According to a recent report by a technology labor union, Microsoft programmers and workers are mad as heck and don't want to take it anymore. The union hopes this may be a key to promote organizing Redmond's work force.
The report, "Rising Frustration with Microsoft's Compensation and Review System," was released by the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, a Redmond, Wash., union affiliated with the CWA.
It says that workers are troubled by a range of performance review issues, including management's apparent use of a bell curve grading system for raises and complaints of a "well-entrenched culture of favoritism."
After four years at the helm of Microsoft's security group, Mike Nash is taking a break. This June he will go on sabbatical after handing over responsibilities to his replacement, Ben Fathi.
Nash led Microsoft's Security Technology Unit during a period in which the security of Microsoft's products was increasingly scrutinized following a number of worldwide worm attacks, including Slammer and MyDoom.
The 15-year Microsoft veteran was responsible for directing Microsoft's response to these threats as well as for setting its overall security strategy as the software vendor struggled against a public perception that its products were insecure.
It's not the next Community Technology Preview build, slated to go to two million testers. But Microsoft is releasing Friday to selected testers a brand-new build of Vista on which testers are counting for more stability.
Microsoft is characterizing the newly minted build as an EDW, or External Developer Workstation, build. Microsoft releases these builds -- which are typically rougher and less thoroughly tested than Community Technology Preview (CTP) test builds - to a smaller, selected set of testers on a regular basis.
The next wide-scale test build of Vista, originally christened the "April CTP" or the "Consumer CTP," is now expected by testers to arrive in May.
Amid the bombshell news from earlier this week that Windows Vista would be delayed, Microsoft has pushed back its Office 2007 release.
Microsoft said Office 2007 would be delayed until next year, a move that will coincide with the delay of the highly-anticipated Windows Vista operating system.
The software giant had originally planned to make Office 2007 and Vista available concurrently in the fourth quarter in late 2006.
The announcement is the latest blow to Microsoft's product schedule that has the tech industry abuzz, starting with the Vista delay news, followed by a shakeup in management of the Windows platforms, and now with the latest delay for Office 2007.
It's been a big week for Vista news, and has often been the case, most of it is bad. But if you're looking for a little more clarity than what Microsoft is providing, I've got the details about the latest Vista release timeline. Think of it this way: Everything's been pushed back 6-8 weeks. So the Beta 2/RC0/next CTP release, originally scheduled for April 12, has been moved to May 24. The RC1 release, originally due in mid-July, is now set for August 25. And the RTM release, originally due August 25, is now October 25. One other little tidbit. I wrote last week that Microsoft would soon ship an interim Vista build (5342) to testers and TAP (Technology Adoption Program) members. That build will ship today or early next week.
Microsoft is working with Brown University to develop software that will recognize complex handwriting and gestures.
Brown is developing programs that recognize and interpret more complex symbols and text used in fields such as mathematics, chemistry, music and art. That can be useful because it sometimes feels more natural to write or draw than to use a mouse and keyboard to enter data.
"In some cases, the pen is mightier than the keyboard," said Andries van Dam, vice president for research at Brown, which is getting $1.2 million from Microsoft Research over three years to develop the software.
Microsoft on Wednesday offered "free, unlimited technical support" to rivals interested in making their software work with Microsoft servers, saying it wanted to comply with a landmark EU antitrust ruling.
"We are committed to doing everything in our power to address the Commission's concerns," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.
A spokesman for the EU's antitrust office said the Microsoft offer "seems to be a constructive proposal," but said the company needed to make more efforts to fully fall in line with the EU's 2004 ruling.
The Redmond software vendor is already at work on the next two versions of its browser. At Mix '06, IE brass offered some hints about when and what kinds of functionality the IE of the future will include.
Microsoft wants to make up for lost time, after waiting five years to update its Internet Explorer browser.
To wit, the company already has the next two versions of IE beyond 7.0 in the hopper. And while Microsoft execs won't specify exactly when they will ship or detail specific new features, they are offering some indications of the company's evolving browser thinking.
Microsoft's delay in releasing the consumer version of its new Windows operating system is a blow to companies that make and sell computers, but perhaps good news for others in the electronics industry.
Analysts say consumers who were considering buying a new PC this holiday season may now opt for a fancy new television, a rival Apple computer or even Microsoft's own Xbox 360 videogame console, giving an unexpected boost to companies that make those products.
"Every holiday season there are the top five hot items, and one of those items this year would've been a Windows Vista PC," said Samir Bhavnani, a principal analyst with Current Analysis. "Now that's off the list and it leaves room for, maybe, a wide-screen television."
Shares of Microsoft fell Wednesday after the software maker delayed the consumer release of its new operating system until January 2007, after the holiday shopping season.
Shares of Microsoft dropped 76 cents, or almost 3 percent, to $26.98 in early trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company made the announcement about its new system, dubbed Vista, after financial markets closed on Tuesday. Analysts said the delay would hurt computer makers and retailers most of all, since they were likely looking forward to a new operating system to boost holiday sales.