Microsoft Splits From SIIA

Microsoft's contentious relationship with the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) came to an end in March when the company withdrew its membership from the prominent software industry trade group.

Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Bob Herbold forfeited his seat as director of the SIIA board after less than a year of membership. In his resignation letter, Herbold wrote: "[The SIIA] is no longer playing an effective leadership role on the issues where the software and information industries share a united interest." Industry watchers have little doubt that Herbold's ostensible discontent with the SIIA extends to the political arena and the association's support for the government's antitrust suit against Microsoft. In February, the SIIA stated its case to the Justice Department in a report titled "Addressing the Microsoft Challenge," saying that Microsoft used its PC operating system monopoly to broaden its market dominance.

Xbot on Deck

After months of speculation and closed-door demonstrations for software developers, Bill Gates and several third-party developers have announced the existence of Microsoft's Xbot gaming system. Gates said through a televised news feed that Xbot, which is slated for release in the fall of 2000, will provide "performance better than twice that of any previous platform."

Xbot's complete specifications will be revealed by the time you read this, but the early buzz has the gaming system using 64MB of system and video RAM, an 8GB hard drive, and AMD's 650Mhz Athlon CPU. One PC technician questions whether the Xbot has the wherewithal to compete with gaming mainstays Sony, Sega, and Nintendo. "Do you really think for one minute that a watered-down PC will hold its own in a five-year life cycle of gaming consoles?"

MSN Mobile 2 Debuts

Microsoft has updated its one-way wireless Web service that will allow wireless appliance users to access Microsoft HotMail and calendar services, check stock quotes at MoneyCentral, read headline news at MSNBC.com, get street directions, and make travel reservations through the Microsoft Expedia Service. The interactive service, called MSN Mobile 2.0, will be licensed to Nextel Communications and AirTouch Cellular to distribute along with their hardware. MSN Mobile 2.0 also provides access from handheld devices, including Web-enabled mobile phones, Pocket PCs and Palm handheld computers.

"In the next few years, thanks to the growth of the wireless industry, consumers will be able to connect to the Web in new ways," Gates said from CTIA Wireless 2000 in New Orleans. "MSN Mobile plays a critical role in enabling the everyday Web anytime, anywhere, and from any device."

Flying out the Windows

Officially launched on Feb. 17, Windows 2000 sales stood at 500,000 copies after two weeks of retail availability, according to Microsoft marketing director Keith White. White, who says the figure exceeded Microsoft's expectations, says the lion's share of sales consisted of Windows 2000 Professional sales.

Macworld Tokyo a First for Apple

At the 10th annual Macworld Tokyo in Japan (Feb. 16-19), Apple did something it's never done before: It made new product announcements outside the United States. iCEO Steve Jobs announced a revision of the iBook, new PowerBooks, and a speed bump to the Power Mac G4 line.

The 300MHz iBooks now come with 64MB of RAM and 6GB hard drives, with no price increase: The cost is still $1,599. A new $1,799 iBook Special Edition will sport a graphite and ice color scheme, a 366MHz G3 processor, 64MB of RAM, and a 6GB hard drive.

Apple's newest tweaks to its PowerBook line keep the same design, but are faster, add an ATI Rage Mobility 128 graphics chip (the fastest such chip ever in a laptop), DVD drives, two FireWire ports, and support for AirPort wireless technology.

Prices range from $2,499 (for a 400 MHz version with 64MB of SDRAM and a 6GB hard drive) to $3,499 (for a 500MHz version with 128MB SDRAM and a 12GB hard drive).

Also during his Macworld Tokyo keynote, Jobs said that Apple is now offering a 500MHz version of its G4 desktop. The Japanese show attracted an estimated 180,000 visitors over four days.

Mac OS X to Be a 'Global Operating System'

In his keynote at Macworld Tokyo, Jobs described the upcoming Mac OS X as a "global" operating system. He said it would ship with the highest-quality Japanese fonts available and the largest character set ever on personal computers.

The fonts will be made up of 17,000 characters in each of six typefaces. The six typefaces will be provided in OpenType format, compatible with Unicode, with no device or resolution limitations for use on-screen and in high-quality output.

"You can't express these things on a personal computer today," Jobs said. "These Kanji fonts are so beautiful and will be on every single copy of Mac OS X."

The iCEO also said that Mac OS X will ship with a CD-ROM that has all the localized versions of the operating system on it. This means that Mac OS X will ship on the same day in Japan that it ships in the United States.

Apple Rolls Out New Servers

Apple has quietly unveiled two new Mac Server G4 systems and a new Macintosh Server G4 with Mac OS X Server software.

The Macintosh Server G4 500 MHz is priced at $4,199, as is the Macintosh Server G4 500 MHz with Mac OS X Server software. The Power Mac G4 is available in more than 25,000 build-to-order (BTO) configurations. Specifics on configurations are available at Apple.com.

FrameMaker for Linux Arrives

The long wished-for desktop publishing program Adobe FrameMaker is now available for Linux. You can download the beta version of FrameMaker 5.5.6 from Adobe. This includes a free trial license that expires on Dec. 31, 2000. Presumably, you'll be able to purchase the full product before that time.

FrameMaker really fills a gap in Linux software offerings because nothing so far has provided the same level of features for desktop publishing and management of large documents. FrameMaker is the technical-manual writing tool of choice because it provides good support for creating large documents.

With the release of FrameMaker, Adobe becomes yet another software firm endorsing Linux. Firms like Adobe don't do this out of the goodness of their hearts; they hope to make a profit.

Adobe's move is part of a larger trend toward Linux. As estimated by International Data Corp., Linux surged from 16 percent of the server operating system market in 1998 to 25 percent in 1999, in terms of units sold. This places Linux in second place behind Windows NT, which IDC estimated to have a 38 percent market share in both 1998 and 1999. In dollar amounts, though, Windows beats the pants off Linux, at $32 million versus the Windows juggernaut of $1.7 billion. IDC estimated that about 1.3 million copies of Linux server software were sold in 1999, compared to about 2.1 million copies for Windows. Note that this IDC report tracks server sales, and that IDC does not count the free downloads of Linux.

Furthermore, Bloor Research spent a year comparing Linux to Windows NT, and found that Linux performed better in a number of categories, including general up-time and availability. See the report online for more. As with most comparisons, how an operating system works for you is more important than how it works for others.

Word Processor Updates

You can find an updated version of Ted, a Rich Text Format editor online.

AbiWord, a word processor in development, is now at version 0.7.8. You can also get this online.

Java update

The Java Developer Kit 1.2.2 is finally out with a full release from Sun Microsystems, the makers of Java. The full JDK 1.2.2 download for Linux is available from Sun. Notable with this release is the fact that Sun now recognizes the volunteer efforts that helped port Java to Linux. The so-called "Blackdown" team spent years porting the development kit to Linux. This had been a hot issue because many contend that Sun took advantage of the Blackdown team by profiting from their efforts and then pretending the team didn't exist.