Rutgers Faculty of Management
Dept of Management Science & Information Systems
1999-2001 courses of Prof. Papayanopoulos

Y2K Internet Week Resource Center
Microsoft Windows 2000 Central
TechWeb: Windows 2000 Coverage
This site is actively maintained only while relevant courses are in session Also look for tech headlines at: Computerworld | InternetWeek |
Selected IT headlines from the trade press
For instructional purposes. Items obtained from various WWW sources. Content is not endorsed & accuracy is not guaranteed. Click on a headline, below, to read the short story. Then click your browser's "Back" button to return here.		 2001 : New T-1 WAN Card From NPI Combines Layer 3 Switching With Internet Access; Industry First Eliminates Dedicated Routers for Internet Access (April 2)
Some Headlines of 2000
April 2, 2001  
New T-1 WAN Card From NPI Combines Layer 3 Switching With Internet Access; Industry First Eliminates Dedicated Routers for Internet Access

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2001--Network Peripherals Inc. (NPI) (Nasdaq:NPIX) announced today the industry's first wide area networking (WAN) card for fixed enterprise network switches that combines Internet access with Layer 3 functionality. It can be used to replace a dedicated router at the customer's site for Internet access, saving both money and space in customer premises equipment (CPE). NPI will display the product in its booth (no. 2639) at ISPCON Spring 2001 in Baltimore, April 4-6.

 The new WAN card is designed for T-1 frame relay Internet access and may be used in NPI's Cornerstone6g, Cornerstone12g and Keystone24mg Gigabit Ethernet switches. NPI believes the card is an ideal solution for mid-sized enterprise networks and work groups needing high-speed Internet access.
The WAN card has an integrated channel service unit/data service unit (CSU/DSU) interface, eliminating the need for additional equipment between the T-1 interface and network. The card includes two T-1 interfaces and will sell for a suggested retail price of $2,495. Available in May, the new product will be sold through NPI's network of value added resellers and OEM partners.
"This WAN card will help ISPs better serve their customers by simplifying and reducing the cost of customer premises equipment," said James Regel, president and CEO of NPI. "And it will help network owners adopt Layer 3 technology to relieve traffic congestion on their backbone while increasing speed and reliability. It's an important product advancement for NPI, allowing us to more aggressively pursue ISP, ASP, shared bandwidth, e-commerce and other wide-area infrastructure markets."
About this story & Network Peripherals || also see www.npi.com

Headlines

 2000

...Court drops plan for computer expert in Microsoft case
... Court Of Appeals Sides With Microsoft
... New Virus for Outlook and Outlook Express Users
... Lesson Of Love: IT Needs Better Defense Plans
... IBM Rethinks The ThinkPad
... The Latest Refrain in the MS Breakup Song
... Microsoft Breakup Movement Gains Traction
... SPECIAL REPORT: IT Labor Shortage
... Ask Naive Consumers, And Ye Shall Receive
... Microsoft Security Flaw Plagues NT, Too
... E-Biz: Why Companies Fall Short
... Judge Rules Microsoft Is A Monopoly
... Microsoft Competitors Praise Ruling
... Dotcom Trouble Chills IT Hiring
... Microsoft Working On Major Reorg
... Judge Puts Off Microsoft Ruling
... Internet Marketing Gets More Analytical
... Microsoft Outlines IPv6 Plans For Win2000
... Software Monitors Security Of Systems
... GE Guns For B-To-B Exchanges

 ... IBM Mainframe Update, Boosts CRM Support
... MCI Takes Aim At E-Business
... Amazon.com Opens Wireless Shopping Portal
... IBM, AT&T Offer Corporate Wireless Web Access
... ISPs, Telcos Join Forces To Fight Web Attacks
... Is the Web Making us More/Less Social?
... Is WINDOWS 2000 (& Bill Gates) right for you?
... Sun-Netscape Alliance Unveils Portal Package
... Ford, Dealers To Link Online Efforts Closely
... IBM Supercomputer Finds Broader Niche: Web Hosting
... BellSouth, Toyota Set Web Exchanges
... Co. Team To Deliver Web Appliance, Services
... Feds, Vendors Meet To Discuss Hack Deterrents
... Windows 2000 Under Fire Just Prior to Launch
... CA To Acquire Sterling Software for $4 Billion
... Intel: 64-Bit Chip Is Ready For E-Business
... IBM Beefs Up E-Commerce Software
... Gates Steps Down
... America Online To Buy Time Warner
... EDS Goes To Business-to-Business Market
  Oct 26, 2000
  Court drops plan for computer expert in Microsoft case
The U.S Court of Appeals said it was dropping the idea of hiring a computer expert to provide basic computer instruction, after reviewing concerns raised by both the government and Microsoft Corp.
http://computerworld.com/cwi/story/0%2C1199%2CNAV47_STO52912_NLTpm%2C00.html
June 19, 2000 June 20, 2000
Court Of Appeals Sides With Microsoft
Once again, a U.S. appeals court appears to have sided with Microsoft
in its long-running antitrust battle.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected
the government's bid to deny Microsoft's request for a stay of its final
ruling during the appeals process. This move strengthens Microsoft's
battle for a more favorable venue.

