Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told a press conference on Monday that “Our job now is to get Windows XP done…With a little bit of luck, we should have it ready by Friday”. The Friday release date was confirmed by PC makers on Tuesday. In a publicity stunt, Chairman Bill Gates is expected to deliver the master copies by helicopter to the manufacturers. Windows XP is due for consumer release in October.
Two UK companies are being sued by Microsoft for allegedly selling pirated copies of Microsoft software. The directors of the two Basingstoke-based companies, Pacific Computers and Taran Microsystems, face claims of infringing Microsoft’s copyrights and trade marks by selling the counterfeit products between July 2000 and February 2001.