Hollywood has Stephen Spielberg and George Clooney, but Redmond has John Platt.
The senior researcher from Microsoft recently accepted an Academy Award for technical achievement. Platt, 42, won along with University of Toronto professor Demetri Terzopoulos for the techniques they developed in the 1980s to make computer-simulated cloth look and move like the real thing.
After getting word of the honor in an Academy letter in his Microsoft mailbox, Platt accepted the award two weeks ago in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the technical and scientific ceremony that precedes this weekend's televised Oscar shindig.
Microsoft has expanded the number of beta participants for Exchange 12 with a new test build of the software it will release Wednesday, the company said.
Microsoft released Beta 1 of the next version of its e-mail server software in December, but only 1,400 users had access to that release, said Megan Kidd, an Exchange senior product marketing manager for Microsoft. Wednesday's Community Technology Preview of Exchange 12 will reach about 200,000 more beta testers, she said.
The CTP will be available online to Microsoft Developer Network subscribers sometime on Wednesday and is currently in route via postal mail to TechNet program subscribers, Kidd said. TechNet provides early access to software releases for Microsoft technical enthusiasts.
Microsoft revealed at this week's RFID World conference here that it is developing an RFID infrastructureone that its claims will affordably handle device management, event management, integration and application development.
The infrastructure, in beta since January, is really an expansion of a middleware strategy Microsoft introduced just about a year ago.
In April 2004, Microsoft announced the formation of an RFID Partner Council to look at its options for building out RFID-based software.
Testers now have not just the Windows Vista 5308 code, but also the accompanying Longhorn Server Build 5308 bits. What's new in the latest server test release?
While testers have been all over the newest Windows Vista Community Technology Preview (CTP) build, the new Longhorn Server test build, which Microsoft also delivered at the end of February, has gotten far less attention.
Testers confirmed that Microsoft has posted on the Connect beta-download site the Longhorn Server Build 5308 bits for download.
Test versions of new Windows Live hosted services--Windows Live Expo and Windows Live Local--are now available.
Windows Live Expo is an online classified service Microsoft plans to launch in the United States, the company said. In addition to traditional classified ads--such as listings of items for sale or apartments for rent--the service also will provide social networking and community features. Users can sign up for the beta of Live Expo.
The new test version of Windows Live Local, formerly MSN Virtual Earth, which is a local search and mapping service already in beta, will include a new viewing feature called "street side," Microsoft said.
Microsoft is looking to make scrolling through e-mail less work for your hands, and more work for your feet.
The software maker's research unit has developed a prototype e-mail program in which cubicle dwellers can wade through e-mail and delete messages using their feet. The StompMail program uses a standard dance pad, such as might be used with a video game such as "Dance Dance Revolution."
The genesis of the footwork project is that computer input is a continual strain on the hands, while other tasks, such as playing the piano or riding a bicycle, use both hands and feet. It's part of a broader look at the role feet can play in computing, an effort dubbed "Step User Interface".
Microsoft has shipped a new version of its Internet Explorer browser to permanently change the way multimedia content is rendered on Web pages.
The cumulative non-security IE update was released Feb. 28 as an optional download for IE6 on Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and is a direct result of the multimillion-dollar patent spat with Chicago-based Eolas Technologies.
The modifications mean that IE users won't be able to directly interact with Microsoft ActiveX controls loaded by the APPLET, EMBED, or OBJECT elements without first activating the user interface with an extra mouse click.
Now that Microsoft has finalized Windows Vista's six editions, the challenge at hand for the company is to encourage customers to upgrade once the new OS is available.
And that challenge is nothing to sneeze at, customers and analysts said. According to them, Microsoft faces a variety of hurdles that could deter upgrades to the new OS, which is expected to ship toward the end of this year.
One major roadblock might be the sheer number of editions of Vista expected to be available at launch, said Joe Wilcox, analyst with JupiterResearch. Microsoft's last major Windows upgrade, Windows XP, launched with only two editions -- Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional, he said. XP is now available in five editions, but the others -- Media Center Edition, Tablet PC Edition and Professional x64 Edition -- were added after launch.
A week after inadvertently telling the world prematurely, Microsoft Monday officially revealed its packaging plans for Windows Vista when the desktop OS family rolls out toward the end of the year.
Particularly for Windows releases, Microsoft has always performed a highly developed dance for customers -- gradually revealing more about the product as it gets closer to the big rollout gala -- the idea being to generate continuous anticipation in the marketplace by keeping it in the news.
Sometimes, a small slip up spoils the surprise, however. That's what happened last week when industry observers spotted a Windows Vista help page listing the SKUs. As soon as it was pointed out to Microsoft, the page was taken down but by then it was too late.
Updated: 'News to Me' and "Business Context Sniffer' are the latest two business-intelligence initiatives that Microsoft is hoping to cultivate as commercial offerings.
Microsoft is incubating two new business-intelligence-focused projects inside its Information Worker Greenhouse.
The IW Greenhouse, which Microsoft launched in 2003, acts like an internal venture capital arm. The Greenhouse team builds prototypes of potential applications and technologies and then seeks wider, corporate backing and financing for these initiatives. Those that aren't seen as viable are dropped.