28th October 2003 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Why Longhorn is going to be different

PDC 2003 Sneak peek

Microsoft Monday gave a sneak preview of their next-generation operating system Windows Longhorn. At a sold-out Professionals Developers Conference (PDC), the software giant's premier developer event in Los Angeles, Bill Gates called Longhorn 'the most important Windows release since Windows 95'. Along with Jim Allchin, group …

Software 28 Oct 2003, 08:51
SCO says GPL unenforceable, unconstitutional and void

Gloves off

The SCO Group has described the General Public License, the cornerstone of much free software, as "unenforceable, void or voidable" in its latest court filing. The document is a response to IBM's Amended Counter Claims; IBM is counter-suing the SCO Group, claiming that it violates the terms of the GPL. SCO's response, filed on …

Software 28 Oct 2003, 08:54
Dell debuts iPod killer, music store

Twice the battery life, $100 cheaper

Ironies abounded when Microsoft recently criticized Apple's digital music strategy. Redmond said Apple’s end-to-end strategy, locking DRM to the iPod, restricted customers choice. Today we'll get a chance to see how much that choice is really worth, as Dell introduces its own online music store and iPod clone. In partnership …

Mobile 28 Oct 2003, 08:55
FoTW: ‘You are a lier’

Flame of the Week MS ‘lost the PC battle before it even began’

From: Jacob Steinberg To: <andrew.orlowski@theregister.co.uk> Subject: Your Mac Article At this time, I don't feel like typing anything long, so I'll get right to the point: You are a lier. Apple customers have always been content with their company and it's products. So how much did Microsoft pay you to make up this trash …

Letters 28 Oct 2003, 08:58
Security muddle better than FUDdle

Meanwhile, in the real world...

Whether it's a student slipping contraband past airport metal detectors, or a researcher modeling an unstoppable computer virus - demonstrations just don't do justice to the real state of security, writes SecurityFocus columnist George Smith. Look at a photo of Nathaniel Heatwole, the student who performed pro bono security …

Security 28 Oct 2003, 09:18
No effect seen in US hack disclosure law

'Nobody's telling anybody anything'

Consultants are using it in pitches, lawyers are lecturing on it, and in Washington, it's been used as a model for proposed federal legislation. But nearly four months after it took effect, California's unique security breach disclosure law has yet to see any enforcement action. "Our office is not aware of any, nor are we aware …

Security 28 Oct 2003, 09:27
Voice and data – is this network big enough for both of us?

IP convergence slowly emerges from shadow of own hype

Briefing Note The convergence of voice and data over a single Internet Protocol-based network infrastructure is, at least at first glance, an elegant way of reducing the complexity and costs associated with managing enterprise networks. Sending voice information in digital form over a converged IP network as discrete packets …

Data Networking 28 Oct 2003, 09:50
Gatelinx preps free P2P videocon messenger

Skype-like

Details are slowing emerging from the ambitious projects behind PerfecTV and its videoconferencing sister company Gatelinx, with Gatelinx looking far more ambitious than we originally realized, likely to operate like the free VoIP Skype service, but with videoconferencing in from the get go. The Gatelinx products won’t be free …

Data Networking 28 Oct 2003, 10:34
PeopleSoft: tough integration targets

Covering all the bases

PeopleSoft insists that it will continue to retain and support JD Edwards' product lines along with its own, although questions have been raised concerning the length of time that this will hold true. For now, at least, PeopleSoft has much to gain from maintaining the current portfolio. PeopleSoft has set itself some very …

Hardware 28 Oct 2003, 10:41
Intel Prescott contains non-AMD 64-bit tech – report

Update Quite possibly

Intel's upcoming (it hopes) 'Prescott' processor already has 64-bit extensions to the 32-bit x86 instruction set, but they're (a) not enabled and (b) not based on AMD64. So says Xbit Labs, citing an anonymous source. We've heard such claims before, usually in emails from folks unwilling to supply their name or give any …

Channel 28 Oct 2003, 10:47
AMD slashes Opteron prices by up to 40%

Anticpated Athlon XP cuts made too

AMD yesterday trimmed its prices, following on from the cuts Intel made to its Pentium 4 and Celeron prices on Sunday. The Opteron line saw some of the biggest cuts, with the price of the 844 falling 40 per cent, but the AMD's focus was its 32-bit Athlon chips. Some parts' prices were left unchanged, other reduced. Among AMD's …

Channel 28 Oct 2003, 10:57
Sober email worm gives Windows users the DTs

Back on the wagon

A virus which poses as a security fix from an AV firm is the latest menace to assault Windows users. Sober typically spreads by email. The viral messages it generates have infectious attachment names such as typically anti_virusdoc.pif, check-patch.bat, playme.exe and variable English and German subject lines. A full list can …

