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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 04 Issue 18
Volume 4, Issue 18 Atari Online News, Etc. May 3, 2002
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2002
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Matthew Bacon
Kevin Savetz
Rob Mahlert
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphiforums.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0418 05/03/02
~ MyAtari Award Winners! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Flop 45 Released!
~ Microsoft Case Drags! ~ Spam Bill To Senate! ~ Free OpenOffice!
~ New eMacs For Schools! ~ DSL Deregulation Soon? ~ Microsoft Denials!
~ Melissa Creator Jailed ~ GameCube Europe Debut! ~ Media Player Coup?
-* Microsoft Reduces Witnesses! *-
-* Study Probes Kids' Web Porn Access! *-
-* Hewlett Loses Appeal, HP-Compaq Merger On! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Okay, enough is enough! No one can say that the weather in New England is
not interesting. Last week of April and we got snow! I was supposed to
travel up north to see my father and brother, but stayed in bed when I
learned we had snow. Naturally, a few hours later, the sun was out and the
snow practically gone. I'll head up north this weekend. It had better
start to warm up as I have a couple of hundred dollars' worth of plants
sitting on my front porch, waiting to get put in!
My "mental health" week of vacation was short-lived. It took a very short
time before I realized the vacation was over and the insanity remained! I
often wonder if "workplace escapades" would sell as a book! If I could only
draw stuff like "Dilbert", I'd be a millionaire overnight! Thankfully, the
weekend is upon us!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Results of the MyAtari Magazine Awards 2002
The results of the MyAtari 2002 Awards were recently published in the April
issue of MyAtari magazine. The first annual award ceremony hosted by the
online magazine proved extremely popular with its readers, generating an
impressive 1,700 votes!
The MyAtari 2002 Awards consisted of ten categories:
- Best Atari web site of the year
- Best Programmer of the year
- Best Commercial release of the year
- Best Shareware release of the year
- Best PD/Freeware release of the year
- Best Game release of the year
- Best Hardware upgrade of the year
- Best Atari supporting company of the year
- Best Atari magazine of the year
- Outstanding contribution to the Atari community
Nominations for the ten categories were requested in the February issue of
MyAtari from which a short list was drawn up for each category before voting
began in March. As in any award ceremony, there can only ever be one
winner... but for the record, below is a list of the nominees (in no
particular order):
Nominees: Best Atari web site of the year
Atari.Org
http://www.atari.org
AtariAge
http://www.atariage.com
Little Green Desktop
http://www.atari.st
Atari Source
http://pikachu.atari-source.com
Dead Hackers Society
http://www.dhs.nu
Nominees: Best Programmer of the year
Carl Forhan (Songbird Productions)
http://songbird.atari.net
Didier Méquignon (Aniplayer)
http://aniplay.atari.org
Roger Burrows (Anodyne Software)
http://www.anodynesoftware.com
Erik Hall (MyMail)
http://www2.tripnet.se/~erikhall/index.htm
Leon O'Reilly (Reservoir Gods)
http://rg.atari.org
Nominees: Best Commercial release of the year
MagiC 6.20 by Application-Systems Heidelberg
http://www.application-systems.de
Porthos by invers Software
http://www.dsd.net/prod/atari/porthos.php
Calamus SL2002 by invers Software
http://www.calamus.net
Papyrus 9.0 by ROM Logicware
http://www.rom-logicware.de
CyberVirus by Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net
Nominees: Best Shareware release of the year
Aniplayer by Didier Méquignon
http://aniplay.atari.org
AtarICQ by GokMasE and Baldrick
http://aicq.atari-users.net
PhotoTip by Durs Locher
http://home.sunrise.ch/dursoft/
MasterKEY by KickBox
http://www.kickbox.de/masterkey/
Eureka by Francois Le Coat
http://eureka.atari.org
Nominees: Best PD/Freeware release of the year
Steem Engine by Anthony and Russell Hayward
http://steem.atari.org
AtarIRC by Lonny Pursell
http://www.q1.net/~atari/
GEM Graph 2 by Bernard Le Tirant
http://perso.club-internet.fr/letirant/index_e.html
zBench by Zorro
http://the.zorro.free.fr/zbench.html
EasyMiNT by Marc-Antón Kehr
http://mico-mint.atari.org
Nominees: Best Game release of the year
Chu Chu Rocket by Reservoir Gods
http://rg.atari.org
CyberVirus by Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net
Allia Quest by Ebvision
http://www.ebivision.com
SCSIcide by Joe Grand
http://www.mindspring.com/~jgrand/atari/
Castle Blast by Ronen Habot
http://members.bellatlantic.net/vze2j83t/public_html/MyGames.htm
Nominees: Best Hardware upgrade of the year
CT60 by Czuba Tech
http://www.czuba-tech.com
ROM-port Adapter by Elmar Hilgart
http://www.asamnet.de/~hilgarte/
Eclipse PCI Adapter by Istari Software
http://www.uni-mainz.de/~heuno000/ECLIPSE/welcome.html
EIFFEL PS/2 Adapter by Laurent Favard
http://eiffel.atari.org
JAMMA Joystick by Goat Store
http://www.goatstore.com
Nominees: Best Atari supporting company of the year
Electronics Boutique / GAME
http://www.eb.uk.com
http://www.game.uk.com
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net
Hozer Video Games
http://www.hozervideo.com
invers Software
http://www.dsd.net
Best Electronics
http://www.best-electronics-ca.com
Nominees: Best Atari magazine of the year
st-computer (German)
http://www.st-computer.net
alive! (English)
http://alive.atari.org
FLOP (Czech)
http://flop.atari.org
Atarimagasinet (Swedish)
http://www.sak.nu
2600 Connection (English)
http://2600connection.atari.org
Nominees: Outstanding contribution to the Atari community
Randy Crihfield at Hozer Video Games
http://www.hozervideo.com
Matthias Jaap
http://www.atariuptodate.de
Carl Forhan at Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net
Rodolphe Czuba at Czuba-Tech
http://www.czuba-tech.com
Anders Eriksson at Dead Hackers Society
http://www.dhs.nu
The lucky winners of the MyAtari 2002 Awards were:
Category: Best Atari web site of the year
Winner: AtariAge, www.atariage.com
Runner-up: Little Green Desktop, http://www.atari.st
Category: Best Programmer of the year
