Newsgab

Microsoft just released the licensing agreements for Windows Vista, and you need to read them carefully.

Buried in the fine print is a dramatic change in licensing terms from the Windows XP versions. Think you can transfer a retail Windows license to any machine you want? Think again.

That limitation on retail licenses is a remarkable change. Previously, a retail license could be removed from one computer and reinstalled on another with no limits. Now, you get to reinstall one time and one time only.

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Tesco Britain’s biggest retailer are ready to challenge the giants of Microsoft and Symantec (Norton Anti Virus).

They are going to expand their own brand market into computer software, by offering a starter range of six products. They will comprise an office suite, a photo editor, and also a security system.

The diversification into software they see as a natural extension of what has been an aggressive campaign to expand beyond selling food.

They have already started a service which will be a competitor for Argos, the bargain store household goods. Tesco announced last month that it intends to expand their range of non food goods by 8000 items.

Each package is expected to sell for less than £20.00, which is significantly cheaper than other branded software.

The owner of one of America’s largest internet software piracy websites has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Nathan Peterson, 27, of Los Angeles, sold copyrighted products, by companies such as Microsoft and Adobe Systems. His site iBackups.net, operated from 2003 intil he was shut down in 2005.

Not only did he get 87 months. Judge T.S. Ellis III ordered Peterson to pay restitution of more than $5.4 million and to forfeit the proceeds of his scheme. The profits are in real estate, cars and boats.

Peterson pleaded guilty in December in Alexandria to two counts of copyright infringement.Justice Department and industry officials called the case one of the largest involving Internet software piracy ever prosecuted.

Last month, Ellis sentenced a Florida man to six years in prison, for selling illegal copies of computer programs on another site, BuysUSA.com.

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At least five employees of Apple’s retail stores have been fired after downloading copies of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard from the Internet that were distributed to developers at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference two weeks ago.

The sacked employees, went to work, and discussed their illegal download. When they were overheard Apple investigated then for violating their NDA’s.

“All of us know that we violated our NDA and ethics policy. Therefore, because we had the character to tell the truth and to face the consequences of our actions, we were terminated,”

said one of the fired employees.

“My only question is, if we all lied and denied it would we still be working at Apple today? Even more so, is that the kind of person that Apple wants working for them?”

It is now twenty five years since IBM launched the personal computer and quite literally changed the world.

If you cannot remember life before computers then you will not really have any concept of the momumental change that occured.

Prior to the personal computer IBM made main frames, huge computers that were the size of a room.

There was no operating system such as Windows the operating system was Dos.

Instructions were read and related to a computer by ticker tape with holes punched into it.

The computer that NASA used to send man to the moon was enormous and it was a 2k machine.

The home computer made the industry standard. It took it out of the realms of geeks and nerds.

Despite being touted as the most secure version of the Windows operating series to date, Microsoft’s upcoming Vista has already been hacked reports CNET News.com.

Microsoft handed out early copies of their new operating system to attendees at the Black Hat hacker conference last week, inviting them to take their best shot at hacking into it.

The company hoped to convince the industry that their latest operating system will be the most secure and malware-proof system on the market.

The result has been a mixed grill of sorts, with Polish researcher Joanna Rutkowska demonstrating that the security systems in Vista can be sidestepped by using a piece of malicious software that she named “Blue Pill“, according to CNET News.com.

Microsoft wasn’t too perturbed by this however.

Microsoft Head Honcho, Bill Gates announced Yesterday that he will gradually give up his day-to-day duties at the company to concentrate on the charitable work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates, 50, will continue as the company’s chairman after transferring his duties over a two-year period.

“This was a hard decision for me,” said Gates, who founded the world’s largest software company with childhood friend Paul Allen. “I’m very lucky to have two passions that I feel are so important and so challenging. As I prepare for this change, I firmly believe the road ahead for Microsoft is as bright as ever.”

However, “I’m not leaving Microsoft,” he said.

Gates also said he had no plans to give up the distinction of being the company’s largest shareholder.

“I’m proud of that,” he said. I’m sure he is, just imagine the share dividends!

A report at Vnunet reveals the minimum requirements a PC will need to run Microsofts forthcoming Windows Vista operating system.

A ‘Vista Capable’ PC will require at least an 800MHz processor, 512MB of system memory, a DirectX 9 capable graphics card, a 40GB hard drive with at least 15GB of free space, a DVD drive, and audio and internet capabilities

The only extra requirements for a ‘Vista Premium Ready’ PC are a 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1GB of Ram and a graphics card with 128MB of onboard memory capable of supporting Windows Aero2.

The announcement is likely to put Intel’s and AMD’s noses out of joint, as the chip manufacturers are thought to have been expecting strong motherboard and processor sales on the back of the Vista launch.

But the news is good for consumers who can expect to take less of a hit on their pocket than previously expected.

King of search Google will introduce a spreadsheet program today, continuing its expansion into territory long dominated by their good chums at Microsoft.

Although it’s still considered a work in progress, Google’s online spreadsheet will offer consumers and businesses a free alternative to Microsoft’s Excel.

To avoid swamping the company’s computers, Google’s spreadsheet initially will be distributed in beta format to a limited number of users.

During this time they will smooth out any kinks and develop more features, said Jonathan Rochelle, the product manager of the new application. It’s likely additional features and functionality will be added during this beta stage before the full public release is made.

As promised (though not as exclusive as Gamespot may have liked) the demo for the upcoming “4D” shooter TimeShift is now available.

The demo includes one singleplayer level from the retail version, where you must use the special timeshifting powers your character has to infiltrate a heavily guarded building so you can meet with an important rebel leader on the top floor. The demo comes in at a chunky 577 Meg.

Download Timeshift Demo from : Gamespot (Registration Required) | 3D Games | Gamershell | Filenuts | Download.com

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