Error while trying to run project: Unable to start debugging on the Web server... Publisher policy file is not found.

To enable integrated Windows authentication

1. Log on to the Web server by using an administrator account.


2. Click Start and then click Control Panel.


3. In Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools.


4. Double-click Internet Information Services.


5. Click the Web server node.


6. A Web Sites folder opens underneath the server name.


7. You can configure authentication for all Web sites or for individual Web sites. To configure authentication for all Web sites, right-click the Web Sites folder and then click Properties. To configure authentication for an individual Web site, open the Web Sites folder, right-click the individual Web site, and then click Properties.


8. The Properties dialog box is displayed.


9. Click the Directory Security tab.


10. In the Anonymous access and authentication control section, click Edit.


11. The Authentication Methods dialog box is displayed.


12. Under Authenticated access, select Integrated Windows authentication.


13. Click OK to close the Authentication Methods dialog box.


14. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.


15. Close the Internet Information Services window.

Microsoft's bid under valued Yahoo!?

The rebuff, formally announced early Monday, wasn't a surprise because Yahoo had leaked its intention over the weekend.

As expected, Yahoo's board unanimously decided to spurn Microsoft after concluding the offer — originally worth $44.6 billion or $31 per share — "substantially undervalues" one of the Internet's prized franchises. The cash-and stock deal is now valued at about $40 billion, or $28.91 per share, because of a drop in Microsoft's market value.

But Yahoo didn't raise antitrust concerns about the proposed deal and included language that seemed to invite a higher offer from Microsoft, the world's largest software maker.

"The board of directors is continually evaluating all of its strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders," Yahoo said in a statement.

Microsoft, though, didn't seem inclined to raise the bid Monday, releasing a statement describing its current bid as "full and fair."

Calling Yahoo's decision "unfortunate," Microsoft didn't back off from its quest either. "Based on conversations with stakeholders of both companies, we are confident that moving forward promptly to consummate a transaction is in the best interests of all parties," the Redmond, Wash.-based company said.

Microsoft also emphasized it's prepared to "pursue all necessary steps" to get the deal done, raising the prospect that it could take the bid directly to Yahoo shareholders with a so-called "exchange offer" or escalate the acrimony even further by trying to oust Yahoo's 10-member board later this year.

While assessing its response to Microsoft, Yahoo's board also examined a wide range of alternatives that included forging an ad partnership with Google, which paid nearly $5 billion in marketing commissions to thousands of Web sites last year.

Without identifying its sources, the Times of London also reported Yahoo is exploring a merger with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, another popular Internet property that has been struggling in recent years. A Yahoo spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Investors appear convinced Microsoft's bid remains Yahoo's best bet, given the Sunnyvale-based company's profits have been steadily declining despite a management shake up eight months ago and repeated promises of a turnaround extending back to 2006.

Reflecting Wall Street's belief that Microsoft will raise its bid, Yahoo shares climbed 67 cents Monday to close at $29.87. On the flip side, Microsoft's shares dropped 35 cents to finish at $28.21 as its shareholders continued to fret that a Yahoo acquisition could turn into more trouble than its worth.

Microsoft's advisers are believed to be working behind the scenes to rally support among Yahoo shareholders and determine how much more the bid needs to be increased to force Yahoo's board to negotiate a friendly deal.

"You would assume that their first offer isn't the best and final offer," said Morton Pierce, an attorney who advises on mergers and acquisitions for the law firm Dewey & LeBouef. "The question now is how do you get to the end game?"

To further complicate matters, some of Yahoo's major shareholders might not want Microsoft to bid much more because they also own large stakes in Microsoft. The overlapping holdings mean any gain that these big shareholders might realize from a sweetened Microsoft offer might be erased if a higher bid diminishes Microsoft's market value, which has already slid about $40 billion, or 13 percent, since the takeover saga began.

Capital Research & Management Co., Barclays Global Investors, Vanguard Group Inc. and State Street Global Advisers rank among the five largest shareholders for both Yahoo and Microsoft, according to FactSet Research Systems Inc.

