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McNealy steps down at Sun — update Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy has stepped down as chief executive, and has been replaced by President Jonathan Schwartz, the company said Monday. — McNealy, who will remain as chairman, was one of four co-founders of Sun 24 years ago and has been CEO for the last 22 of those.
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Scott McNealy steps down as Sun CEO — Sun Microsystems announced Monday that its longtime chief executive Scott McNealy is stepping down from the helm and will be succeeded by the struggling computer and software company's No. 2 executive, Jonathan Scwhartz.

Sun Founder McNealy to Step Down as Losses Mount (Update3) — April 24 (Bloomberg) — Scott McNealy stepped down as Sun Microsystems Inc.'s chief executive officer after failing to stem losses at the company he founded 24 years ago. — McNealy, 51, will remain chairman, Santa Clara, California- based Sun said today in a statement.

Second Life on the Cover of Business Week — Second Life (which as you know has been a favorite of the Radar for some time) has made the cover of Business Week. On Saturday, at the Maker Faire, Beth Goza of Second Life excitedly showed me the magazine, turning to the table of contents …
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It's Not All Fun And Games — Virtual worlds abound in useful business applications — It's hard to imagine a less corporate setting than the often bizarre online virtual worlds such as Second Life. But to a surprising extent, mainstream businesses are already dipping their toes into the virtual water.

Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 (and more) Available — This evening we released IE7 Beta 2 at http://www.microsoft.com/ie. This release is not the preview or the update to the preview, but the real Beta 2 of IE7 for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows XP 64-bit Edition.
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Windows Vista Build 5365 Review — Late Friday night, Microsoft finally posted the Windows Vista interim build I promised was on the way (here and here). Windows Vista build 5365 follows build 5342 (see my screenshot gallery) by almost exactly a month and will be the final interim build Microsoft issues …
Discussion:
Schneier on Security, Neowin.net, Download Squad, jkOnTheRun, Microsoft News Tracker and Windows Vista Weblog
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Apple Chomps Into Forbidden Fruit: Ads — Set to Accept Podcast Ads on iTunes — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Coming soon to iTunes: ads. Apple — a brand that prides itself on the purity of the user experience — will soon put up billboards on its popular iTunes service, according to content partners who have been briefed on the plan.


New York Times, Others Coming to an e-Reader Near You Soon? — While the idea of actually holding onto a newspaper may still be appealing to some, those of us living in the year 2006 may want to give the tradition of reading the morning paper a little bit of an upgrade.


UPDATED WITH INTERVIEW: LANZONE NOW CEO OF ASK — So, re-read this interview from last week. Congrats Jim! If only I knew then what we know now...working on getting a few updates from His CEO-ness... Release here. — Update: Jim was kind enough to answer three questions before he left for SES Italy …
Discussion:
InsideMicrosoft
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Aloha joins mobile-TV game via Hiwire — WASHINGTON—Hiwire, a newly minted subsidiary of Aloha Partners L.P., is planning to join competitors MediaFlo and Modeo L.L.C. in offering mobile TV using dedicated spectrum. — Aloha Partners, backed by several wealthy investors with histories …


'Lost' Game Lets Fans Hunt for Clues — Mysteries of Castaways' Island to Be Revealed in Interactive Challenge — April 24, 2006 — "Lost" fans around the world will get a chance to start unlocking secrets about the mysterious island that has become an international obsession.
Discussion:
Valleywag

Rambus wins $306 million from Hynix — Rambus has beaten Hynix Semiconductor in its patent infringement case, with a court ordering its rival to pay $306.5 million in damages. — A jury found that Hynix had infringed 10 of Rambus' patents in a verdict announced on Monday in U.S. district court …
Discussion:
Techdirt

Skype Waiting To Pounce On iTunes — If it was inferred in the post last week about Skype's revenue growth that we doubted Skype's prospects, we take it all back. Skype's plans have made believers out of us, as the eBay unit has now signed a deal with EMI Music Publishing that paves …

Dave Winer: Amateurs Have More Integrity — Last Thursday, the mega-popular videoblog Rocketboom featured an interview with the prickly genius who played a key role in developing many popular new-media tools (such as feeds, OPML and podcasting), Dave Winer.
Discussion:
Terry Heaton's Weblog

Netflix, Inc. Q1 2006 Earnings Conference Call Transcript (NFLX) — Executives — Reed Hastings - Chief Executive Officer — Barry McCarthy - Chief Financial Officer — Deborah Crawford - Director, Investor Relations — Analysts — Lloyd for Gordon Hodge - Thomas Weisel Partners
Discussion:
paidContent.org


O'Reilly Radar: The Executive Briefing — As a new feature at OSCON 2006, Tim O'Reilly and Matt Asay are organizing a special executive briefing, giving a limited number of attendees an exclusive opportunity to meet with innovators, entrepreneurs, and companies that are currently on the O'Reilly Radar.
Discussion:
Open Sources