Winner: Carl Forhan (Songbird Productions),
http://songbird.atari.net
Runner-up: Leon O'Reilly (Reservoir Gods), http://rg.atari.org
Category: Best Commercial release of the year
Winner: MagiC 6.20 by Application-Systems Heidelberg,
http://www.application-systems.de
Runner-up: CyberVirus by Songbird Productions, http://songbird.atari.net
Category: Best Shareware release of the year
Winner: Aniplayer by Didier Méquignon, http://aniplay.atari.org
Runner-up: AtarICQ by GokMasE and Baldrick, http://aicq.atari-users.net
Category: Best PD/Freeware release of the year
Winner: Steem Engine by Anthony and Russell Hayward,
http://steem.atari.org
Runner-up: EasyMiNT by Marc-Antón Kehr, http://mico-mint.atari.org
Category: Best Game release of the year
Winner: Chu Chu Rocket by Reservoir Gods, http://rg.atari.org
Runner-up: SCSIcide by Joe Grand,
http://www.mindspring.com/~jgrand/atari/
Category: Best Hardware upgrade of the year
Winner: CT60 by Czuba Tech, http://www.czuba-tech.com
Runner-up: JAMMA Joystick by Goat Store, http://www.goatstore.com
Category: Best Atari supporting company of the year
Winner: Best Electronics, http://www.best-electronics-ca.com
Runner-up: Songbird Productions, http://songbird.atari.net
Category: Best Atari magazine of the year
Winner: st-computer, http://www.st-computer.net
Runner-up: alive!, http://alive.atari.org
Category: Outstanding contribution to the Atari community
Winner: Anders Eriksson at Dead Hackers Society, http://www.dhs.nu
Runner-up: Carl Forhan at Songbird Productions, http://songbird.atari.net
To read the acceptance speeches of the winners, check out
www.myatari.net/issues/apr2002/foreword.htm
Czech Disk Magazine FLOP
Issue 45 of the Czech Atari XE/XL disk magazine Flop 45 has been released.
http://flop.atari.org/
Calamus Module Updates
The Calamus Positioner module is updated by a bugfixed version 2.03. A
demand for the upgrade is that v2 is already present as well as Calamus
2002.
And the Calamus Align Tools module is also present in a new bugfixed
version 2.02. The same demand applies for the Align Tool as for the
Positioner module.
http://www.calamus.net/
KEYTAB 08 Beta
Martin Elsässer reports on http://www.st-computer.net/ that he has released
a beta version 08 of Keytab.
ver 08 notes:
Error correction in the KEYTAB library: the function Akt_getEuro queried
the size of the Cookie structure incorrectly. However since then one fell
back on the euro Cookie, the result was correct then anyway.
There are new functions for changing to and from UNICODE: CharXÙnicode and
CharUnicode2X as well as BlockXÙnicode and BlockUnicode2X.
Three new in/export tables:
"NEXT step"
"IBM code PAGE 437"
"IBM code PAGE 850".
The KEYTAB library is now available for GFA. A big thanks at Richard Gordon
Faika!
The functions GetExpNrFromId and GetImpNrFromId now function correctly.
After the GFA porting took place internal clearing up done in order to
further reduce maintenance costs.
URL: http://acspro.atari.org/KeyTab/Modern/index.html
Sting Daynaport Drivers Updated
Roger Burrows of Anodyne Software has released on his website an updated
driver for STiNG for the Daynaport SCSI/Link ethernet adaptor. The new
version is v0.55 with some minor improvements.
Visit the Anodyne Software site to download:
http://www.anodynesoftware.com/ethernet/main.htm
Eurkea May Release Available
Francois Le Coat reports in comp.sys.atari.fr that the May release of
Eureka is now available.
Changes include :
bug fixed - problem where some point series were drawn as white on white
bug fixed - problems with DMA sound playback on falcon
Some emulators do not handle double buffers properly. Eureka now attempts
to avoid problems.
New math lib compiled and used which is much faster than the old lib.
Bug fixed - management of palette under SCREEN.LDG
In 256 color mode you can now rotate the pallette in variable frequencies. 0
fastest 9 slowest.
Url: http://eureka.atari.org
Organizer 0.47 Available In English!
Mathieu Demange reports in comp.sys.atari.st...
Hi folks :-)
Organizer 0.47 is here in english now ! My website has been updated and
some pages are now available in english too. I also added a mailing list
for those who care.
Here it is : http://m.demange.free.fr/organizer
PS: Feel free to mail me if you think my translation isn't the best and if
you think you could help me to improve it !... ;-)
Best regards...
Mathieu
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Yet again I find myself without anything
philosophical or uplifting to talk about.
No, I haven't been trying to save money by cutting my pills in
half.<grin>
People all over the world seem to be getting dumber and dumber and less
interested in seeing someone else's point of view. Sure, WE seem to be
doing okay, but I'll bet that the "other guys" think that they're the
ones that have themselves together.
Maybe I'm completely and totally wrong, but there seem to be somewhere
in the neighborhoods of six billion incredibly unhappy morons
inhabiting this planet today. And they're not just unhappy. They're
bound and determined to see that everyone is as unhappy as they are.
Perhaps one day we'll get everything sorted out and be content. I doubt
it, but it COULD happen.
Well, let's get to the stuff from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Martin Byttebier asks about a couple of programs that he came across:
"A few days ago someone uploaded an archive called *popcorn.zip* (6.478
bytes) on the Belgian Atari ftp-server. No docs are supplied.
Does someone know what popcorn.prg exactly do?
Also the same guy uploaded "orictool.lzh" (oriclink.c, txt2bas.c,
txt2bas.ttp) What is it good for?"
Lonny Pursell tells Martin:
"I have a really old demo-like prg called popcorn which bounces many
little balls around the screen. Perhaps it is that."
Martin replies:
"Hmm, quite possible. I can't test it out. It seems not to run on the
Hades. Anyway It seems not to be very useful."
Neil Chester asks about SCSI devices:
"Just bought an Adtron Accent SPC SCSI Card Reader for
my Falcon CT2B with the intention of purchasing a
digital camera sometime in the future!
The device is small and therefore doesn't have a
through-port at the back, all there is a SCSI II
connector and an ID selector which has 0-7 terminated
and 0-7 unterminated.