Most analysts still seem to think Microsoft will raise its bid because it needs to buy Yahoo quickly to close Google's widening lead in the lucrative online search and advertising markets that are rapidly reshaping the technology and media industries.

Meanwhile, Yahoo finds itself in a bind because its stock was near a four-year low before the Microsoft bid surfaced and its management already has said things are unlikely to get significantly better until 2009.

"Both companies seem to have limited options to achieve their goals, so it appears they really do need each other," said Stanford Group Co. analyst Clayton Moran.

Although its profits have been dwindling during the past two years, Yahoo still possesses one of the Internet's biggest audiences and largest ad networks.

Still, those assets haven't been compelling enough to persuade other potential suits to counter Microsoft's bid, despite Yahoo's best efforts to drum up interest in the past week.

That could lessen the incentive for Microsoft to raise its bid. But Yahoo wouldn't have had any chance of extracting more money unless its board spurned the initial offer.

"This was a logical move by Yahoo's board, but I still think this deal is going to get done," said Ryan Jacob, a money manager who owns Yahoo shares in an Internet investment fund bearing his name. "I think most shareholders will be ready to accept if the bid is raised to the mid-$30 (per share)."

Yahoo's stock price had dropped by more than 40 percent in the three months leading up to Microsoft's bid, which was announced Feb. 1. The offer was 62 percent above Yahoo's market value at the time.

Microsoft was prepared to pay at least $40 per share for Yahoo a year ago, according to a person familiar with the earlier talks between the two companies. Yahoo wasn't interested then because it was confident in its own strategy, said the person, who didn't want to be identified because Microsoft's 2007 offer was never publicly disclosed.

If Microsoft doesn't want to pay more money, it will probably have to assume a more hostile stance that risks creating hard feelings at Yahoo and making it more difficult to cobble the two businesses together if a deal is consummated.

Analysts doubt either side wants to become locked into a divisive struggle that could distract both management teams for months while Google tried to capitalize on the impasse.

If Yahoo isn't sold, Chief Executive Jerry Yang assured employees in a Monday e-mail that the company is poised to rebound on its own and become a "must buy" in the $45 billion online advertising market.

"We have accomplished a great deal in a very short time," wrote Yang, a company co-founder and board member who promised better times after he became CEO eight months ago. "Yahoo is a faster-moving, better organized, more nimble company well on its way to transforming the experiences of its users, advertisers, publishers and developers."

Just two days before Microsoft made its bid, Yang warned Yahoo faced "headwinds" in 2008 and laid out plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs, or about 7 percent of the company's work force, to boost profits.

MSDE installation Guide

Found Microsoft technet article on the abovementioned title. I found out that there's a patch for MSSQL 2000 MS02-035 and MS03-031.

One articles with many more sub info...

Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine Guide

Earlier last week, I went to one of our client site to setup an application which was done by me. The application utilizes the MSSQL database in which I have been using the MSSQL Enterprise version from the beginner. However, due to licensing issue in using the Enterpise version, the client request to use the MSDE version.

I was cracking my head to solve the "authentication" error at the site which takes around 5 hours, worst than what I expected. Then, I manage to solve it after googling for that error and came across Microsoft MSDN support website.

Crap aside, I believe if any of you wants to setup the software, below are some additional note which are good to know;

SA account password
Another simple step to make your database more secure is to verify that the SA account has a secure password. Many developers and system administrators leave the SA account password blank, which permits anyone to gain access to the database.

To change the SA account password on your MSDE database, follow these steps:1. On the computer that is hosting the instance of MSDE that you are connecting to, open a command prompt window.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

osql -U sa

This command connects you to the local, default instance of MSDE by using the SA account.
3. Type the following commands on separate lines, and then press ENTER:

sp_password null
'mynewpassword'
'sa'

Note Replace 'mynewpassword' with the new password.

Note that you receive the following message, which indicates that your password was changed successfully:
Password changed.

Read More about osql command here.

