Microsoft News Tracker

Robert McLaws reports some speculation:

Rumor has it that the new name is Windows Server Vista™.

I guess it’s “Windows Server 2003″ style, not “Windows 2000 Server” style. I’m still having a hard time not calling it “Longhorn Server.”

Ward at the Windows Server Division Weblog references Mary Jo Foley on TPM in the Vista client and then observes:

TPM technology is being realized as a part of the NGSCB in the next versions of both the client and the server. Earlier this year we talked about this at the WinHec and how this would be implemented in the Longhorn wave. So for those of you who want deeper, technical information on TPM; there is a nice little whitepaper that talks about the Design, Interaction, and Implementation of TPM in our products. I promise - it is a really good read!

You can grab it here: link

Per the Press Release:

Microsoft Corp. is proud to announce that “Catan Online,” the online, multiplayer subscription version of “The Settlers of Catan,” is now available exclusively at MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com). With MSN Games’ base of 30 million registered users worldwide, more people than ever will have access to this global gaming phenomenon.
…
The rich, multiplayer game embodies the beauty and elegantly interactive features of the original “The Settlers of Catan” while offering special new features, including a variety of gameplay modes in a trusted play environment. Players can choose Quick Match to be paired with players of similar caliber, play solo against the computer, or choose Invite a Friend to play against their MSN Messenger friends. Subscription fees for the multiplayer version are $29.99 (U.S.) per year or $4.99 per month.

“Catan Online” is building on the success of “Catan: The Computer Game,” the premium single-player downloadable version of “The Settlers of Catan,” which has been one of MSN Games’ top 20 most popular downloads since its February launch. Another MSN Games exclusive, “Catan: The Computer Game” offers nine unique options for difficulty and play style, allowing players to truly customize their game. The retail price is $29.95. More information can be found on the “Catan Online” Web site at http://www.catanonline.com.

Yet another side of MSN.

(Via Bink.nu) Stardock StyleVista for Vista Beta 1 “is a new program designed for Windows Vista. It lets users customize “Aero”, the new Windows Vista environment.” According to the FAQ:

StyleVista is a program designed to allow users to change the style of Windows Vista’s glass user interface. By default, Windows Vista’s glass UI has a hard-coded opacity (how easy it is to see through it) and is colorless.

StyleVista lets users change that opacity and add color to the active and inactive window states.

Eventually, StyleVista will allow users to apply .VistaStyle files which will let users customize the GUI elements further.

It’s currently a free download.

Press Release: Microsoft Announces Xbox 360 Price for Europe and North America.

The Xbox 360 Core System is $299.99 U.S./€299.99/£209.99 and there’s also a premium edition which seems to be just called Xbox 360 for $399.99 U.S./€399.99/£279.99. The Core System lacks a hard drive, wireless controller, and Xbox Live membership among other things. A variety of priced peripherals was also announced.

Update: Well, that’s what I get out of parsing the press release, but Todd Bishop has a somewhat different take based on other sources. His feature list has the Core System including an Xbox Live subscription but lacking backward compatibility with original Xbox games. The latter isn’t even mentioned in the press release that I can see. I’ll update this again when the details get sorted out.