XP will not ship with support for MP3 ripping

Microsoft has deepened its anti-MP3 stance with the announcement that an MP3-ripping application for XP will only be available as a separate add-in. CyberLink, InterVideo and RAVISENT will produce MP3 Creation Packs for Windows XP that will allow users to record audio CDs into MP3 files using Windows Media Player for the first time. However, the application will be a separate entity available for purchase over the Internet and, frankly, who's going to bother with that? Even in the press release, Microsoft labours the point over how badly the aging MP3 codec compares to the sprightly WMA format, although the new improved mp3PRO is waiting in the wings. ...more

OS X attracting hacker attention

Apple may become the victim of its success as increased sales, high profile, and its move to the Intel architecture so familiar to Windows hackers put the spotlight on OS X as this year's hacker target. SecurityFocus reports that a recent SchmooCon hacking conference resulted in a security researcher having his own Apple laptop hacked, despite having all reasonable security precautions in place. However, subsequent investigation revealed no clue as to how this happened, leading experts to conclude that the attack must have used an as yet unknown flaw in the platform. ...more

Berners-Lee makes the Royal Society

It's official, the inventor of the Internet is a jolly good fellow. At least according to the Royal Society, which has awarded him a fellowship (among 43 others, including Sir Patrick Moore) for his work with the Internet. It's a great paragraph to anyone's biography: "in 1989 he invented the World Wide Web. ...more

Java faces obstacles to meeting high targets

Just because a handset has Java capabilities does not mean they are used. A new study finds that the number of active mobile Java users varies significantly worldwide: in the East, mobile users pick up and run with the technology, in the West, we seem to prefer to leave it well alone. The report - 'Mobile Application Platforms And Operating Systems', written by the research company Arc Group - indicates that in countries such as Japan and Korea around 80 per cent of all Java handsets sold led to active Java users. ...more

Microsoft US legal battle nears an end

Microsoft has reached a $21mn preliminary settlement with the US state of West Virginia. This brings to an end the state's appeal of the recent court ruling on the long running anti-trust case against the company. The settlement will leave Massachusetts as the only state still appealing the ruling. ...more