Microsoft on schedule for Windows Server 2003 release

Microsoft is on target for the 24 April launch of Windows Server 2003. Microsoft says the code is now finalised and has been released to manufacturing with the CD production process traditionally taking a couple of weeks. Features of Microsoft's new server software include built-in support for the . ...more

Media Center PCs prone to new DoS attack flaw

Microsoft has issued a security advisory over a flaw discovered in Remote Desktop Services, a component of Windows found in versions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000. The vulnerability, described in advisory number 904797, could enable a limited denial of service attack - it can be exploited to cause the Windows system to crash via a specially crafted RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) request. This protocol, which is used for example by Terminal Services, allows users to create a virtual session onto their desktop computer, allowing access to data and applications from another computer. ...more

Microsoft moves towards open licenses

Microsoft has stepped closer to the Free Software movement with the announcement of three new licences under its shared source initiative. The three new licences are referred to as the Microsoft Permissive License (Ms-PL), Microsoft Community License (Ms-CL) and Microsoft Reference License (Ms-RL), with the first two also comprising modified versions restricting use to the Windows platform. The Permissive version allows the viewing, modification and redistribution of code for commercial use or other. ...more

Cisco Systems buys Topspin Communications

Cisco Systems has bought Topspin Communications to give itself an entry into the emerging field of grid computing, clustered enterprise applications, and server virtualisation. Cisco says it has paid $250mn for the company in a combination of shares and cash. Topspin's particular forte is InfiniBand-based server fabric switches that connect servers together into a grid, and provide the server grid with network and storage connectivity. ...more

Firefox flaw 'impossible to patch'

Hackers are claiming that the open source Firefox 1.5 Web browser has a serious flaw in the way it handles JavaScript. What's more, they also claim that the vulnerability is 'impossible to patch' and the implementation is 'a complete mess'. ...more