WinInsider

Microsoft confirmed this week that it will issue a refreshed technical preview build of Longhorn at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2005 trade show in April. The preview will be the first public build of Longhorn in a year, and a lot has changed, internally, since Microsoft moved Longhorn to a new component-based structure that will make the system easier to install and modify. Given Longhorn's schedule (available on the SuperSite for Windows), the WinHEC build will be a pre-beta 1 release. I think people will be surprised by the progress Microsoft has made (mostly because the company hasn't made any public mention of the work it's been doing).

Microsoft?s investment in the education industry continues with the release of Microsoft Class Server 4.0, the latest version of its learning management platform for grades K-12, announced at the Florida Education Technology Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Building on the framework of Microsoft?s SharePoint solution, which allows enterprise-class organizations to internally and externally collaborate on projects, Microsoft Class Server 4.0 enables educators to create and deliver lessons and assignments their students can complete using a Web browser. With Class Server 4.0, teachers and students can access their learning tools using a single user interface based on SharePoint 2.0 and the Learning Gateway portal solution.

Microsoft has begun reminding users who last year blocked the installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2 that a deadline is fast approaching. On April 12, all blocking mechanisms will expire and Windows XP and XP SP1 systems will automatically download and update to SP2.

"The intent of this alert is to provide you with a reminder about the upcoming deadline around the date on which Automatic Update and Windows Update will deliver Windows XP SP2 regardless of the presence of the blocking mechanism," said Microsoft.

In a development that may surprise some, Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 emerged victorious over a rival Red Hat Linux operating system for computer servers. That was using the security-related criteria agreed upon in advance by Linux backer Richard Ford of the Florida Institute of Technology and Windows enthusiast Herbert Thompson of application-security firm Security Innovation.

In the end, Windows Server owed its victory largely to Microsoft's progress in reducing the number of vulnerabilities in the operating system over the past few years.

Microsoft plans in April to offer developers an updated test version of Longhorn, along with more details on what's in store with the next major update to Windows.

In an e-mail to developers on Wednesday, Microsoft said it would offer a new developer preview release of Longhorn at the company's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, April 25-27 in Seattle.

The company has also updated its WinHEC site with a preliminary list of tracks--many of which are devoted to Longhorn.

The track descriptions suggest a number of the areas in which Longhorn will be seeking to improve on today's Windows, including enhancements to printing, improvements in power management and a new feature that will allow Longhorn-based PCs to connect directly to cellular phones. Other topics include enhancements that Longhorn will bring to mobile computing, including support for secondary displays.

Ending speculation about whether it was shifting to a paid model, Microsoft said on Tuesday that it will provide customers with its new anti-spyware software for free.

The pledge, made by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates during his keynote speech kicking off the RSA Conference 2005 here, comes after the company had been testing its AntiSpyware application--technology it acquired with its purchase of security software maker Giant Software.

"Just as spyware is something that we have to nip down today, we have decided that all licensed Windows users should have that protection at no charge," Gates said.

Microsoft has released an update for its flagship Windows Media Player to protect users from a known threat of spyware infection.

Microsoft said the update installs two components on end users' computers and will add "additional integrity checks to the DRM digital rights management system." The company made no mention of a spyware infection, but a spokesperson confirmed the new version of the player was released after Microsoft confirmed that malicious hackers were using the copy-protection mechanism to install spyware, adware, dialers and computer viruses on unsuspecting PC users.

I have received from Microsoft this press release about upcoming Internet Explorer 7.0...

During his keynote address at the annual RSA Conference today, Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft Corp., announced continued innovation and technology investments including future enhancements for safer Web browsing, such as plans for a new version of Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows XP Service Pack 2 customers; expanding anti-spyware protection by including the Windows AntiSpyware technology at no additional charge as part of the Windows value proposition; edge protection technology for businesses, notably the release to manufacturing of Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 Enterprise Edition; and the need for more robust anti-virus protections for collaboration and messaging, demonstrated with Microsoft's intention to acquire Sybari Software Inc.

"Our primary goal is to improve security and safety for all our customers - consumers and businesses, regardless of size - through a balance of technology innovation, guidance and industry leadership," Gates said. "We're committed to continued innovation that addresses the threats of today and anticipates those that will undoubtedly emerge in the future."

Windows "Longhorn" Beta 1 is on track for availability in the first half of this year, a Microsoft official said last week.

The comment by John Montgomery, a director of Microsoft's developer division, in a ZDNet interview last week at the VSLive! conference was the first on-the-record comment of the year by a high-ranking Microsoft official pinning the beta release to the first half.

Technical previews of Longhorn have been floating around for more than a year, but Microsoft greatly reduced the focus of the operating system since the last of the previews.

Microsoft is doubling the size of the group conducting private tests of the Windows Server 2003 "R2" release, but the test group remains tiny compared to the scope of Microsoft's public betas for operating systems.

R2 is like a second edition of Windows Server 2003. Its packaging will consist of two discs -- one containing the base operating system; the other containing a number of optional enhancements and features, some of which have been available previously as free Web downloads. Once R2 becomes available, it will be the default version of Windows Server 2003 to ship with new systems.