All these news tidbits come to you in quotes ("") from Ziff-Davis's AnchorDesk News Service. This is their property. It belongs to them. You can get all this stuff at the Anchordesk. I'm claiming no originality here or anything.
Subject: What Is Microsoft Afraid Of?
ZD NET ANCHORDESK with Jesse Berst for Wednesday, December 04, 1996
Go http://www.anchordesk.com for details on these stories and more.
Microsoft has shuffled its top execs again. Why? Not for the reasons given in its B.S. press releases. The company's top gun has been told to get MS Office in shape for intense competition next year. The company is also secretly working on a brand-new, slimmed-down Internet suite that could replace Office for some customers. Full story at www.anchordesk.com.
Subject: World's Dumbest Lawyers Find Work at Microsoft
ZD NET ANCHORDESK with Jesse Berst for Friday, December 06, 1996
Go http://www.anchordesk.com for details on these stories and more.
Just when the Microsoft-is-the-Evil-Empire stories were starting to die down, the Redmond company assigned some clueless lawyers to draft sensitive agreements. One apparently tells users they aren't allowed to use another operating system. Another forces hardware makers to advertise Microsoft. Users are up in arms and rivals are talking anti-trust again. There's more at the Web site. *Warning*: If you're offended by lawyer jokes, don't even come by.
Subject: Kill Mom & Pop? The Wal-Mart Online Threat
ZD NET ANCHORDESK with Jesse Berst for Monday, December 09, 1996
Go http://www.anchordesk.com for details on these stories and more.
The world's largest retailer just announced a massive expansion of its online store. By this time next year, Wal-Mart will be selling more products in cyberspace than it stocks in its physical stores. Along the way, it may kill mom-and-pop Web stores the way it killed so many mom-and-pop retailers in the real world.
More distractions for Microsoft in renewed anti-trust probe. Department of Justice investigation widens beyond the browser issue.
Stay tuned for final episode of Apple/Be soap opera. Almighty dollar may foil last-ditch efforts to revive talks, breathe new life into Apple OS.
Subject: Can Netscape Endure Latest Microsoft Threat?
ZD NET ANCHORDESK with Jesse Berst for Wednesday, December 11, 1996
Go http://www.anchordesk.com for details on these stories and more.
Microsoft has finally released the long-promised version of Internet Explorer 3.0 for Windows 3.1. Its arrival poses the biggest threat yet to Netscape's lead in the battle for market share. Even worse, Microsoft says it is only a month or so away from shipping a Java add-on. Since Navigator still doesn't support Java on Win 3.1, Netscape could find itself playing second fiddle.
A flaw in the Windows NT security system allows ActiveX controls to infest a server. The defect, which can overwhelm a system (much like a denial-of-service attack), was discovered by Mark Russinovich, a consultant with Open Systems Resources, Inc. Russinovich was able to write a utility that, without special security privileges, was able to take control of any NT server or workstation and disable it. He concluded the algorithm used to protect NT against CPU-hogging attacks is seriously flawed. PC Week Labs was able to duplicate Russinovich's findings. Microsoft says it's researching the problem. Stay tuned for news of a fix.
At AnchorDesk, we specialize in news with immediate implications. But it’s the time of year to take the long view. Lately I’ve been thinking about where we go after Windows, how the human/computer interface will evolve, and what it means for computer profe
They’re called video games.
The computer era of tomorrow will be created and controlled by the children of today. Kids don’t think of computer interaction in terms of menus and windows, but of games. This points to two developments: a new kind of interface, and a new kind of collaboration.
You could even say that the next interface is burnt into kids brains. A growing body of evidence suggests that early childhood patterns become hard-wired. Our brains are born with many "extra" connections. Those that get used often survive and strengthen.
So, when you say, "they think differently than we did" you’re not just mouthing a cliché. You are describing an actual anatomical difference. Because of patterns etched during their early years, baby boomer brains—TV generation brains—are wired differently than their parents brains were.
The video game generation sees things differently, too. Think about the spatial metaphor that dominates most games. Typically, the hero wanders rooms interacting with objects—weapons, treasures, enemies, other users. Now think about the expectations they have of an interface:
Does the idea of 3D landscapes for business applications seem unlikely, silly, "not right?" The new interface will initially make us as uncomfortable as today’s computers made our parents. But there’s not much we can do about it. Today’s interface is at a crossroads.
A rumormonger tells us Apple will make a bold and surprising announcement later this month at the MacWorld exposition -- a scheme to compete with Windows NT. With the acquisition of the NextStep operating system, Apple gains an industrial-strength server platform. But will corporations take the desktop-centric Apple seriously when it says it can become a server company?
Microsoft's desktop productivity products will live on, but you'll never see another fat, monolithic monster like Office 97. Instead, future suites will be more like "dashboards" into which you plug components. I recommend you upgrade this time. But never again until Microsoft puts its bloatware on a diet.
Class-action lawsuits reveal flaw in AOL recovery plan. Users claim AOL took their money, but they can't get on because of busy signals. AOL promises fix, but may be too late.
Is Microsoft wooing Macromedia, the SF-based maker of design tools for Internet and print? If not, it should be, at least according to industry insiders at Seattle-based Thunder Lizard Productions. Why the urgency? Much of the Microsoft Network is based on a product called Flash (formerly known as FutureSplash)... which was just purchased by Macromedia, putting Microsoft at risk.
Microsoft earnings: last big quarter? Company delivers another stellar earnings report. But slowdown predictions widely broadcast now.
Fixing the fixes: Microsoft miscues demand caution. Company's Internet focus resulting in sloppier-than-usual OS upgrades. Watch out.
Microsoft cancellation puts Gates's grand scheme in jeopardy. Lack of interest scuttles Visual C++ subscription program. Calls future subscription plans into question.
Java is Sun's baby. Microsoft has just instituted a plot to kidnap this essential Internet technology and adopt it into the Windows family. Microsoft used a similar plan to snatch the compiler crown from Borland. Now it hopes to best Sun by convincing developers to standardize on Microsoft foundation classes instead of those from Sun/JavaSoft. *Pay attention*: Behind-the-scenes struggles like this one will determine who rules the Internet. Read about Microsoft's abduction scheme at www.anchordesk.com.
Over and over again, Microsoft is accused of using its operating systems to unfair advantage. This time, several Usenet discussion groups claim Microsoft secretly implemented *future* Winsock extensions to give its server applications an edge. As the company that controls how Winsock is implemented in Windows, Microsoft knows in advance what is coming. Rivals like Netscape have no such leverage.
*Warning*: You need patch to plug Internet Explorer 3.0 security breach. Unscrupulous Webmasters can bypass browser's security and access your system files. Microsoft promises fix.
Warning: Another security hole in Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. Hackers can write code allowing access to password lists. Not an easy hole to penetrate, but worrisome just the same.
Warning: You need patch to plug Internet Explorer 3.0 security breach. Unscrupulous Webmasters can bypass browser's security and access your system files. Microsoft promises fix.
There's been so many notices lately saying "There's a security hole in Microsoft's this..." or "You need to download a patch for Microsoft that ..." that I'm not going to bother posting them all. Suffice it to say that Win 95 sucks; NT is insecure, and IE 4.0 isn't nearly as great as everyone thinks.
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