Under threat of new multi-million pound fines, Microsoft today said it had signed up its first licensee for a programme EU regulators told it to set up three years ago to share code that helps servers work with the Windows operating platform.

EU regulators said Microsoft has handed in compatibility information in time to meet a Thursday deadline and officials will now test it to check if the company has finally complied with a 2004 antitrust ruling.

Google boss Eric Schmidt has been appointed to the board of directors of Apple Computers in a move that points towards a possible alliance between the two IT giants.

Microsoft said the record antitrust fine levied against it in 2004 should be tossed out, or at least greatly reduced, because the punishment outweighed the infraction, the company’s lawyers said in Luxembourg today.

Microsoft Corp. today complained that the European Commission had forced it to hand over trade secrets to rivals, effectively giving them a “free ride” on the work the software maker did to acquire new customers and develop new technologies.

Microsoft was today set to argue that the very way it, and other companies, do business is at stake when it goes before the EU’s second highest court in a bid to overturn a recording antitrust ruling levied against it two years ago.

US stocks fluctuated before closing slightly lower today after a Federal Reserve governor’s upbeat comments on inflation helped ease worries about a bleak forecast from Intel Corp. The major indexes finished mixed for the week.

Investors turned to profit-taking today, leaving stocks mixed after nearly two weeks of solid gains. Another drop in oil prices limited the market’s losses.

Google today keyed in its intentions to float on the United States stock market – although its debut could still be months away.

DSS has been awarded the prestigious “Best Reseller Award” at the ICT Excellence Awards.

HELL hath no fury like an employee scorned, according to research which found that almost half of workers unhappy at losing their job seek revenge against their former employer.

Half of Irish office workers (47%) would take revenge against a former employer if they were unhappy about losing their job, according to independent research commissioned by Novell, a leading provider of information solutions.

Novell is to launch an enterprise-wide initiative using SkillSoft technology.

The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, 02 Ireland and Sord Data Systems have announced a new approach to gathering performance data on Irish cattle.

Novell (Nasdaq:NOVL) has reported revenue of $274m (€300m) for its second fiscal quarter of 2002.

Novell reported revenue of $271m (€311m) and earnings of $0.02 per share for its first fiscal quarter 2002.

DSS, one of Compaq's systems resellers in the Republic, has been awarded the highest storage accreditation from Compaq Computers as a SAN System Integrator, one of only two in Ireland.

Novell is cutting 1,400 jobs in a bid to regain profitability.

Twelve Horses has appointed Craig Burton, one of the founders of Novell [Nasdaq:NOVL], as its President and CEO.