The court denied the motion by the Justice Department and 17 states and
further ordered that Microsoft could submit an overlength motion of
stay, allowing it to expand its arguments. --Mary Mosquera,TechWeb News
http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000619S0004		 New Virus for Outlook and Outlook Express Users

Yet another macro virus is being propagated across the Internet. For more
information on the virus, please see the following:

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2108936.html

McAfee information regarding this virus is available at:
http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=98668&

bye
herman
May 11, 2000 May 1, 2000
Lesson Of Love: IT Needs Better Defense Plans
In the aftermath of the most far-reaching virus attack ever, it became clear last week that enterprises need better ways to protect their systems & data.

The "I Love You" virus, which spread through e-mail attachments to 82.4 million computers and infected 2.6 million, caused an estimated $6.7 billion in damage, according to researcher Computer Economics.

As such, it was a piercing wake-up call to IT managers, many of whom concluded they need more formal--and rigorous--policies to protect against such viruses.

In fact, 91 percent of the more than 180 InternetWeek readers responding to an online survey said they plan to take additional steps to protect themselves from viruses spread through e-mail. More than one-third will be more proactive in scanning incoming attachments, while 15 percent said they will re-evaluate their existing virus scanning software. --Mitch Wagner http://internetwk.com/lead/lead051100-1.htm		 IBM Rethinks The ThinkPad

IBM said today it is retooling its ThinkPad computers to reflect growing demand for portable, extremely light devices.

IBM said it will phase out model names like 390 and 600 and sell the ThinkPad in two lines: the ThinkPad A and the ThinkPad T. The ThinkPad A is a desktop "alternative," according to IBM, while the T is "thin and light." Both will be ready to ship early this month, the company said.- Mo Krochmal, TechWeb http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000501S0004
April 24, 2000 April 25, 2000
Microsoft Breakup Movement Gains Traction

The Department of Justice and 19 states are leaning toward asking a court to split up Microsoft along product lines in a plan designed to end the software giant's monopoly in the U.S. computer industry, two newspapers reported Monday.

The Washington Post and USA Today published separate accounts about the proposed solution,each quoting sources familiar with the case.

The drafting of a breakup plan marks a dramatic moment in the two-year lawsuit and only the first time since the 1974 antitrust lawsuit against AT&T that the federal government has considered such a drastic proposal for a corporate lawbreaker.-Reuters

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000424S0003		 The Latest Refrain in the MS Breakup Song
Department of Justice officials involved in the antitrust case against Microsoft were to brief President Clinton's economic team Tuesday, amid signs the department is close to proposing breaking the company in two.

According to sources close to the case, the U.S. Department of Justice and 19 states are considering submitting a breakup proposal to U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson this week. The proposal calls for Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., to spin off its lucrative Office and applications software group as a remedy for the software giant's anticompetitive conduct.

The proposal would divide Microsoft into two companies, one to handle
applications and one to market the Windows operating system and
Microsoft's Internet technologies.

Microsoft's applications division, including Office, accounts for more than 40 percent of the company's revenue and has been a profit center for years. --Reuters & Darryl K. Taft http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000425S0002 and http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000425S0004 (Read both stories)
April 21, 2000 April 21, 2000
Ask Naive Consumers, And Ye Shall Receive

Consumers are gladly providing personal information, unknowingly signing up for e-mail lists and accepting cookies on their browsers without understanding the consequences, according to a study released Thursday.

The report, "Online Privacy Issues Divide Internet Users," conducted by CyberDialogue, found 69 percent of Internet users have unknowingly signed up for e-mail distribution lists and another 40 percent of those surveyed said they don't understand what cookies are or how they work.

"Consumers are just not educated on what goes on behind the scenes," said Kevin Mabley, vice president of CyberDialogue and author of the report.

Some companies are taking this naive attitude as permission to unleash a flood of marketing messages at the unsophisticated browser, Mabley said.--Mo Krochmal http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000421S0003
 SPECIAL REPORT: Turn The Tables On Turnover
The worldwide IT labor shortage shows no signs of easing. If anything, the ever-increasing number and scope of Web projects is tightening the hiring market.

Companies could be shy as many as 850,000 qualified IT workers this year, the Information Technology Association of America reports. That shortfall will require management to step up its recruiting and retention efforts even more.

Some 60 percent of IT staff and 67 percent of IT managers have been
contacted by a headhunter in the past 12 months, according to a new
survey by InformationWeek Research. While the percentages are down
slightly from a similar survey last year, those recruited say they've
been contacted, on average, three times in the past six months.

This special report looks at four companies that have done an exceptional job of attracting IT and e-business talent and keeping their turnover rates low.--Steve Zurier http://www.internetwk.com/lead/lead042100.htm
April 17, 2000 April 17, 2000
E-Biz: Why Companies Fall Short

It's called e-business. And companies that want to participate over the next few years in the estimated $5 trillion in transactions up for grabs must not only build an IT infrastructure that supports e-business, but also dramatically change their management philosophies and business cultures.

Sadly, a recent Delphi Group survey of 600 IT and business managers points out that most companies fall short: While 90 percent of those polled have some e-business initiative in place, only 31 percent have successfully made the transition to e-business or have put the necessary management components in place.--John Berry

Read on to find out what you can do to succeed in e-business: http://www.internetwk.com/lead/lead041700.htm		 Microsoft Security Flaw Plagues NT, Too
A security flaw first found in FrontPage 98 and server extensions to that package also exists in Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, according to the CRN Test Center.

