Microsoft has killer Q1, profits surge, beats estimates

Whatever else you want to say about Microsoft, it makes its investors happy. Very happy. Profits surged for its fiscal first quarter, the company reported today, helped nicely along by strong sales of Halo 3, Windows and Office Suite, reports AP.

On the news, shares rose a hefty sum today, from $31.99 to $35.55. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, profits climbed to $4.29 billion, or 45 cents per share, from $3.48 billion, or 35 cents per share, over the same period last year. These results beat Wall Street estimates – which called for 39 cents a share.

Revenue grew, too, 27 percent to $13.76 billion from $10.81 billion in the year-ago quarter, again topping analysts' forecasts by more than $1 billion. The business unit responsible for Vista contributed $4.14 billion in revenue in the quarter, 25 percent more than a year ago. It claims to have sold more than 88 million copies of Windows.

Halo 3 pushed the entertainment division into the black for the second time, contributing $165 million of profit for the quarter. Ad revenue, too, grew thanks to the aQuantive acquisition, but, the story reports, that even without that, ad revenue would have been up 25 percent

IBM Lotus Sametime tops corporate IM platform review

Jabber and Cisco follow as close seconds in test of corporate IM platforms

Messaging has come a long way from the early days of rudimentary chat programs, the DOS and Windows "NET SEND" command and the Novell NetWare "SEND" command.

The ideal corporate instant-messaging environment lets users communicate anything they choose, from simple typed messages to documents to video. It tells employees which colleagues are available for an impromptu meeting and which don't wish to be disturbed. The ideal IM environment offers impenetrable security that thwarts intrusion attempts, as well as IM-borne malware. It's nimble and responsive; intuitive to use and administer; and integrates seamlessly with other IM products and protocols, such as AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

Preferably, it safely archives IM sessions for easy retrieval by an auditor, is highly scalable, exhibits rock-solid reliability and uses network resources frugally. A corporate IM product taps into a Windows Active Directory or a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) back end for grouping and authenticating users. And finally, it provides the necessary VoIP capabilities to turn a chat session easily into a telephone call.

In short, the model platform makes holding meetings via IM as productive as - or even better than - meeting face to face.

To test the state of corporate IM tools we invited all vendors in this space to send products. We received Extensible Communications Platform (XCP) 5.2 from Jabber, Lotus Sametime 7.5.1 from IBM and Openfire Enterprise Edition 3.2 from Jive Software. We downloaded Gordano Messaging Suite (GMS) 5.0 from Gordano's FTP site and Mirador Instant Messenger for Windows 3.0 from Serial Scientific International's (SSI) Web site, and we accessed Cisco's WebEx AIM Pro Business Edition via the Internet.

Microsoft also plays in this space with its older Live Communications Server 2005 platform and will be forging ahead with enterprise IM as part of its Office Communication Server platform running on Exchange 2007. As this product was still in beta during our testing Window and won't be available until next month, we could not include it in our head to head test. We have, however, test early beta code to help give readers a feel for what they can expect from this unified messaging platform.

Cisco's Next Municipal Wireless Move

Can Cisco Systems transform the perfect storm into the perfect business opportunity? That's the question facing Cisco as the company heads to a municipal broadband conference in Santa Clara on October 21.

For those who missed the first two chapters of the municipal broadband story, let me get you up to speed. In Chapter One, several big city mayors promised their citizens free or low-cost universal broadband access. It was a "feel good" political story. How can affordable broadband be a bad thing?

In Chapter Two, we discovered that these municipal wireless networks were more difficult to deploy than expected. Successful projects in Providence, R.I.; Oakland County, Mich.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and other locations were overshadowed by big setbacks in San Francisco and several other major cities.

In Chapter Three -- beginning right now -- we finally get to the heart of the matter: Applications. Find some killer applications and the municipal broadband market will follow (that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it). A case in point: Cisco earlier this week announced its intense focus on public safety applications for emergency first responders. Smart move. Many of the most successful municipal broadband networks involve police, safety and video surveillance systems.

Instead of posing with mayors for municipal broadband photo opportunities, Cisco and its rivals are zeroing in on the municipal departments that are willing to pay a few bucks for mission critical wireless systems.