Change Windows Authentication mode to Mixed Mode
To change the value of LoginMode to 2, follow these steps:1. In Control Panel, open the Services tool, and then stop MSSQLSERVER and all other related services (such as SQLSERVERAgent).
2. On the Start menu, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK to start Registry Editor.
3. Locate either of the following subkeys (depending on whether you installed MSDE as the default MSDE instance or as a named instance):• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSSqlserver\MSSqlServer\

-or-
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\Instance Name\MSSQLServer\

4. In the right pane, double-click the LoginMode subkey.
5. In the DWORD Editor dialog box, set the value of this subkey to 2, verify that the Hex option is selected, and then click OK.
6. Restart the MSSQLSERVER service and the SQLSERVERAgent service for this change to take effect.


I'm blogging this to share the info I found. I believe I will come back here to search for this... :)

Microsoft and Samba

Microsoft was compelled to make this information available following a March 24, 2004, European Commission antitrust ruling against the company. In July 2006, the EU fined Microsoft EU280.5 million (US$338.6 million at that time) for failing to provide documentation on Windows protocols to its rivals. Microsoft lost an appeal of that decision in September, setting the stage for the deal.

The deal was signed with a nonprofit group called the Protocol Freedom Information Foundation, (PFIF) which negotiated on behalf of the Samba team because Samba is not represented by a corporate entity. PFIF will pay a one-time fee of EU10,000 and, in return, will be able to allow open-source developers, including the Samba team, to access the documents.

Developers will have to sign nondisclosure agreements and will not be allowed to redistribute Microsoft's documentation, but they will be able to write open-source software that implements the Windows protocols. The deal will also clarify which patents Microsoft believes are related to this technology, making it easier for open-source developers to avoid patent violations.

Antitrust rulings forced Microsoft to set up protocol-licensing programs in the past, including the Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (MCPP) and the Work Group Server Protocol Program (WSPP), but these efforts were not compatible with open-source software licenses.

To reach an agreement with the Samba team, Microsoft created a new type of WSPP licensing agreement, which gives developers access to the Windows protocols as well as a clear list of the patents that Microsoft has declared relative to its technology.

"They're giving us all the documentation to make everything work," said Jeremy Allison, co-author of Samba. "We will have no more excuses to suck... if we don't have something, we won't be able to say it's not our fault we don't know how to do it."

Samba and Microsoft executives had been meeting since March in hopes of hammering out a deal, said Sam Ramji, director of Microsoft's Open Source Software Lab, in a blog post entitled "If you're surprised, you're not paying attention."

"I expect that this will significantly improve the process of Samba development, and produce better quality interoperation between Windows and Linux/UNIX environments," he wrote.

Samba is an open-source version of the file-and-print software used by Windows. It is a standard component of the Linux and Unix operating systems, allowing these systems to share data and work alongside Windows clients.

But development of Samba has traditionally been back-breaking work. Developers would analyze network traffic to try and glean how Windows was working and then build their software based on that knowledge-- a process called reverse-engineering.

With the new agreement, developers will have access to Microsoft's own protocol specifications and will be able to build their software based on those documents, Allison said. That, in turn, will accelerate the team's development of its next generation of software, which will implement the new Sever Message Block (SMB) 2.0 protocol, used by Windows Vista.

Though the deal was reached on Thursday, developers were still waiting for the final technical aspects of the document hand-over to be settled, Allison said. He expects to get his hands on the technical specifications fairly soon. "I'm guessing that for my Christmas vacation I'll have some enjoyable things to read," he said.

Microsoft release first Windows Vista service pack

Microsoft Corp. is pulling back from a system that disables programs on users' computers if it suspects the software is pirated, opting instead for a gentler approach based on nagging alerts.

Microsoft said late Monday it will roll out the new version of Windows Genuine Advantage with the first "service pack" for Windows Vista, due in the first quarter of 2008.

When computer users activate a copy of Windows Vista or try to download certain software from Microsoft's Web site, the Windows Genuine Advantage system scans their PCs for signs of pirated software. Today, if the tool finds an unauthorized copy of Vista, the glassy Vista user experience disappears and other features are suspended.

In the new version, PC users found to have a pirated copy of Vista will continue to be able to use their computers, but with unmistakable signs their operating system is a fake. The desktop wallpaper will turn black, and a white notice will appear alerting users to the problem. Each time they log in, they will be prompted to buy legitimate software, and every hour, a reminder bubble will appear on the screen.

