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By TIMES WIRES
Published August 30, 2006

Amazon offers a peek at Microsoft Vista prices

Microsoft Corp. is selling its new Windows Vista operating system for $100 to $399 and will make the program available Jan. 30, according to Amazon.com Inc.'s Web site. Amazon, which is taking orders for Vista, lists the price for Vista Ultimate, the most expensive retail product, at $399 for a full version and $259 for an upgrade. Vista Business costs $299 for a full version and $199 for an upgrade. An upgrade to the software's most basic home version costs $100. Microsoft Windows director Kevin Kutz declined to confirm the prices. Kutz said Microsoft will provide pricing when it releases a near-final test version, called a release candidate, before the end of September. Vista remains "on track," he said.

Other chatter

BEAU RIVAGE OPENS: Beau Rivage Resort and Casino, once the crown jewel of Mississippi's Gulf Coast gaming industry, reopened Tuesday on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall. Under sunny skies and a light gulf breeze, hundreds of the casino's 3,800 employees - 400 more than before Katrina - participated in reopening ceremony. The Beau Rivage is the sixth casino on the coast to reopen after the storm.

EMINEM, NIKE BUILD SHOES: Eminem has collaborated with Nike Inc. to create a limited-edition collection of Air Max sneakers to be auctioned for charity. The Grammy-winning rapper designed uppers for eight shoes in the series, including the Air Max '87 and the most recent Air Max 360. Proceeds will benefit Eminem's Marshall Mathers Foundation, which provides money for organizations working with troubled youth in southeast Michigan, and ninemillion.org, a global campaign to bring education and sports programs to children in refugee camps across the globe. The auction starts Thursday at Niketown in London and on eBay Sept. 12.

CHAD ORDERS CHEVRON OUT: Chevron Corp. said Tuesday the government of Chad has demanded it to leave the country after it allegedly failed to pay its taxes. Chad, which is considered the most corrupt country in the world according to a 2005 survey by Transparency International, gave Chevron and Petronas 24 hours to leave the central African country if they didn't pay taxes it claims amount to $450-million.

[Last modified August 29, 2006, 22:54:47]