Chapter Three hasn't played out yet. In fact, we're only getting started. There is a risk that some smaller wireless mesh vendors will suffer more layoffs or go bankrupt before this chapter is complete.

Still, some venture capitalists are willing to pump money into very targeted opportunities. (Firetide just received $14.4 million.) And newer technologies -- such as 802.11n -- promise to enhance municipal broadband network performance.

Where do Cisco and its mesh wireless rivals go from here? I'll be searching for answers and blogging live from the MuniWireless conference, October 21-23. If you're at the event look me up.

IDS vs. IPS

Gartner predicted intrusion-detection systems would be dead by 2005

A firestorm of controversy exploded four years ago when consulting firm Gartner declared that intrusion-detection systems that passively monitor for malicious traffic would be “dead” by 2005, a dinosaur wiped out by intrusion-prevention systems that proactively block bad traffic.

Buying an IDS to monitor unwanted traffic is a waste of time and money, Gartner stated, urging enterprise managers to start

buying in-line IPS products and step up to the plate and block the attack traffic comin’ at ‘em, primarily from the Internet.

Blocking the bad traffic with an in-line IPS opened the possibility of mistakenly blocking good traffic, too, yelped IDS proponents.

Hands on: Getting down to iWork '08

Can Apple make even a spreadsheet cool? Our reviewer examines the new office productivity suite for the Mac.

With iWork '08, the latest generation of its office suite, Apple has given Mac users a powerful alternative to Microsoft's Office for Mac. This new version finally offers an alternative to Excel called Numbers, a spreadsheet tool unlike any that has come before it. It also adds some great new features to iWork's other two applications -- the presentation program Keynote and the word processor Pages -- including a few that many users felt were lacking in previous releases.

For example, all the iWork applications now present a contextual Format Bar that displays only the controls or commands relevant to a selected item. This makes it easier to locate specific image effects, text styles or even spreadsheet functions based on what you are working with. In many cases, the Format Bar brings up commands that were always commonly needed but used to be buried somewhere in one of the tabs of the Inspector palette.

Sharing and collaboration seems to be an overall key focus in iWork '08. Pages, Keynote and Numbers all offer a variety of export and sharing options that range from integration with Apple's iWeb to, in the case of Keynote, publishing directly to YouTube.

And collaboration isn't limited to just putting your material out there. All three applications have excellent comment and markup support, allowing multiple users to easily make suggestions, explain changes, and provide information about whole sections or single items in a document.

They also offer the ability to open documents saved in the native Open XML format used by Office 2007 for Windows (though exporting files to Office still puts them in Office 2003 format). This is a major achievement for anyone who needs to exchange files with Office 2007 users, since it means that you don't need to make special requests if you're the only iWork user on a project. It also makes iWork a more reasonable choice in a wide range of environments.

Getting down to iWork '08 Pages Keynote Numbers Final thoughts

Evident across the board is Apple's continued commitment to providing users with high-end templates to use as a starting point for projects. The design quality and visual impact of the templates in all of the iWork apps is superb, and unlike the templates in most office suites, these actually include sample content (and, in the case of Numbers, functions and formulas) so you truly see how to use the design. This is particularly helpful in Numbers, which includes templates for things that you might never think about using a spreadsheet for, such as planning a dinner party, a vacation itinerary or a home improvement project.

As helpful as this can be for new users, however, the sample content can become annoying after a while when you already have a clear idea of where you want to go with a new document. You can create your own blank templates by deleting the sample material and saving the empty pages as a new template; and many of the templates in iWork '08 have the welcome ability to add a new blank page, in addition to the content-filled pages that were always there. Still, I would have preferred to see Apple include some layout-only, contentless templates for Numbers and Pages.

Pages



When asked about how previous versions of Pages compared with Word, I would often say that it was more like a combination of Word and Publisher -- a hybrid word processor and layout tool. This was one of the things that you either loved or hated about the program. One of the best things Apple did with this new release was to give Pages two distinct modes: one for word processing and one for layout, with separate templates for each mode.

Read more...

Usability test: Does iPhone match the hype?

Users try out the iPhone, HTC Touch and the Nokia N95

We all know that in the technology world, the hype about new products often doesn't match reality. So it's fair to ask: Is the iPhone as good as its hype? In particular, does iPhone's much-discussed touch-screen interface really make using the device simpler and more intuitive?

