This optional update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail. This update was released in March 2005.

MSN Messenger 7.0.632 Beta. Microsoft has released an updated version of the MSN Messenger 7.0 Beta. This time at build 7.0.632.

The third mode of zoom does not always work as expected when watching live or recorded TV.

When you work in a program that loads both version 5 and version 6 of the Comctl32.dll file in Microsoft Windows XP, the program may stop responding, and an access violation may occur in the Comctl32.dll file.

Update for Windows XP SP2 (KB884883)

This update addresses an issue that could cause your system to stop responding if certain firewall or antivirus programs are installed. You can help resolve this issue by installing this HTTP.sys update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Affects Windows Server 2003, Windows XP SP2 and Tablet PC Edition 2005

Paul Thurott has got his hands on development news on IE7. key facts he mentions :- *IE 7 was originally scheduled for Longhorn.
*IE 7 will be focused on security, not new features.
*IE 7 will be free.

Thanks to Tom Warren over at Neowin.net for the Heads Up!

Today, Microsoft confirmed that an updated developer preview build of Windows codenamed "Longhorn," along with a preview of future updates to the "Designed for Windows" logo program will be available at WinHEC 2005 this year.

Thanks to Garikfox for the Heads Up!

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is designed to address the most demanding business needs of technical workstation users who require large amounts of memory and floating point performance in areas such as mechanical design and analysis, digital content creation, and scientific and high-performance computing applications.

Windows Media Player 10 is the all-in-one media player that provides the best experience for discovering, playing and taking your digital entertainment anywhere--on Windows XP PCs and the widest choice of portable devices.

Today at RSA, Bill Gates talked about Internet Explorer 7. As the guy responsible for IE, I wanted to say a couple of things about it.

MSN Messenger 7 Beta Build 604 contains quite a number of changes from the previous beta build (425) including slightly modified icons and a grey text message next to each contact icon's name actually explaining their current status (Online, Away, Offline etc).

Thanks to Neowin for the Heads Up!

According to a message posted on February 9th at the MSN Messenger download site, all users on 6.1 and 6.2 are being forced to upgrade to the latest build or be 'blocked' from the service.

Flexbeta.net has got it's take on Windows XP Reduced Media Edition, which is basically Windows XP Pro stripped of it's Windows Media Player. To sum it up, there is hardly any noticable difference between XP RME and XP Pro, except for the welcome screen and Windows not recognizing their own file format. The article hints how this may be the beginning to a Windows OS clean of Microsoft applications. Bye-Bye IE?

The February 2005 Update of the Microsoft DirectX SDK is finally here.

Install Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Release Candidate 2 (RC2) to help secure your server and to better defend against hackers. Windows Server 2003 SP1 RC2 enhances security infrastructure by providing new security tools such as Security Configuration Wizard, which helps secure your server for role-based operations, improves defense-in-depth with Data Execution Protection, and provides a safe and secure first-boot scenario with Post-setup Security Update Wizard. Windows Server 2003 SP1 RC2 assists IT professionals in securing their server infrastructure and provides enhanced manageability and control for Windows Server 2003 users.

Tweak MCE gives you access to systems settings and options not normally exposed in the Windows XP Media Center Edition user interface, including remote control settings, Skip and Replay time customizations, user interface options, and more. It also helps you to optimize Media Center Extender for plasma and non-CRT displays.

The security updates for February 2005 include several high-priority updates for Microsoft Windows that also affect Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Media Player technologies. If you have any of the software listed on this page installed on your computer, you should install the updates from Windows Update.

This week at Neowin, we've had the chance to take a look at Microsoft's answer to the controversial EU decision.

Microsoft have been forced to remove their Windows Media Player from Windows XP. The product which was originally named "Reduced Media Edition" is rumoured to be renamed after the EU complained to Microsoft officials about their naming strategy.

Microsoft adopted a new mantra on Thursday, promising to work harder to make its software work better with other software systems and hardware, Chairman Bill Gates said in an e-mail to customers.
Previously, such e-mails signaled the launch of massive new efforts by the world's largest software company. The last major initiative, to improve the security of the company's software, was launched by Gates three years ago, and most messages since then have focused on that issue. But in Thursday's lengthy e-mail, sent to major corporate customers and made public by Microsoft, the company said it would boost efforts to make its software work more smoothly, or "interoperate" with other existing technologies. Reuters has more

TechWeb reported:Microsoft on Thursday gave early warning that next week's monthly dose of security bulletins and patches will be among its biggest ever. According to the Advance Notification service, which pre-announces upcoming patches but limits the information disclosed, next Tuesday's roundup will include 13 security bulletins, at least three of which will be marked "Critical," the Redmond, Wash.-based developer's most dire warning.