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1. 
   Review - Windows Live Mail

   8.0.1172 Beta (Nov 18, 2006)

   looks good, but it keeps locking up or freezeing for some reson.
   
   if this is to take over from outlook express it need a lot more work from microsoft
   
   NB: it seems that microsoft has stopped outlook express from downloading from hotmail it was working upto 3 days ago maybe thay want more on Windows Live Mail desktop.

2. 
   Review - Free KGB Key Logger

   1.94 (Jul 10, 2006)

   Freeware is copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of charge, for an unlimited time, as opposed to shareware where the user is required to pay after some trial period.
   
   The only criterion for being classified as "freeware" is that the software must be made available for use for an unlimited time at no cost. The software license may impose other restrictions, e.g. free for personal use; individual use; non-profit use; non-commercial use; academic use; commercial use; or a combination of these, e.g. "Free for personal, non-commercial use."
   
   Freeware is often considered a sort of middle ground between public domain (where the programmer gives up all his rights to the software) or free software, and proprietary or shareware publishing with its more restrictive for-cost licensing. Programmers who release freeware often want to "give something to the community" but also want credit for their software and to retain control of its future development. Often, when a programmer decides to stop developing a freeware product, he or she will give the source code to another programmer or release the product's source code to the public.
   
   In closeing the program may be good, but it is NOT freeware

3. 
   Review - Yahoo! Music Jukebox

   1.0.1.108 Beta (May 11, 2005)

   First my ISP is bt.yahoo so I get launch cast pro for free so I don’t need it added to the player but ok it means I don’t have to have a browser window open. on installing it over write my ISP’s version of Yahoo messenger no Biggie I never use it anyhow Looks a little like music match with a hint of I tunes, it handles my music collection with no problems, I have over 8000 tracks on my computer and have only found 3 or 4 that can handle a play list so big. In all it’s a good player, ( cpu useage from 2 – 10 mem usage 32,320K + 6,144 for Yahoo pager ) But will I change from Winamp5 well no with Winamp 5 I get Winamp TV, Winamp Radio, I can run my own station if I wanted or tune into other peoples stations i would have given it full marks but it would have to beat winamp for that and i think it just falls short

4. 
   Review - Lockspam Free

   3.0 (Sep 16, 2004)

   Lockspam Free 3.0
   License: Freeware; $29.95 to buy
   Limitations: Yes; 14 day timeout
   
   the program is good and dose what it supposed to da but is it just me or is the use of the term freware being miss used more and more. i would have given it more points but the loose use of the term free & freeware must be taken into account
   
   as from webopedia.com TERM freeware
   "Copyrighted software given away for FREE by the author. Although it is available for FREE, the author retains the copyright, which means that you cannot do anything with it that is not expressly allowed by the author. Usually, the author allows people to use the software, but not sell it."

5. 
   Review - Xinorbis

   2.5 Beta (May 25, 2004)

   just seen that there is no uninstaller with this program no thats not playing nice

6. Comment - Microsoft, eBay Join Anti-Phishing Push

   2.5 Beta (Feb 14, 2005 - 8:16 PM)

   this is a good start but ebay and paypal only protect you on there own sites, is microsoft going to do the same ?. if so then they are thinking way to small. i as one of millions of net users would like to do my bit to help stop shilshing so i use 2 tools to help one is spoofstick its a browser add-on and shows me the real url of the site im on the second is PhishGuard this is best as they say "PhishGuard is a simple, free software service. The first person to discover a suspected phishing scam can report the offending email or URL (website address), literally in seconds. There is no need to divulge any confidential information to the scammers. Within minutes, our monitoring team has verified the scam, and added it to the ScamBase™ database. Updates to the database are rapidly distributed to every participating computer, effectively immunizing them against the newly discovered scam."
   i myself had had philsh emails from eBay, Citibank, PayPal, AOL, Visa, EarthLink, Microsoft, AT&T, Yahoo, and numerous others.
   so ebay,paypal and microsoft let us the end user help you make the net a safer place

