Type of Article: MacMinute Web Site

Lobbying another shot in the cut-throat Internet Service Provider industry, MSN — which recently surpassed EarthLink to claim the number-two position — has launched a $50 million “switcher” ad campaign. The promotion offers new MSN customers three free months of access and guarantees monthly access fees will remain at US$21.95 until Jan. 1, 2003. Last week, America Online raised its monthly rates to $23.95

Opera has updated their browser for the Mac, releasing beta 1. Opera 5 for Macintosh will run on PowerPC Macs with Mac OS 7.5 or later installed. Systems prior to 8.0 will require installation of Appearance Manager. Opera 5 for Macintosh Beta 1 will work with Mac OS X in the Classic mode.

ATI issued a press release today unveiling what they say will “deliver the smoothest and most natural images ever seen on a PC.” In addition, the company claims that this advancement will not compromise the overall performance of current PC technologies or compatibility with existing 3D games.

Johnny CN Lee has released a new version of VCD Player today (US$10) — a nice piece of software that simplifies the process of playing video compact disks on your Mac. Version 1.5.0 offers several new features, such as Full Screen Wide, for wide screen monitor sizes.

Mandrake 8.0, a pre-configured graphical Linux operating system, will soon be available to run on your Mac. The first issue of the Linux-Mandrake Community Newsletter reports that MandrakeSoft developers Stew Benedict and David Baudens have been “submitting hundreds of packages built for the PowerPC platform in preparation of an upcoming beta.” No release date has been announced but we will keep you posted.