The Redmond, Wash., software maker has persuaded major U.S. computer makersincluding Dell, Gateway and Hewlett-Packardto make default changes at the BIOS level to allow a new Vista security feature called ASLR to work properly.
ASLR, which is used to randomly arrange the positions of key data areas to block hackers from predicting target addresses, was added late in the Vista beta process to make the new operating system more resilient to virus and worm attacks. However, for randomization to be effective, hardware-based DEP/NX (Data Execution Prevention/No Execute) must be enabled by default.
Microsoft says it will focus on four key areas to improve interoperability between its own software and other vendors' products.
Senior Microsoft representatives met with InfoWorld on Thursday to highlight identity management; Web services and related
development; collaboration between information workers and system management comprise the new interoperability focus.
"We are really working on new protocols in the WS-* [spoken as Web services star] space that enable interoperability across
identity systems," said Jean Paoli, Microsofts general manager of interoperability and XML architecture.
Has Microsoft hired the new Robert Scoble?
My former boss, Michael Gartenberg, is leaving the analyst ranks for Microsoft, where he will assume the new role of enthusiast evangelist.
On a new Weblog, he described his role, "to find, engage and work with enthusiasts and other influencers and show them all the cool stuff that Microsoft is doing."
I first encountered Gartenberg on Feb. 10, 2000, when he was an analyst for Gartner and I was a reporter for CNET News.com. A day earlier, Gartner PR sent an e-mail that an analyst was available to discuss the Feb. 15 launch of Windows 2000. Wrapped up in other stories, I didn't immediately respond. I later phoned and Gartenberg gave some startling projections: Slow Windows 2000 adoption and warning that one-in-four businesses would have trouble running the software. I filed the story, which posted early on Feb. 11, a Friday, and moved onto the next news item.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that the software vendor has had difficulties competing for consumers online and developing a business model for online business services.
But he said that he was more worried about being blindsided by a new business model than any one company in particular.
"I think about new business models more than I think of individual companies," he told analysts at a Merrill Lynch conference in New York today.
Ballmer pointed to open source as one potential source of worry. While the company has gained market share against Linux both on desktops and in the server market, he said that "having a competitor that is nominally close to free is always a challenge... There is a set of pricing pressure that nobody should ignore."
Microsoft officials are hoping a test program of an early version of their next major customer relationship management releasecode-named Titanwill ease partner concerns over the upcoming on-demand version of Dynamics CRM.
The Redmond, Wash., software company announced Jan. 10 that about 300 partners are participating in the program to test early versions of Dynamics CRM 4.0.
Titan, expected this summer, has two major attributes that bring it into the realm of SAAS, or on-demand software: multitenancy capabilities and a single code base across on-premises and on-demand versions. While both attributes enable partners to lower their development and infrastructure costsand pass those savings on to customersthey also change a partner's revenue stream from one of annual license fees to one involving monthly fees. That shift has led to many questions for partners.
Microsoft plans to grow its operating expenses next year, but it won't reach the $2.7 billion increase inked in for 2007, CEO Steve Ballmer told financial analysts on Thursday.
"I wouldn't expect a huge drop. Just a small drop is what you should have in mind," Ballmer said at a meeting with investors and financial analysts in New York.
He also cautioned that some analysts may be forecasting too much revenue growth in the Windows business associated with the launch of Vista. He noted that although Microsoft expects growth, more of it will come from consumers and in emerging markets--places where it gets less revenue.
Microsoft has unveiled a public beta of its MSN Soapbox video-upload service, its competitor to Google Inc.'s popular
YouTube service.
The service, which Microsoft unveiled last September, has been available to beta testers only by invitation for several months.
But now anyone can test out the service by going to this Web site , reports the the LiveSide blog , which tracks Microsoft's Windows Live Internet services.
Like YouTube, Soapbox allows users not only to upload videos to the Web in almost any digital video format, but also to tag
and categorize them so other users can find them. The service also lets users watch videos and browse for new ones simultaneously
on the same screen, something that differentiates it from YouTube, Microsoft has said.
Microsoft is ready to take on the Wall Street service-oriented architecture scene with its latest developer and infrastructure technologies, said an analyst in building IT systems for financial services companies.
Michael DeSanti, a partner with Eikos Partners, New York, spoke at the Web Services/SOA on Wall Street conference here and said Microsoft's .Net Framework 3.0 meets the needs of financial services firms trying to build extensible SOAs.
DeSanti said the .Net Framework 3.0 and its componentsthe WCF, WPF, Windows WF and CardSpaceenable Microsoft to meet real-world SOA needs.
The newest version of Microsoft's Exchange Server is as significant a leap forward as the two other major platforms Microsoft introduced in 2006Office 2007 and Windows Vista.
The changes to Exchange Server 2007, which became available in December, are numerous, including mobile support, integrated unified messaging, bundled anti-spam and anti-virus capabilities, a new Outlook Web Access interface, and new management tools. Nonetheless, upgrading from previous versions of the platform is not a no-brainer decisionExchange Server 2007 brings many benefits but also substantial costs.
The case against a Russian schoolteacher accused of using unlicensed software in the classroom has been thrown out, following international attention and an intervention from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
On Thursday, a Russian court rejected the case against Alexander Ponosov, labeling it "trivial," according to the Associated Press. Ponosov told the AP that he was "off to drink champagne" following the decision.
Ponosov was accused of using unlicensed versions of the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office on 12 PCs. But he insisted he had bought the computers with the software already installed, and had no idea there might be a problem.