Microsoft has been sending signals to investors this week amidst a U.S. economy teetering on the edge of a major financial meltdown. On Monday, the company described a stock buy-back plan of $40 billion that was approved by Microsoft's board. Companies typically buy back their stock when they have cash reserves and feel their stock may be undervalued.
Microsoft also started a debt financing program -- a "first-ever commercial paper program" of $2 billion, according George Zinn, Microsoft's treasurer. The company plans to use the money for working capital and stock repurchases.
Microsoft is teaming up with New York University and other universities to launch an institute to research how gaming can be used to encourage U.S. middle-school students to take an interest in math and science.
During a speech at NYU in Manhattan Tuesday, Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie will unveil the Games for Learning Institute, a joint effort between Microsoft Research, NYU, Columbia University, the City University of New York, Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Teachers College. The institute will have a research lab on site at NYU that will be co-directed by Ken Perlin, a professor at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Jan Plass, an associate professor in NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at NYU.
PerformancePoint is considered Microsoft's primary business intelligence software product, but the company's BI strategy goes much deeper than that. In the coming months, it'll be working to develop more technologies and products that heavily rely on SQL Server, with particular focus on the next release of the database.
At its second annual BI conference, starting this week in Seattle, Microsoft will for the first time publicly talk about its next major SQL Server upgrade. Code-named Kilimanjaro, the upgrade is scheduled for delivery in 2010, Microsoft executives said in an interview last week.
Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates expressed confidence in the current economic system, despite plunging market values, in a TV interview broadcast on Sunday. The market continued to fall even after President Bush signed a Wall Street bailout plan into U.S. law.
When asked by CNN reporter Fareed Zakaria if we were facing a "crisis of capitalism," Gates said no.
"It's an interesting crisis, and it's important that things move forth -- that markets are continuing to operate," said Gates, reportedly the world's richest man.
Microsoft announced participation in a new alliance of academic institutions and researchers to promote the study and use of games as a way to educate students in math and science. Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, announce the project, called the Games for Learning Institute, during a speech at New York University.
Microsoft announced a new gaming research alliance to promote the use of games as learning tools for students, particularly for learning math and science among middle school students.
Microsoft has released the next version of its desktop management toolset for IT that includes updates to its application virtualization and asset management tools.
App-V 4.5 also features Dynamic Suite Composition, which lets virtualized applications share middleware resources; support
for 11 languages; and a service provider license option called Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Hosting for Desktops.
In addition, Advanced Group Policy Management 3.0 also has been updated to include new settings to enforce the use
of the Group Policy change management tool.
Microsoft is planning to enhance the BI capabilities in the next version of its flagship SQL Server database, the company revealed today. The company kicked off its second annual Business Intelligence Conference in Seattle by outlining plans for a new set of managed self-service analysis and reporting capabilities that will be integrated into the next version of SQL Server.
The upgraded BI analysis and reporting capabilities will emerge from a project codenamed "Gemini," and will be part of the upcoming SQL Server "Kilimanjaro" release. Essentially, Gemini is a bundle of easy-to-use tools designed to enable average information workers gather and manipulate structured and unstructured data for better business decisions.
Microsofts Mark Bolger demonstrates the Surfaces multitouch user interface.
The long-awaited software developer kit for the Surface tabletop computer will be made available to those attending Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference at the end of the month.
Microsoft made that pledge on its PDC Web site, as part of a listing for a session focused on writing Surface applications.
"Hear about the unique attributes of Microsoft Surface computing, dive into vision-based object recognition and core controls like ScatterView, and learn how the Surface SDK aligns with the multitouch developer roadmap for Windows 7," Microsoft said, in promoting the session.
Microsoft has extended the availability of Windows XP on new PCs by six months, the company confirmed Friday. Computer makers that "downgrade" machines from Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate to Windows XP Professional will be able to obtain media for the latter through the end of July 2009, a Microsoft spokeswoman said Friday.
The new date is a change in policy. Previously, Microsoft had planned to halt XP Professional media shipments to major computer makers after Jan. 31. 2009.
"As more customers make the move to Windows Vista, we want to make sure that they are making that transition with confidence and that it is as smooth as possible. Providing downgrade media for a few more months is part of that commitment," the spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
Microsoft is pushing Windows Vista in a big way in India. According to Microsoft, over 180 million licenses of Windows Vista have been sold worldwide, with India adoption alone crossing over two million copies.
Initially, there were concerns around Windows Vista in the areas of device and application compatibility. There were some misconceptions about the hardware requirements for Windows Vista and its resultant overall performance.
"Over the last year and a half, Microsoft has made a variety of investments in Windows Vista to make it a compelling upgrade for enterprises. Businesses and consumers are adopting it at a good pace. We're pleased with Vista's progress thus far.