Microsoft releases beta 3 of IE7

Microsoft has posted Beta 3 of Internet Explorer on its website. The new version which supersedes the last Beta posted back in April is being touted as stable enough for anyone to download and play with. Beta brings the standalone version into line with that shipped with the Vista build, No. ...more

Britain to build Europe's fastest Supercomputer

Britain is to build Europe's biggest supercomputer. When completed the High-End Computing Terascale Resource (or Hector) will be capable of running at speeds of up to 100 teraflops. The Government is to put ?52 million towards the project, which is likely to be completed next year. ...more

Portable music player sales to grow fivefold

Sales of portable music players will reach almost 124 million units by 2009, a 500 per cent rise on last year's 26.4 million, according to IDC. The research firm predicts that demand will be driven by falling flash memory costs, availability of paid media downloads services and increasing consumer awareness. ...more

States hold out for antitrust appeal

The states of Massachusetts and West Virginia believe the approved settlement will not mend Microsoft's ways. Massachusetts and West Virginia, two of the nine outstanding states seeking tougher sanctions in the Microsoft anti-trust case, are to appeal the court-approved remedies. In a news conference, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said: 'There was nothing in the deal that would change Microsoft's business practices in any substantial way. ...more

Apple upgrades the MacBook Pro

Apple has upgraded its MacBook Pro line of notebook computers, adding Intel Core 2 Duo processors that increase performance by as much as 39 per cent. The new laptops - two 15in models and one 17in - have twice as much memory as standard, plus increased storage and a FireWire 800 port for connecting to high-speed peripherals. Otherwise the machines are largely unchanged. ...more