Microsoft at its Professional Developers Conference next month will discuss a variety of upcoming technologies, including Visual Basic 9.0 and the .Net Language Integrated Query Framework.
Online abstracts are posted pertaining to the PDC, which will be held in Los Angeles the week of Sept. 12. Microsoft would not provide a spokesperson Wednesday or Thursday to discuss technologies noted in the abstracts.
The Visual Basic 9.0 programming language "will offer radical improvements in its ability to work with data in all its forms: as objects, as XML, as relational data, according to one abstract. Version 9.0 will feature query comprehensions, object initializers, and anonymous types for querying data in a more flexible way, the abstract states.
Aiming to step up its battle against malicious Web sites, Microsoft said Wednesday that its MSN unit will offer a browser add-in that will help identify both known scam sites as well as those that appear suspicious.
Microsoft is already building similar "antiphishing" features into Windows Internet Explorer 7, the next version of its browser. In the new browser, users will be interrupted and warned when they try to go to a site that is known to deceptively try to grab personal information, a practice known as phishing. Those who go to sites not known as scam sites, but whose behavior appears suspicious, will see a warning.
Microsoft on Tuesday afternoon beefed up its MSN Messenger client by releasing version 7.5 of the product. Among the new features are a continued push for VoIP through a feature called "voice clip" and beta connectivity with Vodafone Messenger for customers in Europe.Voice clip allows a user to record a small audio file under 15 seconds in length and send it to his or her contacts. The feature does not require a direct connection to work, and will play instantly upon receipt. Microsoft says the feature was designed to feel like an instant message, and adds a "personalized and emotional dimension to IM."
Microsoft has decided to christen Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1 as Virtual Server 2005 R2. But the follow-on release is still due out in the latter half of 2006.
Microsoft is adding another member to its growing family of R2 servers.
The latest addition is Virtual Server 2005 R2. Microsoft officials announced at the Intel Developer Forum this week that they had decided to christen the first service pack (SP) update for Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005 product as an R2 release instead of SP1. The renamed product is still due to ship in the fourth quarter of this year.
Microsoft is releasing previews of more of its technologies via Community Technology Preview builds. But mixing and matching CTPs is turning into a full-time occupation. They don't call it the "bleeding edge" for nothing.
Developers who have been working with the growing number of Community Technology Preview (CTP) builds of various Microsoft products are finding out the hard way what being an 'early adopter' means.
Testers (and Microsoft employees themselves) have run into difficulties when attempting to keep track of which CTP is which. In addition, CTPs of different products don't seem to mix very well with each other and/or with full-fledged beta versions of Microsoft wares. Sometimes, CTPs don't work correctly with shipping Micorsoft products products.
Google, the Internet search innovator, will make its first direct challenge to the broader communications industry today by introducing an instant-messaging and voice communication service for personal computers.
The program, Google Talk, will allow users to exchange text messages and converse with others through their computers. Other instant-messaging services offer similar capabilities, but Google said the appeal of its system would be its voice quality, which relies on Google's own audio technology.
Microsoft is offering an upgraded version of its ILMerge utility, which merges multiple .Net assemblies into a single assembly.
Functioning with both executables and DLLs, ILMerge provides a capability for .Net assemblies that is analogous to combining multiple Word documents into a single document, according to a Microsoft representative.
Someone, for example, may want to deploy a single file to others but half the development team uses Visual Basic and the other uses C#. Neither Visual Studio 2003 nor the upcoming 2005 release of Visual Studio have the inherent capability to combine two assemblies written in different languages.
Given recent news that Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 will be priced at a premium, Microsoft's announcement that Xbox 360 pricing will start at the same levels as did the original Xbox comes as somewhat of a surprise. Microsoft will offer a basic Xbox 360 console package for just $299 when the systems become available this holiday season. A premium version of the Xbox 360, which includes a hard drive and numerous other add-ons, will cost $399.
"I'm confident that we're on track for the Christmas holiday," said Microsoft Vice President Robbie Bach, though the company declined to specify an exact release date. "The system is ready and primed." Many analysts expect Xbox 360 to ship in November.
Contrary to popular sentiment, a country can never have too many geniuses.
That was one of the underlying messages from Bill Gates during an appearance before a national convention of state legislators Wednesday in Seattle. Microsoft's founder touched on subjects as diverse as technology, education reform -- and his desire to see the United States make it easier for top foreign technologists to work here.
Gates recalled a time when Microsoft hired a wave of people from India to work in the United States. News reports there lamented the departure of so many brilliant people, he said, while those here bemoaned the arrival of workers perceived as competing with domestic talent.
Microsoft plans to release a Community Technology Preview of
Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 on Friday.
CTPs are replacing beta releases for many Microsoft products. They've been used especially heavily in the SQL Server 2005 pre-release testing process. In addition to security and stability fixes, changes in Exchange Server 2003 SP2 will include new functionality for e-mail mobility, spam protection and mailboxes.