Everybody will have an opinion, but what's need is something more objective and definitive. So an expert in the field -- Perceptive Sciences, an Austin, Texas-based usability consulting firm -- was asked to examine and compare the iPhone and two competitors.

The results of its tests were unequivocal: While the iPhone is not the most feature-rich device, this group of experts found that when it comes to usability, iPhone does, indeed, live up to its hype.

The phones

Besides iPhone, the two other products in this usability comparison test were selected for two reasons: They were available, and they had competitive feature sets. In particular, the testers needed a touch-screen phone to compare to the iPhone and a more traditional button-based phone with strong multimedia capabilities.

For now, there are few touch-screen devices available. One that has received a fair amount of publicity is the LG Prada, which is not yet available from a U.S. cellular carrier. LG declined to participate in these tests.

Timothy Ballew, seated, and Tom Thornton of Perceptive Science observe as tester Mindy Cambel tries out a smart phone.

Another is the HTC Touch, a Windows Mobile device that has both standard button-based navigation and touch-screen capabilities. Like the Prada, it isn't offered yet by U.S. carriers, but HTC still agreed to participate in this test. This device is based on the Windows Mobile 6.0 platform, has a 2.8-in., 240-by-320 resolution display and a 2-megapixel camera. It supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

While the HTC Touch currently isn't available from a U.S. cellular carrier, the company has indicated that it will be before the end of the year. An unlocked GSM version of the Touch is currently available from numerous resellers for between $450 and $600.

Nokia's N95, based on the Series 60 variant of the Symbian platform, provides only the more traditional type of button-based navigation, but it is a multimedia powerhouse. It boasts a 5-megapixel camera and can create VGA-quality, 30-frames-per-second videos. It also supports many types of media playback and has a long list of other features including built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS, not to mention a bar-code reader that came with the test device. It has a 2.6-in., 320-by-240 resolution display.

Unlocked versions of the Nokia N95 are available for between $600 and $700.

Read more...

The 8 most dangerous consumer technologies

High-tech consumer products and services of all kinds are making their way into the workplace. They include everything from smart phones, voice-over-IP systems and flash memory sticks to virtual online worlds. And as people grow more accustomed to having their own personal technology at their beck and call -- and in fact can't imagine functioning without it -- the line between what they use for work and what they use for recreation is blurring.

In a recent survey of corporate users by Yankee Group Research Inc., 86% of the 500 respondents said they had used at least one consumer technology in the workplace, for purposes related to both innovation and productivity.

Unfortunately, this trend poses problems for IT organizations. For one thing, the use of these technologies increases the risk of security breaches. Moreover, users expect IT to support these devices and services, especially once they interact with applications in the corporate environment.

But in many companies, it would be against corporate culture to simply ban the devices or to block employees from accessing consumer services. At the same time, companies can't depend wholly on policy to maintain the level of security they need.

"I don't know of any business where employees have the time to read and comprehend every single policy related to a computer in their environment -- they're busy doing their jobs," says Sharon Finney, information security administrator at DeKalb Medical Center in DeKalb County, Ga. "I consider it my responsibility to implement things that make security seamless, easy and completely in the background."

Others, like Michael Miller, vice president of security at telecommunications services provider Global Crossing Ltd., wait until the devices or services affect productivity or otherwise cause a business problem, such as the security department battling worms or dealing with bandwidth issues. But no matter what companies decide to do, the response always involves a balance of enabling employee productivity, abiding by the corporate culture, not eating up too much of IT's own resources and ensuring a level of security that's right for the company.

"Consumerization will be a nightmare for IT departments, creating maintenance and support problems that will swiftly overwhelm IT resources, unless they embrace new approaches to managing the rogue employees," says Josh Holbrook, an analyst at Yankee Group. Holbrook equates banning the use of consumer technologies in the workplace with "an endless game of whack-a-mole." At the same time, ignoring the adoption of such technologies would lead to a potentially hazardous mix of secured and unsecured applications within a corporate enterprise, he says. He proposes ceding control to end users via an internal customer care cooperative model. (See "Zen and the art of ceding control of consumer tech to end users.")

To help you decide how to respond, below we look at eight popular consumer technologies and services that have crept into the workplace and provide some insight into how companies are achieving the balance of security, productivity and sanity.