This is obviously going to be the last device in the
chain with no throughport! The physical chain is the
following:
Falcon -> CDRW -> Epson GT9500 -> PC Card Reader
IDs 7 1 2 6 Terminated
Imagine my surprise when I run HDRUTIL (v8.04) and do
a "Device Check", this reports the following:
01.00 Yamaha CDRW
02.00 Epson GT-9500
05.00 Adtron Accent SPC
05.01 Adtron Accent SPC
07.00 ATARI FALCON
Also on the Magic/Jinnee desktop:
P=Card Reader
Q=CDRW
And yet it should be that the CDRW comes first!?
Does the Falcon scan IDs backwards (ie 7 to 0)?
I have rotated the ID selector on the back of the Card
Reader and done a "Bus Rescan" but it doesn't seem to
change the ID from 5 (+ 01 LUN)! Is the unit faulty
or is there some other switch that would work?
The drive works like a dream (with a Compact Flash
adaptor & 16Mb Card) - just like an ordinary disk,
although Jinnee reports only 12Mb on it."
Chris Simon tells Neil:
"Hehe, yes - these are two things I've found too and forgot to mention
in my tips to you!
My card reader seems to be 'stuck' at ID 2, and yes it does have a
2.01 logical unit too. I found exactly the same thing as you, in that
rotating the selector doesn't have any effect on the ID. It must be
HDDRIVER or some other slight incompatibility with the Falcon.
I did post about this initially but I didn't get any replies to the
issues."
Lonny Pursell tells Neil:
"I have such readers on my Hades and TT. Very cool.
My units are Microtech however."
Ken Kosut asks about a problem he's having with CAB:
"I am trying to read some .HYP and .REF files that came with
my CAB 2.7 package.
I have a folder called:
BUBBLE
It contains:
BUBBLE.APP
BUBBLE.HYP
BUBBLE.REF
BUBBLEGEM.CPX
Under MagiC 6.02 I installed application (BUBBLE.APP)
associated files:
*.HYP
*.REF
I copied BUBBLEGEM.CPX to CPX folder, rebooted.
Why can't I see the .HYP or .REF file?
Do I have to use ST-GUIDE in order to view this type of file?"
Martin Tarenskeen tells Ken:
"*.HYP and *.REF are !NOT! BUBBLE.APP associated files. Please
de-install.
You can install ST-GUIDE.APP for *.HYP files. Installing for *.REF files
is not needed."
Joseph Place asks about scanner software:
"I need to find an upgrade for Migraph Touchup. I have 1.62, which
works fine on my STe, but I cannot scan on my Falcon. I know there is
a version 2.5. Can someone help?"
Derryck Croker tells Joseph:
"Have you tried switching the 68030's cache off? The General Setup CPX
(where you set keyboard repeat rate etc) is the place to look."
Joseph tells Derryck:
"I received my Falcon with no software. I have a General Setup CPX, but
there is no option for the CPU cache. Perhaps the one I have is for
ST?"
Derryck replies:
"Very likely, there should be a popup menu under a box called "Chip
Select". On the other hand, the CPX I'm using was supplied with my CT2
card."
Well folks, that's it for this time around. I know that it's been a
short column, but there really wasn't a lot going on with the UesNet.
Perhaps people are ramping up to take advantage of the warm weather
that is sure to be upon us before too much longer. Tune in again next
week, same time same station, and be ready to listen to what they are
saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Play Computer Games For Pay!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" GameCube To Debut In Europe!
JagFest News!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Get Paid to Play Computer Games
People who spend too much time playing video games have new hope for
gainful employment as Nintendo (news - web sites) of America announced
plans Tuesday to pay 50 people about $100 a day to play computer games all
summer long.
For gamers, the program "is sure to be the best summer job ever," said
Peter MacDougall, Nintendo's executive vice president.
From July to August, members of the "Nintendo Street Team" will earn their
pay by showcasing the Nintendo GameCube and handheld Game Boy systems at
concerts, malls and fairs.
Candidates must be at least 18-years-old and must fill out an application
and create a two-minute video explaining why they deserve the job.
Applications must be in between May 13 and June 14, and can be found on
the company's Web site.
GameCube Launch Full of Buzz
Nintendo Co. Ltd. Friday will be the latest to launch a new, high-powered
video games console, the GameCube, in Europe's hotly contested market
behind a $90.7 million marketing blitz.
Nintendo has registered 50,000 pre-orders for the machine in the UK, said
David Gocen, managing director of Nintendo Europe. GameCube will retail for
199 euros in Europe and for $188.60 in Britain.
The Japanese company is battling for control of a $20 billion-plus market
that now rivals film and music as the most popular entertainment pastimes,
but analysts think it will have a hard time catching up with market leader
PlayStation 2.
The purple-colored Cube will be around 100 euros cheaper than rivals
PlayStation 2 and Xbox, which sport similar high-speed microprocessors that
enable realistic graphics. Sony's new PlayStation has been on the market
for over a year, while Microsoft's Xbox was launched in March.
Shops throughout Europe, which have cleared entire floors to profit from
the booming computer games market, will open their doors at midnight to
welcome GameCube buyers.
"I'm determined to be among the first few at HMV, so technically I'll have
my Cube in less than 24 hours, therefore no days, we are into hours,
minutes and seconds now," one games enthusiast wrote on Internet chat-room
uk.games.video.gamecube.
At the HMV and Dixons on London's Oxford Street Thursday, gamers lined up
to trial the GameCube and Xbox. The graphics on both systems received equal
praise, but GameCube was favored by those looking for a cheap price,
compact size and the long-standing reputation of Nintendo's games.
Abdul, 28, owner of Nintendo's older console N64, criticized Nintendo for
being "always late" with a new machine but said that it "never compromised
on its games.
"Ten out of ten Nintendo games are good," he added.
Meanwhile, 31-year-old first-time buyer Simon classified the black and
bulky Xbox as "not very sexy."
Nintendo has shipped 500,000 consoles for launch and plans to add another
500,000 in the next eight weeks, Gocen said.
The timing of GameCube's launch could create challenges, industry observers
say. It is making its debut a few weeks before schools let out, while the
economy is sagging and the games console market is the most competitive in
memory.
"I don't think GameCube will catch PlayStation 2, simply because of the
head start it has," said Toby Scott, editorial director of industry news
letter, Games Analyst.
