We admit: sometimes news is very predictable.
Software giant Microsoft has filed an appeal with the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, protesting the €280.5 million (roughly $356 million USD) fine levied in July by European Commission for failing to live up to terms of a 2004 antitrust decision.
The European Commission maintains that Microsoft failed to adequately document protocols and technology which would let third party vendors create products which successfully interoperate with Microsoft Windows network services; such documentation is a requirement of a 2004 antitrust decision against the company. Microsoft says it has expended enormous resources on creating the required documentation, but that EU officials keep changing the requirements.
The Court of First Instance also heard Microsoft’s appeal of the original 2004 antitrust ruling, in which the company was fined a record €497 million. A Ruling on that primary case is expected in late 2006 or early 2007.
Meanwhile, Microsoft may be facing new hurdles in Europe as it prepares to release Windows Vista, the next version of the company’s flagship operating systems. EU officials warned Microsoft in March that certain features scheduled to be included in Vista may draw attention of European regulators (areas of concern included PDF creation, integrated Internet search capabilities, and DRM technology). Microsoft, for its part, recently implied that European Commission scrutiny may delay the release of Windows Vista in Europe.
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
A stocked computer cache may be convenient for logging into and out of go-to sites in seconds flat, but a major buildup of these tracking codes could significantly impact your PC’s performance. If you’ve noticed that your PC has been running rather slow of late, or you’re using a new browser and don’t know how to clear its cache, we’ve got you covered with the following guide.
If you’re looking to clean up your Gmail inbox, but you don’t want to delete anything permanently, then choosing the archive option is your best bet. Whenever you archive an email, it is removed from your inbox folder while still remaining accessible. Here’s how to access any emails you have archived previously, as well as how to move such messages back to your regular inbox for fast access.