Users with a high tolerance for irritation can put off switching to genuine software indefinitely, but those who relent and buy a real copy of Windows can do so at reduced prices — $119 for Windows Vista Home Premium, half the regular retail price.

"We want to make sure unwitting victims get a great treatment," said Mike Sievert, a corporate vice president in Microsoft's Windows marketing group.

Windows Genuine Advantage collects several pieces of information about a PC during the check, including the serial number on the hard drive and its IP address, but Sievert says none of that can be used to identify individual PC users.

In August, the Windows Genuine Advantage team at Microsoft accidentally updated its servers with computer code that wasn't quite ready for prime time. As a result, Microsoft said "fewer than 12,000" people who tried to validate software over a two-day period couldn't.

Some found legitimate copies of Windows hobbled after the tool labeled them pirated, and an outcry spread across Web forums and technology news sites.

Sievert said the glitch in August was unrelated to the change in how the Windows Genuine Advantage tool will work.

"Microsoft realizes it has to take a different approach with their customers," said Chris Swenson, a software industry analyst for market researcher NPD Group. "If you shut down someone's computer, you're going to anger customers."

Microsoft also said Monday the package of Vista updates will fix two holes in the operating system that have allowed pirates to create counterfeit copies — one that mimics the activation of software by computer makers before a PC is sold, and one that extends a grace period given to people who install new software, before they must activate it.

Sievert said Microsoft plans to offer an update for Windows Genuine Advantage that will run the piracy check regularly without the computer user initiating the process.

Hack Windows Vista: Tweak activation

If you have not know yet, there have been quite a numerous post on the topic above. I have even seen it myself watching the Windows Vista Activation getting removed. It's quite amazing as there is such a quick hack released to the public when most of the coorporate have yet to upgrade their Windows to the latest version. Although it's nothing to surprise for as there are millions or trillions out there hunting for Microsoft(tm) product every second but not even the software have been globally implemented and it got hacked, I'm amazed.

The procedures are quite lenghty and it's not for weak heart users. There's some registry amendment required, additional third-party software, and of cause, the Windows Vista RTM. The document itself is advisable to be printed out before starting the journey to be used for reference.

If you're not convinced with the fact that the hack works, you may watch it at MetaCafe. Shout or yell, now you have the chance to feel how the hackers feel in getting Windows Vista Activation removed.

*You are not advised to hack it. Support the software, Buy the original!

Microsoft Delivers Silverlight 1.0, Extends Support to Linux

Microsoft Corp. today released to the Web (RTW) Silverlight™ 1.0, a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering richer user experiences on the Web. In addition, Microsoft will work with Novell Inc. to deliver Silverlight support for Linux, called Moonlight, and based on the project started on mono-project.com.

Silverlight significantly reduces development and deployment costs and provides enhanced Web audio and video streaming and playback using industry-leading Windows Media® Technologies. Microsoft unveiled new Silverlight customer experiences on “Entertainment Tonight,” HSN and World Wrestling Entertainment, and also launched the Silverlight Partner Initiative, a program designed to foster collaboration among solution providers, content delivery networks, tools vendors and design agencies.

“Our expectations for compelling, immersive experiences on the Web are increasing daily,” said Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect. “With today’s release of Silverlight 1.0, we’re making it possible for developers and designers to deliver to individuals the kind of high-def experiences they crave by integrating data and services in rich and unique ways. Silverlight will further accelerate the growth in rich interactive applications by giving developers and designers new options for delivering great experiences that span the Web, PC, phone and other devices.”

Microsoft, Novell Respond to Shared Customer Demand for Silverlight and .NET

Microsoft is committed to ensuring that organizations have the best tools and resources to begin building Silverlight-based solutions with the broadest possible reach. The decision to work with Novell to offer Silverlight support for the Linux platform is in direct response to customer feedback, and both companies are optimistic about the impact this extended partnership will have in the industry.

“Silverlight is a popular new way to build and deliver cross-browser, cross-platform experiences on the Web,” said Miguel de Icaza, vice president of Developer Platforms and leader of the Mono project at Novell. “Novell is excited to work with Microsoft to extend Silverlight beyond Windows® and Macintosh to Linux with Moonlight, so Linux users everywhere can enhance their rich media and interactive experiences on the Web.”

