Bill Gates told local software partners at a Cape Town technology conference there was an 80 percent chance the company's next-generation operating system, Vista, would be ready in January. Gates said that he would delay the launch if beta testing uncovered shortcomings. Microsoft originally targeted a 2005 launch for the new Windows, and then pushed the release to 2006 before announcing in March that Vista would again be delayed to improve the product

The EU authorities are going to fine the Microsoft company for $200-300 million for failure to execute the decision of antimonopoly services. The sources in EU have informed about it. EU is going to enter the new penalties for the company in case of the refusal to execute the instructions of 2004, requiring to make program codes open for developers of competing products

Matsushita Electric, a leading brand of Panasonic, has announced that it will sell a gigantic, 103-inch Panasonic Plasma TV, the world's largest plasma television by early next year. Measuring 2.4 metres by 1.4 metres and weighing 215kg, the 103-inch panel is bigger than a 102-inch model developed by Samsung. The South Korean company has not launched the model commercially

In a routine but difficult spacewalk two astronauts on Monday overcame stubborn bolts, ill-fitting parts and spacesuit problems to perform a critical repair to the International Space Station. Astronauts Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum replaced a cable reel to a rail car needed to move large pieces around the giant orbital outpost in a spacewalk dotted with glitches. The reel, severed accidentally last year by a cable cutter, provides video, data and power to the rail car

The chip was the most significant development in computer memory for a decade. MRAM chips could find their way into many different electronic devices. One day in the future this chip will replace other types of memory. MRAM is able to hold data without power, because once the magnetic orientation of an electron is set, it doesn't need electricity to be maintained. Unlike flash memory, which also can keep data without power MRAM has faster read and write speeds and does not degrade over time

Google Inc. today announced the launch of Google Checkout (http://checkout.google.com), a checkout process that makes online shopping faster, more convenient and more secure for Google users. Google Checkout offers an easy and trusted checkout option that enables shoppers to purchase from participating stores with a single Google login

Moore said that this move is to help better reach non-hardcore gamers. I'm sorry, but do many casual gamers actually own an Xbox 360? People who only want to play Hearts (which is a title that Moore specifically said would excite gamers) likely aren't going to be more interested in the 360 because of a new retail version of Bejeweled. Even if an exhaustive compilation title was released, with all the Xbox Live Arcade games, I can't imagine it going for more than $19.99

If you happen to be a blogger, you must be perfectly aware what role RSS (Really Simple Syndication) plays in the blogging world. This new way of sharing and distributing content has spread across the web like wildfire in the past few years. And blogs have played a major part in this dynamic growth, catapulting the technology in the stratosphere in a very short amount of time

Microsoft (M) Sdn Bhd is confident its latest localised operating system (OS) will provide more opportunities for information technology (IT) players to develop solutions for the domestic market. Business marketing organisation director Christopher Yong said that the Windows XP Starter Edition Multilingual provided local original equipment manufacturers and independent software vendors with a platform to develop applications without being language-bound

Digg.com, a Web site that ranks and displays news items based on recommendations from its users, is expanding to include video and topics beyond technology. Currently, users are limited to posting and reading items on security, digital music, robots and other tech-related categories. Beginning Monday, they'll get world, business and entertainment news as well, along with non-news video. Games and science also will break out of the general technology section