Microsoft Archive

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.

The biggest new feature in both Ozone and v.Next is the .NET Compact Framework in ROM. This is a run-time layer that isolates applications from the operating system, managing memory and enforcing security. It should prevent buggy apps from crashing the device. Read the article at NewsFactor. Head over at NewMobileComputing for more mobile technology news. In another market arena, the market share for Windows in Network Attached Storage devices rose 8 percent in the first quarter to 41 percent.

To address patch management issues, Microsoft is creating a new, centralized patch management architecture that it will use for all of its products. Then, it will build new versions of WU, MBSA, SUS, and the SUS Feature Pack for SMS that work off of this infrastructure. The company plans to provide these tools to customers in early 2004.

Since Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates sent a memo 18 months ago urging the company to focus on making its software trustworthy, the company has devoted developers and money to security in its software products. But Microsoft has given short shrift to a second concern outlined in the so-called "Trustworthy Computing" memo - protecting privacy - except when forced by the government. With the hiring of a new privacy chief, the software company is hoping to improve its privacy record and keep government regulators at bay.

Licensing doesn't really lock customers into a constant frenzied upgrade cycle of products they don't actually need. Read the article at Silicon.com.

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 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 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.

In a sign of growing discord over Web services guidelines, Microsoft has pulled out of a key Web services standards working group.

'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.