Category: Business & Tech News

Following a release to MSDN subscribers last week, Microsoft has made its March Community Technology Previews of Avalon and Indigo available for public download. Avalon and Indigo are two “fundamentals” of Longhorn, the next release of Windows. Avalon is the presentation subsystem and Indigo is a platform for Web services. According to Microsoft, Avalon unifies how Windows creates, displays and manipulates documents, media, and user interfaces. Indigo extends the .NET Framework 2.0 with additional APIs…

By David Worthington, www.BetaNews.com Following an interview with Orlando Ayala, senior vice president of Microsoft’s small and midmarket solutions group, Microsoft Watch is reporting that a new Windows Server edition will target mid-sized businesses. Known as Windows Midmarket Server (MMS), the SKU may an attempt to duplicate the success Microsoft experienced with Windows Small Business Server, which bundled together several server products into a single deliverable. Sources close to Microsoft Watch have said that Windows…

By David Worthington, www.BetaNews.com As expected, a beta program for the Microsoft Update (MU) service has opened up to solicit feedback from testers and troubleshoot prior to the site’s scheduled launch later in 2005. The site unifies Microsoft’s patching services and will be the primary destination for updates to Windows, Office and other applications. Microsoft Update was first announced by Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates during his RSA Conference 2005 keynote. “Update consolidation…

By Ed Oswald, www.BetaNews.com Apple enthusiast sites are reporting that reliable sources say Apple is developing its first two button mouse, but no specific release date is known. AppleInsider said a change of heart within the company, as well as the push in recent months to regain market share from Windows has made such a move necessary. Macintosh users have been asking for an Apple-manufactured two button mouse for several years, however the company has…

Commodore Makes Comeback with Mpet II By Ed Oswald www.betanews.com Most of us who have been around technology for the better part of the last two decades will remember the name Commodore. Commodore computers were the best selling PCs of the 1980s. However, as Microsoft took center stage, the company faded away, eventually being bought by Dutch company Tulip Computers after filing for bankruptcy in 1994. Enter a U.S. firm called Yeahronimo Media Ventures, a…