Test Center engineers also found similar, suspicious code in Visual Studio6.0, although it was unclear whether that code represented a security threat.

The security flaw, first disclosed Thursday, renders solutions using the NT 4.0 Option Pack or FrontPage extensions non-compliant with the government's C2 security standard.

Unlike other security holes, which are usually generated as oversights,
this one was intentionally added by Microsoft developers.--Imran Anwar
http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000417S0001
April 3, 2000 April 3, 2000
Judge Rules Microsoft Is A Monopoly

As expected, Judge rules Microsoft violated antitrust laws setting the stage for harsh penalties.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson late Monday issued a decisionfinding Microsoft in violation of antitrust laws,
setting the stage for harsh penalties later this year.

In the decision, Jackson said Microsoft acted as a monopoly. The company "mounted a deliberate assault on entrepreneurial efforts" that could have introduced technologies that competed with Microsoft's own technologies, and "placed an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive fortune, thereby effectively guaranteeing its continued dominance in the relevant market."

Microsoft encouraged PC vendors and Internet service providers to
stifle competitor Netscape Communications, and punished companies
that promoted that company's Navigator browser. Microsoft also
worked to minimize portability of Java between Windows and other
platforms. Jackson said.--Mitch Wagner http://www.internetwk.com/lead/lead040300_2.htm		 Microsoft Competitors Praise Ruling
At least two of Microsoft's toughest competitors are praising Monday's
federal court ruling that the company violated the nation's antitrust
laws by unlawfully tying its Web browser to its operating systems.

Sun Microsystems Palo Alto, Calif., for example, offered an unabashed
opinion, applauding U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's
verdict in the federal antitrust case and suggesting harsh penalties.

The "decision confirms what almost everybody in the world knows --
Microsoft is a monopoly that has acted illegally," said Scott McNealy,
Sun's CEO. "The Justice Department and the states deserve immense credit
for putting together a case that so clearly showed Microsoft's true
colors. Now is the time to move on to the important stage of this trial
-- determining how to prevent Microsoft from continuing its use of
monopoly power to stifle innovation and harm consumers."

McNealy, who testified against Microsoft at a congressional hearing on competition in the software industry, said the harshest of penalties should be applied. Sun is also embroiled in a private copyright infringement lawsuit over Microsoft's licensing of Java programming language.-- Stuart Glascock http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000404S0003
March 30, 2000 March 30, 2000
Dotcom Trouble Chills IT Hiring

Once high-flying consumer dotcoms are finding it increasingly difficult to attract IT talent as their financials and stock prices lose altitude.

"When your stock price goes south, there's definitely an impact on your ability to hire and motivate people," said Gordon Jones, CIO of software e-retailer Beyond.com, which in January shifted its focus to business customers from consumers after posting an $88 million loss for 1999.

Other e-retailers are experiencing similar difficulties, said Jason Mittman of Primus Associates, a recruiting firm that specializes in placing IT and e-commerce executives.

"Once a company has done its IPO, it loses some of its pizzazz as far as prospective employees go," Mittman said. "If its stock is not doing well-and if people don't see the prospects for that stock to come up-then that company can have a very hard time attracting people."

Several e-retailers, including some of the Internet's earliest, have hit a wall in recent weeks as Wall Street moves its emphasis from the consumer space to the business-to-business track.

As many as 51 Internet-focused companies stand to run out of cash by year's end without some sort of infusion, according to Pegasus Research International. A number of others have seen their stocks drop like rocks over the past year. In all cases, the lack of financial capital is affecting the search for IT talent.

Primus now does about 80 percent of its executive searches for pre-IPO companies-mostly dotcoms-a radical shift from its previous focus on brick-and-mortar firms.

"People come to a recruiter because they can't find the people they need on their own," Mittman said. "Right now in IT, the companies that are having that problem are the dotcoms and the pre-IPO companies." -- Tim Wilson

http://www.internetwk.com/lead/lead033000.htm		 Microsoft Working On Major Reorg
Microsoft is finalizing a major reorganization designed to push its line-of-business servers and Internet services into enterprises and hosted environments, said a Microsoft insider and others familiar with the situation.

As part of the reorganization, which could be announced as early as
next Monday, Charles Stevens, vice president of Microsoft's business
solutions group, will get a significant promotion, to serve as the
No. 3 executive under Jeff Raikes.

Raikes, the No. 2 man under president and CEO Steve Ballmer, is group vice president of sales and support for Microsoft.

The big push is to execute clear messages and marketing around Microsoft's line-of-business servers and forthcoming Internet services and platform. Microsoft will formally launch its Next Generation Windows Services strategy at Forum 2000 in May. -- Paula Rooney
of Computer Reseller News http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000330S0001

Ballmer E-Mails Employees About Suit

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told employees that Microsoft continues to submit last-minute proposals to settle its antitrust case, but that an appeal of the judge's decision is still on the table.

In a March 27 e-mail to thousands of Microsoft employees, Ballmer dismissed many reports in the press as "largely inaccurate," and aid Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and other company executives are"focused on these efforts."

"We are still in talks with the government," Ballmer wrote. "We have made, and will continue to make, substantial proposals to settle this case. While we're very sure of our legal position and we're prepared to take it all the way on appeal, we've learned that discretion is the better part of valor, so we are working very hard to resolve the case through settlement."

