WinInsider

Microsoft is showing some early signs of success with a version of Windows geared for a technical computing market that Linux dominates today.

Windows Compute Cluster Server (CCS) runs on a group of interconnected computers that collectively tackle calculation chores. These high-performance computing clusters have swept the list of the top 500 supercomputers--but they typically run Linux, not Windows.

But when Microsoft released Windows CCS less than a year ago, the company tried to find a new niche in the market rather than go up against Linux directly. The software giant is trying to win over customers with small clusters, often integrated with the work customers are doing on their Windows PCs.

Microsoft will further connect the worlds of Windows and Xbox 360 by letting people on computers trade instant messages with those using the company's video-game console.

Microsoft plans to expand its Windows Live Messenger service to the Xbox 360 through a software update early next month. The move creates a new bridge between two of Microsoft's biggest user bases and adds another PC-style function to the game console.

However, for the best experience with the new instant-messaging feature, Xbox 360 users will need to buy a small, QWERTY-style keyboard that will attach to the game controller for thumb typing. That won't be released until summer, and Microsoft isn't yet saying how much it will cost.

Although "Vista Embedded" is still but a twinkle in Microsoft's eye, the company has begun licensing the operating system for embedded uses, and BIOS vendor General Software has released a BIOS targeting appliance-like Vista applications.

At ESC the week of April 2, "Quickboot for Windows Vista" was shown booting up Vista in just 24 seconds, according to General Software. ScriptLogic aims to ease the migration to Vista. Click here to read more.

At the ESC in San Jose, Calif., also this week, General Software demonstrated what it claims to be one of the world's fastest boot times for Windows Vista.

Microsoft announced $1.1 million in funding for academic research programs that will develop new applications using its Virtual Earth and SensorMap technologies.

One of the recipients of the funding is a Harvard University project called CitySense, which is also funded by the National Science Foundation. CitySense is a network that consists of 100 nodes -- PCs equipped with long-range Wi-Fi radios and sensors -- that hang on streetlights in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The sensors monitor pollution, wind speed, humidity, temperature, rainfall, and car traffic.

Microsoft on Thursday released a beta of documentation for a free SDK that helps developers build applications for its forthcoming Windows Home Server product.

The SDK documentation is available for download on the Microsoft Developer Network. It provides guidance on how developers can use the API and services in Windows along with the Visual Studio integrated development environment and Visual Studio C# tool to build new applications for Windows Home Server, which is currently in its second beta release.

With Windows Vista, Microsoft had to cut features to try to get the release out the door. With its upcoming server release, though, Microsoft is actually adding a few features.

Since it released Beta 2 of Longhorn Server in May, Microsoft has brought back a new command-line interface known as PowerShell and added several new pre-configured server "roles." By contrast, as Microsoft tried to get Windows Vista ready for market, it had to cut several features, including PC-to-PC synchronization and the WinFS file system.

Microsoft plans to follow Apple in selling unprotected songs from EMI, though the company won't say just when such tracks will appear on the Zune Marketplace store.

When CEO Steve Jobs issued his open letter calling for an end to DRM, Microsoft said the total abolition of such protections would be irresponsible, since they are needed for subscription music and other new business models. However, the software maker said Wednesday that it does plan to offer DRM-free music from EMI and others.

"We've been saying for a while that we are aware that consumers want to have unprotected content," said Zune marketing director Jason Reindorp. Reindorp said he did not have a time frame for when unprotected songs will be added to the store.

Microsoft plans to announce on Thursday that it has leased an additional two buildings near its Redmond, Wash., campus that will house around 4,000 workers, according to a source familiar with the company's plans.

The company plans to host a media event on Thursday morning near the campus to announce the new space, said the source, who asked not to be identified.

Microsoft is in the midst of major expansion of its Redmond campus. Early last year, the company announced it would spend $1 billion in a three-year plan that would grow the campus by one-third of its size. At the time, Microsoft said that expansion would include seven new buildings and seven that were purchased.

Microsoft plans to make expanding its SaaS strategy a priority in the next 12 months, but the company continues to suffer an image problem as it struggles to prove that it can compete in this new services market.

Earlier this week, Tim O'Brien, a director in Microsoft's Platform Strategy Group, defined Microsoft's plan for the SaaS market as a "move to the middle," as outlined in detail last June by Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie at the company's TechEd conference in Boston. At the show, Ozzie said Microsoft's plan to roll out services -- many branded with the "Live" moniker -- will complement its existing software portfolio rather than be purely an SaaS play.

Best Buy and Circuit City Stores Wednesday both reported high demand for Windows Vista in their retail stores, though this demand had a different effect on each company's business.

In separate earnings statements, the two retail companies said that PCs with Vista preinstalled have been selling well since the Jan. 30 release of the new OS. However, while this drove sales of PCs and computer services up 10 percent at Best Buy, Circuit City was affected negatively because it did not keep enough Vista PCs in stock to meet customer demand.