• Weather
• Transportation/Traffic
• Consumer
• Education
• Environment
• Politics
• Election '08
• Real Estate
• Webtowns/Neighborhoods
• Under the Needle
• Obituaries
• Special Reports
• Corrections

• Election '08
• U.S.
• Washington, D.C.
• Africa
• Asia
• Australia
• Canada
• Europe
• Latin America
• Middle East

• Mariners/MLB
• Seahawks/NFL
• Sonics/NBA
• Storm/WNBA
• Sounders FC/Soccer
• College Football
• College Basketball
• High Schools
• Snow Sports
• Other Sports
• Art Thiel
• Jim Moore

• Boeing
• Microsoft
• VC Notebook
• Bill Virgin
• Real Estate
• Wire
• Tech Wire
• Personal Finance
• Sci-Tech
• Layoff Tracker

• Event Calendar
• Movies - Showtimes
• TV & Radio - Listings
• Restaurants/Dining
• Music
• Local Bands
• Books
• Video Games
• Theater/Fine Arts
• People
• A&E Wire
• Going Out
• Staying In

• Pets
• Food
• Seattle@Home
• NW Gardens
• Getaways/Outdoors
• Visitors Guide
• Health & Fitness
• Fashion
• Parenting
• MomSeattle
• DadSeattle
• Advice Columnists
• Horoscope
• Wheels

• Comics & Games
• Crossword

• Photos
• MySeattlePix
• Multimedia
• AP Video
• Buy Photos

• Editorials
• Letters
• David Horsey
• Forums
• Soundoffs
• Joel Connelly
• Robert Jamieson
• D. Parvaz
• Mary Swift

• Staff Blogs
• Reader Blogs
• Blog for us

• Home Delivery
• Mobile
• e-Edition
• E-mail Newsletters
• RSS Feeds
• P-I Reader
• Twitter

• Online ads
• Online text ads
• Newspaper ads
• Classified ads

• Classifieds
• Shopping
• Pets
• Personals
• Place an ad

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Tech Briefs

REGIONAL

Beta versions of Explorer, Vista might come out today

Microsoft Corp. is expected to release the first official beta, or preliminary, versions of its next Windows operating system and Internet Explorer Web browser today, several days ahead of schedule, according to several online news reports.

Microsoft declined to comment on those reports yesterday. Online sites posted documents detailing some of the expected features in Internet Explorer 7.0, including a "phishing filter" that warns users when a Web site seeking personal information may not be legitimate.

Microsoft has said the next Windows version, to be known as Windows Vista, will be released widely to the public next year. The beta versions to be released today are part of the testing and evaluation process and are not expected to be released to general computer users.

Zillow names board, says it raised $6 million in financing

Zillow, the high-profile online real estate company founded by former Expedia executives Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, has announced its board of directors.

Those joining include newly named Oracle President Greg Maffei, former Expedia CEO Erik Blachford and Real Property Associates co-founder Gordon Stephenson.

The Seattle company also said it has raised $6 million in financing from employees, with plans to raise more money later this year. Zillow did not say when it plans to launch its service.

NATIONAL

EarthLink reports revenue, profit fell in second quarter

ATLANTA -- Internet-access provider EarthLink Inc. said yesterday that profit fell 12 percent in the second quarter, because revenue was depressed by customers shifting out of its premium dial-up services.

Second-quarter income slipped to $43.8 million, or 31 cents per share, from $49.7 million, or 31 cents, the year before. The company's earnings still managed to top the average estimate of 25 cents per share from analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Revenue totaled $325.7 million, down 7 percent from $348.6 million a year earlier and below analysts' consensus view of $330.3 million.

Add P-I Business headlines to
My web site My Yahoo! Google More options