The letter does not specify the "substantial proposals" Microsoft has put on the table. Newspaper reports indicate Microsoft has offered a number of things, from opening the Windows APIs to unbundling the Internet Explorer browser from Windows.

Earlier this week, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson reportedly told both sides he would delay issuing his verdict as long as the end of next week to give both parties more time to settle the case. If they settle, Jackson wouldn't rule in the case. -- Paula Rooney of Computer Reseller News and Aaron Ricadela of InformationWeek http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000330S0002

March 28, 2000 March 20, 2000
Judge Puts Off Microsoft Ruling

A ruling in the Microsoft antitrust case was not issued Tuesday--U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's deadline if a settlement was not reached.

Jackson employed a Tuesday deadline as a club to extract whatever settlement may still be forthcoming from the software giant, the Department of Justice, and 19 states.

For a betting person, the odds may now be on a settlement between the
DOJ and Microsoft. "It suggests very serious negotiations that are not
unlikely to lead to a result," said antitrust attorney Stuart Gerson of Epstein, Becker and Green in Washington, D.C., and former acting attorney general and assistant attorney general.

The court offered no other guidance on the judge's ruling, but it is
anticipated that Jackson will give the parties several days to follow
through on the progress in their negotiations. Jackson was expected
to rule that Microsoft violated U.S. antitrust law, at least in part.

Microsoft offered settlement terms over the weekend, according to reports, to decouple certain software, such as browsers, from Windows,
provide source code without discrimination to developers writing applications to Windows, give flexibility to PC makers to embed competitors' software, and offer a non-discriminatory price of Windows. --Mary Mosquera, TechWeb http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000328S0008		 Software Monitors Security Of Systems

Jolted by the recent denial-of-service attacks on major Web sites, many companies are looking for tools that can protect the entire e-business infrastructure.

The latest vendor to address this demand is PentaSafe Security Technologies, which released software that lets IT managers monitor enterprise systems, applications and data from a single management console for various vulnerabilities, including the way passwords and users’ systems are configured.

Vigilent Security Management gives IT managers a consolidated view of the security picture of their Windows NT, Unix, IBM AS/400 and Linux operating systems as well as Apache servers. Future releases will support Web servers from Netscape and Microsoft.

Security administrators can view consolidated reports from the Vigilent Security Manager console and drill down to focus on platform-specific issues across multiple systems, said Steve Latham, PentaSafe’s vice president of strategic planning and development.—Rutrell Yasin
http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000320S0003
March 20, 2000 March 12, 2000
Microsoft Outlines IPv6 Plans For Win2000
Microsoft yesterday posted preview code to enable Windows 2000 to support IPv6. The code is designed to allow developers to modify their applications for IPv6 support. But Microsoft expects it will be at least two years until IPv6 becomes a part of Windows 2000.

Analyst Tony Iams of D.H. Brown Associates said Windows lags Unix in IPv6 support. All the major Unix versions—including Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, Hewlett-Packard HP-UX and Compaq Tru64 Unix—now support IPv6.

The Microsoft backing will add momentum to IPv6 technology, said analyst Greg Weiss of D.H. Brown. "It legitimizes IPv6 for the mass audience," he said.

IPv6 was developed about five years ago by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), primarily to address the imminent shortage of Internet addresses. The IETF predicted that IPv6, which also has security features such as support for IPsec, would take about 10 years to adopt, said Ron Cully, lead product manager for Windows networking for Microsoft.

IPv6 addresses are 128 bits, compared with 32 bits for IPv4. IPv6 supports 29 orders of magnitude the number of IP addresses. IPv6 also offers the benefit of more efficient routing, since IP addresses are assigned on the fly based on geographical location.

And denial-of-service attacks, such as those that recently brought down several big e-businesses, can be blocked using IPv6, since it,unlike IPv4, does not permit address spoofing.—Mitch Wagner http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000320S0004

 GE Guns For B-To-B Exchanges

GE Information Services, the General Electric unit known for dedicated EDI networks, outlined a major restructuring that will split the company in two in pursuit of an Internet approach to business data exchange.

GE Global Exchange Services, with 1,500 employees, will build e-commerce systems, including Internet trading hubs. A second company, GE System Services, with about 500 employees, will support the operations infrastructure of GE Global Exchange Services. The companies will replace the GEIS brand name.

While GE arrives late as a builder of Internet marketplaces, it brings with it an immense installed base--some 100,000 trading partners currently use GEIS's proprietary EDI network.

Company executives, however, did not suggest there would be a mass migration to the Internet exchanges GE Global Exchange Services will build for customers and potentially wholesale to others setting up Internet trading hubs.

GEIS CEO Harvey Seegers said he expects a "peaceful coexistence" between XML and EDI networks using the ANSI X.12 and EDIFACT protocols. Seegers, who will be president and CEO of GE Global Exchange Services, said it will take five to 10 years for the migration from closed EDI networks to business exchanges using theInternet. Analysts agreed. -- Ellis Booker http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000310S0007
March 13, 2000 March 2, 2000
Internet Marketing Gets More Analytical

Marketing tools are no longer simply a way to automate the creation of campaigns. Now they're adding analytic capabilities and deeper integration with other customer relationship management apps to improve marketing effectiveness.

