From ZDNet: “In its antitrust settlement with the Justice Department and nine states, Microsoft promised to publish technology that would allow competing products to interoperate with Windows. But Microsoft has sidestepped the penalty by crafting a technology license that excludes the company’s only viable competitor.

Linux, which was described by Windows Division Vice President Brian Valentine as the long-term threat against Microsoft’s core business, is banned from interoperating with its common Internet file system, otherwise known as Windows File and Printer Sharing.”

LindowsOS Sneak Preview 2 debuted last week and a lot of you have sent
me questions about Click-N-RunT (http://www.lindows.com/clicknrun), one
of the most innovative features housed in the LindowsOS Sneak Preview 2.
We’re excited about Click-N-Run because we’re getting closer to the day
when any computer user can experience the benefit of LinuxR.

If you want to try our Sneak Preview 2 of LindowsOS - sign-up for our
Insiders program at http://www.lindows.com/signup. Below is a list of
the most common questions I've received concerning Click-N-Run.

Michael Robertson,
CEO Lindows.com, Inc. 
michaelr@lindows.com

Q: What is Click-N-Run?
A: Click-N-Run (http://www.lindows.com/clicknrun) is a new feature
included with LindowsOS which makes it extremely easy to customize a
LindowsOS computer with programs for a wide variety of tasks. LindowsOS
comes with a web browser and an email program, enough to get users
started, however, most people will require more software to fully
maximize their PC. Click-N-Run makes it easy to load business,
education, entertainment or other categories of software, by making it a
straightforward point-and-shoot process. 

Q: How does Click-N-Run make software loading easy? 
A: Normally, finding software for your computers means visiting multiple
stores or web sites trying to find software that interests you. Then,
there's multi-step installation and registration process, which can be
slow and cumbersome. Newer products from Microsoft require a
40-digit-activation code. Click-N-Run puts a warehouse of software all
in one place with an easy-to-use interface to browse. A simple mouse
click on the Click-N-Run button will download and install the software,
so it's ready to run on your computer. 

Q: What kind of software programs are in the Click-N-Run warehouse? 
A: There will be a wide variety of high quality software programs in the
warehouse. In fact, a user with LindowsOS may be able to save hundreds
of dollars by taking advantage of the low or no-cost software programs
available via Click-N-Run, compared to what they are use to paying. The
publisher determines the cost of the software, if any. Many of the
programs are available for free. Other software programs may have a
charge associated with them. 

Q: Are only Lindows.com software products available? 
A: Our goal at Lindows.com is not to develop or publish software titles,
but to empower publishers to make their programs available. Lindows.com
has selected a couple of high quality software programs to use as an
illustration, see our warehouse http://www.lindows.com/warehouse.

Q: How can I try Click-N-Run?
A: Click-N-Run is available to all of our Insiders for testing. We've
made it very easy to run LindowsOS on the same machine running Microsoft
Windows 98, so it's easy to install and try out. Once you're running
LindowsOS, simply double-click on the Click-N-Run icon on your desktop
or visit http://www.lindows.com/warehouse. Please note, LindowsOS and
Click-N-Run are not in their final form, but they should work well
enough that users can get a feel for the technology and visualize the
general direction we're headed toward. If you're interested in trying
LindowsOS and providing us with feedback, please sign-up as an Insider
http://www.lindows.com/signup.

Q: Do I need to have LindowsOS to browse the software programs available
through Click-N-Run? 
A: Any user with a web browser can peruse the Warehouse by visiting:
(http://www.lindows.com/warehouse).  In order to use Click-N-Run to
install programs, users must install LindowsOS.

Q: Are there Microsoft Windows compatible software programs or Linux
software programs in the Warehouse? 
A: There will be both Microsoft Windows compatible software programs and
Linux software available in the Click-N-Run Warehouse. Generally, most
software titles will be Linux based. However, because LindowsOS can run
some software programs written for Microsoft Windows operating systems
some Microsoft Windows based programs may appear in the Warehouse. All
software programs are designed to install in the same easy manner
through Click-N-Run (http://www.lindows.com/clicknrun). 

Q: How many programs are in the Click-N-Run Warehouse?
A: There are a handful of software programs available today in the
Warehouse. Our hope is that this number will greatly expand as we build
the publisher (http://publish.lindows.com) interface. 

Q: Who can be a publisher?
A: Any individual or company is eligible sign-up as a publisher and make
software available via the Warehouse. There is no cost to sign up. We're
working on the online forms to signup and load software. We expect these
documents to be completed by early May 2002. You can get on our mailing
list to be notified about this feature when it's complete by signing up
to our mailing list (http://www.lindows.com/mailing).

Q: Will Lindows.com decide which software programs are made available in
the Warehouse? 
A: Any software title that's legally sound and able to pass a simple
quality assurance test, to make sure it works with LindowsOS, is
eligible to be published. 

