Microsoft

Microsoft had originally intended to make Service Pack 5 available for Windows 2000 at some point in 2005. After discussions with customers still using the OS, they have decided against releasing a fifth and final service pack for Win2K. Instead, they will offer an "update rollup," a final collection of patches and fixes that will consist mostly of previously-released stuff. The update rollup is intended to be the final significant update to the OS, although Microsoft will continue security updates and other support through its intended lifecycle.

To tell you the truth, I have never understood what the big deal is with product activation. The fact of the matter is that software piracy is fairly rampant and that Microsoft is the target for a large percentage of the piracy due to their dominance in the operating system and office productivity software markets. They have a right to try to stop or at least control that privacy and the product activation seems to be a fair way of ensuring that only legitimate software owners get to benefit from using it.

After more than two weeks of investigating the IFRAME Bofra exploit, Microsoft has yet to announce when it will be able to fix the problem.

Staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were unable to use their PCs this week after a routine software upgrade knocked out 80 percent of the PC in the sprawling department, which numbers some 100,000 employees. "We had problems with a routine software upgrade affecting desktop PCs," said a DWP spokesperson on Friday. "There have been delays with dealing with new or amended claims because many staff have not been able to access their systems.

Software pirates' increasing skill at creating counterfeit versions of Windows XP has prompted Microsoft to introduce a pilot programme that offers to verify whether consumers' software is legitimate, and to replace fake versions with authentic goods.

The head of Microsoft Australia has labelled security "the biggest threat to the growth of our company and our industry overall" amid a raft of indications the software heavyweight is struggling to stay on top of the area. Steve Vamos told attendees at an Australian Information Industry Association event in Adelaide yesterday the security issue was "essentially... the only thing that can stop us, in terms of really getting back on track in terms of driving growth in the industry".

In the past decade, searching the Web has grown from an academic experiment to a multibillion-dollar business. Microsoft has not been a player, being content to outsource its MSN Search service to rival Yahoo! Now, Microsoft is offering a homegrown search engine, but, despite some nice touches, it has a long way to go to challenge industry leader Google.
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As part of an effort begun five months ago, MSN is extending its higher Hotmail storage limits to new customers and is in the final stages of giving additional storage to current customers.

The military agency is consolidating its 38 software contracts and nine support contracts with the company into two all-encompassing, agencywide agreements, according to a statement seen by CNET News.com. The move is part of the "One Air Force, One Network" strategy that the Air Force plans to announce on Friday. An Air Force representative confirmed many details of the announcement, including that it is expected to save the agency $100 million over six years.

Asian governments using Linux will be sued for IP violations, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said today in Singapore. He did not specify that Microsoft would be the company doing the suing, but it's difficult to read the claim as anything other than a declaration of IP war.