Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. say language included in a U.S. House bill doesn't go far enough to protect them from fees that Internet service providers might charge for delivering their content. ...

"This bill sends a bad signal to those companies spending billions of dollars to invest in Internet content," said Gerard Waldron, an attorney at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Waldron is fighting the legislation for Microsoft and Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, as well as Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and IAC/InterActiveCorp.

In submissions that will be made available to the European Commission today, six technology companies state that Microsoft’s technical documentation is useful and helpful. The companies say they have successfully used that documentation to develop and release interoperable software products to the marketplace.

Among the companies affirming the quality as well as the value of Microsoft’s technical documentation are EMC Corporation, a leading provider of information management and storage products; StarBak Communications Inc., a leading developer of video communications systems for enterprise customers; TANDBERG Television Ltd., a pioneer in digital video compression and systems for the delivery of TV and on-demand content; and Network Appliances, a world leader in unified storage solutions.

All of the companies submitting statements are licensees in the Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (MCPP). MCPP licensees have successfully used technical documentation similar to that which Microsoft has created for potential licensees of the Windows Server Protocol Program (WSPP) mandated in 2004 by the Commission. As a result, MCPP licensees have already developed and released a total of 12 different products into the marketplace.

So what's wrong with Microsoft? There is, after all, no shortage of smart software engineers working at the corporate campus in Redmond, Wash. The problem, it seems, is largely that Microsoft's past success and its bundling strategy have become a weakness.

Windows runs on 330 million personal computers worldwide. Three hundred PC manufacturers around the world install Windows on their machines; thousands of devices like printers, scanners and music players plug into Windows computers; and tens of thousands of third-party software applications run on Windows. And a crucial reason Microsoft holds more than 90 percent of the PC operating system market is that the company strains to make sure software and hardware that ran on previous versions of Windows will also work on the new one — compatibility, in computing terms.

As a result, each new version of Windows carries the baggage of its past.

Do you have an iPod?

No, I do not. Nor do my children. My children--in many dimensions they're as poorly behaved as many other children, but at least on this dimension I've got my kids brainwashed: You don't use Google, and you don't use an iPod.

Chatter at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose is strongly suggesting that Microsoft is on the verge of signing a deal to acquire British developer Lionhead, with rival bidder Ubisoft reported to be out of the running.

Q. Who, out of any person, would do the best job of dictator with total control of the world, and please give a real response.

A. Bill Gates. He’s rational, experienced, and has a good track record of helping the disadvantaged through his charitable trusts.

After four years at the helm of Microsoft's ... security group, Mike Nash is taking a break. This June he will go on sabbatical after handing over responsibilities to his replacement, Ben Fathi.

Nash led Microsoft's Security Technology Unit...

Microsoft said that Vista is "feature complete," which means that the code writing process is basically over. "The next phase of development focuses on security, testing and fit/finish - not writing new code," the spokesperson added.

In the summer of 2006, we will unveil a more powerful version of MSN Spaces which will be called Windows Live Spaces! Stay tuned!

Yesterday, Microsoft Corp. confirmed the timeline for release and availability of its 2007 Microsoft® Office system. The company remains on track to complete work on the 2007 Microsoft Office system in October of this year and is planning to make the product available to the business customers through the volume licensing program in October 2006. Retail and OEM availability of the product are scheduled to coincide with the retail and OEM availability of the Windows Vista™ operating system in January 2007.

The delay comes as Microsoft this week is expected to name Steve Sinofsky, a senior vice president, as head of the division that oversees Windows, according to people familiar with the matter.

The delay and management appointment highlight a broader effort by Microsoft to inject more management oversight into the Windows group, Microsoft's largest contributor of revenue and profit.

... People familiar with the matter said the restructuring is not directly tied to the Vista delay. Still, Mr. Sinofsky is expected to eventually assume duties that have been handled by Mr. Allchin, who last year announced that he would retire after what had been expected to be the Windows Vista shipping date later this year.

If and when Sinofsky, Senior Vice President of Office, does take over as head of Windows, the move will have far-reaching impact on the way the team operates. Sinofsky has the reputation of a strict, schedule-bound manager who keeps the trains running on time. The Office division is reflective of his discipline: Betas of Office releases are delivered like clockwork. Community Technology Preview (CTP) interim test releases are shunned in the current Office organization. And the Office teams ships a new version of its namesake product every two to three years, without fail.

O'Reilly asked Gates about Microsoft's penchant for knocking competitors out of the ring. Google, Yahoo, eBay and others have playing in a different ring, with a different business model–ad supported, free software services. Also, Apple pulling hardware through its iTunes business. "Microsoft has done more to bring software prices down than any other company. The idea of having a way of getting very high volume at very low price has been key to all of what we have done," Gates said. He noted that Microsoft has always have competitors who offer free software, but the integration, support, security and other elements are differentiators.

O'Reilly mentioned cutting off Netscape's air supply when IE was bundled with Windows, and Gates said quipped, "There's a lot of these so-called fights where the other guy really knocked themselves out."

"In a sense, we're doing a mea culpa and saying we waited too long to do a new browser release," said Gates. Microsoft plans to release updates to IE more frequently, perhaps as often as every 9 months to a year. "IE7 is not the end of the line," he said.

The Microsoft product would compete with Sony, Nintendo and Apple Computer's products, including the iPod. And Microsoft has some of its most seasoned talent from the division that created its popular Xbox 360 working on it. Game executive J Allard leads the project, and its director is Greg Gibson, who was the system designer on the Xbox 360 video game console. Bryan Lee, the finance chief on the Xbox business, is leading the business side of the project.

By anchoring its entertainment device as a handheld game player, Microsoft is starting from its position of strength in the entertainment business that it hopes Apple cannot match, even with its iPod. The game press has dubbed it an "iPod killer,'' but its functions would likely more closely resemble Sony's PlayStation Portable multimedia gaming device.