A California-based software company has filed a patent infringement suit against Microsoft over two patents that enable the
creation of virtual private networks.
VirnetX, a company that builds software for secure communications, claims Microsoft is infringing on two of its patents, according
to a press statement by the company, which is based in Scotts Valley, California.
One of the patents relates to establishing a secure communication link or VPN, while the other is for a method and system
of transparently creating a VPN, the company said.
Microsoft will give analysts in New York a strategic update on the company's business Thursday, but they aren't expecting
a repeat of the surprise dished up last April.
"We are expecting a non-event," wrote Citigroup analyst Brent Thill in a research note released Wednesday. Since analysts'
briefing with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and CFO Chris Liddell is only scheduled for an hour, "we expect it to be nothing
more than a cheerleading session around Vista/Office 2007, and an update on the online and entertainment initiatives," he
wrote.
Microsoft's Office Test Drive program has grown so successful, the company is increasingly competing with its PC manufacturer and retail partners.
The number of people converting Office Trials to full product increased 196 percent between 2004 and 2005 and 105 percent between 2005 and 2006, according to NPD.
"Microsoft is now one of the leading retailers of its own product," said Chris Swenson, NPD's director of Software Industry Analysis. "I don't think the industry is aware how successful the trial conversion program has been over the past couple of years."
Microsoft offers the Office Trial by two methods: Pre-installed on new PCs or by direct download from its Website. The trial version works for a limited time with some limitations on functionality. Microsoft directly fulfills conversions to the Office suite.
An IT professional claims to have discovered a way of upgrading to a full version of Vista from scratch, while only paying the cost of an upgrade for an earlier version of Windows.
Marc Liron has posted a full explanation of his method on his Web site. In summary, the trick is to install the upgrade version of Vista but not to enter the product key. Once all the Vista files have been copied across, the user starts the installation procedure again rather than attempting to activate Vista. Once the installation procedure has been followed again, the user is left with a fully functioning version of Vista.
The Iowa class action suit that claimed Microsoft broke state antitrust laws has been settled, both parties announced Wednesday. The plaintiffs had alleged that Microsoft violated Iowa antitrust laws by monopolizing the market, which denied free choice and innovation, forced Iowans to overpay for software and opened consumers up to security breaches, according to the class action complaint (PDF).
Microsoft has been involved in about 20 state antitrust class action suits, including one in the District of Columbia, since 1998, according to Microsoft. The Iowa settlement marks the 18th case to come to a resolution. A suit in Mississippi is ongoing with a hearing scheduled for the end of February, and one in Michigan that was dismissed is on appeal, according to Wallis.
Microsoft has released an open letter that accuses IBM of driving the effort to force the OpenDocument Format on users through public procurement mandates, which the Redmond, Wash., software maker views as an attempt to restrict choice and limit adoption of its Office Open XML format.
Microsoft is also speaking out against what it sees as Big Blue's coordinated and resource-intensive campaign to limit choice in the marketplace for interoperability and standards, regardless of the impact of those moves on customers and the broader ecosystem.
Novell and Microsoft on Monday presented an update on the two firms' progress in their November deal to make nice and work more closely together.
In what many industry observers termed as "hell freezing over," the two companies jointly announced last fall that they would de-escalate legal and marketing battles between the two in order to provide customers with better services and offerings. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will offer its corporate customers a chance to license its Windows operating system as part of a package offering maintenance and support for Novell's SuSE Linux operating system.
At Embedded World 2007 in Nuremberg, Germany Tuesday, Microsoft announced it is shipping a developers kit for the smallest of its device systems.
The .NET Micro Framework grew out of Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology initiative, which was designed to support very small, embedded devices that do not have the resources to run a more full-function system like Windows Mobile.
Microsoft's .NET Micro Framework Software Developers Kit integrates with Visual Studio 2005, enabling SPOT devices developers to work in C# in a managed code environment, company officials and Microsoft documents said.
Q: In the consumer space, we are hearing about a big shift to advertising-supported business models--a lot of predictions that consumers are going to spend less on software generally. What do you see as the role of ad-supported software?
Bach: What you are going to see is a diversity of business models. I think people are going to continue to buy packaged software--I'm a firm believer in that. It's a way people are comfortable with buying. I think that people will buy that packaged software in a store sometimes. They might buy it online. The idea that somehow people are going to stop buying physical goods is just wrong.
Sales of Office 2007 were substantially better than those of Office 2003 during the first week after launching, according to a study comparing retail and commercial figures for both products.
In the first week after its release in late January, Office 2007 unit sales grew 108.6 percent compared with the first week of sales for Office 2003, according to a preliminary report released Monday by the NPD Group, a consumer and retail trade researcher.
While the average selling price for Office 2007 declined 1.1 percent to $206.93, the dollar volume jumped by 106.3 percent compared with Office 2003, the report noted.