"The tussle is between GameCube and Xbox for who gets to come in second.
And that is just too tough to call," he added.
The importance of the European video game market has grown considerably
in the past five years. According to Games Analyst, European video game
hardware and software sales will reach $7.5 billion in 2002, accounting
for 31 percent of global sales.
Gocen said the European market represents over 20 percent of global sales
for Nintendo. "The potential in Europe is huge," he told Reuters Thursday.
"It is a market we intend to be successful in."
Microsoft's Xbox, which launched in March, has had a disappointing debut
in Europe. Sales in Germany and France have fallen below expectations.
Last month, Microsoft slashed the price of Xbox by as much as 38 percent
in Europe to 299 euros and by 34 percent in Britain to 199 pounds in an
effort to revive flagging sales.
Critics attributed soft demand for Xbox on its spring launch, a comparable
dearth of exclusive games and the lofty initial price tag.
Aside from the spring launch, Nintendo has made swift moves to avoid making
mistakes similar to Microsoft's.
Nintendo, which has the most established brand in the business, has
attracted a loyal fan base because of what critics say all comes down to
superior games.
Toby, 23, said: "I'm definitely going to get this one. The Xbox is too big
and expensive and my mate has a PS2, so I know what that's about."
PlayStation 2 took off to a flying start, because it doubled as a DVD
video player. GameCube, which does not include a DVD player, is a pure
games machine. It will launch with 20 games, many of which are exclusives.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Jagfest 2002 News
Greg George, Webmaster of The Atari Times website, has announced that he is
now accepting payment for the Sixth Annual Atari Jaguar Festival (dubbed
Jagfest 2k2) in downtown St. Louis, Missouri at The Mayfair Wyndham
Historic Hotel. (806 St. Charles Street St. Louis, Missouri 63101.
Phone: 314-421-2500) on Friday, July 12th and Saturday, July 13th 2002.
Admission cost for this event is $25.00 for those who wish to pre- pay and
$30.00 for those who wish pay at the door; this cost covers for both days.
Table prices are as follows (admission price is included): Visitor tables:
$35.00 before July 9th (after July 9th its $40.00), Dealer Tables: $45.00
before July 9th (after July 9th its $50.00) (extra tables are $5.00 each).
You can pay either by paypal (greg@ataritimes.com ) or by sending a Check
or Money Order to Gregary D. George, 347 Banyan Drive, Winter Haven, FL
33884 Attn. Jagfest payments
For more information On Jag fest 2k2 e-mail Greg George at
greg@ataritimes.com, James Garvin at omc@omcgames.com or Daniel Iacovelli
at atarivideoclub@yahoo.com or visit the Jagfest 2002 site at
http://omcgames.com/jagfest/ (be sure to visit the Jag fest message board
and post your ideas for this event.)
Announcements from B&C Computervisions
New Lynx Daemon's Gate $49.95
Tons of new items ready or soon to be ready to ship.
Ready now!! Lynx Daemon's Gate Test Cartridge. This appears to be a
complete working Deamon's Gate for the Lynx. It is a Role Playing Game by
Imagitec, the same people who did Viking's Child. No instructions yet. I
will post instructions as you the role players E-mail them to me. Now
shipping at $49.95 S&H. Call today. Coming soon. Demolition Man Video
sequences for the Jaguar on Un-encrypted CDROM. My first batch of 30 had a
bug from the duplicator and did not work. Hope to be shipping in a week for
the initial price of $30. This is 20 minute of video sequences made for the
game but do not include any of the actual game play. Also it requires one
of our new CD Bypass cart, or Jagfree, or Protector SE, or Battlesphere
Gold, or CD R, or a DEV System to run this un-encrypted CD ROM. Shipping
next week our new CD Bypass cart at $39.95 allows you to run Un-encrypted
programs on your Jaguar CD-ROM System. Also we plan to start shipping
Charles Barkley Shut Up & Jam for the Jaguar in May. We have 5 more CD-ROMs
in the works that will be IBM compatible with developer stuff from Atari
Engineering. Hope to sell these at $14.95. First one is RAW digital and
sounds sources for Demolition Man and another is Jaguar Artwork files in
EPS, TIF & Gif format and another Leonard Tramiels TT hard drive backup,
and another ST & TT Atari Archives and another???
Watch for details.
http://www.myatari.com/
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Judge Rules in Favor of HP on Compaq Deal Vote
A Delaware court on Tuesday ruled in favor of Hewlett-Packard Co. and
against dissident shareholder Walter Hewlett, clearing the path for HP's
$18 billion purchase of No. 2 personal computer maker Compaq Computer Corp. .
Delaware Chancery Court Judge William Chandler upheld HP's March 19
shareholder vote on what would be the largest technology merger ever.
Hewlett lawyer Stephen Neal confirmed that Hewlett had lost but said he
had not read the decision or decided whether to appeal it.
"We'll look at it and haven't made any decision yet," he told Reuters
after the decision was made public.
Analysts had said before the decision it was unlikely that a higher court
would overturn a ruling by Chandler.
The judge said Walter Hewlett had failed to meet the burden of proof on
both points in the lawsuit he filed against Palo Alto, California-based
HP.
Hewlett alleged that HP had coerced a large shareholder, Deutsche Bank, by
threatening to withdraw future investment banking business with the
company.
Hewlett also alleged that HP had failed to disclose to investors
additional financial information that painted a less favorable picture of
the two company's integration progress, but Chandler denied that as well.
"The plaintiffs can point to nothing in those exchanges (between HP
executives and Deutsche Bank) that indicates a threat from management that
future business would be withheld by HP from Deutsche Bank and there is no
indication that the PWG (proxy working group at Deutsche Bank) believed
its discretion had been limited by such a threat," Chandler wrote.
"I conclude that plaintiffs have failed to prove that HP disseminated
materially false information about its integration efforts or about the
financial data provided to its shareholders," he wrote.
Earlier, shares of HP closed up 13 cents at $17.10 while Compaq fell 15
cents to $10.15 on the New York Stock Exchange, reflecting marginally
higher uncertainty that the merger would go through.
Since the merger was announced on Sept. 3, shares of HP have underperformed
the computer hardware sector, dropping 26 percent, compared with a drop of
16 or 17 percent for both International Business Machines Corp. and Compaq
and a 3 percent drop for the American Stock Exchange Computer Hardware
Index .