Anti-Virus 28 Oct 2003, 11:57
RIAA nemesis, Senator Coleman voices his thoughts online

'Law and technology are not in sync'

Senator Norm Coleman is the leading figure in the US government who is showing concern about the Recording Industry Association of America’s legal suits against music lovers. The Washington Post this week posted a transcript on its web site of a chat session where questions were put to Senator Coleman. Coleman’s position has …

Music and Media 28 Oct 2003, 12:08
MS ‘Windows for iPod’ delayed but still marks death of PDA

And if Microsoft doesn't do it, Apple will

Microsoft's 'Windows for iPods' operating system appears to be taking longer to ship than the company previously forecast. The software giant yesterday said it was working on system software for handheld media players. Now called Portable Media Center, it's a Windows CE.NET variant that will ship in devices "in the second half …

Mobile 28 Oct 2003, 12:09
Creative MuVo NX MP3 player

Reg Review The Flash drive reborn

Creative's Nomad MuVo is a hybrid device. Noting the growing demand for Flash-based ultra-portable storage systems, Creative realised that the keychain drive and the solid-state MP3 player have rather a lot in common. Both are about providing an easy, cheap and convenient way of carrying around data that normally lives on a PC. …

Reviews 28 Oct 2003, 12:41
Nokia's 7700 ‘media device’ – first shot in the PDA wars?

But it's not a Communicator. Well, not exactly, just nearly...

Nokia today unveiled what looks suspiciously like the first phases of its get PocketPC strategy. The tip of the iceberg is the 7700, which you could categorise as kind of the successor to the 9000 series, kind of a Sony-Ericsson P800 me-too and kind of a PDA, and which Nokia categorises as a "media device", but there's enough of …

Mobile 28 Oct 2003, 14:48
Get this RFID tag off my fatigues

Letters Surplus tracking

re: Defense Department wants RFID tags on everything but sand The notion of RFID-enabled troops has triggered considerable concern among Reg readers. Many of you out there suspect that the DoD's plan to slap every piece of military equipment with an RFID tag might not be the best idea for performing cloak and dagger type …

Letters 28 Oct 2003, 15:20
Ohio claims AOL ignores the free in ‘free trial’

Suing for relief

A deluge of complaints from Ohio consumers has prompted the state's Attorney General to file suit against AOL and its CompuServe subsidiary, charging the ISPs with illegally ignoring users' cancellation of service requests. Over the past two years, more than 250 complaints against AOL and CompuServe have poured into the …

Music and Media 28 Oct 2003, 16:54
PlayLouder launches royalty paying music share service

Updated Share as much as you like - with other subscribers

Digital music firm PlayLouder and broadband outfit Bulldog have combined forces to launch what is billed as the "world’s first royalty paying ISP". PlayLouder MSP (Music Service Provider) will license rights from music companies to allow its subscribers to download and stream music from other users of the service in a “walled …

Music and Media 28 Oct 2003, 17:10
Suspected paedophile cleared by computer forensics

Trojans found on accused man's HDD

IT forensics firm Vogon has explained how its work helped clear a man accused of storing child pornography on his computer by proving his PC was contaminated by Trojan horse infection capable of downloading illicit images onto his machine. Julian Green was arrested in October 2002 after police raided his home and found 172 …

Security 28 Oct 2003, 17:16
Microsoft settles six more suits

Halfway to freedom

Microsoft has reached the "halfway point" in its legal marathon after announcing settlements Tuesday with five more states and the District of Columbia. Brad Smith, general counsel at Microsoft, presided over a conference call with the press to cover deals reached with Kansas, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, Tennessee …

Software 28 Oct 2003, 18:22
Shareholders approve Palm, Handspring merger

PalmSource now on its own

Palm shareholders today voted to approve the company's acquisition of Handspring, the firm created by the PDA pioneer's founders after leaving Palm in 1998. Handspring's shareholders gave the move their thumbs up too. The agreement of both sets of stakeholders means the acquisition will now go ahead, having already been …

Mobile 28 Oct 2003, 19:37
NGSCB, aka Palladium, in next generation of CPU, says Gates

And it'll be a hardware ID world, real soon now...

Microsoft's Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB, aka Palladium) will be built into the next generation of CPUs, Bill Gates claimed yesterday, effectively making security via hardware ID an integral part of the Windows PC platform. And Microsoft is talking to the chip and PC companies about the introduction of hardware …

Software 28 Oct 2003, 22:23