Ryan Naraine

That clicking sound you hear is Microsoft hanging up on third-party Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers in a coming upgrade of Windows Messenger for XP. Back in 2001, when Windows XP was being positioned as a clearinghouse for Internet-based services, VoIP firms jostled for placement on the platform, but, with Microsoft pushing its own […]

With doubts lingering over the stability and security of the Linux operating system, three tech heavyweights on Thursday announced plans to seek federal certification for the fast-growing open-source OS. The three firms — IBM Corp. , Oracle and Red Hat IBM, which has banked heavily on mainstream acceptance of Linux, said it would work with […]

For the third time in as many months, Microsoft has issued a cumulative patch for its flagship Internet Explorer browser, warning that two newly discovered vulnerabilities involving the cross-domain security model should be considered “critical.” A security advisory from Microsoft said the latest IE fix includes the functionality of all previously released patches for Internet […]

The U.S. government’s point man for internet security Richard Clarke will quit next month and look for work in the private sector because of dissatisfaction with positions offered to him in the new Department of Homeland Security, the Reuters news agency reported Wednesday. Quoting industry and government sources, Reuters said Clarke will step down after […]

IBM plans to re-enter the Web mail market later this year with an enterprise-focused e-mail product running on its WebSphere and DB2 technologies. The unnamed e-mail product from Mass.-based IBM Lotus Software Group, was announced at the Lotusphere show in Orlando, where Big Blue took center stage to hype the messaging and collaboration capabilities in […]

Atlanta-based access provider EarthLink on Tuesday announced it would shut down call center operations in four U.S. cities and lay off about 1,300 employees as part of a cost-cutting move. With its dial-up subscriber base dwindling, the nation’s third largest ISP said it would close its entire call center operations in Dallas, Texas; Sacramento, Calif.; […]

Just weeks after taking control of the .ORG TLD registry from VeriSign , the non-profit Public Interest Registry (PIR) announced the successful transition of the registry’s technical systems. The Reston, Va.-based PIR said the transition, which took place over the weekend, was unaffected by the Slammer worm attack and by Monday morning, more than 1,800 […]

The test code for Microsoft’s ‘Titanium’ has been released for general download under a brand-new name — Exchange Server 2003, the company announced Monday. Microsoft said the test code for Exchange 2003, which is on schedule for release in the middle of this year, can be downloaded for evaluation as part of the Exchange Joint […]

Ottawa’s Corel Corp. is giving no quarter to the likes of Microsoft and Adobe in the XML content creation and deployment space, rolling out a souped-up version of its XMetaL platform that adds support for the ActiveX technology. By adding support for Microsoft’s ActiveX technology, Corel’s new XMetaL 4 platform, Corel’s pitch is to simplify […]

Five Wall Street broker-dealers have been slapped with fines totaling $8.25 million for lax record-keeping concerning e-mail communications, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday. The five brokerage powerhouses — Goldman Sachs , Citigroup-owned Salomon Smith Barney , Deutsche Bank Securities and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray — agreed to each pay $1.65 million. […]