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Editors Note: This story originally ran on BetaNews.com and appears on eWEEK with the sites permission. Finding middle ground when it comes to copy protection has proved nearly impossible, with consumers consistently blasting efforts by record labels to prevent copying by disabling CD playback on a PC. But Microsoft says it has found the answer […]

AOL this month debuted in beta form a stand-alone e-mail client bundled with a new version of AOL Instant Messenger and an address book, a package collectively dubbed AOL Communicator. Code-named Photon, Communicator has been in development for close to two years, although AOL has made no decisions on how to market the product. But […]

An internal alpha build of Microsofts next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, made its way onto the Internet early Tuesday. The leaked build, which is numbered 3683, appears to be from late September and sports quite a few new feature concepts—although many are not yet functional. Microsoft experienced a similar leak during the alpha stages […]

In a surprise move, America Online Inc. on Monday took the first steps to enabling interoperability between its AOL client and ICQ in a refresh build of AOL 8.0 released to beta testers. Beta users can now add an ICQ number to their buddy lists, but messages cannot be exchanged until AOL releases a new […]

A leaked copy of Microsoft Corp.s forthcoming MSN 8 made the rounds on Internet sites Monday, giving subscribers an early look at the updated service on the eve of AOL 8.0s official launch. Set to debut on October 24, MSN 8 features an enhanced version of MSN Explorer with improved junk mail filters and new […]

Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 is on track to make its summer deadline despite numerous delays that pushed the long-awaited update from a planned early 2002 release. Indicating SP3 is near completion, Microsoft today made available to testers a release candidate refresh, marked build 3.151. “Thank you for all your help in testing Windows 2000 […]

Microsoft Corp. sent to testers this week the Beta 2 release of its Wireless Home Networking hardware and software product, which is described much like current wireless gateways. An initial beta program ran until May, and this second beta phase is expected to extend through July. Testers will be asked to return beta kits, but […]

After almost a year of delays, AOL has taken the much anticipated first step to make Netscapes Gecko the default browsing engine in its client, a move that could breathe new life into the now stagnant browser war. As first revealed by BetaNews, AOL began developing the browser agnostic technology dubbed Komodo last year after […]

“All IP protection technologies will be cracked at some point; its just a matter of time.” Thats what Allen Nieman, product manager of Activation at Microsoft Corp., told BetaNews in an interview last May. But this week Niemans concession became a reality as a key generator capable of creating unique, valid installation and activation codes […]

In their ongoing quest to one up the other, America Online Time Warner is preparing to debut its answer to Microsoft Corp.s .Net Alerts, aptly titled AOL Alerts. First announced as a “soon-to-be-launched” Web service for the release of AOL 7.0 last week, users of AOL Instant Messenger will also be able to receive notifications. […]