Microsoft News Tracker

If yesterday’s announcement that MSN and Yahoo were working on instant messaging interoperability had an air of deja vu, you might have been remembering the 2003 pledge from AOL and Microsoft that they would work on IM interoperability. Lisa DiCarlo at Forbes checks into whatever became of that in Broken Promises and the official answer is apparently that it’s real hard to do. There are some unofficial answers as well.

Deborah Yao from the AP - Comcast, Google Said in Talks Over AOL:

Comcast Corp., the country’s largest cable TV company, is teaming up with Internet search leader Google Inc. in talks about taking a stake in Time Warner Inc.’s AOL Web portal, a person familiar with the discussions said.

Comcast, Google and Time Warner are discussing a possible deal under which the three companies would form a new entity through which they would jointly own the Web portal, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because release of the information was not authorized.

The potential deal could derail separate talks that have been reported between AOL and Microsoft Corp., which is believed to be interested in an alliance between AOL and Microsoft’s MSN, another major Internet portal.

Any deal between AOL and MSN could threaten Google, since AOL is major contributor to Google’s thriving Internet ad business, accounting for 11 percent of Google’s $2.6 billion in revenue during the first half of this year.

Richard Parsons, Time-Warner’s CEO, says this is merely a “market rumor.”

(Via Bink.nu) Vista licensing move pushes NSW governmental shift to Linux:

The NSW Office of State Revenue (OSR) is taking a tough stance against Microsoft’s decision to make the enterprise edition of Windows Vista only available to companies that have signed on to its Software Assurance programme. The tax collection agency has declared it would rather switch desktop operating systems than lock itself into Microsoft’s licensing regime.

Delivering a presentation at the South East Asian Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC 2005) in Sydney, OSR chief information officer Mike Kennedy and the agency’s manager of client services, Pravash Babhoota, confirmed they would start scoping for a move to a Linux desktop within six months.

The OSR collects taxes, levies and duty for the NSW government and is the second biggest revenue authority in Australia after the Australian Taxation Office. Answering directly to the NSW Treasury, OSR has about 600 staff, 200 of them recruited during the past year.

NSW is New South Wales which is the most heavily populated and urbanized state in Australia. It includes Sydney. I’ve mentioned exclusive licensing of certain Vista versions through the Microsoft Software Assurance program previously and it now looks like some campers aren’t happy.