Less than 24 hours after Microsoft announced the release of Windows Vista Beta 1 and Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 to testers and MSDN subscribers, both betas have leaked to Internet sites and newsgroups along with a crack for Windows Product Activation, according to BetaNews sources.
Beta versions of both Windows Vista (formerly codenamed “Longhorn”) and IE7 for Windows XP are now available. Back in February we committed to releasing betas this summer. I’m sure it surprises some people, but we did what we said we’d do.
How interested you are in actually running pre-release software should depend on who you are. For example, I think that running pre-release MSN Virtual Earth or the Windows Antispyware Beta is interesting for everyone. I think NetScan is less interesting for broad audiences.
Longhorn Beta 1. It's been a long time coming - a distant mirage in the desert sands of time...
It really has felt like that since longhorn started out in alpha oh so many years ago.
Well the wait is finally over!
One more night of pitching your tent, watering your camel, and you will wake to find that mirage is really an oasis just over the sanddune in front of you.
WinBeta is proud to exclusively reveal that tomorrow (Wednesday) Microsoft are expected to formally announce the availability of Beta 1 to it's testers.
MICROSOFT is using more stringent controls for registering legitimate copies of Windows in an effort to curtail piracy.
Microsoft expanded its "Windows Genuine Advantage" program, requiring users of its software to verify their copies of software in order to receive add-ons to Windows XP.
Security-related updates to its software, which are used to plug software flaws exploited by viruses and hackers, will be exempt so that all users can avoid infection and, to prevent the wider spread of viruses, director of Microsoft's Windows Genuine program David Lazar said.
Just when you thought there couldn't possible be more map-related news, MSN Virtual Earth sticks its head out (and a day early, I might add, as there's no PR from Microsoft yet). MSN VE is squarely aimed at Google Maps, which as reported yesterday went the extra step and added a funk hybrid mode. And lookie there: MSN VE has labeled maps, too.
Microsoft announced its plans for OneCare in May, and last month it invited people to register for the first beta release of the tools. The first testers are now being asked to download the software, a Microsoft representative said Wednesday. During the next few weeks, the beta pool will be expanded to several thousand participants.
Microsoft has agreed to acquire FrontBridge Technologies for an undisclosed sum.
FrontBridge sells a hosted service that offers email security, regulatory compliance and ensures availability.
Microsoft plans to offer the services as added outsourced security technology to Exchange users. The software vendor also expects that regulatory requirements will drive the need for the email archiving services.
Microsoft has introduced new software licences designed to harmonise terms between countries.
At its annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Minneapolis the software giant announced that from October its volume licensing programmes for small and medium-sized companies will be merged into one.
The new Open Value programme will combine the Multi-Year Open spread-payment and Open Subscription Licence scheme.
Microsoft said that it has united terms as far as is possible, and removed unnecessary jargon from contracts, reducing the size of agreements by half.
For the past several years, Microsoft has been promising that Longhorn would deliver some substantial security, reliability and performance improvements.
But until the worldwide partner conference in Minneapolis in mid-July, company officials had not quantified the benefits that Longhorn — the version of the Windows client operating system, due in 2006 — would deliver. Amy Stephan, a senior product manager with the Windows client unit, outlined some of the various Longhorn "fundamentals," including systems management and deployment features, which Microsoft is readying.
A bug in Windows that went public last week may be more dangerous than originally believed, Microsoft confirmed Saturday in a weekend advisory. One security analyst fears that the vulnerability -- which for now looks limited to a denial-of-service attack -- may soon be found to cause more severe problems for Windows users.
