According to a news item at WindowsForEmbedded.com, Microsoft has launched a new program in its 'shared source' initiative. This one enables the sharing of 'platforms', allowing, for example, hobbyists 'to convert an old PC into any number of Windows CE .NET-based devices, such as a digital audio receiver,' using files downloaded from a community repository. Free and time-fused tools are available for download from Microsoft's website to facilitate the process.
While Apple grabs publicity for its new 99 cent music download store, Microsoft is quietly preparing for a counterattack by improving its own technology for supporting subscription music services.
Microsoft will rely on its time-tested bundling strategy, key to its successful capture of the desktop market, to help jumpstart its server software business. On the other side, at its JavaOne conference next month, Sun Microsystems will demonstrate a tool designed to simplify Java programming and steer users of Microsoft's .Net tools to Java.
Microsoft is licensing the rights to Unix technology from SCO Group, a move that could dramatically impact the battle between Windows and Linux in the market for computer operating systems, News.com says. Update: Please note that Microsoft simply licenses the rights of Unix (the same way as Sun and SGI have done in the past) and does NOT become the owner of Unix IP. SCO remains the owner.
"Last summer, Orlando Ayala, then in charge of worldwide sales at Microsoft, sent an e-mail message titled 'Microsoft Confidential' to senior managers laying out a company strategy to dissuade governments across the globe from choosing cheaper alternatives to the ubiquitous Windows software systems.
Microsoft will disclose more details about the next "big" version of Windows and show off prototypes of smart. Also, Gates cites Microsoft breakthroughs at eWeek. Check out pictures of the Athens PC.
Microsoft will demonstrate its much debated Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) security initiative for the first time next week at an event in New Orleans, and will also provide further details on its plans for managing IT systems. Read the details at InfoWorld.
Microsoft is considering an open source approach to one of its software libraries, following heavy pressure from developers and sharp competition in the growing mobile device development arena. The decision would be a radical one for Microsoft, a fierce opponent of the open source model of making intellectual property available for modification and redistribution. The surprise move to open source is being considered for the Windows Template Library (WTL) - an enhancement of the C++ language.
Microsoft is getting serious about management software. That's either terrific news or a real cause for concern, depending on who you are. On other MS news, three-fourths of computer software security experts at major companies surveyed by Forrester Research Inc. do not think Microsoft Corp.'s products are secure, the technology research company said on Monday.
'At last month's Most Valuable Partners meeting in which Gates opened up about open source, he reflected back on his battle against IBM for supremacy of the desktop. "OS/2 wasn't a joke; it was all of IBM that was ten times the size of Microsoft putting all their energy, their leverage on ISVs, bundling it with their systems, everything they could do to beat Windows," Gates said.' Read the editorial at ENT by Joe McKendrick.
"For a company that helped create the personal computer, it seems Microsoft wants to talk about anything these days but the PC. And for good reason. With PC sales slumping, the world's biggest software company is turning to everything from video game consoles to watches to help it maintain its status as one of the most successful technology companies ever. With about 70 percent of its revenue still coming from software for traditional computers, Microsoft's ongoing diversification push is a gamble that puts a company that has grown accustomed to a monopoly in cutthroat competition with a host of adversaries."Read the article at ajc.com.
To play a bigger role in the development of computers — as well as software — Microsoft has formed a major new division to produce specialized versions of Windows and build prototypes of computers of the future. Called the Extended Platforms Division, the group has 900 employees assembled from the Windows, research and business-productivity divisions. It also includes industrial designers and evangelists who will pitch the concept computers to manufacturers.
The industry gorilla seeks to replace widespread opinion that it is arrogant, unaccountable and monopolistic with a new perception as a softer, gentler giant following a subtle shift in the way it deals with clients and competitors. Additionally, the software giant has renamed its division responsible for software used to manage Windows servers, as the company prepares to update management tools at a conference next week.
Over at ActiveWin you will find a variety of shots, including those of Outlook, Excel, Word etc, from the second beta of Microsoft Office 2003. Our Take: You can clearly see the task-based interface being more prominent than ever in these Office shots, and despite the questionable choice of colors used, Outlook's three-vertical-pane interface as the default makes sense UI-wise (documents are generally long, not wide).
Redmond's Tim McDonough says Mac lovers have no need to fret over the giant's purchase of the cross-platform franchise from Connectix. Read the interview at BusinessWeek.
In a report inspired by the advice of a departing Microsoft manager, a Merrill Lynch technology analyst wrote that the software company must "notch up the innovation component" if it wants to succeed in an era of networked systems and increased pervasiveness of open-source applications. The report, released Wednesday by Merrill tech strategist Steven Milunovich, analyzes points raised in an essay recently published by retiring Microsoft program manager David Stutz.