Northwest ; Microsoft Gets Government Project

Microsoft Corp. won a battle against open-source software supporters in India’s technology hub of Bangalore when local authorities chose its software for networking the state’s utilities and services.

An e-governance project for the 55 million people of Karnataka state, of which Bangalore is the capital, will begin in April and will use Microsoft software, an official said yesterday.

“We will initially put 24 citizen services online and more later,” said Rajiv Chawla, secretary of Karnataka’s electronic governance department.

News of deal boosts Trend Micro

Shares of Trend Micro Inc., the world’s third-largest maker of anti-virus software, are set for their biggest gain in almost six months after Microsoft Corp. said it will use the company’s technology for its MSN Hotmail, a free Internet-based e-mail service. Microsoft will adopt Trend Micro’s virus scanning and other software for the more than 187 million worldwide Hotmail users, Tokyo-based Trend Micro said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.

Microsoft has been using McAfee Inc.’s anti-virus software since acquiring Hotmail in 1998. Details of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Quick Hits is written by P-I staff and news services. Send comments to johncook@seattlepi.com.