Microsoft and an Italian university will open a computational research center Wednesday to focus on the creation of software applications and computational tools for scientists striving for breakthroughs in biology, the life sciences and drug discovery.
About 30 researchers will work at the Microsoft Research/Trento University Center for Computational and System Biology in Trento, Italy, said Stephen Emmott, director of Microsoft's European Science Initiative, at the company's European Research and Innovation Day in Brussels on Tuesday.
Tuesday's remarkably on-schedule release of Windows Server 2003 R2 represents the first fruits of Microsoft's effort to shape up on delivering Windows products on a regular basis, with much-improved security, in a form that doesn't break applications.
"We're pretty happy here," said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Server and Tools, in an interview with Ziff Davis Internet News following the Webcast announcement of R2's release. "R2 was a big commitment by us on delivering Windows on a regular basis."
Analysts and beta testers share the joy. Laura DiDio, an analyst with Yankee Group, said the nicest thing about R2 is that it's finally here, given that people have been waiting a long time.
Microsoft will begin offering one of its business programs for a monthly subscription fee today, forging ahead with the company's new online strategy and trying to fend off a key rival.
The new version of the customer relationship management software, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, will continue to be available under a traditional software license, for a standard price. But by also offering the subscription option, the company is positioning itself to compete more directly with Salesforce.com, a San Francisco company that has experienced rapid growth by selling its software on a subscription basis.
Customers are a little closer to having a shiny new CD with Windows Server 2003 R2 in their hands. Microsoft released its updated server software to manufacturing Tuesday, six months after public beta tests began on the updated technology.
A public beta of the software was released in May showing off the new additions to the software and giving customers a chance to see what's been improved.
The full product update comes in Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter editions in both 32- and 64-bit versions. A fourth edition, Server 2003 R2 Web, is solely devoted to Web-based applications, pages and Web services.
Microsoft plans to launch this week Windows Live Local, a new version of its Virtual Earth aerial image service, according to company sources.
The company hopes the new service will provide a significant boost to its local search service on the MSN.com portal, which competes against Google, Yahoo and others. It currently offers aerial and satellite images from Virtual Earth, but Windows Live Local will take the aerial imagery to another level.
Using images and technology from Pictometry International, a specialist in this area that signed a licensing deal with Microsoft earlier this year, Windows Live Local will give users images of a much higher resolution and quality than Virtua Earth.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, AOL parent Time Warner is close to reaching a deal with Microsoft to create an online advertising service that will rival a similar service from Google. Microsoft and Time Warner have been in talks for months, and while the talks originally might have centered on an AOL sale, this particular deal is the result. Under terms of the deal, AOL will drop Google as its main search provider and will use Microsoft's MSN Search instead. Currently, Google provides AOL with a portion of the advertising revenue derived from searches originated by AOL users; in 2005, that amounted to $300 million in revenues for AOL.
Microsoft's next-generation Xbox 360 video game console went on sale in Europe at midnight this morning and, as with the US launch two weeks ago, it was sold out within hours. Part of the problem is demand, of course, but Microsoft earmarked just 500,000 consoles for the continent, far less than it could have sold. Duplicating the midnight madness events that occurred earlier in the US , Xbox 360 fans lined up outside retail stores hours before they opened in order to be among the first to get the hot new console. Many of them were happy to get the console, but some were no doubt trying to turn a profit: Thousands of Xbox 360 consoles turned up immediately on online auction site eBay, selling for two to three times the retail price. But fear not video game fanatics, as Microsoft says more Xbox 360's are on the way before Christmas. I'm sure there's still time to profit. Plus, we have the December 10 launch of Xbox 360 in Japan to look forward to as well.
Jason Matusow, who has headed up Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative, is moving to a new positionthat of director of Corporate Standards Affairs for the software giant.
Matusow will be replaced at the helm of the Shared Source program by Bill Hilf, who is director of Platform Technology Strategy at Microsoft.
Hilf runs the infamous Linux Lab at Microsoft. He will assume responsibilities as the spokesperson for the Shared Source Initiative as well as continue to carry on his other activities as head of platform technology strategy.
Microsoft's business customers may have come to expect delays in product releases, but the company is going to be under pressure over the next year to deliver its Windows Vista operating system on time.
While the majority of business customers are unlikely to switch immediately to the new OS, the official release will start the process for those that are planning major hardware and software upgrades. It's estimated that businesses need about 18 months to test and deploy a new OS for users.
Businesses that subscribe to Software Assurance, Microsoft's program that allows free upgrades as part of its volume licensing programs, want to see new versions released to get value for their money, analysts say.
Microsoft changed the way its browser handles ActiveX controls in response to the ongoing Eolas patent infringement suit.
The company gathered about 20 large Web publishers and interactive advertising agencies at its Silicon Valley campus on Friday to brief them about the change -- and how they could minimize its effects.
"Now, when an end user goes to a Web site with ActiveX control, before actually interacting with the control, they must first click once to activate it," said Michael Wallent, general manager of the Windows Client platform. "We believe, for the vast majority of users, this will be an almost invisible change."