7. Comment - AOL Denies Talks of Acquisition by Microsoft

   2.5 Beta (Mar 21, 2004 - 1:39 AM)

   Is it me or is Bill looking to take over or invest in every company, if you look at what he has been buying or investing in from 1980- 1999 it looks to me that he wants to own everthing to do with the internet, operating systems, media both computers & cable tv. you would think someone would say STOP enough is enough. here is of buying/investments from 1980- 1999
   
   Company
   Product or Service
   Transaction Description
   Year
   
   Access Software
   Developer of PC golf games.
   Purchased company
   1999
   
   aha! Software
   Developer of InkWriter, a pen-based mobile computing technology and patent-holder on handwriting recognition technologies.
   Purchased company
   1996
   
   Alamira
   Developer of Composer, a graphics software application.
   Purchased company
   1994
   
   Apple Computer, Inc.
   Personal computer manufacturer.
   $150 million equity investment, broad technology sharing agreement.
   1997
   
   Ashton-Tate
   Developers of dBase database software.
   Joint venture to develop OS/2 database ended in acrimony.
   1988
   
   Aspect Engineering
   Developer of Internet tools and technologies.
   Purchased company
   1996
   
   Atomic Games
   Developers of Close Combat action game.
   Purchased software
   ?
   
   AT&T
   Telecommunications
   Licensed Unix to develop Microsoft Xenix, though the actual coding was subcontracted to SCO, Inc.; Proposed $5 billion equity investment.
   1980, 1999
   
   Audible, Inc.
   Internet Audio
   $11 million equity investment.
   1999
   
   AvantGo
   Handheld Web software and device developer.
   $14.7 million equity investment jointly with 3Com.
   1999
   
   Banyan Systems
   Developer of network software, including StreetTalk, BeyondMail and Vines.
   Equity investment, $10 million employee training program
   1999
   
   BAO (Bruce Artwick Organization)
   Developer of Microsoft Flight Simulator and Flight Shop, a Flight Simulator add-on.
   Purchased company, canceled U.S. distribution of Flight Shop.
   1995
   
   Bettman Archives
   World's largest collection of historical and news photographs.
   Purchased company, integrated collection into Corbus, a company owned by Bill Gates.
   1995
   
   Black Entertainment Television
   Entertainment and television cable company.
   Joint venture, called MSBET.
   1996
   
   Blue Ribbon Soundworks, Ltd.
   Developer of SuperJam, EasyKeys and other MIDI music products for Amiga, OS/2 and Windows.
   Purchased company. EasyKeys for OS/2 and Amiga products discontinued soon after.
   1995
   
   British Royal Mail
   The British Post Office
   Joint venture, RelayOne project.
   1998
   
   Cable and Wireless Communications (UK)
   Television cable
   Proposed $4 billion equity investment.
   1999
   
   Cambridge University
   Institution of higher education.
   Invested $80 million to establish a basic research lab and $16 million in small technology companies mainly in the Cambridge area.
   1997
   
   CareerBuilder
   Job information on Internet
   $17.8 million equity investment.
   1999
   
   Citrix
   Developers of connectivity software.
   Agreed to purchase broad technology license for at least $175 million after threatening to release competing product.
   1997
   
   CMGI
   Internet venture capitalists, with a wide variety of investments.
   Equity investment
   1998
   
   Colusa
   Developer of object-oriented programming software for the Internet.
   Purchased company
   1996
   
   Comcast
   Fourth-largest television cable providers in the U.S.
   $1 billion (11.5%) equity investment
   1997
   
   CompareNet, Inc.
   Management of database products and shopping comparison guides, to be integrated into MSN Sidewalk online guide.
   Purchased company
   1999
   
   Concentic Network
   ISP services WebTV for Microsoft.
   $50 million equity investment and other joint initiatives.
   1999
   
   Cooper & Peters
   Developer of EyeOpener, a Java-based office productivity application.
   Purchased company for in excess of $20 million, apparently for the purpose of removing EyeOpener from the market.
   1997
   
   Cooper Software
   Developer of Ruby, the foundation for Visual Basic.
   Purchased software
   1991
   
   Dare to Dream Entertainment
   unknown
   Purchased company
   1995
   
   dbWeb
   Web database producer.
   Purchased company
   1996?
   
