Microsoft sidelines Longhorn database capers

Contrary to earlier reports, Microsoft`s Windows Future Storage (WinFS) initiative will build on, rather than supersede the NTFS file system, when the next version of Windows Longhorn appears in 2005, reports The Register.

"The oft-misunderstood WinFS, which will include technology from the 'Yukon` release of SQL Server, is not a file system," reports the site. "Instead, WinFS is a service that runs on top of - and requires - NTFS."

Avanex has announced it will acquire the optical component businesses of both Alcatel and Corning for $67.4 million in stock, reports Reuters.

Avanex will supply solutions to Alcatel`s optical networking products over a three-year period. The deals are expected to close in the third quarter. Alcatel`s optical business employed about 950 people at the end of March in France and the UK. Avanex estimated it will have 1 600 employees after the deals close.

China has cracked down on rumours about SARS being spread through mobile phone messages, reports Reuters. The government reportedly uses a tracking system that pinpoints users who send more than 100 text messages in an hour over China Mobile and China Unicom`s networks. Authorities can read the message in as little as 15 minutes after isolating the sender.

Rumours spread by SMS have ranged from Beijing officials being poised to impose martial law, to crop dusters spraying the city with disinfectant by night. Another advised people to drink and smoke to ward off SARS.

Mobile phone operators, vendors and Beijing`s Internet Supervision Bureau all declined to comment on the tracking system, but telecoms equipment vendors like Huawei Technologies and ZTE as well as Nokia have sold tracking systems to carriers, sources said.

Losses in Microsoft`s entertainment division widened compared to a year ago, according to a company regulatory filing on Monday, reports ExtremeTech. The division includes Microsoft`s Xbox game console, entertainment software, gaming hardware and television division.

Microsoft was expected to detail its upcoming games line-up at the E3 video-game conference in LA on Monday night, including details of some of the roughly 200 games expected on the console by year-end, and a first look at Doom III. Microsoft did not announce lower prices for the Xbox, nor a sleeker new form factor, as had been rumoured.

According to market researcher Strategy Analytics, 75% of home video game console owners own Sony`s PlayStation 2, 13% have Nintendo`s GameCube, and 12% own Microsoft`s Xbox.

Three young men who produced the brief Internet sensation "Bumfights" pleaded guilty on Friday to paying homeless men to trade blows, charges that could send them to jail for a year. Reuters reports that Ryan McPherson (19), Daniel Tanner (21) and Zachary Bubeck (24) each pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to promote illegal fighting.

A San Diego attorney representing Bubeck is quoted as saying "bad taste is not actionable" and that the homeless men participated willingly. More than 300 000 of the tapes were reportedly sold on the Internet for $19.99 each, and a Web site (www.bumfights.com) was still promoting the series on Friday.