This spring, Microsoft attracted huge buzz for the Origami prior to its launch, but as details emerged and the products hit the market, they were roundly criticized as overpriced and underpowered.
Next month, at CES, Microsoft will be back with another round of the tiny computers. The latest tablets, code-named Vistagami because of their Windows Vista support, also will come in a wider range of looks, including some models with keyboards. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is expected to mention some of the new devices in his CES keynote as part of a broader discussion of the new types of computers that will be enabled with Vista, including new all-in-one PCs and other esoteric designs.
Microsoft this week upgraded a tool enabling multiple IDEs to access the company's collaboration server for application lifecycle
management, adding branching enhancements.
Team Foundation Server MSSCCI Provider allows a range of IDEs to access Team Foundation
Server, the collaboration component of the Visual Studio 2005 Team System platform. Version 1.2 of the tool was made available
this week.
Enhancements include the ability to handle branched solutions in Visual Studio 2003 and support for the Toad for SQL Server
2.0 database administration and SQL development application.
When a new video game platform comes out, there are problems. Whether the issue is games freezing, sound problems, Internet connection or compatibility issues, gamers and consumers can spend hours sorting out these difficulties.
Now, Microsoft appears to have taken a step in the right direction to lessen these issues for users of its Xbox 360. On Dec. 22, the Redmond, Wash., company announced that it will change the Xbox 360's warranty from 90 days to one year from the date of purchase in the U.S. and Canada.
Microsoft is looking out for 21st-century kids around the world. In a move geared toward getting more traction for its Office and Windows products in developing nations, the company has introduced software that allows multiple input devices, such as mice and joysticks, to function concurrently on a single PC.
The Microsoft Research India unit developed MultiPoint, which is intended to address the fact that most schools in developing nations cannot afford enough PCs to support the number of students being taught.
I can't count how many times people have asked me if Windows XP would be available on new PCs following Vista's release.
In the near term, the answer is as much a factor of user demand and OEM and system builder policies. That said, Microsoft will make Windows XP available for from 12 to 24 months after Vista's general availability, depending on the sales channel.
According to Microsoft's Life-Cycle Policy Web site, Windows XP Home, Professional, Tablet PC, Media Center and 64-bit editions will be available in direct OEM and retail licenses for 12 months following the beginning of Windows Vista's general availability, which is scheduled to be Jan. 30, 2007. System builder licenses will be available for another 12--or total 24--months from Vista's general availability, it said.
While Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 are virtually out the door, Microsoft continues its march towards updating its server products to match.
In the latest move, Microsoft last week began shipping a private beta of its upcoming 64-bit server product for midsize businesses, codenamed "Centro, " according to company statements.
The server, which is an x64-only version of Longhorn targeted at smaller enterprises will integrate together Exchange 2007, System Center Essentials, SQL Server 2005 and ISA Server.
Microsoft has so many free, try-before-you-buy trials, it can be a trial finding them all. So, we've collected together some of the Office 2007 versions, with links where to get them.
People trying Office 2007 must obtain a product key and activate the software. Without activation or at the end of the 60-day trial, the software goes into what Microsoft calls "Reduced Functionality" mode. Four major trials:
Office Enterprise 2007, which Microsoft released last Thursday, includes: Access, Communicator, Excel, Groove, InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher and Word. The Enterprise trial differs from the others, in that the software is distributed through the Microsoft Developer Network or TechNet. The other trials are available from Office Online.
While the Xbox 360 is unlikely to yield a success story as strong as Halo 2 for the original Xbox until, well, Halo 3 ships in 2007, this holiday season has given Microsoft its first obvious hit. Gears of War, which was developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft's in-house games studio, has now sold over 2 million units. That means, for example, that there are at least 5 times as many people playing that game worldwide as there are PlayStation 3 users. No matter how you slice it, Gears of War is a huge success.
Microsoft today announced a multi-million dollar settlement with French disk replicator MPO Group.
The French company admitted that its Thai subsidiary inadvertently relied on a fake Microsoft licensing agreement, and then replicated thousands of Microsoft server software disks in violation of Microsoft's copyrights and trademarks.
Also as part of the settlement, MPO acknowledged that it had breached the disk replication agreements it had in place with Microsoft. MPO and Microsoft settled the matter without resorting to litigation.
Who says Microsoft can't bring people together? Maybe Best Buy and Winternals know different.
This morning, Microsoft issued a press release about Best Buy using Dynamics CRM 3.0 to keep the Geek Squad on call and on time. The 11,000 technicians also use 3,000 Windows Mobile smart phones (what? Do they share?) Best Buy uses Exchange Server 2003 and Point of Sale 2.0, too.
For Christmas in July, Microsoft announced acquisition of Winternals and got a heck of a lot of talent in Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. 10 years ago, I used Russinovich's software for cracking open Windows NT 4. Without his software, I would have lost data following several fatal questions.