ATI loses ground in desktop graphics market

ATI has maintained its lead in desktop graphics although rivals NVidia is closing the gap. A new report on graphics shipments and supplier market share for the last three months of 2004 shows ATI maintaining its lead in the discrete desktop segment. It is by a narrower margin, however, than in the third quarter, with Nvidia regaining ground. ...more

UK games charts: FIFA still on top

Still football mad after all these years; while Pro Evolution 3's fiercely loyal following can only keep the PS2 title at tenth place in the charts, the glitz and glamour of FIFA 2004 ensures that the title retains the number one spot for a fourth consecutive week. Activision's True Crime improves upon last week's early showing, rising from number three to number two, while Nintendo's corking Mario Kart: Double Dash puts in a strong showing at number three. EA's Lord of the Rings: Return of The King is the other major new entry at number four; elsewhere there's not a phenomenal amount of change, though Harry Potter spin off Quidditch World Cup manages to leap from 19 to a more impressive eighth place in the charts. ...more

The PC Pro weekly news roundup

Two companies dominate the news this week: Microsoft and AMD. At the start of the week, Microsoft renewed its attack on open-source software. For the first time, the software giant put a precise figure on the alleged patent infringements - 235. ...more

Freeserve blows out Dixons

Freeserve has said it will not renew its agreement to distribute its signup CDs through Dixons. Instead, Dixons has signed a deal to replace Freeserve with AOL as the preferred partner. The changeover will happen in February next year Negotiations between the Dixons and Freeserve sides have broken down over the thorny issue of money. ...more

McAfee joins TECF anti-phishing body

With the growing threat of electronic identity theft and phishing attacks, McAfee has elected to join the Trusted Electronic Communications Forum (TECF). Founded six months ago by banks and online businesses as well as tech giants, the Forum seeks to further efforts to counter criminal activities related to phishing, spoofing, and other online deception tactics. However, McAfee is one of the few specialist IT security vendors to join, although CipherTrust was one of the founders. ...more