On December 7th Microsoft released a new version of its Java Virtual Machines for Windows 95, 98, NT and IE4 that the company said complies with the Sun v. Microsoft court ruling [see NewsSource, Nov. 23]. The new JVM, which Microsoft also says is faster than earlier releases, adds Sun's Java Native Interface that Ms had replaced with a Windows-proprietary version. The proprietary interface remains in Microsoft's machine, but only so Java written for it will work properly. Macintosh versions of IE are being modified to use JVMs made by other companies like Apple, while the Unix versions of Internet Explorer will not be upgraded since they already use JVMs provided by their operating systems.
Four days later, Sun announced that their testing had found an error in the JVM's handling of arithmetic functions. The bug was found when Sun ran a benchmark test on the updated machine to record its speed and performance, along with other tests to checks the JVM's compatability. A spokesperson said Microsoft has not heard about the problem, but "takes bug problems seriously." Sun has yet to release any results from the benchmark or compatability tests.

COURT NOTES: Also on the 7th, Microsoft claimed that the integration of Internet Explorer into its operating system creates efficiency. But not according to David Forber, the government expert who testified Tuesday as witness to microsoft's claims. According to Forber, the integration of IE is not efficient to the end user, and rather results in many inefficiencies in performance, redundancy of code, and increased risk of bugs. To push the argument further he stated, in theory, that "Microsoft could bundle together all its existing and future applications with its current product sold as Windows 98." [a possibility we mentioned several weeks ago] This would become a very large waste of space indeed.
South Carolina has backed out of the lawsuit originally filed against Microsoft by the Justice Department and 20 other US states. South Carolina's Attorney general explained his withdrawal by saying the computer industry is competitive afterall, citing AOL's acquisition of Netscape and subsequent alliance with Sun on November 24. The state's abandonment bumped MSFT stock to a record high. Although South Carolina is the first state to back out of the trial it may not be the last, considering the ads Microsoft has been running as of late in major newspapers, quoting officials and experts opposed to the antitrust case.
Then on the 10th, Microsoft accused Sun Microsystems of a double standard in dealing with Netscape and Microsoft on Java implementation in their web browsers. Specifically, both companies have not completely implemented the Java code correctly. In 1997 Netscape told Sun it would be late in implementing the Java Native Interface, and Microsoft says Sun was more forgiving of Netscape than of Microsoft because of the companies' competition. But the DOJ stands by its charges that The Behemoth expanded Java for its own uses. According to Sun Vice President James Gosling, "Our view was that when Microsoft was holding out their hand there was a knife in the hand and they were expecting us to grab the blade." John Warden, Microsoft's lead attorney, later explained "Microsoft competed hard with Java and got ahead of Sun," but failed to mention that it was at the expense of cross-platform capabilities Sun and millions of others had worked so hard to achieve.

To fight software piracy, consumers will be required to register the next version of Microsoft Office. Current versions of Office require user registration in their licenses, but Office 2000 will stop working all together unless the program is registered with Microsoft before 51 uses. The so-called 'Registration Wizard' will be included with English-language versions of Office sold in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. (Apparently the "feature" will not be a part of any Asian versions, even though more pirated software originates from Asia than anywhere else in the world.) If it works correctly, the Registration Wizard could be included in other Microsoft products as well, especially big-money software like Windows. Anyone doubt this thing will end up being a key part of Windows 2000?

And speaking of Windows 2000, the man many consider responsible for that product and its many delays has apparently been replaced. 11-year Microsoft veteran Moshe Dunie - who in the past headed the NT 4 testing and Windows 98 development teams - is reportedly handing his duties as Windows development vice president off to Exchange Server department head Brian Valentine. Microsoft publically claims that Dunie wats to spend more time with his family, saying that he "decided to take a sabbatical once he got the product to a critical point with Beta 2." But sources inside The Behemoth are saying otherwise, indicating that Dunie could be paying the price for Windows 2000's habitual lateness.

A lawsuit filed last week in San Jose California accuses Microsoft of sabotaging an e-mail greeting card company. The company, Blue Mountain Arts, says a beta of Microsoft's Outlook Express e-mail software filters the company's e-mail greeting cards into a folder intended for spam. The lawsuit also says that Microsoft's WebTV service pulls a similar trick, preventing the e-mail greetings from ever getting to their intended recipients. Blue Mountain says the service worked fine until Microsoft introduced its own e-mail greeting card service on the MSN network. Microsoft has admitted the problems exist, but says it wasn't a deliberate action since the filters supposedly block MSN e-cards too. But Blue Mountain's law firm contends that their own tests show otherwise.

Last Friday Microsoft posted patches for a security problem in Excel 97. The bug apparently involves a function allowing external executable files to be run directly from the worksheet. The problem with the function is it doesn't warn the user when an external application is about to be run. That would permit "malicious" spreadsheet makers to load programs with viruses or other dangerous code. Microsoft says there have been no reports of someone taking advantage of this security breach, but says that it will be corrected in the next version of Excel, which is due sometime before the middle of next year [see Office 2000 story above].

Software developer Ruth H. Kaczmarek filed suit against Microsoft last week for shipping database tools that it knew were not Y2K compliant. Kaczmarek claims that Microsoft distributed the Fox Pro and Visual Fox Pro database development tools back in 1993 and 1995 even though it was aware of "latent defects" in the products. Kaczmarek is seeking compensation and punitive damages in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago by the lawfirms Gold & Rosenfeld and Massachusetts-based Gogel, Phillips and Garcia LLP.

Last Monday Microsoft released patches for several date-related problems inside Windows 98. The patches, which correct Y2K problems and the date rollover bug in the supposedly Y2K-compliant OS, are avilable on CD or for download at the Microsoft dotcom. This is the second minor update/patch released for Win98 since its release in June, a service pack is due out in another 5 or 6 weeks.
Less than a month ago WebTV was saying that its customers couldn't handle the additional $20 cost of adding RealAudio to WebTV units [see NewsSource, Nov. 9], but last week a WebTV manager stated that the next version of Microsoft's television internet access service will include support for version 5 of the streaming media product: "Probably, we should have done Real Audio sooner--it seems like it's something people want." And it only took nation-wide tech media coverage and a protest by hundreds of WebTV customers for Microsoft to figure that out.
Microsoft and Barnes & Noble have announced a new deal making barnesandnoble.com the exclusive bookseller on the MSN network of web sites. In return, B&N has made MSN Expedia the official travel store of barnesandnoble.com. Links will now be provided from the Expedia travel site to barnesandnoble.com's travel book section and vice-versa. Similar deals will be set up with other MSN sites like the small business channel.
MSN's money-losing internet access unit has sent a notice to its Candaian customers, saying that it will no longer offer service in that country after January 1, 1999. Customers currently on MSN Canada can keep their msn.com e-mail addresses when AT&T takes over the service next month, and in most cases their $24.95 monthly bill will drop.

_{Microsoft, Thingworld.com in streaming deal
Nasdaq giving Windows NT a chance
ClearType Draws from Apple II, Says Developer
Teen gets Microsoft certification
Microsoft continues drive to 64 bits}