Office Live Workspace launched

Microsoft Office Live Workspace, as the free Web site is called, isn't quite live. Starting Monday, users can sign up to be part of an early "beta" test of the service. A number of those users will be able to start using the service at some point this year, Microsoft said.

Office Live Workspace will give users about 250 megabytes of storage, or room to keep about 1,000 average Office documents "in the cloud." PC users can upload Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and use the site to e-mail friends or colleagues and invite them to read and add comments to those documents through a Web browser.

However, if users want to edit the text, they must open the document using an installed copy of Microsoft Office.

Office Live Workspace taps into a few of Microsoft's Web offerings. Users with Hotmail, Xbox Live and other Microsoft accounts can use that information to log on to Workspace. Once there, they can use their stored contact list to send invitations.

The service is compatible with Office 2003 and Office 2007, and users will be able to save from Office to the Web site and open files they've stored online.

Workspace wasn't intended as a standalone program, said Chris Capossela, a corporate vice president in Microsoft's business software division, but rather a "companion service." At a media event last week, Capossela and Jeff Raikes, president of the division, stressed that users were most interested in using the power of the Web to access their documents from any computer, and for collaborating, and not for creating sophisticated documents.

Office Live Workspace is not to be confused with Office Live, a set of tools Microsoft first developed to help small businesses build Web sites and manage online advertising campaigns. Office Live will be renamed Office Live Small Business, Microsoft said.

The vast majority of computer users use Word, Excel and other Office programs, in spite of challenges from open source desktop programs like OpenOffice. Google Inc. and several small startups offer Web-based word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, and recently, Google launched tools that even let its programs work offline.

While Microsoft is officially mum on whether it will add more useful features to an online version of Office, Capossela said the software maker plans to remain the leader in productivity software.

John Rymer, an analyst for Forrester Research, said that on its own, Workspace isn't all that exciting, but it's unlikely Microsoft will stop there.

"The payoff is going to come later, when you've got editing, real collaboration ... when it's really Office reconstituted," he said. "That's not going to come for a while."

After experimenting online in areas far from Microsoft's core business software products, the software maker's first step is, in part, meant to prove it is serious about offering software online, Rymer said.

Microsoft also announced Monday it will sell its Exchange, SharePoint and Communications server software as services over the Internet. That means that information technology departments at companies with more than 5,000 PC users won't have to buy disks, install software and manage the server computers. Instead, Microsoft will host the software on servers in its own data centers and sell access to companies on a subscription basis.

The software maker did not disclose any pricing details.

Google Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. VS Microsoft?

Two years after announcing a somewhat vague software-distribution partnership, Google Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. have clarified their tactics for jointly attacking Microsoft Corp. and its ubiquitous Office software.

Over the weekend, Google quietly began including Sun's StarOffice suite of word processing, spreadsheets and other workplace-oriented programs for free as part of the Google Pack download.

The download package is part of Google's efforts to expand beyond Web search and control more of users' computing experience online and offline. It already includes Firefox, the No. 2 Web browser behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and RealNetworks Inc.'s RealPlayer, a key rival to Microsoft's own media player.

By adding Sun's software, Google is giving a valuable endorsement to a server and software maker that saw demand for its products collapse after the dot-com bust and has struggled to return to sustained profitability ever since.

StarOffice is Sun's commercial version of the freely distributed OpenOffice suite, which also was developed by Sun and has been downloaded about 100 million times.

StarOffice typically costs $70 to download but is being distributed by Google for free. It has more features than OpenOffice and typically includes technical support from Sun, though the free Google version won't.

Both companies declined to comment on their financial arrangement.

Rich Green, Sun's executive vice president of software, said Wednesday that Sun has also added Internet search capabilities to all of its StarOffice products. That will allow users, for example, to highlight terms in a word processing document and search immediately for those terms online — through Google, of course.

"It's a paradigm shift," Green said in an interview. "It brings together office productivity, networking and search into one offering."

