HIGH TECH CORNER: YOU CAN GET A FREE COPY OF NEWEST WINDOWS

Microsoft is giving away a free copy of Windows 2000. It is the beta of the new Commerce Server 2000. With this beta you can quickly and easily set up shop on the Internet with Commerce Server 2000, a fully integrated e-commerce solution that combines functionality with extensive personalization and sophisticated decision support. If you are a local business considering e-commerce as a way to increase sales beyond Cape, then this may be the answer for you.

Yes, it is a beta version, which means that you will have to purchase the final production version when it is released. However, if you have a spare PC around, this could be a way to get a leg up on the sales growth that the Internet has to offer. The only cost is shipping the CD to you, $9.95. If you are interested, log on to the Microsoft Web site at www.microsoft.com for more details.

While most readers of this fine paper still run Windows 98 or its predecessor, Win95, Microsoft is pushing us all to Win2000. This became evident Friday when Microsoft announced its sale of its 3 millionth copy of Windows 2000. I started to do the math to calculate the mammoth amount of money this new release has brought to Microsoft until I hit a snag. Windows 2000 is currently available in three versions, soon to be four. The "Professional Version" is for your desktop and is the least expensive. However, the server and especially the advanced server can run into the tens of thousands of dollars per licensed copy, depending on the number of users you have as logins. No matter what people have to say about Mister Bill, I think we all have to agree that he sure knows how to make a buck.

Do you ever get tired of the pop-up adds on the Internet? While there are programs out there to prevent them from appearing, a different approach is now being tried. A judge in Miami has allowed America Online's hourly plan subscribers to go ahead with a suit over time loss due to pop-up ads. An estimated $20 million has been overpaid due to such ads, say the AOL subscribers that filed the suit. This litigation could have far-reaching effects into the advertising campaigns of many companies.

Personally, I hope this litigation is successful. While I have clicked on a few adds that brought new products and services to my attention, I worry more about the speed degradation that this brings to my already slow dial-up Internet connection.

Intel Corporation announced on Thursday that their "Willamette" processor would now be dubbed "Pentium 4." Intel has decided to stay with the brand name Pentium because PC users associate the name with the highest PC performance, compatibility and quality available. This new processor will increase sales more for Intel than the simple release of a PIII with a new clock speed. It is one thing to have your friends over to see you new computer that runs at X megahertz. However, a computer that runs a PIV verses a PIII, especially with the new Intel PIV logo on the box, will be a status symbol indeed.

If some of you are still feeling that your computer still feels slow after running the MSINFO32 application I discussed in my last article, then it comes down to a hardware upgrade. There are 500 MHz processors for as low as $88 available as www.motherboardx.com.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please contact me at rich@digitallabs.com.