Hewlett-Packard Closes $18.7 Billion Compaq Merger
Hewlett-Packard Co. on Friday closed the largest acquisition in technology
industry history, ending a divisive merger battle as it bought Compaq
Computer Corp. for $18.69 billion in HP stock.
Opponents led by Walter Hewlett, son of HP co-founder Bill Hewlett, tried
in vain for eight months to stop the deal.
Shareholders by a bare 3 percent margin approved the deal, which creates a
computer and printer maker with sales of nearly $80 billion, rivaling
industry leader International Business Machines Corp. .
HP will change its symbol on the New York Stock Exchange to HPQ from HWP
beginning on Monday, while Compaq shares will trade no more. An HP
spokeswoman said Compaq shareholders would get letters explaining the stock
swap in the next week.
The plan by HP to purchase the No. 2 personal computer company overcame its
last major hurdle this week when a Delaware court ruled against dissident
Hewlett, who had filed a lawsuit to block the merger.
The new company officially launches on Tuesday, when HP will begin rolling
out product plans, announce more senior managers, and start the grueling
process of cutting some 15,000 jobs, about 10 percent of the new company's
work force.
Microsoft Denies Making Windows Incompatible
A Microsoft Corp. executive on Monday denied charges that the company tries
to gain advantage by making Windows operating system incompatible with
rivals' software.
Microsoft Vice President Robert Short, the fourth Microsoft executive to
testify in the landmark antitrust trial, said the software giant makes
"significant efforts" to make its operating system work well with its
competitors' software.
"I emphatically disagree with the suggestion that Microsoft deliberately
introduces incompatibilities to prevent our competitors' software from
working with our products," Short said in written testimony.
Three other Microsoft officials, including company chairman Bill Gates,
have already appeared in court to try to convince U.S. District Judge
Colleen Kollar-Kotelly not to impose severe antitrust sanctions proposed by
nine states still suing Microsoft.
The software giant reached a settlement with the Justice Department and
nine other states in November. That agreement is designed to give computer
makers more freedom to feature non-Microsoft software on the machines they
sell.
But nine states, including California, Massachusetts and Iowa, have
refused to go along with the settlement, saying it is inadequate and won't
prevent future antitrust violations.
Short's testimony takes issue with comments by executives from competitors
Novell Inc. , Sun Microsystems Inc. and Red Hat Inc. , who told the judge
in earlier testimony that she should force Microsoft to disclose more of
the inner workings of Windows.
Short said different versions of Windows work better with rivals' software
over time because they adhere to a growing number of industry standards
and he cited examples in which the company is cooperating with some of its
most bitter rivals to make software programs "interoperate" with each
other.
"Given these efforts, the notion that Microsoft 'retaliates' against
software developers who do not do what Microsoft wants is completely
unfounded," Short said.
Microsoft's case got more backing earlier on Monday from an executive from
Qwest Communications International , who told the court that the software
giant would not be able to thwart emerging competition in the Internet
services business using its monopoly power.
Qwest vice president Gregg Sutherland disputed earlier testimony from a
representative of SBC Communications Inc. that without the strict
antitrust sanctions, Microsoft could crush SBC's planned Internet-based
messaging service.
"It couldn't happen," Sutherland told the judge. "That would be a
nonsensical thing for any (competitor) to do."
But under questioning from the states' lawyer, Sutherland acknowledged
that he knew little about Microsoft's past anti-competitive conduct and
had no experience with the kind of Web-based services at issue in the
case.
"I have no specific (knowledge) about Microsoft's plans," Sutherland said,
when pressed about how he prepared for his testimony.
In his written testimony before Kollar-Kotelly, Sutherland tried to rebut
allegations made by SBC engineer Larry Pearson.
Pearson, leader of a team at the No. 2 regional telephone company that is
developing SBC's Unified Messaging Service (UMS), told Kollar-Kotelly
Microsoft was well-placed to crush the product, scheduled for initial
deployment later this year.
Pearson said Microsoft had enormous economic incentive to block or degrade
communication between Windows-based PCs and Internet servers running
non-Microsoft software like those of SBC.
Sutherland said any company that wants to compete in the telecommunications
business must make its technologies work seamlessly with other companies'
services.
"A communications product or service that fails to meet this expectation
of ubiquitous connectivity would have little or no prospect of commercial
viability," Sutherland said.
Under questioning from states' attorney John Schmidtlein, however,
Sutherland conceded he had no direct experience with Web-based messaging
and was only a part of a small group at Qwest that is studying the
possibility of getting into the business of Web-based messaging.
He also admitted the group was formed less than a month ago -- nearly two
months after Microsoft named him as a witness in the antitrust case.
"My intention is to offer the court an understanding of how the
communications world works," Sutherland told the judge. "My testimony is
not specific to Microsoft's behavior on the Windows desktop."
Microsoft Shift Surprises States
The states suing Microsoft fought on Tuesday to bring in more evidence
after the company shortened its own witness list in the antitrust penalty
hearings.
Microsoft won't call eight of its remaining 16 witnesses, so the states -
having already rested their case - may not be able to use company e-mails
and other documents to bolster their assertion that stronger penalties
than those in the federal settlement are needed.
Howard Gutman, a lawyer for the states, quoted what he said was a letter
from Dell Computer to Microsoft executives complaining about the new
contracts drawn up after the federal deal had been reached.
"Dell cannot imagine that the intent of the (federal settlement) decree
was an even greater degree of control by Microsoft," Gutman read. Gutman
said the states also have evidence from Gateway, Sony and other computer
makers.
The settlement required that Microsoft have uniform contracts with
computer makers that license its Windows operating system. Microsoft had
been accused of using its contracts to reward friends and punish less
cooperative companies.
The states planned to use the Dell e-mail, as well as many other
documents, while questioning Microsoft executive Richard Fade. Fade, who
handles Microsoft's relationships with computer manufacturers, agreed
during an earlier interview with the states that many computer makers were
unhappy with the new contracts.
Fade and three other Microsoft officials were dropped from Microsoft's
witness list Monday.
Microsoft lawyer John Warden objected to the states' plans to add the
documents into evidence.
"We are in our case, they have rested their case," Warden told U.S.
District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. "That is not what conduct of a
trial is in our system, that a plaintiff presents a moving target to a
defendant."
