Looks like it's a Microsoft day today! Just spotted this piece of MSN Messenger 4.7 news from Msnfanatic.com!

Microsoft plans to introduce an update to Windows Messenger with the release of Service Pack 1. "In order for Windows Messenger to be hidden and removed, we had to make changes, and that's manifested in (version) 4.7," Cullinan said. "Also there have been some security issues (in Windows Messenger), and those will be addressed also."

So its not out yet... but im sure someone will leak it... or it might just go public before we go mad being crashed.

Xp-erience.org have found the latest service pack for the PLUS! add-on for Windows XP.



This update includes new Plus! CD Label Maker templates and Plus! Speaker Enhancement speaker profiles. It also fixes minor issues with Plus! MP3 Audio Converter and Plus! screen savers, discovered since the release of Plus! for Windows XP. This will update your version 1.00.00.0554 of Plus! for Windows XP to version 1.00.01.0732.

Our good friends @ Neowin.net have sent word on a new release of IE6 SP 1 Build 2800.1041 in english. Here's what they got to report:

Thanks Anonymous for sending me the fourth IE6 SP1 Beta announcement and release notes. SP1 will bring fixes and new features as you can see from the following notes posted below and in "read more" this is unconfirmed, feel free to confirm or otherwise.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 Beta

New Build Announcement For IE 6 SP 1 Build 2800.1041 in English The Internet Explorer Team is pleased to deliver the second beta release of Internet Explorer 6 SP 1! As always, we recommend that you uninstall any beta versions of Internet Explorer before installing Internet Explorer 6 SP1.

Just got this info from our good friends @ Neowin.net.

With all the news at the moment on Windows XP's soon to be beta tested/released/leaked (whatever!) Service Pack 1 (SP1), I read this interesting snippet on The Register.

And one last thing readers who're no better than they should be should bear in mind about SP1. Microsoft is going to engineer it so that it won't work on a widely-warezed activation key, which as we recall escaped form a large friend of Microsoft beginning with D. It would appear that Microsoft does not intend application of SP1 to vape systems installed using that key, but simply to freeze them where they are, and to block their ability to use Windows Update. Microsoft has used service packs to disable installations it deemed pirated in the past, and we'd guess it's decided not to do this because it might hit legit systems by mistake, or generate adverse publicity from innocent victims.

According to a story running at CNET Microsoft plans to begin testing on SP1 within a couple of weeks. The service pack is said to include some major updates including significant security fixes related to the trustworthy computing initiative called to life by Bill Gates himself. CNET reports that Windows XP SP1 will ship to manufacturers this summer and will also be available as a free download from WindowsUpdate.

Just got this in my email box!

This is what will change video gaming forever - worldwide, low cost online gameplay on the most advanced video game system. Come find out all the details about Xbox Live.

Alert: Sign up today for a chance to participate in the Xbox Live Beta test program!

This white paper describes the features of Microsoft Windows Update Corporate Edition, a new tool for managing and distributing critical Windows patches that resolve known security vulnerabilities and other stability issues in Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows .NET Server operating systems. This paper also presents solutions for some customer scenarios which Windows Update Corporate Edition addresses.

This product will be available in Q2 / 2002 as a web download from www.microsoft.com. More details will be posted to www.microsoft.com soon.

In order for IE to parse a local file as a html document the filename extension must be associated with html documents (normally .htm and .html). Also html code must be found somewhere in the beginning of the file (IE will only scan a certain amount of bytes in the file). This is good security because several types of userdata is stored in local files (cookies, favorites/bookmarks, application userdata etc). The problem is that IE can be tricked into thinking that a local file is a html document regardless of file extension. Press READ MORE for further info.

Neowin are reporting that MSN 8 is just around the corner folks! Just received this from Mr. X on the suport desk MSN 8, and in the email it reveals that an internal beta was released two days ago - 20/5/02. Although we only have speculation on whats new in the program, there are various new features that will make the program quite desirable, one hopes.

Microsoft Releases Your Personal Hotmail Info! If you have a Hotmail account - or if you've used Microsoft Passport - for more than a month, there's something you need to check.

Tool 1: This command-line tool allows you to manage the Service Principal Names (SPN) directory property for an Active Directory? directory service account. SPNs are used to locate a target principal name for running a service. SetSpn allows you to view the current SPNs, reset the host SPNs, and add or delete supplemental SPNs.

Tool 2: This command-line tool allows you to set all file system security options that are accessible in Windows Explorer. XcAcls does this by displaying and modifying the access control lists (ACLs) of files. XcAcls is especially useful in unattended installations of Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or Server. By using this tool, you can set the initial access rights for folders in which the operating system resides

Title: May 15th, 2002 Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer (Q321232)
Software: Internet Explorer
Impact: Six new vulnerabilities, the most serious of which could allow code of attacker's choice to run.
Max Risk: Critical
This is a cumulative patch that includes the functionality of all previously released patches for IE 5.01, 5.5 and 6.0. In addition, it eliminates the following six newly discovered vulnerabilities: Read more...

The MS utility that helps you completely remove Microsoft Office 2000 is available from Microsoft. The Office 2000 CD1 and CD2 File and Registry Eraser Utility removes most of the files and Windows registry settings that remain on the computer after you remove Office. This utility is designed to be used on stand-alone computers or workstations. You should not use this utility to completely clean a working copy of Office from a computer. You should only run this utility after you run the Setup program for Office 2000 and click Remove Office.

Well it does stop not at Windows 2000 SP4, but you can also view other hot fix folders too. You can view hot fixes for the following operating systems: Windows NT SP7 Windows 2000 SP3 Windows XP SP1 Press Read more for further details and direct links.

Even thought Windows 2000 SP3 is not even out yet, Microsoft have now begun work on Service Pack 4. Work started on these hotfixs as early as the 8th of April 2002. Want to know more and view the SP4 folder? Sure you do. Press read more for futher info.

This document is a cumulative list of the articles that have been written to discuss hotfixes that have been released since the release of Windows XP. Click the Q# of the Knowledge Base article below to view the article. Rancho*: Very informative, but where is the bus? You can't download any patches for about 65% of the whole preSP1 list...

OK peeps this is my last post for a few days cos am off to party. It's my B Day! HeHe...

Did you know Microsoft was convicted of software piracy on September 27th, 2001 by a french court? Well nor did we...

Commercial Court of Nanterre fined Microsoft 3 million francs (EUR 457,347 or US$ 408,141) because it illegally included another company's proprietary source code in SoftImage 3D, a top-of-the-line animation package.

The strange thing is that anti-microsoft news sites such as Slashdot, InfoWorld, NewsForge... and many tech news sites including us didn't notice this important piece of news. The only person who did was Peruvian congressman Edgar David Villanueva Nuñez.

On our german site Planet-XP they got new screenshots, but now they have pictures of system, server-admin tools and more... Click on Read More... for direct link to the pictures.

Just got word that our sister site Planet-XP.de have got hold of some exclusive screenshots of Windows.NET Server Build 3621!

Who should read this bulletin: All customers using the Microsoft® MSN Chat control, which is available for direct download and ships with MSN Messenger and Exchange Instant Messenger.

Impact of vulnerability: Run Code of Attacker's Choice

Maximum Severity Rating: Critical