Q: Why is Click-N-Run a positive development for computer owners?
A: By making available a wide range of software choices in an
easy-to-install manner, users will be able to affordably tailor their
computer to perform the tasks they want it to. There is a growing world
of affordable high quality software programs that aren't found in stores
and can save people hundreds of dollars. We'll do our best to make these
programs available via the Click-N-Run Warehouse.

Bringing choice to your computer! 

Lindows.com has just released a Sneak Preview 2 of LindowsOS to a select
group of Insiders. The Sneak Preview is not a fully completed product
but showcases many of the unique features such as a "Friendly-Install"
alongside an existing Microsoft Windows operating system, a streamlined
installation process which requires no computer knowledge and the
ability to run popular Windows-based programs. For more information see
http://www.lindows.com/products.

Click here (http://www.lindows.com/signup) to become a Lindows.com
Insider 

To read previous Michael's Minutes, visit http://www.lindows.com/mm.

LindowsOS and Lindows.com are trademarks of Lindows.com, Inc. Linux R is
a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MicrosoftR WindowsR operating
system is a registered trademark or service mark of the Microsoft
Corporation.

MM10

“There’s been a lot of talk in the tech press lately about whether CodeWeavers ‘ Crossover Office for Linux will draw Windows users. The theory here is that a fair number of home users and a vast lot of businesses naturally despise Windows, but can’t give it up because they adore MS Office. Home computer users may have learned it in school and be habituated to it, and they may take their work home now and then. If the uni or the office uses MSO, they’ll obviously need it on their PCs.” More at The Register.

The Register: “AMD is to stop making budget Duron processors at some point towards the end of the year, when it completes the conversion of Fab 25 in Austin, Tx from CPU production to flash memory-only. That’s what Jerry Sanders told analysts and press in a conference call yesterday. This was far too late in the day for us to listen, so we’ll refer you to Jack Robertson’s account instead. There’s good stuff on Hammer, manufacturing, and flash memory, and Sanders’ testimony in support of Microsoft.”

webreferencetips writes: “Do you know how many functions are needed to consume a single Web service? Learn how to organize your JavaScript code when consuming multiple Web services.”

– by Tina Gasperson –
I’ve got mail. On AOL. On Linux. Thanks to WineX 2.0, running America Online 5.0
in SuSE 7.3 is a reality.
It didn’t quite work with Crossover Office or Plugin. But with a little
persistence and guesswork, I was online with my free AOL trial using
TransGaming‘s newly released WineX 2.0.

Normally, AOL sucks. Besides the fact I don’t use Windows anymore, AOL isn’t the
real Internet. We used to call it a “rest stop” on the information highway. Anyone with an aol.com email address automatically has a strike against him. But just the idea of getting AOL to work in Linux is exciting, if only because I’ve never
seen anyone else do it.

My original intention was to install the children’s game Arthur’s Preschool using WineX 2.0. (I have a whole stack of CDs I’m trying out on various implementations of Wine.) It
wasn’t working, but I noticed the “free AOL trial” icon on the CD and decided to give it a
whirl. A couple of days ago I’d tried to install AOL on Crossover’s stuff, after
noticing the promise of AOL on Lindows Sneak Preview 2, and hadn’t had any luck.
“Hey, AOL is kind of like a game, with pretty graphics and moving targets — maybe
it will work under WineX,” I thought.

Installing it takes a while, at least on my computer (HP Omnibook 4150 PIII, 500mhz,
128MB RAM, 15 GB, SuSE 7.3). You might be tempted to give up too soon — don’t do
it. Just go get a cup of coffee. I opened a terminal, mounted the CD, switched
to the proper directory, and typed winex setup.exe. Both the HD and
the CD lights flickered for about three or four minutes before the next screen came
up. I clicked on “new member,” and then waited another three or four minutes while it
checked for “previous installations.” It should have just asked me, no?

Once the installation program determined I hadn’t already been running AOL, it
proceeded to place the necessary files in my fake Windows directory. Oddly, it
quit about 60% of the way through, insisting that my installation file was
corrupt. But when I clicked on “abort” after having trying “retry” several
times and taking out the CD to clean it just in case, it went ahead and brought
up the sign-on screen, just as if nothing had gone wrong. Fine with me.

It seemed to recognize the Linksys modem, but couldn’t initialize it during the
dialup process. I was able to enter “advanced setup” and tell it to use my LAN
connection — but then it complained about a missing wsock32.dll file. No
problem; after running a search to make sure I didn’t have it somewhere in my
fake Windows directory already, I downloaded it from the ‘Net and placed it in
the windows/system32 directory.

Then, I was able to log on as a new member and activate my account. I had to
call AOL to verify my account information, and they tried to sell me some kind
of asinine car maintenance program along with my membership. “I’m not
interested,” I said.

“I understand ma’am, but I’m authorized…”

“No, I’m not interested.”

“Yes ma’am, but I’m …”

“No, thanks.”

“Yes, but …”

“No, no, no, no, no, not interested.”

“OK, thank you and here’s a number for you to call if you have any
questions … blah blah.”

Sheesh.

I then was able to log on and investigate AOL-land.

Everything within AOL proper worked fairly well and quickly. I IMed Grant Gross
and it worked fine, except for some font oddness. I emailed my other accounts
from my very own AOL email address, and it worked fine. I sent email to my very
own AOL email address, and that worked, too. Chat rooms and message boards
weren’t cooperating, though.

Every now and then, I’d click on something that would cause the program to
disappear, but it always allowed me to re-open the program and log back on with
no problems. It never froze on me, although it completely refused to open any
Web windows. It would not surf to a URL or allow me to create a Web page. Only the basic
AOL land was working for me.

The cutest moments were the “Welcome,” “You’ve got mail!” and “Goodbye”
sound bites — familiar phrases you never thought you’d hear coming from a
Linux machine.

Editor’s note: Sharp readers will pick up the fact that Tina only tried AOL 5.0. We’ll leave testing later versions — like the current AOL 7.0 — in WineX or other Wine variants up to you, because we don’t want to hog all the fun Let us know how it goes if you try!

From ZDNet: “In the decade since its introduction, Linux has sparked sporadic episodes of fervor over its utility as a corporate desktop OS. But in most cases, the
bottom line was the same: It just wasn’t practical.

Aside from glaring ease-of-use issues–most of which have been ameliorated by user interface improvements–the essential problem has always been a
lack of solid business productivity applications, and by extension, cross-platform file compatibility. Most Linux distributions ship with an excess of
desktop apps–from spreadsheets to word processors–but none can truly compete with Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office suite.”

NZheretic writes, “Linux and Open source advocates – Listen to this speech on DDJ’s technetcast! By Todd Main, Essential Information. DMCA, SSSCA, and new encryption standards represent a serious challenge to open source. Todd Main discusses strategies and techniques for effective Open Source lobbying at the state and federal levels. Founded in 1982 by Ralph Nader, Essential Information (essential.org) is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization involved in a variety of projects to encourage citizens to become active and engaged in their communities.”

– By Grant Gross –

If Hewlett-Packard likes Linux so much, as several recent announcements from the company seem to indicate, then why does it appear that the company was aiming ads at Linux users encouraging them to switch to Windows XP?
It turns out that HP was a victim of an overzealous European reseller of its PCs. Early Wednesday, Open Source developer Olivier Fourdan pointed out an ad on the French Google.com site that appeared on the top of the page when he searched for “Linux.” We found the same ad on the Google U.K. site: “linux fans! be rebels! check hp PCs with Windows XP Professional.”

Clicking on the text brought you to a page selling HP PCs. The ad was taken down as of today, after NewsForge contacted HP’s Linux PR representative and HP Linux advocate Bruce Perens about it, and on Google U.K., that space was replaced with a link to a story about HP building a Linux-powered supercomputer for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Both Elizabeth Phillips, HP’s Linux PR person, and Perens said they were surprised by the Windows XP ad. Perens was traveling this week and unable to comment further, but after Phillips checked into the ad, she said it wasn’t quite what it seemed.

Phillips said the ad was taken out by an HP reseller, not by HP itself, and it was a stock ad for Windows XP that had been distributed to resellers. “Someone wasn’t paying attention,” she wrote. The ad ran for less than a week, she added.

Fourdan’s initial reaction: “This makes me feel rather angry, since HP claims for months that they support Linux.” When he first saw the ad, he thought it might have been an attempt at humor, but then he realized it wasn’t.

After he was told it was a reseller’s ad, he still had questions.
“For sure, the answer, ‘it’s not us, but one of our resellers who did that,’ is an easy one,” he said. “Don’t they check how their resellers use their brand name?”

Phillips says she wasn’t able to track down someone who could explain HP’s policy on reseller ads, but she’s looking into it. Martin Fink, general manager of HP’s Linux Systems Operation, says the company is taking steps to keep resellers from promoting one OS over another in the company’s “multi-OS strategy.”

“We are taking measures to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again,” Fink said. “HP is clearly committed to a multi-OS strategy that includes Linux, HP-UX
and Windows and would never intentionally advertise one over another. HP is
committed to Linux and the Open Source community, which shows in our most
recent announcement that we are building the world’s most powerful
Linux-based supercomputer.”

It’s true that HP has made a big Linux push since hiring Perens in late 2000 to be its internal Linux and Open Source advocate. Just this week, HP announced both the successful supercomputer bid and also the new HP Workstation x2100 for Linux, focused on the design automation and animation development industries. And at last month’s FOSE government computing trade show, HP had a prominent Linux section of its booth, and HP representatives were talking up Linux and passing out a CD, “Gartner Multimedia presents: Linux in the Enterprise,” featuring several HP execs, to members of the press.

Anonymous Reader writes, “Get Mozilla 1.0 RC-1 from ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/mozilla 1.0rc1/. Mozillazine is running an article on the release and the improvements since 0.9.9, including the much-requested ‘View Source of Dynamically Generated Pages’ bug–check it out!”