The partnership announced in October 2005 between Mountain View-based Google and Santa-Clara based Sun had been light on details.

The companies only said then that users who download Sun's Java software, which is needed to run a variety of Web applications, would also have the option of downloading Google's search toolbar, and that they would work closely in the future to promote and distribute each other's software.

Google said in a statement Wednesday that the company believes "users will benefit from access to a free, full-featured office suite for the desktop. And we've also always believed that users should have choice in their online and PC experience."

PlayStation 3 version 2?

Sony Corp. slashed the price of its current PlayStation 3 by $100, or 16.7 percent, and introduced a high-capacity model in an effort to spur sales of the struggling video game console. Starting Monday, the current 60 gigabyte model will cost $499, down from $599.

The Japanese electronics maker also said it is introducing a new version of the PlayStation 3 with a bigger hard drive for storing downloaded content such as video games and high-definition movies.

The new PS3 increases the system's storage capacity to 80 gigabytes from 60 gigabytes and also includes a retail copy of the online racing title "MotorStorm," a company spokesman said. It will be priced at $599.

The larger capacity machine won't be available in the United States and Canada until August.

It plays into the company's upcoming strategy of eventually offering downloaded high-definition movies, video games, movie trailers and demos, Sony spokesman David Karraker said.

Karraker said further details on high-def movies for download would be released at a later date.

The announcement comes two days before the E3 Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica, Calif., where dozens of industry heavyweights including Sony rivals Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. are expected to show off their latest games and related products.

Sony has said it sold 3.6 million PS3s in the fiscal year ending March 31 and expects to sell another 11 million in the current fiscal year. Microsoft said in its most recent quarterly earnings report filed in April that it had shipped 11 million Xbox 360s.

Nintendo, meanwhile, claims it has sold nearly 6 million Wiis worldwide as of March 31, and more than 40 million Nintendo DS handhelds. The company has predicted it will sell another 14 million Wiis and 22 million additional DS systems by the end of the current fiscal year.

The Wii and PS3 were released within days of each other late last year. Microsoft had a head start in the current generation of consoles, having launched its Xbox 360 in 2005. Last week, the software company announced an extension of the warranty due to the high number of systems suffering from hardware failure, also called the "red ring of death."

In April, Microsoft began selling a version of its Xbox 360 with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and a souped up high-definition video connection. Called Xbox 360 Elite, the black-colored system sells for $479.99.

Xbox gamers who already own the $399.99 20-gigabyte model can buy a snap-on 120-gigabyte hard drive for $179.99.

Karraker said Sony would use the E3 show to focus on two areas: ways to increase the number of consumers who own PS3s and other products such as the PlayStation Portable handheld system, and expanding the system's library of available games.

He said Sony would be releasing 100 new video games during the current fiscal year, including 15 titles that are exclusive to the PS3 such as the hack-and-slash action title "Heavenly Sword."

Linux VS Microsoft again?

The high priests of free software have congregated at Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) headquarters this week to debate the future of the movement and face down recent patent threats by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research).

Leading names of Linux, the world's biggest grassroots software phenomenon, are spending three days to Friday debating whether an increasingly commercial open source community should fight or ignore the world's largest software maker.

Dressed in the alternative software movement's casual uniform of T-shirts and jeans, the group is coming to grips with internal divisions that sap at its success -- Linux is now used to power desktop computers, major Web sites, mobile phones -- since rival factions often create very similar products.

But as many of the world's top tech companies and corporate customers demand ever more from Linux, open source devotees still fight among themselves with the fervor of a tiny monastic order seeking to root out theological error in their midst.

"Guys: Be seekers of truth, not finders of contradiction," Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, organizer of the event, only half-jokingly told the 150 attendees of what is billed their "Collaboration Summit."

Linux is the best-known variant of so-called open source software -- software that is freely available to the public to be used, revised and shared. Linux suppliers earn money selling improvements and technical services. By contrast, Microsoft charges for software and opposes freely sharing its code.

Recently, Microsoft has sown dissension by claiming open source programs such as Linux violate 235 of its patents while striking deals to insulate the customers of two Linux suppliers -- Novell and Xandros -- from patent lawsuits.

