James Van Eaton
It's happening again. Summer is half over and I haven't made a dent in that list of things I told myself I'd do this summer. Like pulling that dang stump out of my front lawn-I mean, how much time could it really take? And then there's one that comes and goes each year: painting the house. The more I think of painting, the more attractive vinyl siding looks. And the more attractive vinyl siding starts to look, the more I have to push the whole thought out of my head.
If you're anything like me, though, you spend more time squinting at a screen than squinting in the sunshine, and although you probably get as much exposure to radiation, you don't have a tan because you have deadlines and you have clients with deadlines who are depending on you to meet them.
In order to get your job done, you need the latest information and tools available, and that is where MSDN comes in. Our job is to get you the software and technical information you need to compete in this competitive market, and we do our darnedest to get it to you. And if you have an idea of how to improve the program, drop us a line and let us know, because after all, MSDN is your subscription resource.
All your ex's might live in Texas, but Tennessee is where your true love is! Beta 2 of Microsoft Windows 98 (previously known by its code name "Memphis") was sent in a special interim shipment in August to all Professional level and higher subscribers. Another Windows 98 beta is just around the corner and will be shipped as well, this time with a software development kit (SDK) to get you started writing applications that take advantage of the new features in Windows 98. And what about the next major version of Microsoft Windows NT? Rest assured that Beta 1 will be sent to all Professional level and higher subscribers as soon as it becomes available.
A handful of people have written to us asking why MSDN does not send the versions of software that are enabled with 128-bit encryption, such as Microsoft Windows NT and Microsoft Internet Explorer, to subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Here's some background. The U.S. government groups high-encryption technology with munitions and regulates its export as such. Because of this, Microsoft will sometimes build two versions of a product, one with high encryption (128-bit) that can only be sold within the United States and Canada, and one with lower encryption (usually 40-bit) for export.
Because MSDN is a worldwide program, all software included in MSDN subscriptions must be exportable worldwide, so MSDN ships the lower-encrypted software versions. Although it would be possible to adjust the disc configuration of shipments within North America, the complexity and risk of doing so are too great. We want our subscribers (and we think you agree) to continue to receive the latest Microsoft software available-and shipping the lower-encrypted software helps us do this. Also keep in mind that the level of software encryption does not affect how the exposed application programming interfaces (APIs) behave: If your software works with one version, it will work with the other.
And a few more words about encryption: A recent Microsoft press release announced that a U.S. Department of Commerce license has been granted to Microsoft that will permit Microsoft to enable 128-bit encryption security between banks and their customers in products that support the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols. The encryption technology will be incorporated in all domestic and export versions of Microsoft products dealing with the Internet, beginning with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and Microsoft Internet Information Server.
All of the phone calls, e-mail, bribes, and electric shocks that the good Dr. GUI has been treating the "powers that be" to have finally paid off. The July 1997 edition of the MSDN Library contains the details of the binary file formats (BIFF) of native Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files. Now you can explore those .doc and .xls files to your heart's content without the secret Office decoder ring.
That's all the room I have for this edition. Keep the e-mail coming and (more importantly!) keep it interesting, because we really do read it all.
You can send comments and suggestions to msdn@microsoft.com.