1. Instant messaging

People use instant messaging for everything from making sure their kids have a ride home from practice to communicating with co-workers and business partners. In the Yankee study, 40% of respondents said they use consumer IM technology at work. Instant messaging present numerous security challenges. Among other things, malware can enter a corporate network through external IM clients and IM users can send sensitive company data across insecure networks.

One way to combat threats is to phase out consumer IM services and use an internal IM server. In late 2005, Global Crossing did just that when it deployed Microsoft Corp.'s Live Communications Server (LCS). Then in August 2006 it blocked employees from directly using external IM services from providers such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo. Now, all internal IM exchanges are encrypted, and external IM exchanges are protected, as they're funneled through the LCS server and Microsoft's public IM cloud.

Adopting an internal IM server also gave Global Crossing's security team more control. "Through the public IM cloud, we're able to make certain choices as to how restrictive or open we are. We can block file transfers, limit the information leaving our network or restrict URLs coming in," which was a common method for propagating worms, Miller says. "That takes away a huge component of malicious activity."

You can also take a harder line. DeKalb's security policy, for instance, bans IM use altogether. "It's mainly chat-type traffic, not personal health information, but it's still a concern," Finney says. As backup to the restrictive policy, she blocks most sites where IM clients can be downloaded, although she can't block MSN, AOL or Yahoo because many physicians use those sites for e-mail accounts. Her team also uses a network inventory tool that can detect IM clients on employee PCs. If one is found, the employee is reminded of DeKalb's no-IM policy and notified that the IM client will be removed. Finney is also considering various methods of blocking outbound IM traffic, but for now, she also uses a data loss prevention tool from Vericept Corp. to monitor IM traffic and alert the security team about any serious breaches. To do that, Finney's team needs to shut down most of its Internet ports, which forces IM traffic to scroll to Port 80 for monitoring.

DeKalb is looking into the idea of implementing the IM add-on of IBM's Lotus Notes or even an internal freeware IM service like Jabber for business users who want to communicate across campus. "Nothing is 100%," Finney says. "IM is always a huge concern from a security as well as a productivity perspective."

Read more....

Science and Beauty Combine at the US Botanic Garden in Washington

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Bob Doughty. This week, we tell what is showing and growing at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The United States Botanic Garden is America's plant museum. Congress established the Botanic Garden as a center for the science of growing things. But the Garden is also a center of beauty.

The Botanic Garden has twenty-five thousand plants in its collection. Visitors can see many of them in the Garden's public Conservatory. It is a large stone and glass structure near the United States Capitol building.

VOICE TWO:

A titan arum plant at the US Botanic Garden. It is called the "corpse plant" because its flower smells something like a dead body.

Everywhere you look in the Conservatory, something appeals to your eyes. A visitor can move seemingly from one part of Earth to another in just a few seconds. A short walk takes you from desert to thick forest.

The Conservatory offers examples of plants that provide the makings of medicine. It also has plants of special interest to children. Rare and endangered plants occupy a place all their own.

Many visitors show an interest in the plants of North America and economic plants. Economic plants get their name because they are used in products like food, drinks and wood.

VOICE ONE:

The tradition leading to the present Botanic Garden began almost two hundred years ago. In eighteen sixteen, a cultural group in Washington proposed creating a special garden. This area was to have plants from the United States and other nations.

In eighteen forty-two, the explorer Charles Wilkes donated two hundred fifty four living plants. The plants were carefully kept. After a short time, they found a home in a new greenhouse. The greenhouse was moved to its present home in nineteen thirty-three. That was a year after the opening of nearby Bartholdi Park. This open-air space is also part of the Botanic Garden.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

On a hot summer morning, many people make their way through the Conservatory building. They say the cool air inside feels good. But wetness levels and temperatures are carefully controlled for the health of the plants.

Some of the visitors spend time in the Botanic Garden's seasonal demonstrations, or exhibits. Among the crowd in the open air exhibits are high school students. They study plants on the terrace -- the space around the Conservatory.

Several women wearing hats also walk around the terrace. Then they move west of the building to look at the new National Garden. They watch workers set new plantings in the ground.

VOICE ONE:

The National Garden first officially welcomed the public last October. Private donors and groups added this open-air growing space to the United States Botanic Garden. The Office of the Architect of the Capitol operates the National Garden and all parts of the Botanic Garden, often called the U.S.B.G.

