Microsoft News Tracker

Some recent and (mostly) pertinent news of Microsoft competitors:

Google replaces MSN as 3rd most popular Web site according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Microsoft.com is still number 2 though - maybe they should consider some PPC ads!

RealNetworks, Google and Mozilla Announce New Agreement to Distribute Firefox Web Browser and Google Toolbar with the RealPlayer, Rhapsody music service, and RealArcade games. They had been distributing the toolbar for the past two years.

Google ads will stream out to XM listeners which I expect most folks will consider a questionable distraction. Google had already been playing in terrestrial radio.

Yahoo ties knot with Indian marriage portal. How much more social could networking get than marriage? Should Microsoft be working on Windows Live Matrimony?

Lycos revamps free Webmail service with 3GB mailboxes and no limit on file attachment sizes. This puts them one up on Yahoo Mail, Google GMail, and Microsoft’s Hotmail.

AOL to Give Services Away to Broadband Users, Hoping for a Fortune in Ads. It seems like everyone’s doing it, although it may not have been an option for AOL since they were leaking users anyhow as they moved to broadband. Could it be the Last Chance For AOL? Biggest shocker: AOL will no longer actively market dial-up accounts which likely means the end of the ubiquitous promotional CDs.

McAfee unleashes the Falcon which is their answer to Windows Live OneCare.

Germany hopes to establish ‘Linux Valley’. It’s centered around Nuremberg, the home of SuSE Linux.