Microsoft will be retiring Exchange Server 5.5 and support for the product at the end of the year and is recommending users upgrade to the latest version, the company said Wednesday.
Microsoft is urging customers who are still running Exchange 5.5 to upgrade to Exchange Server 2003, a more secure version of the company's messaging and collaboration server product. Information about upgrading to Exchange Server 2003 can be found here.
According to Microsoft, the number of Exchange Server 5.5 users dropped by about 40 percent over the past year, evidence that customers have been upgrading in anticipation of the product phase-out.
Microsoft expects to release to manufacturing the next version of its Windows desktop OS on July 25, 2006, to ensure PC vendors will have it on machines in time for the 2006 holiday season in the U.S., according to sources familiar with the company's plans.
Microsoft is expected to give Windows Vista to PC vendors earlier than customers expected to "get a jump on the Christmas season," Ethan Allen, a Microsoft beta tester and administrator of The Hotfix Web site, said in an e-mail Monday. The information also is posted on The Hotfix site, and corroborated by another beta tester.
Microsoft plans to roll out a minor refresh of its Windows OneCare PC security bundle to add new features for file scanning and data backup.
In a note to beta testers, Microsoft said the refresh will be shipped automatically Tuesday as part of a plan to push out continuous feature updates to keep PCs secure from emerging threats.
In the newest version, Windows OneCare will now run automatic scans of files received from the MSN Messenger IM client, a significant new feature designed to thwart the growing threat from instant message-borne malware.
The migration of around 300 business applications from Windows to Linux is one of the biggest challenges facing the city of Munich, which has embarked on one of Europe's largest open-source projects in the public sector.
"We knew from the start that migrating our many city administration-specific applications would not be easy," said Florian Schiessl, a manager in the city's Linux-migration project, called LiMux. "And it isn't, frankly." Schiessl declined to say how many applications have been migrated to date. He said that only one-third of the city's suppliers say they "have a migration path, and that another one-third claim they will find a migration path but that suppliers of the remaining one-third have remained mum on the topic so far.
IBM has been working with Microsoft since 2003 to develop one of the microprocessors found in the upcoming Xbox 360, the console gaming system expected to deliver a significant boost in graphics power to enthusiasts.
Production of that chip is under way at IBM's facility in Fishkill, N.Y., and at Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing in Singapore, officials said Tuesday. IBM also unveiled some of the details behind the chip's architecture at the Fall Processor Forum in San Jose, Calif.
Microsoft plans to discontinue the use of the SSLv2 protocol in the coming Internet Explorer browser refresh. In its place, he company will fit the stronger TLSv1 protocol into IE 7 as part of an overall plan to improve the security and user experience for HTTPS connections.
Microsoft made the announcement on its official IE Blog where a call to action was issued for Web site owners to make the necessary configuration changes to permit the new protocol connections.
Eric Lawrence, a program manager on the IE team, also warned that the new browser will block navigation to HTTPS sites that present problematic digital certificates.
A Microsoft executive with a "substantial role" in the company's MSN division has resigned. Hadi Partovi, general manager of the MSN portal, plans to leave Microsoft to start his own company, Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said Tuesday. He will remain with the company for a few weeks as Microsoft seeks a replacement, Gellos added.
Partovi's resignation, first reported in the Seattle Times, comes about a month after Microsoft initiated a companywide reorganization that folded the MSN unit into the Windows division of the company.
A big technology company is inviting reporters to an event in San Francisco next week, saying only that its well-known leader will use the occasion to show off its latest technologies.
No, Apple isn't planning to introduce another iPod -- at least not as far as we know. This time around, the mysterious invitation is from Microsoft, which declined to elaborate on what Bill Gates will say next Tuesday during the "technology preview" at San Francisco's Palace Hotel.
Starting next spring, customers will be able to get hosted CRM from Microsoftas well as from hosting partners.
At least thats the plan the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant has now, sources said. Microsoft hopes to have hosted CRM available in the second half of 2006, with hosted Dynamics ERP likely to follow, sources said.
Howard Diamond, CEO of ePartners, Dallas, said hosted CRM is a natural for Microsoft and does not see a conflict with his own hosting business. "CRM is a funny thing. Its the only Microsoft Business Solutions product that is also covered by Enterprise Agreements, so I make more money on the services than the product anyway. This is a logical evolution of the product that I need to do the service sales I want.
Microsoft believes business intelligence should be added to a suite that employees use to collaborate and manage their workflow -- Office.
The Redmond, Wash., company today unveiled Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005, a business performance management server application to improve the user experience of corporate workers.
Jeff Raikes, group president of Microsoft's information worker business, said the product reflects changes in the workplace, including increased needs for collaboration and the trend of offering employees more access to information and applications.