Microsoft Corp. has come under a lot of scrutiny and attack lately, in court and on the playing fields of the Web. There is even an Internet discussion group called alt.is.bill.gates.satan and alt.microsoft.crash.crash.crash.

The newsgroup names were inspired by some glitches and downright troubling aspects in the company's software. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is a brilliant entrepreneur and businessman and the company he's built is powerhouse.

For those very reasons consumers should be wary of a company that has become so dominant in an area that's so important to our lives. The foul-ups by Microsoft are fascinating in their own right because of the way they occurred and how they were discovered.

The latest is a numbers game and a reminder of the vagaries of technology. If you're running on Windows 95 or 98 operating software, don't leave your computer on for 49 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes and 47.296 seconds. Four years after Windows 95 was put on the market someone apparently did just that and their machine crashed.

Computers count in milliseconds. One counter begins when Windows 95 starts up and continues to a maximum of 2 to the power of 32 seconds, 49.7 days. Because the counter wasn't set to roll over when the limit is reached the computer thinks the end of the world has come and brings the operating system to a halt. Crash.

Now, I know a lot of people leave their computers on all the time in the belief this saves a few minutes of start up time in the morning. I've also heard some computer guys say that in Bermuda's humid climate it's a good way of extending the life of your machine by keeping the innards dry. I don't know how true that advice is. My question is: who has ever gone 49 days without a crash anyways? Just in case you're worried Microsoft has made a fix available, but the way in which they treat users is typical of a supercilious organisation. Go to support.microsoft.com and follow the links to support/supportnet/d efault.asp where the problem is outlined.

The company recommends only using the fix for computers experiencing the specific problem and advises waiting and paying for the next update that contains the fix. Then it has the gall to inform users that if you bought Windows pre-installed you'll have to call the incident hotline, report the problem and pay for the advice if the company determines you don't really need the fix after all, or if your no-charge technical support has expired.

In most other industries there would be a product recall, or more practically a free fix.

If you're generally having problems with your Windows 98 or want to find out how change the operating systems to suit your tastes, defeating the Microsoft impositions, go to http:/annoyances.org/win98.

Another Microsoft problem, and one that's more sinister, is the discovery that Windows 98 was designed to implant identifying numbers in some documents created by Office 97 Word and Exel business programs. The numbers could potentially be used to trace the authorship of the documents.

The numbers are part of a 32-digit identifier created by Windows 98 whenever customers register their software with Microsoft. After Junkbusters Corp., a privacy advocate, and Trust-E filed formal complaints Microsoft acknowledged the truth of the claim this month.

More troubling, the company stated that it "may'' have been collecting the serial numbers from customers, along with names and addresses, even when users had explicitly indicated they didn't want the numbers disclosed.

Microsoft denied that it had ever used the numbers together with customer lists to track documents. The company also promised to purge any serial numbers it "may'' have gathered from customers when registering Windows 98.

Then, this takes the cake, the company had the gall to say it was making free software available to strip out the identifying number from Windows 98. It's the word "free'' that gets me. They should be made to pay a huge fine for violating privacy.

You can find the two fixes you need at officeupdate.microsoft.com and follow the links to Articles/privacy.htm.

Controversy broke out over the matter when Trust-E chided Microsoft but decided not to audit the company and take no further action. Trust-E could have revoked its seal of approval that Microsoft is allowed to use on its Web sites.

Trust-E gets $100,000 a year from Microsoft as part of the industry's effort at self policing itself. Microsoft and other companies are attempting to ward off threats of federal legislation protecting privacy on the Web.

The discovery of the privacy breach comes while Microsoft is in the midst of an anti-trust suit brought against it by the US Justice Department and the state Attorneys General. The company made a settlement offer last week that was rejected but talks are continuing. The case is rescheduled to restart April 12.

The US Justice Department is still haunted by a settlement Microsoft made in a 1995 consent decree with government lawyers. Microsoft then proposed agreeing never to require customers to buy any of its other products when purchasing Windows.

Microsoft's lawyers considered adding a provision that Microsoft would never be blocked from "developing integrated products which offer technological advantages''. Showing his smarts, Mr. Gates ordered them to remove the last four words, allowing him to later claim that the language allowed Microsoft to bundle Internet software with Windows, a core complaint of the current anti-trust case.

A new made for TV movie featuring the lives of Mr. Gates and his nemesis Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. , will air on TNT in June. "Pirates of Silicon Valley'' follows the two entrepreneurs as they develop their companies through the early 1970s and 80s.

According to a preview by the Associated Press, Mr. Jobs is shown as a hippie cult figure "tripping on acid and spouting endless spiritual platitudes''.

Mr. Gates is portrayed as a "thrill seeker speeding down a New Mexico highway singing Frank Sinatra's "My Way'', tripping over himself trying to meet women at a roller rink, and unapologetically bashing Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's car with a bulldozer.'' Last week's column noted that the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) was in discussions to set standards for the next generation of wireless devices.

By mid-week the ITU said a key set of rules had been hammered out that will combine technologies from the biggest players in the wireless industry into a single global standard that will let mobile phones work anywhere in the world.

Companies have been largely unable to provide global roaming on mobile phones because US standards differ from European and Asian standards.

Tech Tattle is about issues in technology. Contact Ahmed at 295-5881 ext. 248 or 238-3854 or techtattle ygazette.newsmedia.bm.

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