MarketSoft yesterday introduced eOffers, a system that applies analytics and artificial intelligence to the management of marketing campaigns. FloNetwork has upgraded its marketing service with improved personalization and reporting methods.

EOffers analyzes proposed marketing messages and campaigns using rules set by marketing managers. It filters through multiple messages that may be directed at the same customer to select the most appropriate one, detects redundant messages and controls the frequency of messages sent to the same customer.

The application automates the process of qualifying prospects, working in concert with MarketSoft's eLeads lead management application. It sends automated messages to prospects to build interest and escalate them toward becoming qualified leads. When a customer is ready to work with a live agent, the lead is passed on to eLeads.

FloNetwork's hosted e-mail marketing system offers outsourced campaign management functions such as content creation, list generation, and reporting and tracking. Version 2.5 adds the ability to automate the customization of large volumes of marketing mail. The system uses feedback from customer segmentation analysis, applying a range of customer attributes to create individualized messages. -- David Drucker
http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000313S0003		 MCI Takes Aim At E-Business

Fearing they may be cut out of the multitrillion-dollar business-to-business e-commerce bonanza, telecom carriers are moving quickly to make up for lost ground by delivering a full suite of packaged and customized e-commerce services to enterprises.

On March 14, MCI WorldCom will unveil plans to offer enterprise customers application hosting, e-commerce application integration, dedicated storage and optimized transport, all draped with service level agreements promising 100 percent availability.

The MCI WorldCom e-business platform will mesh services and applications from partner companies such as AppNet Inc., which provides back-end application integration, and Technology Solutions Co., which provides application hosting.

TSC's capabilities will enable MCI WorldCom to accelerate its own application-hosting capabilities--an area the carrier has not yet actively exploited in comparison to providers such as GTE Internetworking, Qwest and Sprint.

"What service providers have to realize is that they have to take advantage of this opportunity," said Probe Research analyst Hilary Mine. "If they don't, they will be completely commoditized and leftout of the picture." -- Chuck Moozakis http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000302S0006
Feb 28, 2000 March 2, 2000
Amazon.com Opens Wireless Shopping Portal

Web retailer Amazon.com yesterday announced expanded offerings to
attract the growing legion of shoppers using cell phones and other
wireless Internet devices.

The company created a Web portal specially designed for the
constraints of wireless devices, which have much smaller screens
and slower Internet connections than PCs.

Amazon said it also expanded the range of services available to
wireless customers, allowing shoppers to monitor the status of
purchases, access more in-depth search information, and check
shipping availability worldwide. -- Reuters
http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000228S0003		 IBM Preps Mainframe Update, Boosts CRM Support

IBM is prepping an upgrade to its OS/390 platform, aiming it squarely at the e-business and customer-relationship management markets.

IBM is working with Siebel Systems Inc. and Trilogy Software Inc. to help them port their CRM applications to the updated mainframe. The upgraded OS/390 version 2 release 9, due by month's end, also includes better scalability and manageability, features that IBM said e-businesses demand.

The updated System/390 operating system will run, distribute, and manage e-business information better than it could before. The new version will include support for more than 1,000 concurrent Internet transactions per second, thanks to tighter support for the Secure Sockets Layer Internet security protocol.

The upgrade will also support a shared Unix file system for the first time. That feature will let customers have a single view of multiple Unix applications running on the same computer. New Workload Manager functionality will let customers achieve the same levels of service for multiple transactions hitting their Web sites. -- Martin J. Garvey, InformationWeek http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000302S0004
Feb 25, 2000 Feb 25, 2000
IBM, AT&T Offer Corporate Wireless Web Access

IBM and AT&T said that they plan to provide wireless access to key
corporate information, including the Internet, corporate intranets,
and corporate databases.

By virtue of the size and reach of the two companies -- the No. 1 U.S.
telephone carrier and the world's largest computer maker -- the pact
is arguably the most significant effort to date to bring the Web to
wireless devices in the United States.

IBM said it will combine its software and services with AT&T's wireless
IP network, allowing business customers to access data and programs
over cell phones, laptop computers, and handheld devices.

"E-business is going mobile," said Gary Cohen, general manager of IBM
Global Telecommunications Industry. "Over the next five years, more
than 80 percent of new corporate applications will be designed for
non-PC devices, such as wireless phones."

A source familiar with the pact said the service is expected to be available
later this year. -- Reuters http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000225S0007		 ISPs, Telcos Join Forces To Fight Web Attacks

A group of ISPs and telecommunications companies have teamed up to
combat cyber crime.

The Alliance for Internet Security is dedicated to the widespread
adoption of security measures to address the recent rash of distributed
denial of service attacks (DDoS), according to ICSA.net, the Reston,
Va.- based security company that founded the group.

To prevent similar distributed Internet attacks, alliance members
pledge to implement security-filtering technologies and security
practices designed to address the threat. Specific steps include
adding additional layers of defense by reconfiguring routers and
firewalls and the denial of IP-directed broadcasts on perimeter
routers. -- Marcia Savage, Computer Reseller News

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000225S0008
Feb 23, 2000 Feb 23, 2000
Sun-Netscape Alliance Unveils Portal Package

As more companies look to corporate portals as a way to bring together employees, customers and suppliers, more packaged applications are appearing to help simplify and speed up deployment.

