Sun kick-starts Solaris x86 sales to corporates

Sun Microsystems is making another attempt to kick-start the use of its Solaris x86 operating system by offering deep discounts to corporate buyers. The move is part of the company's attempt to colonise the mid range server market, in particular those based on the AMD Opteron such as Sun's own Sun Fire V20z server. It will also be seen as an attempt to stave off the seemingly inexorable march of Red Hat and Suse Linux into Sun's traditional markets. ...more

French ditch PC tax

The French have been forced to abandon a proposed PC tax, but will go ahead with a tax on CDs, DVDs and MP3 players. Culture minister Catherine Tasca wanted to tax PCs in order to compensate artists for loss of intellectual rights due to online piracy. Several PC manufacturers spoke out and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and Finance Minister Laurent Fabius both condemned the proposal, forcing Tasca to rethink. ...more

AOL Europe chums up to Lastminute.com

AOL Europe is to integrate Lastminute.com's booking engine within its service. No real details have been revealed, but Reuters reports that sources suggest Lastminute will pay around $1m for the 12-month agreement. ...more

Microsoft and the Mounties combine to track down child porn

A new software system aimed at tracking down paedophiles on the internet has been developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with the help of Microsoft. The system, known as Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) was developed following a personal plea to Bill Gates by Sergeant Paul Gillespie, a Canadian Police Detective in 2003. Following the plea by email, Gates ordered a Microsoft team to help out the Canadian law enforcement authorities to develop the customised program they needed. ...more

iTunes notches up its 50 millionth download

Apple has revealed that it has sold and downloaded 50 million songs since the service was launched. iTunes is now said to be racking up downloads at around 2.5 million a week. ...more