Gutman said the states had referred to some of the documents during their
opening statement when the case began in mid-March.
Kollar-Kotelly did not say when she would rule on the issue, but indicated
that she was skeptical of the states' tactic.
"You don't usually use somebody else's documents during their part of the
case," she said.
The states want computer manufacturers to be able to remove Microsoft's
Internet Explorer and other features of Windows and substitute competing
software.
Other provisions would require Microsoft to disclose technical information
to software and hardware developers, and make the company license its
Office business software for use on competing operating systems.
The original judge in the antitrust case, Thomas Penfield Jackson, ordered
Microsoft broken into two companies after concluding that it illegally
stifled competitors. An appeals court upheld many of the violations but
reversed the breakup order and appointed Kollar-Kotelly to determine a new
punishment.
The nine states surprised Microsoft a week before the hearings were due to
start by unveiling sweeping changes to their intended penalties.
As a result, Kollar-Kotelly let Microsoft interview an official for one of
the states, California assistant attorney general Tom Greene. Microsoft
played a tape of Greene's deposition Tuesday afternoon.
Microsoft tried to trap Greene on what the company considered
inconsistencies and vague portions of the penalty proposals.
In response to a question, Greene said Microsoft would be expected to test
every possible combination of a modular version of Windows, which
Microsoft has said would be impossible. The states have dismissed that
argument from Microsoft, saying Microsoft doesn't currently test every
configuration.
Greene also gave some insight into why the states want Microsoft to give
away a license to the software blueprints for its Internet Explorer Web
browser.
Greene said the Web browser should become a "public utility" for the
software industry, because Microsoft gained market share as a result of
squelching competition.
Internet Explorer "is a fruit of the poisonous tree of Microsoft's illegal
conduct," Greene said.
States Say Microsoft Planned Media Player Coup
A Microsoft Corp. executive presented a plan in 1999 to conquer the market
for audio and video delivery over the Internet using a tactic already
employed to fend off a rival Internet browser, a federal judge was told on
Thursday.
Nine states seeking stiff antitrust sanctions against the software giant
cited a Jan. 3, 1999, e-mail to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates outlining a
plan to use the dominant Windows operating system to promote Microsoft's
Netshow media streaming software over that offered by RealNetworks Inc.
Microsoft executive Anthony Bay urged Gates to "reposition streaming media
battle from Netshow vs. Real to Windows vs. Real" and "follow the
(Internet Explorer) strategy wherever appropriate."
The nine states have rejected a proposed settlement of the four-year-old
landmark case, saying it is too weak to prevent Microsoft from continuing
to abuse its Windows monopoly.
An appeals court last year upheld trial court findings that Microsoft had
illegally preserved the Windows monopoly by tactics that included
commingling the operating system code with its Internet Explorer program
to fend off Netscape.
A states' attorney presented the e-mail while questioning a Microsoft
executive who denied in written testimony that the company had used the
Windows operating system monopoly to thwart RealNetworks' media players.
Will Poole, a vice president in charge of Microsoft's Windows New Media
Platform Division, said he wasn't sure whether Bay's strategy was ever
adopted.
However, later in 1999, Microsoft integrated Netshow into the Windows
Media Player that is bundled into every copy of Windows.
"You wanted to integrate the media player deeper into Windows in the same
way Microsoft integrated Internet Explorer into Windows?" states' attorney
John Schmidtlein asked Poole.
"The point was ... to communicate the entire breadth of Windows
technologies that were available," Poole replied.
"There are aspects of the battle that were very similar to Netscape. There
are aspects of the battle that were very different," he said.
Poole told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that RealNetworks
Inc. was the dominant media-playing software despite its complaints about
Microsoft.
"The inclusion of multimedia technology in Windows has not impeded
RealNetworks' ability to create competing media players that run very well
on Windows and to distribute and promote those media players broadly to
users," Poole said.
RealNetworks Vice President David Richards testified in March during the
hearings that Microsoft had withheld technical data from RealNetworks to
ensure that its player would not work as well with Windows as the Windows
Media Player.
The nine states want Microsoft to provide a version of Windows in which
add-on features like the media player can be easily removed to level the
playing field for Microsoft's competitors.
These states, including California, Connecticut and Iowa, have rejected a
proposed settlement reached between Microsoft and the U.S. Justice
Department in November. The proposed settlement would let computer makers
promote rival software by hiding -- but not removing -- certain Windows
features.
Microsoft has said its Windows program is a tightly bound set of
components that rely on each other to work properly.
Making the Windows Media Player removable might be good for Microsoft
competitors such as RealNetworks, Poole said.
"I am confident that it would not be good for developers of software and
Web sites that rely on (media) functionality in Windows or for consumers
generally because the performance of their programs would be degraded," he
said.
The hearings on the non-settling states' demands are now in their seventh
week. Kollar-Kotelly is also weighing whether to endorse the proposed
settlement signed by nine other states that were party to the original
case.
Apple Targets Hard-Hit Schools with New eMac Computer
Apple Computer Inc. introduced on Monday a mid-range computer for its
crucial but hard-hit education market, where the iconic personal computer
maker faces increasing competition.
The eMac is based on the previous-generation iMac computer, bundling the
guts of a computer in a housing built around a cathode-ray-tube monitor,
Apple said in a statement.
The eMac has a 17-inch monitor instead of the 15-inch iMac screen and a G4
processor, Apple's top of the line, and will be priced at about $1,000 to
$1,200.
The eMac fills a price performance gap between the redesigned iMac with a
flat panel monitor, a G4 chip, and a price tag beginning at $1,400, and
the older generation of colorful, cathode-ray-tube iMacs based on the G3
processor, which cost $800-$1,000.
Apple has said that education budgets are shrinking along with tax
receipts in the U.S. economy, while it is also fighting off incursions
into the education market by Dell Computer Corp. and other PC vendors.
Senators Seek to Deregulate High-Speed Internet
Senators seeking to encourage high-speed Internet access introduced a bill
on Tuesday that would subject all services to the same regulatory
constraints, regardless of how they are delivered.
The bill, drafted by Louisiana Democrat John Breaux and Oklahoma Republican
Don Nickles, seeks to boost competition by easing regulations on digital
subscriber line, or DSL, services, which provide speedy Internet
connections over telephone lines.