   Deutsche Telekom
   Telecommunications, including telephone and cable.
   Proposed $1 billion equity investment.
   1999
   
   Dialogic
   Computer telephony products
   Purchased 5% share of company for $24.2 million and separate licenses of company's products.
   1999
   
   Digital
   unknown
   Equity investment
   1995
   
   Digital Anvil
   Action-story and action-strategy game developers.
   Equity investment, including deal to work exclusively with Microsoft on PC and online game development.
   1997
   
   Digital Entertainment Network (DEN)
   Interactive Web entertainment
   Equity investment
   1999
   
   Digital Sound
   Communications equipment developer.
   Purchased 446,250 shares of Series B stock for $3.3 million (32.4% stake).
   1997
   
   Dimension X
   Java Technology company with two internet-based Java products: Liquid Motion and Liquid Reality.
   Purchased company
   1997
   
   Dorling Kindersley, Ltd.
   Book publisher and international packager.
   26% equity investment in exchange for rights to multimedia titles.
   1991
   
   DreamWorks SKG
   Film and entertainment company formed by Steven Spielberg, et. al.
   Joint venture
   1995
   
   Dynamical Systems
   Multitasking software developer.
   Purchased company, products integrated into Windows.
   1986
   
   E-Stamp Corporation
   Internet postage software developers.
   Equity investment
   1997
   
   eFusion
   Internet applications gatesways developers.
   Equity investment (along with France Telecom and Telecom Italia) and joint venture to develop technological standards for interconnecting home electronics and information appliances.
   1997
   
   Electric Gravity
   Internet Gaming Zone creator.
   Purchased company, then immediately announced that the IGZ would be accessible only to Windows users. The site was subsequently restricted to users of Internet Explorer.
   1996
   
   Elemental Software Inc.
   E-commerce software developers.
   Equity investment
   1997
   
   Ensemble Studios
   Strategy game developer.
   Bought rights to "Age of Empires" game.
   1997
   
   ENTEX Information Services
   Company that handles most of Microsoft's help-desk activities.
   Equity investment
   1996
   
   Equinix
   Internet traffic exchange centers
   Equity investment
   1999
   
   eShop
   Internet-commerce software developer.
   Purchased company
   1996
   
   EXOS
   Developer of software for game-control devices.
   Purchased company
   1996
   
   Fasa Interactive
   Game developer (Battletech, Mechwarrior)
   Purchased company
   1999
   
   Firefly Network Inc.
   Personalization software
   Purchased company for approximately $40 million.
   1998
   
   First Data Corp.
   Banking industry services.
   Joint venture to develop bill-presentation system, MSFDC.
   1997
   
   Flash Communications
   Internet-based instant messaging and "buddy list" software.
   Purchased company
   1998
   
   Forethought, Inc.
   Presentation graphics software, became PowerPoint.
   Purchased company
   1987
   
   Fox Software
   Developer of database software FoxBase, became FoxPro.
   Purchased company
   1992
   
   Gameworks
   Video game parlors
   Joint venture with Sega and Dreamworks SKG.
   1996
   
   General Magic
   Developer of integrated voice and data applications.
   Investment of $6 million in exchange for licensing technologies, including Serengeti, a computer network service to be integrated into Microsoft applications.
   1998
   
   Headspace
   Music creation software and music publisher.
   Licensed "Beatnik" software for inclusion in WebTV.
   1998
   
   Healtheon/Web MD
   Internet delivery of health & medical information.
   $250 million equity investment
   1999
   
   Helicon Publishing Ltd.
   Multimedia encyclopedia publishers (UK).
   Equity investment
   1996
   
   Hotmail
   Free e-mail service with 9.5 million subscribers.
   Purchased company for perhaps as much as $400 million and incorporated it into Microsoft Network.
   1997
   
   IBM
   Computer manufacturer.
   Variety of business relationships, including MS-DOS and OS/2.
   1981-
   
   ICL
   Informations technology services
   Expansion of strategic alliance to develop a wide variety of Windows-based corporate and consumer services.
   1999
   
   Individual, Inc.
   Computer services company specializing in customized news and content delivery, including ClariNet.
   Equity investment (7.4%, or over one million shares).
   1997
   
   Infoseek
   Internet search engine
   Equity investment in exchange for preferential display of Microsoft products.
   1997
   
   Inktomi
   Search-engine software developer.
   Licensed technology for use on Microsoft Network.
   1997
   
   Inprise (formerly Borlandl)
   Developer tools, enterprise databases
   $100 million to resolve patent dispute, $25 million (10%) equity investment.
   1999
   
   Insignia Solutions
   Windows emulation software for RISC microprocessors.
   Purchased software
   1997?
   
