Microsoft Says Pay Up To Try Live Messenger Beta

1. Microsoft Says Pay Up To Try Live Messenger Beta

People who want a look at the beta of Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger should pony up, one of the instant messenger's developers said Wednesday.

For more on this:
- read full story from messagingpipeline.com, Dec 21 2005


2. Could Google-AOL Deal Benefit Microsoft?

Though losing the high-profile America Online deal to Google is a major blow to Microsoft, the software company could still benefit from the union because customers may see it as a case of Google playing favorites, analysts say.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Dec 21 2005


3. Creator of World Wide Web Starts Blog

World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee has started a blog just in time for the 15th anniversary of his invention.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Dec 21 2005


4. The Men Who Came To Dinner, and What They Said About Email

The three programmers spend their days developing what each hopes will be the world's best email program -- and trying to beat the pants off each other. They spent an evening last week at my dinner table, talking about it all.

For more on this:
- read full story from Wall Street Journal, Dec 21 2005


5. Symantec Antivirus Users At Risk

Just in time for the holidays, Symantec's antivirus programs have been found to have a "highly critical" vulnerability for which there is currently no patch. The Symantec AntiVirus RAR Archive Decompression Buffer Overflow vulnerability could allow an attacker to gain control of a system.

For more on this:
- read full story from internetnews.com, Dec 21 2005


6. IBM to Buy Micromuse for $865M in Cash

ARMONK, N.Y. -- International Business Machines Corp. said Wednesday it agreed to acquire Micromuse Inc., which makes software that manages video and voice traffic on computer networks, for about $865 million in cash.

For more on this:
- read full story from washingtonpost.com, Dec 21 2005


7. China's Lenovo hires former Dell, IBM exec as CEO

Lenovo Group Ltd. , the world's No. 3 personal computer maker, has snared a top executive from rival Dell Inc. to serve as chief executive in a latest challenge to the dominance of the top PC seller.

For more on this:
- read full story from washingtonpost.com, Dec 21 2005


8. AOL tests improved Web mail, new Firefox toolbar

America Online Inc. (AOL) began testing an AOL toolbar this week for the Firefox browser and a version of its Web-mail service that features an integrated calendar, according to an AOL spokeswoman.

For more on this:
- read full story from infoworld, Dec 21 2005


9. Vendors, users dispute FTC report on spam

Some antispam vendors and computer users haven't seen the same picture the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was viewing when it reported Tuesday that many people are receiving less unsolicited commercial e-mail in their inboxes now, compared to two years ago.

For more on this:
- read full story from infoworld, Dec 21 2005


10. MS: Want Windows Live Messenger? Pay.

The only thing hotter than the Xbox 360 this holiday season may be invites to join the Windows Live Messenger beta test. Thankfully, Microsoft has a recommendation for those who can't wait for access to the latest bits: pay for an invitation on eBay.

For more on this:
- read full story from eweek.com, Dec 21 2005