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The Linux Conference and Expo held in San Jose, Calif., in mid-August delivered some less-than-promising news for Microsoft.

The first blow came with the unveiling of the Gnome Foundation--a troupe consisting of 13 delegates from companies that include Sun Microsystems, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and Eazel--all set out to free the desktop from the constraints of proprietary software such as Microsoft's. The group's debut was the first step in the campaign for their open-source software, a free desktop environment and application framework. Members of the Foundation were not shy in taking stabs at Microsoft for their refusal to release entire Windows and Office application programming interfaces. In fact it was as if the cannons were aimed straight for the software giant. The Foundation plans to release a single, embedded environment that integrates various technologies, ultimately in hopes of dislodging Microsoft from the desktop helm.

But perhaps even more frightening were the words of Dell Corporate Communication's CEO Michael Dell. His announcement to further integrate Linux software with Dell hardware, which can supply up to 80 percent of the server market, has the potential to wound Microsoft and perhaps even nudge the company out of its superior position. Although Dell refrained from openly criticizing Microsoft, one of Dell's long-time major partners, he openly criticized the prevalence of proprietary software and attempted to pave the way for open-source technologies.

New Compaqs integrate MSN

Although Compaq emerged as a major supporter of the Gnome Project and Foundation, an essentially anti-Microsoft, anti-Office movement, it seems Compaq hasn't completely abandoned the software titan. Compaq and Microsoft teamed up last month to release The Compaq iPAQ Home Internet Appliance, the first Internet appliance from a major PC manufacturer to hit the market. Apparently about the size of a toaster, the box is designed to fit just about anywhere, requires only an electrical outlet and phone jack, and enables even the novice to surf the Web and check e-mail. Powered by the Microsoft Windows CE operating system, Microsoft Internet Explorer browser software and MSN, the Web-box is part of a new iPAQ line of Internet devices that capitalize on the increasingly pervasive power of the Internet. Pager-sized gadgets like the iPAQ Audio Player, iPAQ Blackberry Wireless Email Solutions, iPAQ Pocket PC, and the iPAQ Connection Point join the Internet Home Appliance to form a seamless network of Internet products that not only employ the power of the market, but forge the movement toward a round-the-clock, Internet suffused society.

BizTalk Server 2000 debuts

Microsoft, attempting to gain ground in the burgeoning e-commerce market, released the first public test version of BizTalk Server 2000 last month. The software creates a solid e-commerce infrastructure, complemented by a variety of tools, and provides businesses with a reliable and secure software that will link previously incompatible computing systems on the Web. The software, XML-based, features an XLS transformation engine that can convert all types of data into a single common format, a feature Microsoft claims will solve the industry's biggest problem-applications that remain isolated because they still speak foreign languages.

BizTalk Server 2000, available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/biztalkserver, is part of an entire line of .NET Enterprise Servers that are designed specifically for the next phase in e-commerce. The software is the first step in Microsoft's latest strategy aimed at making the Windows operating system a more integral part of the Net. It will be available in its final version sometime around the end of the year.

Microsoft pirates busted

U.S. Customs paid an unfriendly visit to Compunet Systems and Tierra Computer last month, raiding the two Georgia-based companies and confiscating over $1 million worth of illegally counterfeited software, including Office 2000 Professional Edition and the Windows 98 operating system. The raid came after Microsoft received reports of the illegal activities and prompted investigators to conduct sample test purchases. Once suspicions were confirmed search warrants were executed. The raid did not come as a surprise, really--Tierra owner Shaofang (Michelle) Qian was involved in a similar lawsuit filed by Microsoft just months ago. She is now subject to a contempt order for violating the previous ruling, a court-ordered permanent injunction.

In addition, both companies are subject to criminal penalties. Fines could go as high as 2 million, and both could face up to 10 years in jail for each infringement--under both federal trademark and copyright laws. Microsoft subsequently launched a "Software Integrity Campaign" in hopes of tackling software piracy in Georgia, which rose to 26 percent last year. According to Microsoft, that computes to a yearly statewide tax and wage loss of $206 million, a figure that will get just about any U.S. Customs agent moving.

Christy Mulligan

Linux news

IBM, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, and others have joined forces to create the Gnome Foundation, named after the GNOME desktop environment on Linux. The Gnome Foundation intends to create both an enhanced desktop environment and an alternative to Microsoft Office (something the GNOME project is already trying), as well as the KDE Office effort. (KDE is another Linux desktop environment.) On the office application front, you could say the same about Corel's Word Perfect Office 2000 and Sun's own StarOffice. See the foundation's Web site for details.

How the Gnome Foundation and StarOffice relate is not yet clear, but Sun has made its own moves with StarOffice. Sun announced the release of its StarOffice suite as open-source software starting this fall under the GNU GPL license http://www.openoffice.org. You can already download StarOffice for free. The latest step will also involve Sun releasing the source code for this suite. At the very least, this should help devalue office suites, which may be Sun's strategic interest in all of this.

The exact impact of this foundation has yet to be seen, but it does represent an increase in support for Linux on the desktop. While Linux has been particularly strong as a server operating system, it has never captured as much attention on the desktop.

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