   Interactive Objects
   Audio playback technology for handheld computers.
   Purchased technology
   1999
   
   Intergraph
   Workstation manufacturer.
   Licensed source code for its NFS client (DiskAccess/DiskShare) to Microsoft to promote Windows NT to UNIX interoperability.
   1998
   
   Interse
   Website-tracking software developer.
   Purchased company
   1997
   
   Ioptics
   Portable optical storage devices.
   $9.5 million equity investment.
   1998
   
   Jump Networks Inc.
   Web-based e-mail and calendar service.
   Purchased company
   1999
   
   K-Tel
   Leading repackager of "oldies" pop music hits.
   Deal to include "K-Tel Express" online music and home video service on Microsoft's MSN Shopping network.
   1998
   
   Lattice
   Developer of Lattice C code compiler, became Visual C++
   Purchased software
   1983?
   
   Lernout & Hauspie
   Belgian speech technology firm.
   Equity investment ($45 million for 1,450,210 shares in stock).
   1997
   
   LinkAge Software
   Email connectivity and directory synchronization software.
   Purchased company
   1997
   
   LinkExchange
   Web-based advertising
   Purchased company for between $200 and $265 million.
   1998
   
   Liquid Audio
   Audio streaming technology developers.
   Joint promotion of products and technology; Liquid Audio adopts Microsoft's NetShow streaming media technology and Advanced Streaming Format.
   1997
   
   Mesa Group
   Data and collaborative application migration services.
   Purchased company
   1998
   
   MetaCreations
   Graphics software developers.
   Licensed MetaStream 3D graphics file format and run-time engine for integration into future versions of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface.
   1998
   
   Micrographx
   Developer of graphics software applications.
   Initially offered to purchase software, but instead created similar product after viewing source code for Micrographx's product.
   1989?
   
   MTel (SkyTel Communication)
   Two-way pager services and other communications equipment.
   Equity investment
   1996
   
   National Broadcasting Company
   U.S. television network.
   Joint venture to create the MSNBC news service on the Internet and cable television.
   1995
   
   Navitel
   Developer of network telephone technologies, including Navitel ScreenPhone.
   Equity investment accompanied by annoucement that Navitel will begin developing software for Windows CE.
   1997
   
   NetCarta
   Developer of WebMapper, a website management tool.
   Purchased company
   1996
   
   Netwise
   Mainframe/midrange connectivity company.
   Purchased company
   1995
   
   Network Managers Inc.
   Network managment software.
   Purchased SNMP technology
   1995
   
   NextBase Ltd.
   Digital mapping company, developers of Autoroute Express.
   Purchased company
   1994
   
   Nextel Communications
   Telecommunications, cellular telephones, pagers.
   $600 million equity investment (4.25% of common stock); deal to integrate MSN connections into wireless devices.
   1999
   
   NorthPoint Communications
   High-speed digital subscriber line provider.
   $30 million equity investment
   1999
   
   NTL
   The parent of UK's 3rd largest cable TV company, CableTel.
   $500 million (5%) equity investment.
   1999
   
   OmniBrowse Inc.
   Wireless data services for handheld computers.
   Purchased company
   1999
   
   OneTree Software
   Publisher of SourceSafe software.
   Shortly after SourceSafe's release, Microsoft pre-announced a similar application called Microsoft Delta, which failed to sell. Microsoft then purchased OneTree and renamed SourceSafe as Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.
   1994
   
   OpenPort
   Internet faxing technology.
   Equity investment
   1998
   
   Panorama Software
   Database software integration developers.
   Aquired OLAP technology
   1996
   
   Pluto Technologies
   Networking and other equipment for TV broadcasting.
   Equity investment
   1998
   