Unlike other services that deliver high-speed, or "broadband," Internet
connections over cable-TV lines, satellites, or wireless antennas, DSL and
other telephone services are highly regulated at both the state and local
level.
The Breaux-Nickles bill would direct the Federal Communications Commission
(news - web sites) to revise its regulations so that all services would
face the same low regulatory hurdles.
The move would benefit large local-phone companies such as Verizon
Communications and SBC Communications Inc., which would be free to expand
DSL service without making their new facilities available to competitors,
as they must do with their existing networks.
Unlike a controversial bill that passed the House earlier this year, the
Senate bill would not deregulate long-distance voice services, or allow
local-phone companies to shut out rivals from their existing networks.
"I think this bill is a simple way that says, 'We should have parity when
it comes to the regulation of broadband,"' Nickles said.
The bill would allow an ailing telecommunications industry to compete on a
level playing field with the cable-modem operators who currently control
68 percent of the broadband market, Breaux said.
Local-phone giants, known as the "Baby Bells," and telecommunications
equipment makers praised the bill, but independent providers said it would
enable the Bells to shut them out of the market entirely because Internet
and voice traffic often use the same network.
"This bill would reduce consumer choice and create a deregulated monopoly
or duopoly over all local telecom services," said John D. Windhausen,
president of the Association for Local Telecommunications Services, which
represents independent local-phone networks.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings will hold a hearing on
the bill, Breaux said.
Spam Bill Bound for the Senate Floor, Sponsor Says
A measure that would crack down on the unwanted junk e-mail known as "spam"
will soon head to the Senate floor, Sen. Conrad Burns said on Thursday. The
measure enjoys enough support to win the Senate Commerce Committee's stamp
of approval when it is brought up for a committee vote this month,
tentatively scheduled for May 16, the Montana Republican said.
"It looks like we're finally going to get some action on spamming," Burns
said. "I think the bill is in pretty good shape right now."
Burns said he was confident the bill would pass the Senate, although
Majority Leader Tom Daschle has not yet committed to bring it up for a
vote.
While 22 states have passed anti-spam legislation, efforts in Congress have
stumbled over opposition from direct marketers who say their activities
would be unfairly limited.
The Federal Trade Commission has since February gone after "spammers" who
violate existing laws that prohibit false or deceptive trade practices.
Spammers who use deceptive subject lines or do not respond to consumer
requests to be taken off their contact lists are candidates for FTC action,
which rarely results in fines or jail time.
Burns' bill, co-sponsored by Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, would not
impose any new restrictions on commercial e-mail.
Rather, it would strengthen the enforcement authority of the FTC and state
attorneys general, allowing them to impose fines of up to $30 per e-mail,
with a cap of out $1.5 million.
Spammers that hide their identities would also face criminal penalties, and
the bill would allow Internet service providers to sue to keep them off
their networks.
Burns said spam annoyed Internet users and imposed economic costs on
businesses whose e-mail networks carried the unwanted messages.
On a personal level, he said his own e-mail account was overrun with spam.
"I bet you there's 50 (unsolicited messages) on there when I get home
tonight, and not one I recognize," Burns said.
Study Probes Kids' Web Porn Access
Protecting children from pornography on the Internet is too complicated to
rely merely on laws or computer programs that try to block sexually
explicit material, a National Research Council committee concluded
Thursday.
A combination of steps is needed and a crucial factor is the involvement
of parents and teachers in educating children, said the committee that has
been studying the issue since 1998.
"As a parent, it's important to acknowledge the Internet is a public place.
You wouldn't let your small child wander around the airport by themselves
and, by the same token, you shouldn't let them wander around the Internet
by themselves," said committee member Winifred B. Wechsler, a consultant
from Santa Monica, Calif.
Former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, chairman of the panel, added
that parents and grandparents have an obligation to educate themselves
about the Internet so they can guide and supervise children.
There's a place for law enforcement and blocking programs but these can be
circumvented, Thornburgh said.
During the study, he said, "one of the things that impressed itself upon
me ... was the counterproductive nature of absolutist views" from people
who would rely on any one approach to the problem.
He drew a parallel with swimming pools.
"Swimming pools can be dangerous for children. To protect them, one can
install locks, put up fences and deploy pool alarms. All of these measures
are helpful, but by far the most important thing that one can do for one's
children is to teach them to swim," Thornburgh said.
Committee member Janet Ward Schofield of the University of Pittsburgh noted
that there are great differences of opinion about what children need to be
protected from, creating problems in finding solutions that will work
broadly.
"One of the things that struck me the most was the incredible diversity of
public opinion about what is appropriate. Some people protested access to
materials which others thought were innocuous," she said.
Committee members also noted that in addition to avoiding pornography
children need to be taught that not everything they read on the Internet
is true and to be wary of strangers they may meet in chat rooms who may
turn out to be predators.
Panel member Geoffrey R. Stone of the University of Chicago said that while
Internet screening filters and law enforcement can help protect children,
"Overreliance on those methods will lead to a false sense of security."
The study was welcomed by Judith F. Krug, director of the office for
intellectual freedom of the American Library Association.
"I am particularly pleased to see that filters are not touted as the only
solution, nor even the best solution," she said. "If you educate children
you are developing an internal filter that is going to remain with them
throughout their life."
The study comes as a three-judge federal panel in Philadelphia is weighing
the constitutionality of a law requiring public libraries to install
pornography-blocking software on their computers.
And on Wednesday, members of Congress, angry at the Supreme Court for
striking down parts of an anti-child pornography law last month, proposed
legislation they hope will succeed in banning computer simulations of
teen-agers or children having sex.
The NRC report estimated that, worldwide, there are about 400,000 for-pay
adult Internet sites out of more than 2 billion publicly accessible Web
pages.
While most of the debate concerning the Internet has focused on commercial
sites, there are many other sources of sexual material, including
person-to-person file exchanges, unsolicited e-mail, Web cameras and chat
rooms.
"Solutions that focus only on commercial sources will therefore not address
the entire problem," the panel said.
Creator of 'Melissa' Computer Virus Sentenced
David Smith, the babyfaced New Jersey man who three years ago unleashed a
computer virus named after a Florida stripper and caused an estimated
$1.2 billion in damage, was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to 20
months in a federal prison and a $5,000 fine.
