparently to have the highest clock speed emblazoned on their, and their customers' products. But there is a danger that if you don't work for Intel and AMD, you're likely to be deluded not only by the "my chip is …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 13:10
Domain names get with .it

Italian suffix open to rest of Europe

The easy availability of .it domains in Britain could lead to a stampede for expletive-style Web addresses when the service is launched next week. From 15 January, Virtual Internet.net will make available the Italian .it domain name following changes at the Italian Registry. This means that all VAT registered organisations in …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 13:27
Baker's dozen of chip makers hit by lawsuit

New York inventor goes for it, big time

Thirteen Asian chip makers are facing legal action over alleged patent infringement by two New York chip designers. Plasma Physics and Solar Physics yesterday revealed they had filed the suit against some of the biggest Japanese and South Korean vendors regarding chip making and flat-panel technologies. Those targeted include …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 13:28
MS stops giving Californians $400 each for computers

Small minority of thousands queues for hours as the stable door closes

Microsoft's $400 gift to Californian electronics buyers is no more - the company pulled the plugs on the deal last night. Earlier this week the San Jose Mercury revealed that the $400 rebate offered in exchange for signing up for MSN for three years was effectively a gift, but now it isn't, and MSN is going to have to rethink …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 14:05
China not dumping Win2k for Linux after all, says official

Have you noticed MS stories are starting to come in mirror image pairs, like bookends?

Never let it be said that Bill Gates doesn't have pull in Beijing. This morning the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry issued a special announcement categorically denying that the Chinese government would be banning Windows 2000 and switching its systems to home-grown Red Flag Linux. This claim was made earlier this week ( …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 14:40
Threat of jaill not enough to deter piracy

Survey shows UK IT managers still have work to do

It's an issue which IT managers are fully aware of, but despite the risk of going to prison, take little action over. Software piracy is intentionally or unintentionally a major part of a lot of UK organisations. IS managers are fully aware of their legal standpoint but, according to a survey commissioned by Vector Networks, 20 …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 16:52
IT boosts Korean exports

Cut price IT sees surplus grow

South Korea expects its IT exports to reach almost $50 billion this year. The country's Ministry of Information and Communication said yesterday that total exports would rise 8.9 per cent on last year to $157 billion. IT exports were forecast to increase by 14 per cent to $44.5 billion. Imports for the sector were expected to …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 16:52
UK e-envoy flies in

From Down Under to Downing Street

Britain's long-awaited e-envoy will finally take his seat in Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon and start work immediately on wiring up Britain for the future, The Register can confirm. Alex Allan will fly in from Australia on Tuesday morning and head straight for his desk. He won't pass go or pick up £200 but instead will …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 16:53
China gets hands-on with the Net

We need to inspect it so we can control it…

China has signalled its intention to exert even greater control over Internet use by forcing companies to register their Web sites with the authorities. Firms that fail to comply with the new order -- which comes into effect at the end of the month -- will be fined. The new regulations do not apply to Web sites created by …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 17:07
Flashpoint to fall under Satan's spell on Monday

Changes name to Avnet too

Flashpoint officially changes its name to Applied Computing Components (ACC) Avnet on Monday. This will complete the components distributor's August buyout by US company Avnet. It will also mean that the Slough-based company, which until last year espoused the joys of selling non-Intel product, will add the great Satan of chips …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 17:11
Apple consumed by consumers

Analysis Is Steve Jobs taking the 'Sony wannabe' plan too far? With MacOS X, it looks like it

What a keynote. The last time Macworld Expo attendees sat down to a two-hour-and-over Apple CEO spiel was back in 1997 when dear old Gil Amelio took the stand only to lose track of topic and time when his teleprompter unexpectedly quit with a Type 1 error -- much as Uncle Gil was to do mere months later. Throughout the …

Business 7 Jan 2000, 20:10