   Portugal Telecom
   Phone company of Portugal.
   Strategic agreement to jointly develop interactive video and data services and $38.6 million equity investment.
   1999
   
   Proginet
   Developers of "HostOffice," Mainframe to PC integration software.
   Equity investment, technology transfer and marketing agreement.
   1996
   
   Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd.
   Australian media group.
   $25 million joint venture contribution to create Internet service "Ninemsn."
   1998
   
   QualComm
   Cellular phone service provider.
   $50 million joint venture to form new wireless communications company, Wireless Knowledge.
   1998
   
   Quark, Inc.
   Developers of desktop publishing software.
   "Strategic alliance" in technology, business development, and joint sales and marketing.
   1998
   
   Qwest Communications
   Long-distance telephone carrier.
   Purchased $200 million in common stock, representing a 1.33% equity investment.
   1998
   
   RealNetworks (formerly Progressive Networks)
   Leading streaming media software developer (Real Audio and Real Video).
   $30 million (10%) equity investment, license to use Real Audio and Real Video in NetShow.
   1997
   
   Reciprocal
   Internet music and media delivery
   10-15% equity investment
   1999
   
   RenderMorphics, Ltd.
   3d graphics software developer, including Reality Lab.
   Purchased company
   1995
   
   Reservation Works LLC
   Travel softwaredeveloper.
   Equity investment
   1998
   
   ResNova Software
   Developer of Macintosh Internet technologies.
   Purchased company
   1996
   
   Rhythms NetConnections
   High-speed Internet access
   $30 million equity investment
   1999
   
   Roadrunner
   High-speed cable Internet access.
   10% equity investment.
   1998
   
   Rogers Communications
   Canadian cable television provider.
   $400 million (US) equity investment, and agreements to provide digital broadcasting services via set-top boxes.
   1999
   
   The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO)
   Owners of the OS source code that began as AT&T UNIX.
   11.5% equity investment.
   1989?
   
   SaveSmart (now Prio)
   E-commerce promotions.
   Equity investment
   1998
   
   Seattle Computer Products
   Developer of 86Q-DOS operating system software, which became MS-DOS.
   Purchased software for $50,000, but later was sued and paid the company a nearly $1 million settlement.
   1981
   
   Sendit (Sweden)
   Cell phone to Internet communictions software developer.
   Purchased company for $120 million in cash.
   1999
   
   ShadowFactor
   Gaming software technology.
   Purchaded company
   1999
   
   ShareWave, Inc.
   Home and multimedia networking products
   Undisclosed portion of a $7.5 million equity investment with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, among others
   1998
   
   SingleTrac Entertainment
   Games developer.
   Equity investment
   1996
   
   Softimage
   3d graphics applications developer.
   Purchased company ; eventually discontinued development of non-Windows products, then sold company in 1999.
   1994
   
   Spyglass
   Web browser software application.
   Purchased software, which became Internet Explorer. In 1997 Spyglass alleged that Microsoft was withholding royalty payments and requested an audit. In 1999, a $20 million deal to develop browser technology for WindowsCE.
   1995, 1999
   
   Stac
   Developer of Stacker file compression software.
   After a failed attempt to license Stacker for DOS 6.0, Microsoft developed a similar product which infringed on Stac's patents. Stac was awarded $120 million in damages, which was partially settled with an investment in Stac by Microsoft.
   1995
   
   Sybase
   Software code, modified to produce Microsoft SQL Server 6.0
   Purchased software
   1988
   
   Symantec (formerly Peter Norton)
   Operating system utilities developer
   Speed Disk and defragmentation technologies for DOS 6.x, Windows 3.x and Windows 9.x were based on the products purchased or licensed from Peter Norton.
   1991?
   