On Thursday, Linspire Inc., which sells Linux-based personal computers through Wal-Mart and other retailers, became the third company to strike a patent deal with Microsoft.

MICROSOFT: ENEMY OR PUNCHING BAG?

Collectively, the group is militantly opposed to Microsoft, which some attending the summit openly refer to as "the enemy."

But most believe Linux users control their own destinies and Microsoft's patent threats are just the latest attempts to create "fear, uncertainty and doubt" among customers. After closed-down sessions Thursday and Friday, the group aims to issue a consensus statement next week on what they plan to do.

James Bottomley, who works as chief technology officer at Steeleye Technologies, is in charge of maintaining the software code used by Linux to transfer data between computers and peripheral devices like printers, a job he does for pleasure.

Bottomley says Microsoft is unlikely to sue Linux customers because most Linux users also buy Microsoft. "Their customers are our customers," he said, adding that: "It's just bloody annoying. It gets everyone riled up."

Zend Technologies, developers of an open source programming language called PHP that is used in many Web sites, is seeking to remain neutral. Eighty percent of its customers use open source software, but it recently struck a deal with Microsoft.

"I think Microsoft is a big company trying to make up its mind," said Zend Chief Executive Harold Goldberg, who is not taking part in the event.

"On the one hand Microsoft has a big established business it is trying to defend," Goldberg said. "On the other hand, there are those inside the company, though they won't admit it publicly, who see open source as the future."

WORKING TO WORK TOGETHER

This is the first conference of the Linux Foundation, an umbrella advocacy group formed early in 2007 to unite two predecessors, Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group.

There are as many as 360 rival flavors of Linux, known as distributions, according to Distrowatch.com. This factionalism fuels rapid innovation but splits the energies of developers.

"There really is a sense in many projects that there is an 'us' and a 'them'," said Mark Shuttlesworth, founder of Ubuntu, a free, desktop version of Linux that competes with Windows. "There are the folks who are inside a project and those who are outside a project."

The Linux Foundation boasts 70 corporate and non-profit backers, including Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Oracle (ORCL.O: Quote, Profile, Research), IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Cisco (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Motorola (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research), NTT (9432.T: Quote, Profile, Research), Dell (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Red Hat (RHT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Sun (SUNW.O: Quote, Profile, Research), along with major customers like ADP (ADP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Bank of America (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Linux used to be worked on by professionals doing the work on their own time, said Jason Wacha, an expert on licensing Linux and attorney for MontaVista, a maker of Linux software for mobile and consumer electronics devices.

"Ultimately, I think (Linux) is being pushed by commercial forces ... Now a lot of people are being paid to do Linux as professionals," he said of how many top open-source developers now work for big-name companies like Google, HP and Oracle.

Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft plans to extend its mainstream development tooling to Silverlight, its Flash challenger, and add support for dynamic languages.
At the Mix '07 Web developer and designer conference here, Microsoft executives said the company will allow .Net developers to create applications for Silverlight, its alternative to Adobe Systems' Flash format.

Microsoft on Monday released an alpha version of Silverlight 1.1 that will allow people to write applications using .Net applications such as C#. Version 1.0 of Silverlight will be available this summer.

The Silverlight 1.1 download will include an edition of the .Net framework that will allow .Net applications to run on Windows or the Safari Macintosh browser.

In addition, Microsoft has developed the Dynamic Language Runtime, software that allows developers to write .Net applications using dynamic, or scripting, languages.


Video: Microsoft's Silverlight in action
Company hopes to trump Adobe with new software.
Specifically, Scott Guthrie, general manager in Microsoft's Server and Tools division, announced IronRuby, a version of the Ruby language for .Net. Over the past few years, Microsoft has hired experts in dynamic languages, including Python and JavaScript, to expand support for these languages.

Like IronPython--the version of Python for .Net--the source code for IronRuby will be available with an open source-style license, Guthrie said.

During his keynote speech, Guthrie showed how .Net tooling, including Microsoft's flagship Visual Studio and Expression Studio design tool, can be used for tasks such as debugging and coding on both Windows- and Macintosh-based browser applications.

