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  Microsoft: Greater OEM Flexibility for Windows

by Arie Slob

Hello Windows users,

Microsoft announced last Wednesday that it is offering computer manufacturers greater flexibility in configuring desktop versions of the Microsoft® Windows® operating system in light of the recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The company said the changes would not affect the Oct. 25 launch date of Windows XP.

"We recognize that some provisions in our existing Windows licenses have been ruled improper by the court, so we are providing computer manufacturers with greater flexibility and we are doing this immediately so that computer manufacturers can take advantage of them in planning for the upcoming release of Windows XP," said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "Windows XP represents a revolutionary step forward in personal computing, and computer manufacturers and consumers are looking forward to this product with great anticipation."

"This announcement does not take the place of settlement discussions with the government parties or any future steps in the legal process; however, we wanted to take immediate steps in light of the court's ruling. We are hopeful that we can work with the government parties on the issues that remain after the court's ruling," Ballmer added.

The appeals court ruled that certain provisions in Microsoft's licenses with PC manufacturers impaired the distribution of third-party Web browsers. Microsoft will now provide PC manufacturers with the following new flexibility:

• PC manufacturers will have the option to remove the Start menu entries and icons that provide end users with access to the Internet Explorer components of the operating system. Microsoft will include Internet Explorer in the Add/Remove programs feature in Windows XP.
• PC manufacturers will have the option to remove the Start menu entries and icons that provide end users with access to Internet Explorer from previous versions of Windows, including Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows Me.
• PC manufacturers will retain the option of putting icons directly onto the Windows desktop. Based on extensive customer usability studies, Microsoft had designed Windows XP to ship with a clean desktop and improved Start menu, but PC manufacturers will now have the option of continuing to place icons on the Windows desktop if they want to.
• Consumers will be able to use the Add-Remove Programs feature in Windows XP to remove end-user access to the Internet Explorer components of the operating system. Microsoft has always made it easy for consumers to delete the icons for Internet Explorer, but will now offer consumers this additional option in Windows XP.

Although some of these changes will require development work and testing for Windows XP, Microsoft said Wednesday it can complete the work and will be able to meet the date for worldwide launch on Oct. 25.

For more information on Windows XP, visit our Windows XP Web site.

Give your comments on this article.

Rose City Software

"ClipCache Plus is totally awesome!!! I must use it 50 times a day. All my regular text clips, images, email addresses, and website URLS are just a doubleclick away. This brilliant little program probably saves me two hours a day of looking stuff up or typing it over and over. And goodbye to all those miserable ">>>>>" in the emails. It was my lucky day when I read PC World magazine for April and heard about ClipCache Plus." -- Susan Amos, Canada

Microsoft Security

Outlook View Control Exposes Unsafe Functionality

Microsoft has released a warning, and a work-around, for a security vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook. The vulnerability could run code of an attacker's choice via either web page or HTML e-mail.

Affected Software Versions

• Microsoft Outlook 98, 2000, and 2002

More...

  Recommended Web sites

Each month we will feature a few Web sites here, ones which sent us the most visitors to our Web site in the previous month. We would encourage you to visit these popular Web sites yourself!

Here are some sites in the Top 15 for June:

• PC Pitstop - Help you to get your PC in top form -- running fast, stable and secure
• TechRepublic - Real World. Real Time. Real IT.
• IS-IT-TRUE.ORG - Links to IT resources.

The Top 15 sites are listed on our Web site.

Web Site Updates

These pages were added/updated in the past week. Information on previously updated/added pages is available on the What's New? page for 1 month.

InfiniSource.com
Added: The Undertow of the Internet; Effects on You & Your CDRW
Added: Iomega Zip® Drive Owners May Be Due Compensation
Updated: IRC Networks and Servers, Listing A - F
Added: Fatal Exception 0E Errors
Added: Buying a Laptop, Notebook or Portable Computer!
Added: Creative Labs on the Hot Seat For Spying on Customers

Windows-Help.NET

Added: Microsoft Security: Outlook View Control Exposes Unsafe Functionality
Added: Microsoft Announces Greater OEM Flexibility for Windows
Added: Microsoft and VeriSign Announce .NET Alliance

Windows XP
Added: Microsoft Windows XP RC1 Review - from a gamers viewpoint

  Highlights

The Undertow of the Internet; Effects on You & Your CDRW

Is Hewlett-Packard being singled out... is it right to assume all CDRWs will be used for illegal purposes?

Read Full Article

Iomega Zip® Drive Owners May Be Due Compensation

Some 28 million Purchasers of Iomega Zip Drives are eligible for compensation in class action suit!

Read Full Article

Buying a Laptop, Notebook or Portable Computer!

Today's selections in portable computers offer a few surprises to aware of before you make that purchase!

Read Full Article

Creative Labs on the Hot Seat For Spying on Customers

Creative Labs' newsupd.exe connects to the Internet without authorization or notice.

Read Full Article

Fatal Exception 0E Errors

I moved this document from the Windows 98 Tips & Tricks section of our Web site over to the TechFiles section, and added more error messages, related to Windows 95 & Me to the document.

Read TechFile

Windows XP RC1 Review - from a gamers viewpoint

A small review of Windows XP RC1 by TFH Gaming.com.

Read Full Article

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