COPERNIC.COM HAS RELEASED a cool new update to its excellent Copernic 2000 product, Copernic 2000 4.5, that features a ton of new features, the coolest of which has to be the ability to make Internet searches in plain English. I've been raving about this product to friends and family since it's inception, and if you'll forgive an obvious plug, it's even better now: Check it out! It's clearly the best way to search the Net.
WHAT'S PALM'S RESPONSE to the release of the PocketPC, you ask? Pretty much the same as mine: Yawn. Palm president Alan Kessler says that CE devices are too complex, and he's right. "It's not about faster performance, it's not about cramming as much as you can into the device. Fundamentally, our customers want us to help them deliver solutions that are unlike a PC," he said this week at Spring Comdex. "Extremely reliable, wearable and simple to use." It's almost like he gets it.
INTEL TOOK THE high road this week and decided to hold off on the release of its 633 and 667 MHz Celeron CPUs, which will now be made available in June. Previous Intel releases have been accompanied by short supplies, angering customers, and it appears that Intel has learned its lesson. But then that's what happens when you're in a constant game of one-upmanship with a competitor such as AMD, whose Athlon CPU is giving Intel a run for its money.
POOR, POOR MICROSOFT. Not only is the government coming down on it like a ton of bricks, but its guilt in the antitrust trial has unleashed a slew of antitrust lawsuits from across the nation (140+ at last count). What have they done to deserve such a thing? In any event, the company is also in trouble with one of its insurance companies, which is suing to separate itself from the projected billions of dollars that the company might otherwise have to pay out should Microsoft be found liable for these lawsuits. I find the idea that Microsoft should have to actually pay for its transgressions somewhat interesting.
AND SPEAKING OF Microsoft (this is WinInfo, after all), the software giant has started a new advertising campaign that will focus not on it's products, but on selling the company itself. Makes sense: Once you've soaked up the market, what can you possibly sell?
APPLE COMPUTER RECENTLY announced yet another quarter in the black, with earnings of $160 million on sales of $1.9 billion. Not bad, and a stock split the next day had investors dancing in the streets. But it appears that Apple picked a bad time to do so well: With the current condition of the stock market, Apple's shares continue to fall sharply each day despite all the good news. You can't win for trying, I guess.
SHANE BROOKS WROTE me this week about his incredible product for Windows 9x (yes, that includes Windows Me) product, 98lite, which gives users the ability to remove a lot of the fluff in Windows, right down to and including Internet Explorer, the big bugaboo of bundled products. I've been trying a beta version of 98lite III this week, and I think I'm actually going to go for the "micro" install and use some old Windows 95-era Explorer components to take my Windows 98 install to a bold new IE-less world. Who knows, with this setup, Netscape Communicator, and WordPerfect Office 2000, it may actually be possible to ... What am I saying? That's crazy! :) I'll have a review of 98lite up on the SuperSite soon. In the meantime, check out Shane's incredible work at the 98lite Web site
