Starting May 24, Microsoft's Live Local mapping feature lets users share maps and other location information directly from Live Messenger, a new version of Microsoft's popular MSN Messenger.
Live Local is also available directly from Microsoft's Outlook Calendar, an office computer desktop staple. Users must first download and install free software.
The "Live" moniker refers to beta versions of Microsoft's popular Web services, so changes to these features are ultimately very important to Microsoft.
CA is offering free antivirus software to protect the latest Beta 2 release of Microsoft's Vista operating system.
Beta testers can now download a one-year trial subscription to CA's eTrust EZ Antivirus software, which the software vendor is billing as the first antivirus product for the next-generation
operating system. The Beta 2 version of Vista was released Tuesday.
The free subscription gives users access to daily virus updates and Web-based technical support.
CA normally charges $29.99 per year for the security software, but the company sees the Vista beta process as a chance to
get their product in the hands of an estimated 2 million potential customers, said Stefana Ribaudo-Muller, director of product
development with CA.
The first-ever coding contest focused on software from Microsoft's Shared Source initiative kicked off May 23. The competition, sponsored by Microsoft and hosted by WindowsForDevices.com, challenges developers to use Windows CE Shared Source in a real-world project and offers Xbox
360 game console prizes.
Developers are invited to "create a cool, real-world project that
combines Windows CE along with either or both of two Shared Source
componentsthe Windows CE WebCam driver and/or the Windows CE DVR engine," the contest's home page says. Entrants must submit
their projects for judging by midnight PDT on July 28, and winners
will be announced on WindowsForDevices.com after August 15.
Japanese electronics maker NEC and U.S. software company Microsoft announced plans Wednesday to expand their business partnership in the networking and server businesses.
NEC President Kaoru Yano and Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer told reporters in Tokyo that the companies also plan to deepen their patent cross-licensing efforts as part of the expanded relationship.
The two companies will work together on such products as Internet telephone servers and Microsoft communications platforms, the pair said.
It's still a tight squeeze, but Jim Allchin says there's reason to have hope that Microsoft may yet meet its latest deadline to ship Vista. That said, he knows better than to relax.
Allchin, who's guided many Windows releases in years past, plans to retire once Vista ships. In an interview, he said there are still plenty of things he'd like to see before the operating system is released, including better performance and more application compatibility.
On Tuesday, Microsoft released a broader test version of the software, Beta 2, that will be made available to millions of testers. "All indications are good, and I spend most of my day worried," Allchin said. "But I think getting people using the thing is a huge, huge step."
Microsoft has been taking action to improve its reportedly low employee morale, unveiling a series of new perks as part of a program dubbed "MyMicrosoft" at an all-employee meeting May 18. This comes on the heels of a Reuters report that 1,000 Microsoft contract workers were forced to take a week off without pay.
MyMicrosoft will include a range of incentives focused on an improved work atmosphere, including a management development training program, increased investment in the staff share plan, and a career model framework for all employees.
As Microsoft moves its internal desktop systems to Windows Vista, it is contemplating whether to change a long-running tradition and take administrator rights away from its employees in order to improve security.
Microsoft installs early builds of its software in its own corporate systems to ensure the products are thoroughly tested in a real-world environment. Vista, the next update of the Windows operating system, is set for launch in January next year.
Currently, the majority of Microsoft's employees enjoy full administrator rights on their desktop PCs. That is an unusual practice in corporations, as it makes it possible for people to install unauthorized software and introduce unwanted pests such as spyware.
South Korea has rejected an appeal by Microsoft to overturn an antitrust decision against the world's largest software company.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission on Monday turned down the appeal of the ruling, which includes a fine of $34 million.
In February, the commission issued a final ruling that Microsoft abused its dominant market position in South Korea by tying certain software to its Windows operating system. The preliminary ruling came in December.
In an unprecedented move, Microsoft simultaneously placed its bet on the release on Tuesday of beta versions of its three
major upcoming software releases -- Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Server, code-named Longhorn.
"We have never had this synchronized in this way before," said Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates
during his keynote to kick off Microsoft's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Seattle. Beta 2 of Vista, Office
2007 and Longhorn will all be available this week.
eWEEK Labs tested Longhorn Server Builds 5381 and 5384our first look at the server operating systemand we were impressed by the way that Microsoft's forthcoming refresh has progressed, inside and out.
Superficially, Longhorn Server expands on the ease-of-configuration strengths of Windows Server 2003. Under the hood, Longhorn Server sports a new TCP/IP stack along with performance and functionality improvements in most of the product's core server roles.
Longhorn Server is slated to ship some time after the release of Vista, the client half of Microsoft's upcoming Windows refresh. However, we expect that many organizations will end up upgrading to Longhorn Server before making a move to Vista. Windows server upgrades will involve touching fewer machines and will stand to deliver more value per upgraded box than will the client upgrades.