Software

Dan Budiac paid $2,600 last month for a brand-new Apple IIc. That's a story in and of itself -- but it doesn't end there. Now that he has a vintage computer, what does he do with it?

Those looking for an ulterior motive in Microsoft's big Open Source push should look no further than its Yahoo takeover bid --- some believe that may be the real reason for the company seeing the light.

In the battle for IT to adopt an Internet-based application "platform," the real struggle may be between Google and Salesforce.com

It's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft pledges openness, love, and harmony. Not to mention pranking Bob Dylan...

Gregg Keizer reports:

Microsoft Corp. today made public more than 30,000 pages of documentation for Windows protocols and APIs ... one of several changes in how it deals with open-source developers and software rivals. Calling the four steps "interoperability principles," Microsoft promised to make it easier and cheaper for developers to create software that works smoothly with its highest-profile and most-current products ...

Microsoft held out the peace pipe to the Open Source community today when the company announced that is offering free access to its most important APIs and formerly proprietary protocols, and will offer more support for open standards. Why has Microsoft seen the light? I have a one-word answer: Google.

Working with PDFs gets a little easier for business types

This vendor is supposed to be installing its software and doing work for a local government — and things aren't going well. Actually, that's putting it mildly.

If you've been waiting with bated breath for XP SP3, you can start breathing normally now. It changes so little in XP that you won't even notice it's there. But hidden and underneath the hood, as I'll explain, there are a few worthy changes.

Microsoft today posted a script you can download and run to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2. But if you're handy with the Registry, you don't need the script --- instead, you can edit the Registry yourself. Here's how to do it.

An investigation by the U.K.'s National Consumer Council has recommended that Microsoft and 16 other software companies be investigated for unfair practices related to End User License Agreements (EULAs). The investigation found that as a result of the way the EULA are designed and written, consumers agree to unfair terms, and sign away their legal rights without realizing it.

An Atlanta-based start-up uses a multipath, P2P style architecture to boost streaming media performance

This big regional insurance company has decided to outsource a set of low-skill data entry jobs to India -- for a truly impressive technology project.

MAIL FROM IT Blogwatch: in which The Mozilla Foundation spins off Mozilla Messaging, to rejuvenate the Thunderbird email client. Not to mention when GPS vehicle navigation turns bad...

Dan Nystedt reports:

The Mozilla Foundation Tuesday opened Mozilla Messaging, a new subsidiary focused on developing its free, open-source Thunderbird e-mail software. Mozilla Messaging will initially focus on developing Thunderbird 3, which aims at improving several aspects of the software ...

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- Some 15 years ago, I was working as managing editor for Windows Magazine when HP came into our offices to show us a mind-blowing ultra-portable laptop: The OmniBook 300. Leaked photos of HP's new Compaq 2133 take me back to that meeting.

Kerio updates its MailServer so Mac and Linux users can collaborate with Windows colleagues, assuming they'd want to