The U.S.B.G. and the American Public Gardens Association organized the temporary exhibits. The exhibits are part of an event called "Celebrating America's Public Gardens." The celebration will last until early October. Twenty botanic gardens from all over the country are represented.

An exhibit called "Green Today, Growing Tomorrows" shows the importance of respect for the future of the environment. A second exhibit is named "A Sense of Place." It shows the great differences among plant life in America. Experts in the study of horticulture and plant science say an important part of an area's identity comes from what that area grows.

VOICE TWO:

The exhibit of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii shows plant life of warm climates. The National Tropical Botanical Garden operates four gardens in Hawaii and one in Florida. Dried fronds, or leaves, of palms form the top of a Hawaiian shelter in the Washington exhibit. To most Americans, the Hawaiian plants and trees look unusual. For example, there is ulu, or breadfruit, and the aluha plant from the bellflower family. A nearby banana tree looks more common.

The National Tropical Botanical Garden says saving tropical plants is one of its main purposes. Experts say thirty-three percent of all plant life in the United States could disappear from Earth. An even higher percentage of tropical plant life is threatened.

VOICE ONE:

Another popular exhibit comes from the Heritage Farm. The farm is part of the Rio Grande Botanic Garden in New Mexico. An old red wagon with large wheels contains evidence of nature's products in the American West. The vehicle contains apples, onions, strawberries and mission grapes. It has honey and a honeycomb, the wax cells where bees store the honey. Many kinds of trees, grasses and plants need bees to grow.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

A young man is watering flowers in the National Garden. He takes a long look at roses from the Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University. These flowers are special. They are stronger and require less care than other roses. The university says this is because they were developed to survive the cold winters of Iowa. Scientist Griffith Buck produced them. Mister Buck worked at the university's College of Agriculture from nineteen forty-eight until nineteen eighty-five. He developed ninety kinds of roses.

VOICE ONE:

Several people are taking pictures of the exhibit of the Cleveland Botanical Garden in Ohio. A huge reproduction of a salsa can is marked "Ripe from Downtown Salsa." Real tomatoes and vegetables grow on top of the can.

The salsa mixture contains tomatoes and other healthful foods. Members of the Cleveland Botanical Garden's Green Corps manufacture the salsa. These young food manufacturers are fourteen to nineteen years old. They also attend a special high school while making the salsa.

VOICE TWO:

Dale Chihuly's ''Summer Boat 2006''

The National Garden has another eye-catching object in the form of glass artwork. Dale Chihuly's artwork is called "Summer Boat, two thousand six." Orange, red, green and yellow objects of blown glass fill the boat. It floats on a small area of water toward the west end of the garden. Some visitors say the glass objects look suspiciously like flowers and vegetables.

The North Carolina Arboretum also provided colorful artwork. The arboretum sent a steel sculpture measuring more than four meters long.

Grace Cathey's sculpture is a yellow dahlia on a green stem. The dahlia is a popular flower in the American South. But the sculpture provides more than an appealing artwork. It honors the color that dahlias provide for North Carolina's crafts industry.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The United States Botanic Garden also provides year-round education in plant life. For example, the U.S.B.G. is currently showing the photography of biologist Amy Lamb. Her pictures hang near the entrance to the Conservatory. Most of the plants seen in the pictures are grown around her home in Bethesda, Maryland.

As a scientist, Miz Lamb says she looks at flowers for more than just their beauty. She studies them to learn the reasons for their forms and colors. Miz Lamb takes cuttings from her plants at several periods of their development. Then she places the cuttings against something black. The results show the smallest hairs and lines.

VOICE TWO:

The Botanic Garden also provides information about insects. A researcher will offer a program on the subject in August. Dayna Lane will explain whether gardeners should step on insects -- or learn to love them. Also in August, the U.S.B.G. will hold four classes in cooperation with an agency of the Department of Agriculture. Scientists with the Department's Agricultural Research Service will explain Research Service projects.

Even people visiting the Botanic Garden for only one day can get horticultural education. Information in the National Garden describes grasses and plants native to the middle-Atlantic Ocean area. It also explains uses for the plants and suggests the best soil for them.

