WinInfo Short Takes: Week of December 20

I MENTIONED LAST week that Netscape wasn't welcome at Microsoft's Hardware Update Web site but no sooner had WinInfo gone out than John Dix wrote in with the news that the site does indeed work fine with, ahem, alternative browsing methods. Looks like the coding elves at Microsoft broke out their cross-browser JavaScript skills and went to work. Thanks John.

COPERNIC HAS UPDATED its excellent Copernic Plus and Pro 2000 (version 4) to version 4.1. Users of Copernic Plus/Pro 2000 will see "update available" text in the top right of the Copernic window. You can also go right to the upgrade on the Copernic Web site.

IT WAS INEVITABLE, given Apple's policies toward its little rival: Be Incorporated is going to drop support for PowerPC Macintosh hardware and focus on Intel x86 ("PC") hardware only. In other Be news, there's a hot rumor that Linux giant Red Hat Software might be buying Be. Stay tuned!

THIS IS UNREAL. Microsoft has taken the "Ask Jeeves" technology and created a support Web site called "Ask Maxwell" that features a kid I would never have stopped giving wedgies to in high school. I still laugh every time I see this site. Check it out yourself for a few chuckles.

APPARENTLY MICROSOFT SHIPPED something called "Windows 2000" this week. I've not heard anything about this, but it's supposed to be huge, was delayed over a year, and is designed for businesses. I'll see whether I can't dig up more information about this.

YES, THAT WAS a joke.

JUSTIN SMITH IS on a crusade to get Microsoft to make the Windows user interface more elegant and I support him 100%. And he's not talking some futuristic 3D thingy, just working with what we've got now and making it work more consistently. You can check out his work on the Web ... maybe Microsoft will take notice and do the right thing