Microsoft this year will seek to distance itself from Java rivals with tools designed to streamline how Windows-based business software is built and used.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates won widespread applause in January when he trumpeted an agreement to give $1 billion in software and cash to the United Nations as part of a job-training program for the developing world. But Microsoft did not seek any attention for a much smaller amount that it contributed earlier to pay some travel expenses for a United Nations business standards group.
Microsoft's Research organization is preparing to publicly release in a few weeks the client application for its Aura research project, a researcher told attendees of the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. Research Sociologist Marc Smith, demonstrating Aura during his keynote presentation, explained that the project uses mobile devices to interact with physical objects to retrieve information about them from the Internet as well as to automatically capture and annotate data from them.
"When we launched our first security newsletter in December, I asked you to send me your comments and feedback so that I could be your advocate at Microsoft for security issues—and you delivered! I appreciate the many e-mail messages with comments and questions, and we will begin answering them this month."Read the rest here by Jeffrey R. Jones, Senior Director, Microsoft Security Business Unit.
Microsoft’s newly discovered desire to become the CRM software supplier of choice for SMEs has, let’s face it, been greeted with more than a hint of skepticism.
Microsoft is moving to a new phase in its competitive attack, arguing that the company is better than IBM and Linux when it comes to connecting different applications.
"When you think about enterprise systems management, companies like Computer Associates, Hewlett-Packard and IBM come to mind. They offer comprehensive suites for monitoring and managing the behavior of the broad array of IT components that keep an enterprise afloat. You don't necessarily consider Microsoft in the same vein, but with its characteristic resolve, the company is attempting to make comprehensive systems management part of the genetic material of Windows."Read the article at ZDNet.
Microsoft’s chief software architect Bill Gates took centre stage at last week’s software developer day in London in a bid to convince UK software developers to stick with Microsoft’s roadmap, even though Longhorn, its next generation operating system, is two to three years away.
WindowsForDevices has published an extensive interview with Scott Horn, director of marketing for Microsoft's Embedded Devices Group, in which Horn discusses the embedded marketplace in general and Microsoft's strategic roadmap. The interview is interesting to developers for its discussions of the embedded market as a whole, and for the view it provides of Microsoft's competitive strategies.
The European Commission has reportedly reached a decision that Microsoft broke anticompetitive law and will face stiff fines, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Microsoft would not comment on the report but maintained that negotiations with the European Commission are still ongoing.
Microsoft has applied for patents that could prevent competing applications from processing documents created with the latest version of the software giant's Office program.
A federal judge on Friday said she was satisfied with Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) efforts to comply with its landmark antitrust settlement after the company announced new steps, including free access to some of its Windows operating system code. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the 2002 settlement with the government was working despite concerns from the Justice Department about one key provision.
Microsoft's reputation is one of a moneymaker, but the fact is that four of its seven business units are in the red. To the tune of US$1.6 billion in fiscal year 2003, Microsoft bled money from its Business Solutions, Mobile and Embedded Devices, MSN, and Home and Entertainment divisions.
Microsoft is considering an expansion of a program that would allow companies to see the source code underlying its Office software and other applications. Elsewhere, the U.S. Justice Department on Friday expressed concern that Microsoft has not completely lived up to its agreement to disclose Windows communications protocols, as required by a 2002 antitrust agreement.
OSFocus.net have just posted an report from last month's Microsoft UK Platform Developer Briefing, which took place on the 12th of December 2003. The report outlines the events of the day, and also introduces some of the features of Microsoft Longhorn and its associated technologies.
Gates' keynote address features new Media Center technologies, MSN Services and smart watches for MSN Direct; Gates highlights growing role of software in consumer electronics. Here is the web siet for the newly announced Media Center Devices.
Some say that Microsoft's major markets are mature and saturated. What lies ahead for the software giant? A retrospective and overview on the issue here.
Microsoft plans to reorganize its Windows unit, creating a new division more tightly focused on the development of the core operating system, CNET News.com has learned. Also, Microsoft posted a review of their technology for 2003 and a preview for 2004.
Microsoft watchers have two interesting stories to follow this week. First is the new Intellectual Property (IP) licensing scheme. The second is a feverish round speculation (just a rumor) that Microsoft will buy AMD. Both tie into an older story about plans for the next generation Xbox.