The former AT&T computer programmer pleaded guilty in December, 1999, to
one federal count of knowingly spreading the "Melissa" virus to cause
damage.
Smith's attorney, Edward Borden, said he had hoped for no prison time but
Judge Joseph Greenaway said the prison term was needed to deter others from
committing the same crime.
Smith had faced a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, a $250,000
fine and restitution, but the judge said he received a lighter sentence
because he cooperated with ongoing federal and state investigations.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie declined to discuss the probes but said
there would be more computer-related prosecutions "in the near future".
Smith, 34, of Aberdeen Township, New Jersey, told Greenaway he had made "a
colossal mistake" by spreading the virus, which he named after a stripper
he knew Florida, in March 1999.
It infected more than a million computers across the world.
Since then, other viruses have been more costly. According to Computer
Economics, a company that assesses the financial impact of security threats
and incidents, the "I Love You" (or "Love Bug") virus in 2000 cost $8.75
billion worldwide, followed by "Code Red" viruses in 2001 which cost $2.62
billion.
"I cannot take back what I did no matter how much I want to...," Smith
said. "I didn't intend nor could I have imagined that it would end up this
way. It's been the worst three years of my life."
Smith also said in a letter to the court that "people think of a computer
virus as an all powerful, destructive program when in reality it is a
simple, tiny piece of computer code."
He said the widespread nature of Melissa was something "completely
unexpected" and he had not imagined just how much the damage the virus
would cause.
"I wrote it to be harmless and benign and I didn't then nor do I now have a
grudge against society," the letter said.
At the time, Melissa was the fastest spreading virus in history. Smith was
arrested on April 1, 1999, at his brother's home in Eatontown, New Jersey.
Authorities had traced the bug to his computer earlier in the day.
Smith is scheduled for sentencing on Friday in Monmouth County Superior
Court in Freehold, New Jersey, on a state charge of computer-related theft,
carrying a maximum 10-year prison term and $150,000 fine. State prosecutors
have agreed that any sentence will run concurrent with and not exceed the
federal sentence.
Smith's access to computers and the Internet will be restricted during his
prison term. He was also ordered to 42 months of supervised release and to
perform community service.
Cybersqatters Claim Victory In Domain Battle
In a victory for cybersquatters and others who snatch up domain names
containing personal monikers, a dispute-resolution board has refused to
turn over Web addresses containing the words "Kathleen Kennedy Townsend."
Townsend, Maryland's lieutenant governor and a potential candidate for
governor this year, discovered that a Baltimore man had registered several
Web addresses with her name, including kennedytownsend.org and
kathleenkennedytownsend.com.
Townsend argued that she has a trademark on her name and asked the World
Intellectual Property Organization's Arbitration and Mediation Center--one
of the groups charged with settling domain-name disputes--to transfer the
addresses to her.
However, the owner of the disputed sites said that, among other things, he
has a free-speech right to use Kennedy's name because she is a political
figure.
The board refused to turn the Web addresses over to Kennedy, saying it's
relying on a new mandate that it deal only with personal names that are
being commercially exploited.
"The panel finds that the protection of an individual politician's name,
no matter how famous, is outside the scope of the policy since it is not
connected with commercial exploitation," according to the WIPO ruling
issued earlier this month.
The disputed domain names are either under construction or do not resolve
to a site.
So far, rulings have been mixed on whether people have the right to shut
down unauthorized Web sites that use their names in the address. Actress
Julia Roberts and vocalist Madonna have won the rights to their names, but
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President George W. Bush have not.
In recent years, courts and dispute-resolution panels generally have
allowed Web site owners to keep domain names if they parody the person or
remain unused. However, owners of sites that seek to capitalize on a
famous person's name, or cybersquat, often lose.
Less clear, however, is the situation surrounding political figures. When
someone is rumored to be running for office, foes and fans of the
potential candidate often snatch up Web sites in the hopes of parodying or
supporting the person.
Free OpenOffice Picks Up From StarOffice
OpenOffice.org developers have put the finishing touches on their
productivity suite, which provides users and businesses with an alternative
to Microsoft's Office suite. The free OpenOffice uses the same code base as
the StarOffice software for which Sun Microsystems charges a fee.
OpenOffice.org 1.0, available now, includes a word processor, spreadsheet,
presentation graphics and other applications. It is the result of 18 months
of collaboration between Sun developers and more than 10,000 volunteer
developers, a venture that began when Sun donated the StarOffice code to
the open-source or "free software" community.
Under the open-source development model, the application's original code
is freely available for developers to modify and redistribute, as long as
the redistributed versions continue to be open. For example, Finland's SOT
sells an office suite based partly on OpenOffice.
OpenOffice has been a useable product for months, but the release of a 1.0
version is important from a psychological point of view, since many users
and businesses are reluctant to adopt a product before it has reached its
first "full" release. StarOffice 6.0, the update to version 5.2, is
expected to arrive in a few weeks.
While OpenOffice.org is a separate project from StarOffice, with
contributions received directly from thousands of volunteer developers,
Sun draws heavily on OpenOffice code for StarOffice--to the point where
the basic programming code and functionality of the two suites are nearly
identical. StarOffice contains some enhancements not found in OpenOffice,
such as special fonts and a database, while support and training services
are also available from Sun.
StarOffice 6.0 is available now as part of paid versions of the latest
Linux distribution from MandrakeSoft.
Sun bought StarOffice from a German firm and initially gave the software
away. Version 6.0, which is generally considered more usable than its
predecessor, was free in beta-test form, but Sun said it found that
businesses were more receptive to a paid-for product. Industry analysts
say moving to a pay basis could actually increase StarOffice's penetration
in businesses.
"If StarOffice becomes a profitable business for Sun, enterprises will
incur less risk and be more assured of the
product's longevity," wrote
Gartner analyst Michael Silver in a March report. "Gartner remains
sceptical of the business model for free office software."
Both StarOffice and OpenOffice.org run on various flavours of Linux and
Unix, as well as on Windows.
Many enterprises have grown uneasy with Microsoft's licensing plans and
have been evaluating alternatives, according to industry observers. Partly
because of this, Gartner believes StarOffice has a chance of gaining 10
percent of the productivity suite market by 2004.
Mozilla, an open-source version of the Netscape browser, has also benefited
from interest in alternatives to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Mozilla 1.0
is expected in the next few weeks.
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