MS settlement advice from Lindows

The war of words between Lindows.com and Microsoft escalated this week, reports eWeek and CNet. The companies are disputing Lindows.com`s efforts to process consumers` claims in a $1.1 billion class-action settlement.

Lindows.com vowed to fight any legal action taken by Microsoft to force the company to take down its MSfreePC.com Web site, launched two weeks ago. A Microsoft official reportedly declined to say whether the company had taken or planned to take any legal action.

The site prompts consumers to answer a series of questions to see if they qualify for a portion of the settlement Microsoft reached in January in the California anti-trust and unfair competition class actions against it. As part of the settlement, consumers who bought Microsoft products between 18 February 1995 and 15 December 2001 can apply to receive vouchers for refunds on future purchases of computer products and software.

Seeking a way to improve the reliability of Windows, BIOS maker Phoenix Technologies and Microsoft have announced an agreement to develop device-level management services for future versions of Windows, reports eWeek.

The deal will bind Phoenix "Core" BIOS software more closely with the Microsoft operating system. Forthcoming services will deliver more sophisticated information about the state of a system to Windows and give IT managers a clearer picture of the current state of the machine.

Internet surfers should brace themselves for a growing number of sophisticated and contagious cyberspace bugs, a new study reported on by The Globe and Mail warns.

"The frequency of the attacks, whether it be malicious code or direct hacker attacks, is increasing. The complexity is increasing and actually, the capabilities of the attacks are changing and getting a little more sophisticated," said Michael Murphy, GM of Canadian operations of Symantec. Today, the company will release its Internet Security Threat Report, a detailed analysis of computer attacks this year.

Sun Microsystems has drafted another partner for its utility services push, signing up consulting firm SchlumbergerSema to sell outsourcing services around its server gear, reports CNet.

SchlumbergerSema plans to offer outsourcing services that allow corporate customers to purchase server-processing power on a per-usage basis. The services will be based on high-end Unix servers and N1 software from Sun, the consulting firm said.