   SyNet
   Internet service provider.
   Microsoft sued this holder of the "Internet Explorer" trademark in 1994, forcing it into bankruptcy. Though Microsoft settled for $5 million, SyNet closed its doors.
   1998
   
   Tandem
   Manufacturers of credit card and ATM transation hardware and software.
   Equity investment, cross-licensing.
   1996
   
   TCI
   Largest U.S. cable TV provider.
   20% stake holder in Microsoft Network. TCI licensed Windows CE for use in set-top cable boxes.
   1998
   
   Telewest
   Largest television cable provider in the UK.
   Equity investment (29.9%)
   1999
   
   ThingWorld.com
   Internet content delivery services
   Investment
   1999
   
   Thomson Multimedia S.A. (France)
   Multimedia and interactive TV.
   7.5% equity investment.
   1998
   
   3Com
   Communications and networking hardware and software.
   Joint venture to produce LAN Manager, networking software for OS/2, ended in huge losses for 3Com.
   1989
   
   Trados GmbH
   German language translation software developer.
   Equity investment?
   1997
   
   Transvirtual
   Developers of Java programming lanugage clone "Kaffe."
   Funded development of Kaffe.
   1999
   
   Tut Systems
   Developers of "HomeRun," a "smart house" technology.
   Equity investment and joint venture to develop technological standards for interconnecting home electronics and information appliances.
   1997
   
   Ubuy.com
   Subsidiary of Interactive Technologies provides online services to households and businesses.
   Purchased customer lists, deal to feature MSN on Ubuy.com's portal.
   1999
   
   United Pan-Europe Communications N.V.
   Cable systems owner in ten European countries and Israel.
   Equity investment.
   1999
   
   UPC
   Dutch cable television and telephone company.
   $300 million equity investment on the company's initial public offering; agreement to develop digital video, Internet, and Internet-based telephone services in Europe.
   1999
   
   US West Communications
   Telecommunications conglomerate
   $1 billion equity investment in cable operations.
   1997
   
   UUNET Technolgies
   Major Internet backbone and service provider.
   Equity investment
   1995
   
   Valence Software
   Load-balancing software for mail and web servers.
   Purchased company. Valence's "Convoy Cluster" product becomes "Windows NT Load Balancing Service."
   1998
   
   Vanstar (now Inacom)
   Technology sevices provider.
   Equity investment
   1995
   
   VDOnet Corp.
   Internet digital video delivery.
   Equity investment
   1996
   
   VenturCom
   Embedded systems tools developer.
   Technology license
   1998
   
   Verisign
   Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificate solutions developers.
   Equity investment
   1996
   
   Vermeer Technologies Inc.
   Developer of hypertext (World Wide Web) editing software.
   Purchased company for between $80-100 million; Vermeer became Microsoft FrontPage.
   1996
   
   Visa International
   Credit card company.
   Joint venture to create Internet banking transaction technology standards.
   1994
   
   VXtreme
   Streaming media software developer.
   Purchased company for an estimated $75 million.
   1997
   
   Wang Labs
   Document imaging and workflow company.
   Equity investment of 10% ($90 million) to settle lawsuit in which Wang claimed Microsoft's OLE technology infringed their patents. As part of settlement, Wang imaging software is now part of Windows 95 OSR2 and NT 4.0 SP3.
   1996
   
   Waves
   Audio technology developers.
   License to use Waves "TrueVerb" technologies in future versions of Windows operating systems.
   1999
   
   Webcorp
   Web peer-to-peer network operating system.
   Purchased software and hired developers.
   1993
   
   WebTV Networks
   TV set-top Internet device manufacturer.
   Purchased company for $425 million.
   1997
   
   Wildfire Communications
   Advanced telephone voice-mail systems.
   Equity investment, somewhere under $12 million.
   1997
   
   Wink Communications
   Television viewer response
   $30 milliion equity investment
   1999
   
   Wireless Knowledge
   Internet access for mobile users.
   Equity investment (product of joint venture with QualComm).
   1998
   
   Xerox
   Digital and photo copier manufacturer.
   Joint software development at Xerox PARC labs.
   1999
   
   Z-Nix
   Mouse manufacturer for PCs.
   Agreement to bundle "Super Mouse" with Windows resulted in antitrust suit when Microsoft attempted to double its royalty charges.
   1990
   
   ZoomIt
   Meta-directory software products developer.
   Purchased company, integrate technologies into Microsoft Active Directory service of Windows 2000 Server.
   1999
   
   ZSoft
   Graphics software developer.
   Purchased Paintbrush software to bundle with Windows 3.0.
   1990