The latest is from the Sun-Netscape Alliance, also known as iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions. The alliance has introduced iPlanet Portal Server 3.0, a full-service platform for deploying robust portals for e-commerce and collaboration.

The software helps companies manage membership rolls, personalization, security and integration with back-end legacy applications quickly to any user with a browser, said Wess Wasson, vice president of product marketing for infrastructure products at iPlanet.

"The value to customers is they can bring to bear a robust, feature-rich portal to all their stakeholders quickly," he said.

The iPlanet Portal Server features are designed to work together and speed up development time so that users can be instantly connected to information and transaction services when they are granted access. --Mike Koller http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000223S0007

GATES USHERS IN THE NEW WIN2000 BUSINESS OPERATING SYSTEM

The wait for Windows(r) 2000 is over. As Bill Gates recently stated in his keynote speech, at the official Windows 2000 launch event in San Francisco:
"Today we unveil the future of computing. Companies of all sizes are already deploying Windows 2000 for its scalability, reliability, and performance. Windows 2000 represents a significant industry-wide effort. More than 1,000 partners, over $1 billion in engineering, and more than 5,000 individuals rallied together to make this product the platform that companies can bet their businesses on. Windows 2000 truly begins the next generation of computing." You can view Bill Gates' keynote address online: http://www.microsoft.com/insider/mi/pfkeynote.htm

SO...IS WINDOWS 2000 RIGHT FOR YOU?

Before you buy Windows 2000, remember: Windows 98 Second Edition is the best Microsoft operating system for home use. And Windows 2000 Professional is the Microsoft operating system best suited for business users. If you're still not sure which one best suits your needs, read more here: http://www.microsoft.com/insider/mi/pfwinwhich.htm
Feb 23, 2000 Feb 23, 2000
Ford, Dealers To Link Online Efforts Closely

Ford Motor Co. is teaming with Trilogy Software to integrate Ford’s online sales and other Web efforts with those of its dealers.

The two companies said yesterday they will form a jointly owned company to expand Ford’s Web operations, adding more functionality to its consumer- and dealer-facing sites.

Trilogy already supplies the configuration software behind Ford.com, the auto company’s main customer-facing Web site. The new venture involves further use of Trilogy’s e-commerce products to integrate the sites with Ford’s back-end processes. Dealers will have access to Web site templates and other tools built by the new venture for configuring cars, offering service online and integrating sales and service efforts with Ford’s DealerConnection Web site.—David Drucker

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000223S0008

 BellSouth, Toyota Set Web Exchanges

BellSouth and Toyota Motor’s sales division yesterday each unveiled plans for industry-specific online trading exchanges.

BellSouth’s telecom exchange, to be developed in concert with e-commerce platform developer Commerce One, will provide a Web-based portal geared to telecom companies and their suppliers, said Pat Shannon, president of BellSouth exchange services. The site will launch later this spring and initially offer procurement capabilities, but will be expanded to provide additional functionalities such as online auctions later this year.

The automotive industry’s iStarXchange, meanwhile, will be backed by Toyota’s sales division and e-commerce vendor i2 Technologies. The two companies will jointly create a separate company to operate the site. The site, also slated to be operational later this spring, will concentrate on automotive replacement parts.—Chuck Moozakis http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000223S0005
Feb 23, 2000 Feb 17, 2000
Companies Team Up To Deliver Web Appliance, Services
IBM has teamed up with Fidelity Investments, Lycos and AT&T to offer Fidelity’s customers a portable Internet appliance, as well as connectivity and support for accessing and managing their investments from home.

In the pilot program, IBM will supply the infrastructure and IT service, AT&T the bandwidth and Lycos the content on a customized Web site.

Fidelity, which has close to 11 million customer accounts with $534 billion in assets, plans to test new portfolio planning and monitoring tools and a new bill payment service as part of the pilot.

In cooperation with Lycos, Fidelity will offer the My Fidelity page, which is the integrated start page that mixes lifestyle and financial data in a personalized format.

The IBM appliance, which has not been named, is an Internet-enabled device with a single processor built within a pedestal that supports a monitor. Users will be able to surf the Web and send and receive e-mail, but it has no word processor, hard drive or floppy drive.

AT&T will supply broadband access through its Digital Subscriber Line service, with speeds ranging from 128 Kbps to 768 Kbps. The service currently is available in 50 markets, but availability will extend to more than 100 markets by year’s end.
—Mike Koller http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000223S0004

 IBM Supercomputer Finds Broader Niche: Web Hosting

A supercomputer designed to support complex scientific research and intense mathematical computation is finding another key use: hosting large-scale Web sites.
IBM's newly released RS/6000 SP, the company's first supercomputer to use IBM's copper microprocessor technology, is suitable for commercial businesses to process in parallel large databases, Web servers and security applications, said Michael Maas, manager of server product marketing for RS/6000.
"You can house each one of those applications on the node of an SP but have it in a small space, and you can manage it from a single console," he said.
By using copper-based microprocessor technology, the system has a more balanced architecture, meaning CPU, memory and I/0 will all perform better together, said Giga Information Group analyst Brad Day. "That's very critical, because many are being used for large Web-hosting environments and very high-end parallel computing," he said.
* Mike Koller http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000217S0002
Feb 15, 2000 Feb 15, 2000
Windows 2000 Under Fire Just Prior to Launch
Just before the long-awaited launch of Windows 2000, Microsoft is denying reports that the operating system has a security flaw. The company is also not commenting on reports that the new OS is plagued with 63,000 bugs.

