A fix for Mac Ethernet

Apple has released an update to Mac OS X v10.2.8 that fixes previously identified problems with Ethernet on some Power Mac G4s. Also corrected, reports Mac Central, is an issue involving the battery status menu used by Mac laptops. The update is available for download through the Software Update system preferences pane.

Microsoft will not renew a contract to use LookSmart`s Web search results on its MSN site, the search technology provider announced yesterday.

The loss of the MSN deal is a severe blow to LookSmart, reports CNet, as Microsoft was its largest customer. Microsoft is setting its sights on the Web search niche, both for its potential revenue and future tie-ins with the Windows operating system. In July, it quietly launched a software program called MSNBot, which scours the Web to collect links and organises them into a search directory.

IBM will announce two new higher-end models of its z990 mainframe today, along with a promotion to coax customers to try blade servers and other Big Blue products, reports CNet.

When IBM released the first z990, code-named T-Rex, in May, there were two configurations. They are Model A with eight processors and Model B with 16. Now the company will sell Model C with 24 processors and Model D with 32, IBM said.

CNet acts as host for a public statement by VeriSign, after it "reluctantly agreed" to ICANN`s demand that it drop its Site Finder service.

"ICANN appears to have bought into claims that the Internet has broken or will break," a spokesman writes. "Anyone who has used it in the last three weeks knows that claim to be false. More likely, ICANN caved under the pressure from some in the Internet community for whom this is a technology-religion issue about whether the Internet should be used for these purposes."

Microsoft has announced a series of changes to Internet Explorer (IE) to address a recent jury verdict against it in a Web browser patent infringement lawsuit.

eWeek reports that new retail and OEM versions of Windows XP will have a modified version of IE 6 in early 2004, but Microsoft has not yet determined whether it also will alter IE service packs or downloads.