A number of Microsoft partners showed off how they used Silverlight and the software giant's design and development tools to create media-based interactive applications.

MLB.com, for example, plans to launch a Silverlight media player this summer that will include enhancements to its current video offerings, according to MLB.com executives.

MLB.com has built a player that overlays statistical information, such as pitch count, over the video stream that the user can customize. With Silverlight, people can dynamically reshape video screens as they are streaming, said Justin Shaffer, chief architect of MLB.com.

Shaffer also showed off a version of Silverlight running on a future version of Windows Mobile that allows end users to view live games.

roundup
Microsoft's latest spin on Web apps
At Mix '07, software giant turns spotlight on Silverlight and opens up about its Web strategy.Mike Warriner, chief technology officer of Intelligent Environments, an online banking application provider, said he liked the idea of having his current C# programmers write Silverlight applications. Rather than hire contract Flash developers, the company could use its staff of programmers and still have applications run on different operating systems, he said.

The outstanding question is whether Microsoft plans to offer Silverlight support for Linux. Although support for Flash for Linux lags behind Windows and Mac, Warriner noted that his company can still count on Flash Web applications running on Linux.

"Linux lets us say to the customer, 'This thing is ubiquitous,'" Warriner said. "Otherwise, we have to build a version of the Web site for Linux, which is expensive."

Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite

Although the price tag is about $80 more than the Pro version of the Xbox 360, it is still slightly less expensive than the lower-end model of Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3). Both are substantially more than Nintendo's popular Wii.

The Elite includes a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), component video cables and the Xbox Live headset, as well as a wireless game controller. The HDMI connection is a single cable which combines both high-definition video and digital audio output. Both the headset and the controller come in Elite black.


'Insatiable Appetite'

The Elite's detachable 120GB hard drive, six times larger than previous 360 drives and twice the size of the PS3's, is available for sale separately to owners of existing Xbox systems.

The larger hard drive on the Xbox 360 Elite and some of its other "premium accessories" are designed for gamers who seem to have an "insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content," according to the Microsoft announcement.

To date, the Xbox has sold more than 10 million units worldwide. It was the first of the "next generation" videogame consoles to hit the shelves, in the fall of 2005. As with other videogame consoles, though, it is not only a game machine. A digital camera, music player or flash card reader can be plugged into a USB port. And, with free software downloads such as Microsoft's Windows Media Player 11, Zune software or Windows Media Connect installed on a Windows XP or Vista PC, the Xbox can stream music or video, or display photos, from the computer.

Some initial reviews of the Elite have expressed disappointment over whether the machine delivers more than current models. They note that the WiFi adapter and HD DVD must still be purchased separately.


Always a Balance

But Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research, said features are "always a balance" against costs. "Wireless can easily be added on," he noted, "and HD DVD is still available if consumers want it."

In general, he said he found the Elite to be "a nice evolution for the console. It adds HDMI and a larger hard drive," which supports the console's growing profile as a hub for entertainment beyond games. "If you look at the whole Xbox line," he said, "it's laid out pretty well, from low to high."

Gartenberg said he didn't think that users who already owned an Xbox would upgrade to this model, but that it might be chosen by someone looking to buy their first Xbox.

Microsoft Zune Vista compatible

Microsoft on Wednesday released a minor update to its Zune software aimed at fixing several issues, including one that was causing some users to hear skipping when playing back purchased songs.

"We were aware a limited number of users were experiencing that issue, and we were able to address it," said Zune spokeswoman Katy Asher.

The software maker had originally hoped to have the update by midmonth, but the patch took slightly longer than it had hoped to develop and test.

In addition to addressing the song-skipping issue, the Zune 1.3 software update aims to offer quicker syncing and improve a situation where the Zune's battery could drain more quickly after using the FM tuner.

Microsoft also noted that the Zune held its No. 2 spot in NPD's February retail sales figures, though its share of the hard drive-based music player market dipped to 8.8 percent from 9.9 percent a month earlier.

"We're still happy with where we're at," Asher said, noting the company's strategy is a long-term one not focused on month-to-month fluctuations.

Microsoft released a Zune update in December, making the device and its desktop software compatible with Windows Vista.