Microsoft Archive

This is the first of a series of four articles that look at the state of computing as I imagine it will be five years from now -in the fall of 2008." Read it at ITManager's Journal.

Looming competitive and regulatory pressures factored into Microsoft's recent decision to reveal formerly secret pieces of its latest Office software, according to analysts.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates discusses "Longhorn," seamless computing, Linux and why he's so optimistic about the future.

For two decades, Bill Gates has used his Comdex keynote speech to mark out his vision for technologies from the Internet to XML. This year he used the bully pulpit to make it clear that the industry is at one of its perennial crossroads. CNET News.com caught up with the Microsoft co-founder and chairman earlier this week to talk about the leadup to his "seamless computing" speech.

To persuade the Middle Kingdom to pick its software over Linux, Microsoft plays nice. Can there be such a thing as a kinder, gentler Microsoft? The answer may well soon emerge in China, where the software Ninja and Red Dragon are locked in a strategic duel over Windows and its free competitor, Linux. Elsewhere, Brazil moves to shun Microsoft software.

Microsoft's acquisition of Connectix's assets is beginning to bear fruit on the Windows side of the market. The software giant Monday plans to announce the release to manufacturing of its newly branded and enhanced Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, formerly known as Connectix Virtual PC.

From its Wallop interactive project to its SkyServer "worldwide telescope," wristwatches and Magic Paper, Microsoft Research has a lot on its plate, senior exec Rick Rashid told a PDC audience.

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates is slated to kick off the company's Professional Developers Conference here Monday with an overview of its latest pre-beta Windows operating system and how it advances the company's .NET platform strategies. Read the reports at InternetNews and at NYTimes (free reg. required).

Steve Ballmer has a hard job. Being the CEO of a company the size of Microsoft is brutal and exhausting. Against his nature, Ballmer has been trying to change his own persona and the company culture. So far, he appears to have made progress. In my mind, Microsoft is a more mature corporate entity that it used to be. The startup mentality is important to hold on to, but isn't functional as the core value of a $30 billion company. What Ballmer needs to do is hold on to the best of the existing culture, while transforming it into something new. Tough job. I couldn't do it.

The Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (MCPP) makes available by license over 100 proprietary protocols that enable your server software to interoperate and communicate with Microsoft desktop client operating systems.

Microsoft's ambitious next-generation business applications are now due out in the "Longhorn" time frame, according to a top Microsoft executive. The upcoming product line, dubbed Project Green, will be built on what Microsoft Senior Vice President Doug Burgum calls a new "global" code base.

Steve Ballmer is aiming at emerging markets like China, India and Brazil to keep Microsoft on the high-growth track. He also plans on inspiring existing PCs owners to buy another one.

Some of the nation's leading computer science and network security experts issued a report warning that computers and critical technological infrastructure worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to attack because of the security practices and dominance of Microsoft software in desktop computing. UPDATE: Microsoft chosen as exclusive Homeland Security contractor!

Microsoft, which is trying to drive growth by investing in everything from small business software to video games, has quietly set its sights on a new industry -- searching the Web.