The security flaw came to light when archrival Novell Inc. said in a
report on its Web site that some network administrators on an Active Directory network can use their access to the network to get confidential data such as payroll and legal information--even if they have been explicitly blocked from accessing that data.

Also putting into question the stability of Windows 2000 was an internal Microsoft memo leaked to the media that identified 63,000 potential bugs in Windows 2000, an operating system which Microsoft boasts has undergone extensive testing by users. The potential bugs were spotted by Prefix, an internal Microsoft package for testing software. Some of these could be actual bugs, others could be code that Prefix detects as possibly needing optimization, and others are spots where Prefix found developer comments noting functionality that should be improved in the next release, analysts said. -- Mitch Wagner
http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000215S0004
 Windows 2000 Coverage
TechWeb covers the unveiling of Windows 2000 with news, analysis and reviews. http://www.techweb.com/win2000

WINDOWS 2000 CENTRAL (a Microsoft release; edited)
Microsoft Windows 2000 Central is ... primary source for Windows 2000 information in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area. Microsoft, along with [its] Certified Solution Providers and industry partners, will be hosting various Windows 2000 technology and business focused events and seminars as well as special promotions. ... Windows 2000 Central ... centralized source for latest information about local offerings. Windows 2000 Central also provides ... information about partners ...[re] Windows 2000 platform.

http://www.microsoft.com/nynjct/windows2000
Feb 15, 2000  
Feds, Vendors Meet To Discuss Hack Deterrents

Washington, D.C. -- IT industry executives and federal government officials yesterday described their joint efforts to combat Internet hackers.

Following a meeting between President Clinton and executives from Sun Microsystems Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Richard Daley told reporters at a White House briefing that last week's spate of denial-of-service attacks was "a wake-up call" for private and public sectors.

Despite the attacks, "our information economy is strong and resilient," Daley said. It makes "good business sense for us to make sure that our economy stays strong" by making an effort for IT companies, federal officials and academic institutions to share information about recognizing and responding to cyber-attacks. (cont'd ==>)
 "This is a wake-up call for us in government to check our own systems and make sure we've got adequate protection," he added.

"The lesson of last week was that computers are not [solely] under control of their legitimate owners," said Whitfield Diffie, distinguished engineer at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun and the person described by another meeting participant as "the star" of the meeting with the President.

"The moment of attack was not when the sites went down," Diffie said. It was when computers that unwittingly launched the denial-of-service attacks were implanted with so-called "zombie" or Trojan code, he said.
-- Amy Rogers, Computer Reseller News

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000215S0008
Feb 10, 2000 Feb 14, 2000
Intel Seeks To Show 64-Bit Chip Is Ready For E-Business
If Windows 2000 isn't enough to convince IT managers that the Wintel
platform is ready for e-business, Intel is betting that its forthcoming
64-bit Itanium processor will give further credibility to the platform's
added scalability.

At least eight server vendors will give developers the latest look at
systems under development that will run a version of Windows 2000
optimized for the 64-bit processor environment. But there's a catch.
Many will also demonstrate systems running Unix and Linux. The
systems will be showcased at the Intel Developers Forum next week.

Due out later this year, Itanium-based systems will let e-businesses
manage large databases and offer better use of directory services and
improved security over the existing 32-bit Intel architecture, said Ron
Curry, Intel's director of marketing.

While Windows 2000 will have a chance to shine on Itanium, so will
other operating systems. "You will see Itanium-based systems
running not only Windows NT and Windows 2000, but also a variety of
Unix configurations and a Linux implementation," said Nathan
Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64. -- Mike Koller

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000210S0007		 CA To Acquire Sterling Software In $4 Billion Deal
Computer Associates yesterday disclosed plans to acquire Sterling
Software Inc. in a $4 billion stock transaction that will represent the
largest acquisition ever in the software market. With the deal, CA
gains a partner that reported $807 million in revenue in fiscal 1999 and
45 consecutive quarters of revenue and earnings-per-share growth.

Sanjay Kumar, president and chief operating officer of CA, calls the
addition of Sterling Software's business-intelligence, application-
development, storage-management, and network-management software
to CA's product line "a turning point" in the company's history.

A major focus as CA and Sterling Software move forward with plans to
integrate their product lines is the joint development of network and
storage-management technology. "As storage management becomes
more important, CA and Sterling Software together will be the only
company to offer end-to-end storage solutions," Kumar said, pointing
out that Sterling's IBM S/390 disk storage-management products will
complement CA's S/390 tape storage initiatives.

Both Kumar and Sterling Williams, president and CEO of Sterling
Software, said there are not many areas of product overlap between
the two companies, despite the wide variety of software each offers.
Kumar said he plans to build upon CA's Jasmine business-intelligence
infrastructure through integration with Sterling's Eureka suite of
business-intelligence tools. Kumar also pointed to synergies between
CA's Jasmine and Neugents technologies and Sterling Software's Cool
suite of application development tools. -- Larry Greenemeier,

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000214S0004
Jan 25, 2000 Jan 14, 2000
IBM Beefs Up E-Commerce Software

San Diego -- IBM plans this month to upgrade its electronic storefront software, adding functionality for personalization, multimedia and auctions.

