Everyone seems to be covering this story at the moment, so this is hardly an exclusive, but I figured it’s important enough to warrant a mention.

Microsoft has told us that we can expect Longhorn, the next version of the Windows operating system, in 2006 sometime. Because of delays caused by the release of Service Pack 2 for WinXP, it might not be possible to release the full version of Longhorn originally anticipated. (Bill Gates originally said Longhorn would be released sometime in 2003)

Microsoft project managers are apparently insisting that parts of the release be removed in order to bring the product to market on time, or at least not too far behind.

Two things that might be removed, are WinFS and Avalon, ironically two of the main things that made Longhorn interesting. WinFS is the database back end of Longhorn that was set to make searching your hard drive much easier and more detailed, regardless of the file type. And Avalon was the new display system of Longhorn, which was much simpler and more powerful then its predecessor. It was also capable of some pretty impressive eye candy.

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The guys at the “Web Standards Project” who have long been pushing browser makers to support and be compliant with web standards has now begun promoting the site Browsehappy which is dedicated to helping everyday people change browsers away from Internet Explorer. Basically they are saying the same things I’ve been saying here for some time now. Internet Explorer is old, it hasn’t been updated much at all in the past 4 years, it’s lacking many important features and worst of all, it has a seemingly endless supply of security flaws.

None of the guys have any beef against Microsoft, they have just found that other browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Opera offer more features and better security and help them work and play better. These are the best guys to be promoting this sort of thing, just everyday folk with no bias towards or against any of the contenders.

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ISP and related industry seeks to water down proposed legislation that may hold them responsible for file sharing. The problem with the original proposal it seems is that it may hold everyone responsible because the costs incurred in defending litigation will surely be passed to all consumers. The real culprits — those sharing illegally — should be the ones held responsible.

Well, I said in a past article that we were comment spammed, but that quick removal made them realise we were not a good target. I was wrong.

In the last 4 hours, we have been hit with about 40 or so spam comments posted to our past stories. Luckily I had changed the system over to ask us for approval before accepting any comments, so I was able to delete the spam comments before they were even published to the site. (though I expect a dozen more attempts when I get up in the morning.)

This is most likely being done via automated scripts, some real person looked out our system, and tailored a pre-made script to submit spam to it. It’s not really targeted at readers, they look to be targeted at Google and the other search engines in an effort to get the pages of the spammers ranked higher.

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Apparently Windows running on a Xeon Server, (about the cheapest Intel server you can buy that isn’t based on a desktop machine) is cheaper to buy and run then Linux on an IBM mainframe. (probably one of the most expensive servers you can buy.)

Now, put your hand up if you believe after reading this that it means that Windows is cheaper then Linux. (If your hand is up right now and you don’t do marketing for Microsoft, turn off your PC, and check yourself into a clinic, because you need help.)

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK, have agreed that Microsoft’s advertisement comparing Windows on a Xeon server to Linux on an IBM mainframe isn’t exactly a fair comparison and have labeled it potentially misleading advertising. (I’ve always found the poms penchant for understatement curious.)

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Jasc Software has released a new pair of products. Their popular Paint Shop Pro, a competitor of Photoshop, has become similar in one more way, two versions. One called Studio, is more intuitive and light, much like Photoshop Elements is meant to be I think. The other, Paint Shop Pro 9 (Nine) is meant for the more serious digital worker.

In a recent article in Consumer Reports magazine, PSP didn’t fare too well because the magazine placed emphasis on ease of use. For those wanting that ease of use … there you go. I think I would prefer the features, although I have to admit I have not found PSP 8 (Eight) nearly as easy to use as versions 6 and 7 that I initially “fell in love with.”

SPAM is a huge money earning business, both for the companies using it to sell products, and the companies selling products to stop it.

One of the worries of the spammer is getting caught and being prosecuted. This has been made more of a problem by new laws in many parts of the world outlawing unsolicited commercial email, though this doesn’t just relate to normal spammers, virus writers and phishing scammers use the same techniques to avoid the authorities and they are even more invasive and illegal activities.

In an effort to continue their nefarious activities, while lessoning the risks, the spammers are starting to merge or make deals with proponents of other, even worse online activities, such as cracking and virus writing. The latest trend is to use a world wide network of hacked or virus infected PC’s most of which are running one of the many recent Windows virus’s that installs a back-door into the PC (unbeknownst to their owners) to host websites that are nearly untraceable by conventional means.

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