Microsoft Archive

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.

Stepping up its campaign against the Linux operating system, Microsoft has released file and Web serving benchmark results that, it claims, show that Linux on the mainframe lags behind Windows 2003 on Intel systems in terms of performance for the money. Read the report at ARNnet.

"Prejudices and misconceptions about Microsoft make it hard to evalute the company's merits. The biggest myths about Microsoft are that its desktop products are overpriced, it doesn't respect its customers, and reliability and security are poor. And some think the company is downright evil. In nearly two decades of studying Microsoft, I've been able to dig through the hype that the company generates, as well as the misconceptions its detractors create, to see more of the real company than most of you can ever experience." Read the opinion-piece at InternetWeek, written by Rob Enderle.

An editorial from Intenet Week's Mitch Wagner responds to several reader emails he's received lately from people convinced that Microsoft's dominance of the software industry is evermore. He disagrees, citing many examples of upstart products and protocols challenging and displacing the established player, even Microsoft itself.

"Sure, people will rail against Bill Gates every chance they get. But when it comes time to put up or shut up -- to remove all traces of Microsoft software from their hard drives -- you better believe they'll think twice." Read the editorial at eCommerceTimes.

In order to participate in Thailand's "Peoples PC" project (in which the goverment hopes to provide 1 million low-cost PCs for the population), Microsoft has cut their price for Windows and Office together to as low as $36 -- 10% of what they sometimes charge for Office alone! They also are dropping their controversial product activation requirements for this project. Previously, the Peoples PC project was based exclusively on Linux. My take: Watch for falling margins at MS as big customers realize, in the wake of Munich and Thailand, that threats of migration to Linux can win BIG price breaks from MS...

It might be the world's most widely distributed e-mail client, but Microsoft has confirmed that it has no intention of further developing Outlook Express. Microsoft is moving its consumer-oriented email focus to MSN and Hotmail, while encouraging business users to use (and pay for) the full Outlook.

CNET News.com's Charles Cooper says the "end of Microsoft as we know it" crowd must face the post-antitrust reality that the company is confident and stronger than ever.

Microsoft on Tuesday announced plans for new development tools, as the company continues to lay the groundwork for its next major database and operating system software releases.

Phoenix is the next generation .NET optimization framework which will be the basis for code generation for all future Microsoft optimizing compilers," such as Microsoft's Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Visual C# ones, according to a description of the Faculty Summit session on the technology. On other Microsoft news, check the FAQ for the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP and download it.

Microsoft released a test version of its new speech-recognition server software, hoping to stake a claim in the market for companies wanting to automate customer service and other functions. Elsewhere, Wading into a debate triggered by a recent Harvard Business Review article, Microsoft's Paul Flessner says the proffered policy prescription won't cure what's really ailing the computer industry.