The WebSphere Commerce Suite Version 4.1, formerly Net.Commerce, allows e-commerce managers to build up histories of the behavior of individual visitors to their sites, and customize the sites to present users with views that reflect their preferences. E-commerce managers can also tailor the site to reflect merchandising offers.

The software includes HotMedia technology, which downloads Java applets to a user's browser to give the user a 360-degree view of products.

WebSphere Commerce Studio also allows e-commerce managers to set up auctions, with deadlines and minimum and maximum quantity of bids. --Mitch Wagner http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000125S0002

 Gates Steps Down as CEO

Bill Gates today said he is stepping down as CEO of Microsoft handing the reigns over to president Steve Ballmer. Gates will remain chairman and will assume the new role of chief software architect.

In a press conference announcing the move, the two issued harsh condemnations Thursday for proposals to break up the company in the wake of the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit.

"I think it would be absolutely reckless and irresponsible for anyone to try to break up this company, and I think it would be the single greatest disservice that anyone could do to consumers in this country," Ballmer said. He said that Microsoft has been responsible for growth in the PC industry and job growth.

Gates added that products such as Windows 95 achieved success because they had Microsoft’s full weight behind it. The statements came as rumors circulated Wednesday that government prosecutors plan to recommend a company breakup.

In his new role as chairman and chief software architect, Gates will be responsible for developing new strategies and products, including technologies for speech recognition and for developing Internet-based services.
-Mitch Wagner http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000113S0015
Jan 10, 2000 Jan 10, 2000
America Online To Buy Time Warner

America Online yesterday announced it has agreed to acquire Time Warner Inc. for $183.8 billion. The deal, set to close by year’s end, will combine AOL’s Internet service provider subscriber base—the largest in the world at around 20 million, with the content and cable network of Time Warner—the world’s largest media company. Together the companies will have more than 100 million subscribers.

The combined value of the new company, to be called AOL Time Warner, will be around $350 billion, with yearly revenue set to be around $30 billion, according to the companies.

By giving AOL ownership of its own cable network, the company switches sides in the long running dispute over open access for ISPs on the newly upgraded cable networks’ Internet service and telephony service offerings. AOL has been battling with a number of cable companies including Time Warner over gaining access to high-speed broadband cable networks to offer its own ISP services.

Time Warner has more than 13 million subscribers and passes about 21.3 million homes. It has 34 systems or systems clusters with 100,000 or more subscribers and has large operations in New York;

San Antonio; Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.; Houston; Honolulu; San Diego; Milwaukee; Cincinnati, Columbus and Akron, Ohio; Rochester, N.Y.; Minneapolis and Charlotte, N.C. and elsewhere.

The success of cable modems and digital subscriber line connectivity and the related problem of price pressure on lower speed connections is a problem for AOL, which relies mostly on dialup access of 56 Kbps or slower to reach its customers.

AOL, which has unsuccessfully negotiated for carriage on AT&T’s cable systems, has clearly bolstered its position by the move. Not only does it get access to the cable systems, but it gets a minority ownership in Road Runner Corp., a broadband ISP. Time Warner owns nine percent of Road Runner, Time Warner Entertainment (through Time Warner Cable) owns about 20 percent in a partnership with MediaOne Group Inc.—which is being acquired by AT&T—and Time Warner Entertainment and Advance/Newhouse Communications are partnering for an additional 26 percent. Road Runner had 420,000 customers at the end of the third quarter of 1999.

"I think it’s pretty clear [AOL] wants to have a multipronged technology approach to broadband, whether it is satellite—they invested $1.5 billion in Hughes last year—or partnering with an ILEC [incumbent local exchange carrier] for DSL," said Jonathan Atkins, vice president at Ferris Baker Watts Inc., an equity research firm. [incumbent local exchange carrier] for DSL," said Jonathan Atkins, vice president at Ferris Baker Watts Inc., an equity research firm.

Jonathan Collins, tele.com

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000110S0001

 EDS Goes To B2B Market

Electronic Data Systems today said it is building what could be the largest group of business-to-business Web marketplaces, using consortia-based purchasing and involving some of the nation's largest corporations.

EDS CoNext, a newly created subsidiary, will seek to tap into the $160 billion contracted annually in managed spending spread over 12 net markets. The effort will be run on Ariba's B2B e-commerce platform and supported by an Internet auction service designed by A.T. Kearney, another EDS subsidiary

EDS CoNext will use its newly developed Leverage Sourcing Network, the company's Internet-based electronic marketplace, to strengthen the buying power of companies with similar purchasing needs who participate on a contractual basis.

A dozen Fortune 500 companies from such business sectors as consumer products, retail, manufacturing, information technology and telecommunications are participating in the first LSN group. These companies include Bethlehem Steel Corp, The Clorox Co., Entergy Services Inc., Kellogg Co., Prudential Insurance Company of America. The companies have a combined spending potential of up to $17 billion, EDS said.

EDS CoNext's 12 founding partners have total annual revenue of more than $200 billion annually, said EDS chairman and CEO Dick Brown, who said he expects hundreds of more corporations to sign on in the next four years. --Mike Koller

http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000110S0008

 

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey