WinInsider

Microsoft said Thursday that Corporate VP Brent Callinicos will shift from his current role as treasurer to become head of the company's worldwide licensing and pricing group. Callinicos will be replaced by George Zinn, currently an assistant treasurer. The company announced the shift during its conference call to discuss third-quarter earnings.

Microsoft has squirreled away a cash and investment stockpile of tens of billions of dollars. But shareholders hoping for word about dividends as well as those customers wondering what acquisition plans the company may have for that kitty must wait a little longer, the company advised Thursday. Microsoft previously has said it is uncomfortable paying dividends and reducing its cash stockpile while there are still outstanding legal issues.

MSN rolls out a minor upgrade to MSN Messenger and introduces four new online games as part of the launch. MSN is looking to grow revenues in areas beyond online advertising by adding new subscription services to its repertoire.

MSN is launching the new games, branded under "MSN Instant Games Clubhouse," simultaneously with MSN Messenger 6.2, a minor release of its instant-messaging platform. The MSN online games have no connection with Microsoft's Xbox Live games or gaming service, company officials noted.

Microsoft reported on Thursday fiscal third-quarter revenue above expectations but saw its earnings dented by the cost of a fine by the European Union and its settlement with Sun Microsystems.

The software maker said it earned $1.32 billion, or 12 cents per share, on revenue of $9.18 billion, for the three months ended March 31. That compares with earnings of $2.14 billion, or 20 cents per share, on revenue of $7.84 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

New Linux distros still fail a task that Windows 95 -- yes, 95! -- easily handles, namely working with mainstream sound cards. That sends the cost of commercial, paid versions of Linux dramatically higher.

I couldn't get Linux distro to work with my sound card at all, even though I was testing Linux distro on a brand new PC from a major vendor. The system was based on an utterly mainstream Intel motherboard with an on-board Intel sound system. This isn't some weird, off-brand system using unknown components: It's about as mainstream as it gets.

And let me mention in passing, for now, that normal retail versions of XP (not tweaked OEM versions, but off-the-shelf retail CDs) had no problems at all with the sound system. With XP (Pro and Home), everything on the PC worked right away, with no special drivers or manual intervention required.

The seven-page paper, posted late Wednesday on Microsoft's Web site, is a cross between a treatise and a legal brief, citing both the potential damage of the ruling and the alleged legal shortcomings of the decision.

"The commission is seeking to make new law that will have an adverse impact on intellectual property rights and the ability of dominant firms to innovate," Microsoft said in the paper. "This adverse impact will not be confined to the software industry or to Europe."

Microsoft promised a U.S. judge yesterday that it will offer competitors licenses for some of its technology until at least two years beyond the expiration of the landmark antitrust settlement it negotiated with the Bush administration.

Microsoft's surprise concession, announced during a court hearing, responds to concerns expressed in recent months by Justice Department lawyers and U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that a key provision of the settlement is falling short of the government's hopes that it would energize rivals of the software company.

The European Commission's antitrust ruling forcing Microsoft to strip its audio and video player from some versions of Windows relied exclusively on evidence from the company's competitors, according to the written decision.

The European Union's Brussels-based regulatory arm provides no direct evidence in the 301-page ruling that consumers are harmed by Microsoft's bundling of its media player with Windows, which powers about 95 percent of personal computers. It relies instead on evidence from rivals such as Seattle-based RealNetworks Inc., equipment manufacturers and content providers.

Be sure that you update your systems. Visit Windows Update to download security updates.

Public exploits, which are often the precursors to widespread worm attacks, have appeared in the last week for several of the vulnerabilities that Microsoft unveiled and patched last week in its blockbuster security bulletin release.

"It is imperative that the patches provided by Microsoft in its April security release be applied to systems as soon as possible. It is our belief that the likelihood of a worm being released SOON that exploits one of the vulnerabilities addressed by these patches is VERY HIGH," Tom Liston, a handler on duty for the security-focused SANS Institute, wrote in a post a few days after Microsoft posted the bulletins.

The increasing popularity of open source on the desktop will drive Microsoft to create better products in response, the software giant said Wednesday.

Bradley Tipp, Microsoft's national system engineer, told the LinuxUser & Developer Expo in London that competition is good for the whole software industry and will lead to better products emerging from Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.

"The thing I like is that Microsoft does its best work and is most innovative when it has competition, so bring it on," Tipp said.