VOICE ONE:

Today, the United States Botanic Garden continues many of the traditions it started long ago. America's plant museum continues to prove that science and beauty go together.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again at this time next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

How the Job Description for US President Has Gotten Longer Over Time

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

The White House

A listener in Cambodia heard our recent call for questions about the process of electing an American president. Tath Sok in Phnom Penh wants to know about the duties and responsibilities of the president.

This question touches on a continual debate in American society. The separation of powers in the federal government was designed to create a system of checks and balances. Experts could argue for hours about the limits to the powers of the president, Congress and the courts. But we just wanted a few facts, so we looked in the World Book Encyclopedia.

The Constitution gives the president the duties of chief administrator of the nation and commander of the armed forces. But developments including court decisions, laws and customs have expanded those duties. Today the president has seven major areas of responsibility.

First, as chief executive, the president is responsible for enforcing federal actions and developing federal policies. The president is also responsible for preparing the national budget and appointing federal officials.

The president nominates cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and other officials who must be confirmed by the Senate. There are other jobs in government agencies that the president can fill without Senate approval.

As commander in chief, the president shares some military powers with Congress. Under the Constitution only Congress has the power to declare war.

The president also serves as foreign policy director, as the encyclopedia calls it. For this job, the Constitution gives the president the power to appoint ambassadors, make treaties and receive foreign diplomats. Treaties and appointments of ambassadors require Senate approval.

As legislative leader, the president has influence over many laws passed by Congress. The president has the power to veto any bill. But if a vetoed bill is passed again, this time by a two-thirds majority in both houses, the bill can still become law.

The president is also the head of a political party and has responsibilities as popular leader and chief of state.

So these are the main duties of the president. But our listener in Cambodia would also like to know how much the president earns. The job currently pays four hundred thousand dollars a year.

Just this week, in a blog at washingtonpost.com, political reporter Peter Baker wrote about the current debate over presidential powers. He noted criticisms of President Bush's claims of powers by Hillary Clinton, the Supreme Court and others.

But he also wrote about the long history of battles over presidential powers, or what is known as "executive privilege." Presidents have expanded their powers during wartime and also during times of peace. Peter Baker noted that before Thomas Jefferson was president, he was an activist for limited central government. But then he more than doubled the size of the country on his own with the purchase of the Louisiana territory.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty.

Microsoft, the EU and Facebook

Software maker ends appeals of European orders to share information with competitors. Separately, Microsoft is buying a small interest in social site Facebook, which it values at $15 billion. Transcript of radio broadcast:
25 October 2007

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, Microsoft agreed to end its fight against European Union competition officials. The world's largest software company withdrew its remaining appeals at a European court.

European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes negotiated the agreement with Microsoft

Microsoft has faced record European Union fines and may still owe more. But it says it wants to put its energies into meeting its legal duties and strengthening its relationship with the European Commission.

In two thousand four, the commission ordered Microsoft to share information with competitors. This information would help them develop software for server computers to "interoperate," or work easily, with Windows.

Windows is the Microsoft operating system found on more than ninety percent of personal computers. The company argued that it needed to protect trade secrets.

But now, Microsoft has agreed to share secret information with developers for a one-time payment of ten thousand euros. That is about fourteen thousand dollars at current exchange rates.

Microsoft also wanted to charge competitors almost six percent of the sales from products that use its information. But in the end it agreed to charge less than half a percent for worldwide use.

The European Union began to investigate Microsoft in nineteen ninety-eight after Sun Microsystems accused the company of being anti-competitive. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, fought back. But last month, it lost a big ruling. The second-highest court in the European Union agreed that Microsoft abused its market position.

In a separate case, Microsoft decided last week not to appeal a thirty-four million dollar fine by the Fair Trade Commission in South Korea.

But Microsoft could at least claim a victory in one of its efforts to expand its Internet business. This week it won the right to invest in Facebook and to expand an advertising partnership with the social networking site. Facebook chose Microsoft over Google, the leading Internet search company.

Microsoft will invest two hundred forty million dollars to buy a one and one-half percent interest. Microsoft values Facebook at fifteen billion dollars. Facebook reportedly expects about one hundred fifty million dollars in revenue this year. The company will be four years old in February and says the site has almost fifty million active users.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Our reports are online with transcripts at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Jim Tedder.