Microsoft, Turbolinux to push single sign-on
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InfoWorld - Microsoft and Turbolinux, a Tokyo-based Linux distributor, are cozying up with a patent cross-licensing deal and agreement to work more closely together, the companies said Tuesday.
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Microsoft on Thursday rushed to put the kibosh on talk that it was abandoning the single sign-on Passport identity management service.
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(InfoWorld) - Japan's Turbolinux will begin selling its Wizpy Linux-based multimedia player in February. As a bonus, the device can also be used to boot a PC into the Linux OS, allowing users to access their files in their own working environment on almost any PC. The Wizpy will be available first to customers in Japan via the company's home page on Feb. 23 and then in shops in March. It will come in two models: a 2GB version will cost Â¥29,800 ($245) and a 4GB version will cost Â¥33,800. At first glance the Wizpy doesn't look very different from other multimedia players on the market: A 1.7-inch OLED (organic light emitting diode) color screen occupies the top half of the front of the Wizpy and the lower half has a keypad. Within, there is software to play music in Ogg, MP3, and Windows Media Audio formats, and to show XviD and MPEG4 video files and JPEG images. It can also record sound to MP3 files and display text files, and has an FM radio. But the Wizpy's flash memory hides another feature that differentiates it from other media players: a bootable version of Linux. The operating system doesn't have to be installed on the computer, but runs straight from the Wizpy. "The installation operation is ... a high barrier of entry for users to use Linux. So we came up with this device," said Koichi Yano, president and CEO of Turbolinux. To the computer, the Wizpy appears to be a bootable USB CD-ROM or hard-disk drive, which means most computers will boot the Linux OS without any fuss, said Turbolinux. For some PCs -- the company estimates about a quarter of those it has tested so far -- users will either have to insert a supplied CD-ROM into the computer, which will divert the boot-up sequence to the Wizpy, or make a change in the computer's BIOS settings so the PC looks to a USB-connected device for an operating system before its own hard-disk drive. The device should work with all PCs, and on newer models of Apple's Macintosh that are based in Intel chips, said Yano. The Wizpy contains an updatable version of Turbolinux's own operating system, based on Linux kernel 2.6.19, the Firefox browser, Thunderbird e-mail client, Skype, CD and DVD ripping software, Turbo Media Player, RealPlayer 10, a Flash player, Open Office 2.1, Adobe Acrobat reader, some Ricoh fonts and Justsystem's ATOK Japanese input system The OS and installed software occupies about 1GB of memory space so that leaves either 1GB or 3GB left for storing files or multimedia, depending on the model. User files can be stored in either a media folder, which is accessible from the host PC when the Wizpy is connected as removable storage, or a documents folder, which is only accessible from within the Linux OS on the device. It's not possible to access files stored on the host machine's hard disk drive when it is booted from the Wizpy. This is intended to reassure people who lend their PCs to Wizpy owners: they will be able to do so knowing that the Wizpy user cannot ferret around in their files, a company official said. The device will be able to connect to a network through the host PC and also access connected peripherals, if they are supported. Because Linux support for some audio hardware is patchy, the Wizpy uses its own audio output system: Users can plug speakers into the device's headphones socket to hear system sounds. The Wizpy should start appearing outside of Japan from April, priced in the same way as in Japan, where it is aligned with local iPod prices, said Yano.
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Linux Journal recently caught up with Mandriva CEO, Fran??ois Bancilhon, to find out more about a recently announced partnership between Mandriva of France and Turbolinux of Japan. read more
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Despite reports to the contrary, Microsoft has confirmed to BetaNews that it has made no changes to its Windows Genuine Advantage program to lock out users with invalid or pirated keys. "Microsoft has no plans to lock users out of their PCs, nor does it have the technical capacity to do so," the company told BetaNews.
