In an interesting analogy, PeopleSoft's president and CEO Craig Conway has compared Microsoft's .NET technology to the naturally-occurring substance that seemed to be a very promising heat shield and insulator until it was found to cause severe lung trouble and was labeled one of the more toxic substances that …

It didn't take long for people to start writing editorials about the Microsoft-SCO connection in trying to get you to stop using OpenSource software. Check out the article from CNET.

An article on USA Today describes the efforts of hackers to use an XBox as the basis of a PC and describes the costs, potential benefits, and legal risks.

An article in Information Week describes some of the pitfalls of using Microsoft's Windows Update and some strategies for mitigating the harm.

In a move that is undoubtedly intended to bolster the copyright claims of SCO, Microsoft Sunday announced that they will be licensing the remnants of AT&T's original Unix from SCO. As reported by CNET, this is the next salvo in the war between Microsoft and the Linux community …

It appears from this article off of CNET, that T-Mobile is not going to support the Microsoft Smart Phone initiative after all. Not surprisingly, they are concerned about stability, but there are also the relationships with Nokia and Sony Ericsson to consider.

An article appearing on the New York Times web site, originating from the International Herald Tribune gives some insight into Microsoft's continuing tactics to try and beat out rivals that use the Linux operating system. Basically, the article states that internal memos from Microsoft executives have authorized discounting the operating …

Fizzer, a mass mailing virus that allows control of the recipient's computer over IRC has annoyed IRC operators to the extent that they are creating a more-or-less permanent standby communication mechanism for fighting future threats. The use of IRC by the software has drown some IRC channels and servers in …

So, yesterday lots of people were towing the line that Microsoft wanted you to believe that the iLoo was a hoax perpetrated by MSN UK. But, since the AP claimed to have confirmed this with officials, I cast some doubt on that yesterday. Today, Wired agrees with me, and Microsoft …

It's the first day of the E3 Conference/Expo and there isn't any earth-shattering news to report. All of the really big press releases are coming tomorrow as is the opening of the exhibit hall. However, I did attend 3 sessions today and I'll give the recap here. W3:Smart …

Microsoft has announced that they will be providing a paid radio service (without commercials) for $29.95/year. An article on CNET describes the upcoming service and its origins in MongoMusic (a company that Microsoft acquired in 2000). The reported unique feature is the ability to search for music based …

An article in the New York Times runs over some of the more amusing aspects of the long-standing Apple-Microsoft debate over innovation. Many who saw news stories from last week's conference noted that the "revolutionary" HP computer that was being shown off looked like a combination of the 1st and …

An article on SecurityFocus heralds the coming of the book Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering. What makes the self-publication of this book by hacker/author Andrew Shane Huang of interest to an audience broader than the hacker community is the fuss over whether Microsoft will attempt to …

An article from CNet points out that Microsoft is operating under a Consent Decree with the Federal Trade Commission regarding the service. In part, the consent decree states that Microsoft shall not "misrepresent in any manner... the extent to which Microsoft Passport will maintain, protect, or enhance the privacy, confidentiality …

The systems that Microsoft is putting in place in the next major version of Windows (code-named Longhorn) to handle security and permissions are falling under greater scrutiny as the company starts to provide some answers, and feed a lot more questions. An article from Wired tells of some of the …

A significant vulnerability in Microsoft's Passport facility was found by a security enthusiast. The exploit allows the changing of arbitrary passwords to arbitrary accounts, and through such access to services, personal information, and potentially hotmail email. Microsoft has been alerted to the problem, but has not responded with a …

If you use the MSN Photos service, you better be an MSN member ($21.95/month), or get your pictures downloaded before May 21. A notification on the Photos main page indicates as much. Read more about it in this article from CNet.

This article from the BBC News Service is well worth a read if you want a chuckle.

An article in the Seattle Times speculates that Sun's price surge on Friday was predicated on their being open to acquisition. The paper speculated that IBM, HP, and Dell may be the suitors. My question is: Will IBM buy them in order to (among other things) take Java to where …

OK, crash that Internet Explorer! According to this article on Secunia, you can crash IE with only 5 lines of otherwise well-formed HTML. Ouch!