Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you probably know that the latest version of Windows--called Vista--is due to hit store shelves later this year. The successor to Windows XP offers a little something for everyone, from eye-catching graphics and new bundled applications to more-rigorous security. In fact, there is so much in the new operating system that it can be tough to get a handle on it all.
I've been noodling around with a recent beta version of Windows Vista and had a chance to make some observations. While the sleek new look and polished interface caught my eye, it's what's under the covers that impressed me most. Microsoft's done a great job of improving security across the board. Things like Windows and spyware library updates are streamlined, and I definitely appreciate the more robust Backup software.
Microsoft is looking for a new leader for its MSN division, the group at the center of the company's online efforts.
David Cole, the senior vice president in charge of the division, told employees in an e-mail message Friday that he plans to take a one-year leave of absence from the company at the end of April, leaving it unclear if he will return to Microsoft.
In the message, obtained by the Seattle P-I, Cole described the decision as personal, made on his own. He said he wasn't asked to leave by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer or by Kevin Johnson, co-president of the company's Platforms, Products & Services Division, under which MSN was placed during a company-wide restructuring last year.
Microsoft has finalized the members of its next-generation desktop line-up. As expected, standalone Tablet and Media Center Editions are no more.
After months of maintaining that it had not yet finalized its Windows Vista line up, Microsoft seems finally to have decided upon a half dozen core Vista versions.
According to a posting on its Web site, Microsoft is readying six core Vista packages, or SKUs, plus two additional releases customized for the European Union that won't bundle in Windows Media Player, as ordered by European antitrust regulators.
Microsoft announced Thursday the recipients of approximately $1 million in academic research funding.
The software giant asked academic researchers to submit request for proposals (RFPs) on advancing Microsoft Virtual Earth technology as well as for developing curriculum projects for the company's Trustworthy Computing initiatives, which focus on the security, privacy and reliability of Microsoft software.
Twenty-three researchers were awarded the grants. Recipients represent universities from countries around the world including Belgium, India, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The eight winners of the Virtual Earth proposal process will receive a total of $300,000, while the 15 winners of the Trustworthy Computing proposals will receive a total of $750,000. The maximum individual grant amount for each proposal is $50,000.
The Vista February CTP test build and a first beta of new Vista deployment tools are both expected next week, according to beta testers.
Microsoft still is expected to deliver the next Windows Vista milestone, the February Community Technology Preview release, next week most likely on Feb. 21, according to testers briefed last month by Microsoft.
While beta testers contacted this week said they had received no updated information as to when to expect the so-called February Community Technology Preview, most said they were still expecting it to arrive on February 21, as Microsoft privately told testers a month ago.
Work on the Microsoft-friendly open-source Boo language is nearing completion. Boo is a new object-oriented statically typed programming language for the Microsoft CLI with a Python inspired syntax and a special focus on language and compiler extensibility, said Rodrigo Barreto de Oliveira, the creator of the language.
As an open-source language that targets Microsoft technology, Boo joins an increasing number of open source projects that are Microsoft-friendly. De Oliveira said a 1.0 release of Boo is about three to six months away.
Microsoft has made available the latest release of the Visual Studio 2005 software development kit. The latest release of the Visual Studio 2005 SDK, the February CTP, is now available for download from the Visual Studio Extensibility site, said Rob Caron, a content architect for Visual Studio Team System, in his blog.
The February CTP release includes Microsoft's DSL tools, known as the Domain-Specific Languages Extensibility Kit.
"You can also find the Team Planning & Documents from the VS SDK Product Team on the downloads page, too," Caron said. "These docs include their 12?month plan and the release plan for the March release."
Microsoft this week redesigned the home page for MSN Search to give it a similar look other services under its "Live" brand. The move is in anticipation of MSN Search's imminent name change to Windows Live Search, a company spokesman said Friday.
"We're definitely heading in that direction to get ready for the transition," said Justin Osmer, an MSN product manager at Microsoft.
Microsoft expects to formally rebrand MSN Search to Windows Live Search before the end of June, but still does not have a definite time frame for this change, he said.
A visit Thursday to Microsoft's "Home of the Future" impressed Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, though he said that Microsoft, like other companies throughout the country, should increase their pace of innovation.
After viewing the multiroom display, which uses emerging technology to show how technophiles may live in the future, Gutierrez pronounced it "amazing" and praised it as "a great example of why we believe we have the most competitive economy on Earth."
But, in an interview after the tour, he said he was asking the company "to do what they have always done, to step it up, to recognize that the world is a lot more competitive."
Microsoft is set to unveil its long-awaited branding, packaging, and pricing for the next version of Office, which is expected to be available later this year.
As widely expected, the product, code-named Office 12, will be dubbed Office 2007. And while neither retail nor business customers should see much of a difference in pricing between it and its predecessor, the company has made some changes in packaging and branding, particularly to the Office suites that business customers typically buy, according to Parri Munsell, an information worker group program manager at Microsoft.