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(InfoWorld) - Leaders of Microsoft's strategy to make its products more interoperable with competitive technologies said the company still hopes to strike a Linux pact with Red Hat similar to the partnerships it's forged with Linux vendors Novell, Xandros, and Linspire. "We'd love to do the same deal with Red Hat," said Tom Robertson, general manager of corporate interoperability and standards at Microsoft in an interview Friday. "We're always open to talking with them." That sentiment so far has not been the same on Red Hat's end, as the company has said it's not interested in a deal. Red Hat spokeswoman Leigh Day said Friday that is still the case. "We continue to believe that open source and the innovation it represents should not be subject to an unsubstantiated tax that lacks transparency," she said in an e-mail. Still, some wonder -- as Microsoft lines up the other Linux ducks in a neat little row -- if Red Hat might be next, and rumors suggest a pact might be imminent. Microsoft's latest Linux deal came Thursday in an intellectual property-sharing and interoperabilityÂ agreement with LinspireÂ that would shield the company's customers from Microsoft patent-infringement claims. The deal follows oneÂ struck by Microsoft and Linux distributor XandrosÂ last week, as well asÂ a high-profile and financially significantÂ deal with NovellÂ late last year. Microsoft has said it is seeking these partnerships for a couple of reasons. The one Robertson is most interested in is interoperability, as he -- along with Jean Paoli, general manager, interoperability and XML architecture -- is in charge of Microsoft's 18-month company-wide strategy in this area. Robertson said Microsoft customers have demanded the company address interoperability issues with other companies' software, including open source, and that IP (intellectual property) in those products is a concern for them. "If you look across the industry, you see companies working together to address IP on behalf of their customer base," he said. Microsoft has publicly said that Linux and other open source softwareÂ violates 235 of the company's patents. But rather than seek litigation as a way to settle these IP claims, Microsoft is striking these individual deals, Robertson said. However, much has been made of the fact that the company has not publicly disclosed any of the patents it claims open source software is violating. Robertson would not address why Microsoft will not show its patents and stopped short of claiming the deals with Novell, Linspire, and Xandros prove those companies are indeed violating Microsoft IP. None of the Linux companies will say so, either, and Novell in fact has vehemently denied infringement. This discrepancy is one reason some feel Red Hat will never sign up for an indemnification deal with Microsoft. The size and business viability of the companies that have signed on is another. Novell was flagging when its deal was struck -- and the company has continued to wane even since -- and some familiar with how it happened said it was a bailout to save the vendor from being split up and sold piecemeal. Indeed, Novell's U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing about the deal revealed that Novell got $348 million up front from Microsoft for patent cooperation and Linux coupons, while having to shell out only $40 million to Microsoft in return. Though Microsoft will not comment on the financial terms of deals with Xandros and Linspire, those familiar with the agreements said those companies also received financial compensation from Microsoft. This begs the question that if interoperability and protecting customers are Microsoft's ultimate goals for the deals, as Robertson said, why is the company so interested in Linux companies that ultimately don't affect that many customers? Many -- particularly those in the Linux camp -- suspect Microsoft is trying to make it appear that open source distributors are violating Microsoft IP to vilify them in an effort to dissuade customers from using Linux and other open source technologies. Bruce Perens, a longtime Linux and open source advocate, said Microsoft is giving Linux companies that are on the edge of going out of business money to create the illusion that Linux vendors are stealing its IP. Perens is a vice president at SourceLabs, a company that provides testing, management, and certification of open source software to users. "Here is Microsoft out collecting the losers in the Linux business and paying them money so they can ... paint open source as music pirates out there using Microsoft technology without a license," he said. "I think they're out to scare people." Even if this is the case, it take two to tango, and it's important to note that companies such as Novell, Linspire, and Xandros benefit in various ways from their deals with Microsoft. Aside from any financial compensation, the companies also gain access to Microsoft technology that would make their own Linux products more viable in the marketplace, analysts said. "These companies want the deals with Microsoft because it will make the products more attractive and more compatible with the Windows world," said Michael Silver, an analyst with Gartner. "It's pretty clear that there is definitely value for these companies."
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Ziff Davis - Efforts under way to revise the popular GNU General Public License could put additional pressure on Microsoft by the time it tries to push its long-awaited Windows upgrades out the door.
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The TurboLinux Wizpy, a multimedia media player that contains a PC-bootable version of the Linux operating system, will go on sale worldwide in June.
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InfoWorld - On Friday Japan&#39;s Turbolinux begins dispatching the first batch of its&#160;Wizpy handhelds&#160;to people who ordered them from its Web site. The flash-based multimedia player contains a version of Linux, so it can be used to boot a PC into the operating system, allowing users to access their files in their own working environment on almost any PC.
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Microsoft and Cisco will announce a partnership today to make the security features of their respective range of products compatible.
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Though the oft-delayed end of support for Windows NT 4.0 will arrive December 31, Microsoft this week detailed the steps its corporate customers can take to continue receiving support for the OS.
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Is this the right book to introduce Microsoft power users to Linux?
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InfoWorld - Microsoft is enlisting Linux distributor TurboLinux to help tailor work being done to translate documents between Open XML and ODF file formats for Japanese and Chinese users.
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Windows update doesn't play well with all applications, even Redmond's. Also: CNET Reviews on security work still to be done.
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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday agreed to require only a single license for server software that runs on computers powered by a new generation of chips
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Microsoft Corp.  on Tuesday agreed to require only a single license for server software that runs on computers powered by a new generation of chips that squeeze multiple processors into a single package.
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Japan's Turbolinux will begin selling its Wizpy Linux-based multimedia player in February. The Wizpy can also be used to boot a PC with the Linux OS.