According to the Java Lobby, a representative of Microsoft Corp. attempted to infiltrate their meeting at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco earlier this week. Microsoft's "Java Evangelist" (that's his official title) Brad Merrill apparently joined the 15,000-member Java-protection group and then used his personal e-mail address to RSVP a spot in the meeting. The lobby rescinded Merrill's reservation when another member pointed out that he "officially represents Microsoft on Java issues." Mr. Java Evangelist is sticking by his claims that he was only planning to attend the conference out of "personal interest" despite being highly paid solely to promote Microsoft's WinJava, which the Java Lobby opposes (as they should). "It is not appropriate for someone from Microsoft to participate in our discussion about strategy and tactics regarding Microsoft at this time and in this event. We don't want to muddy the waters about what's happening here," Java Lobby founder Rick Ross later noted. Microsoft has yet to comment about the incident.

While in Florida Wednesday for the WinHEC conference, behemoth CEO BillG said that Windows 98 (see story above) will be the last of its breed, confirming that all future versions of Windows will be based around NT. This benefits consumers because it would eliminate the 16bit and DOS sides of Windows which are inherently unstable, and it will benefit Microsoft because it costs three times as much as standard Windows does now. Funeral arrangements for MS-DOS have yet to be announced.
Also at WinHEC, Microsoft unveiled what some are calling a "browser on steroids." Code-named Chrome, the next generation operating system/browser combo is said to provide digital-television quality 3D animation and sound with less download time than standard browsers. Chrome, which has speed and memory requirements not present in any currently existing personal computers, will be released in August as a cost-added option for IE4/Win98, but not as a standalone product, possibly causing yet another government antitrust investigation of the company.

Due to squabbles over money and student protests, a controversial deal that would make the California State University system a business partner with Microsoft and other technology companies seems to be falling apart. The proposed ten-year CETI agreement (as reported here in December) between CSU and a limited liability corporation owned by Microsoft, Hughes, GTE and Fujitsu, would have the companies pay for a $300 million university-wide computer system upgrade. In return the corporations would be primary providers of software and services to the 23-campus university system for a decade. In addition, all CSU students would be trained in a Wintel-only environment, ensuring Microsoft's profitability for generations to come. California state legislators have since expressed doubt about the multi-billion-dollar deal and recently a representative of CSU said that the partners most likely won't meet the April 1st deadline for submitting a business plan. Let's hope this puppy is dead.. We'll keep you updated.

While visiting Singapore last week, Bill Gates was once again asked when he plans to retire from being Microsoft CEO. "I can certainly say that in 10 years' time or so, it probably would make sense to have somebody younger," he replied. A Behemoth spokesman later said that no retirement date has been set, and successors to Gates have not been determined because "It's never come up." BillG's leadership is extremely critical to the company because without his legal mind and sharp business sense, Microsoft would still be a 7-employee company in New Mexico.

Long-time Microsoft adversary and self-styled consumer advocate Ralph Nader has sent letters to the six biggest computer makers asking them to "offer the option of at least some alternative to the Windows OS." In the letters, which were posted on Nader's Consumer Project on Technology web site last week, Nader specifically mentioned operating systems such as Linux, BeOS (now available for x86 systems) and OpenDos which he feels OEMs should make available to consumers. So far, none of the OEMs nor Microsoft have publicly responded to Mr. Nader's letters.
In related news, the Consumer Project on Technology is planning to hold another anti-Microsoft conference in Washington DC this fall. Nothing has been set in stone yet, but project director Jamie Love said that the 1998 meeting will most likely be to discuss Microsoft solutions instead of just uncovering problems with the company like the 1997 conference.

BRIEFLY: Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte ruled that Microsoft must remove the "100 percent Pure Java" logo from all its products and web sites until the company's court battle with Sun has been settled. This ruling affects Internet Explorer 4.X and Microsoft's Software Development Kit (SDK) for Java. The behemoth has yet to decide if it will appeal this decision.
Virus protection company Trend Micro has discovered a new strain of "malicious code" (read: virus) that affects Microsoft Access Databases. The new virus, the first known to affect Access, is capable of spreading to other files but doesn't actually damage files. Behemoth officials said they're looking into the virus but aren't overly concerned because Orifice '97 has built-in virus controls.

_{Exiting judge cites Microsoft stock
Ms Shoots Down Plan To Support JavaBeans
Man Convicted in Gates Extortion Try
Regulators Scrutinize Microsoft WebTV Pilot
Future Browsers Will Render Windows Obsolete}