WinInsider

Microsoft has no immediate plans to integrate desktop search into its operating system, a company executive said at a conference here this weekend.

Speaking on a panel on search technology at the Harvard Business School's Cyberposium, Mark Kroese, general manager of information services and merchant platform product marketing for MSN, said the federal antitrust battle Microsoft waged with the government has made the company think twice about what technologies it can add to the operating system.

Microsoft posted strong financial results yesterday, with larger quarterly profits not only in its stalwart Windows, Office and server-software divisions but also in some of its more nascent businesses.

The company's Home and Entertainment division, which includes its Xbox video-game console, achieved its first quarterly operating profit, boosted by strong holiday sales of products, including Microsoft's blockbuster "Halo 2" video game.

Microsoft reported overall revenue of $10.82 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, a 7 percent increase over its revenue in the same quarter last year. Its net income of $3.46 billion was more than twice the $1.5 million in net income posted by the company in the same quarter a year ago.

Finally, let's start the weekend off right with a little petty larceny. The ringleader of a group of ex-Microsoft employees who stole almost $2 million worth of software from the company pleaded guilty this week to federal felony charges of conspiracy and money laundering. The 36-year-old man admitted his role in stealing almost 2700 pieces of Microsoft software between April 2001 and November 2002; he made about $2.3 million, apparently by selling the software in darkened Redmond-area parking lots after hours. But this criminal has a few excuses. First, although Microsoft values the wholesale price of the stolen software at $7.1 million, our little felon asserts that the theft actually cost the company less than $15,000. Second, he has agoraphobia (a fear of open places). How that translates into an excuse for theft is hard to imagine, but we're talking about the US legal system. My guess is he'll have his own talk show within 6 months.

Microsoft reported that it has been working with Massachusetts, as the state extends and develops a new policy for acquiring software. The head of the state's Office of Administration and Finance said recently that he is formulating a policy around "Open Formats," and Microsoft moved to explain the situation this week.

"We were pleased to work with the Commonwealth on its new policy, and that policy recognizes several open document formats, including Microsoft WordprocessingML," the software firm said in a statement responding to questions from TechWeb.com. "What the Commonwealth is saying is that the XML in Office makes our products an acceptable choice for achieving data exchange in public-sector IT-systems."

Some two years after its introduction, Microsoft is seeking to drive its Tablet PC technology into the mainstream with lower prices. But some analysts say that alone won't do the trick -- and not many PC vendors are helping Microsoft's effort.

Microsoft and vendors including Toshiba and Acer want to move beyond niche markets, so they will no longer target Tablet PCs chiefly at mobile professionals and specific industries such as health care and insurance. This year both Acer and Toshiba will start selling tablets that are not as thin, light or powerful as their predecessors, but are up to 25 percent cheaper.

Microsoft said it would change the name of its European version of Windows without Media Player in response to concerns by the European Commission over its use of the term "XP Reduced Media." "We agreed to make the change in the spirit of compromise," said Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake. "This is in the interest of the consumer." No new name has yet to be announced at this time, she added.

The decision to change the name on the European version of Windows less Media Player came after the European Commission apparently took issue with Microsoft's use of the term.

Microsoft's plan to redevelop major portions of its Redmond campus was given a mixed response during its public unveiling last night.

Some of the neighborhood residents and employees at an event where the plans were shown questioned company officials about the potential impact on already clogged roads around the campus.

"My gut feeling is that the amount of traffic is going to severely impact the quality of life," said Kurt Howeler, 69, who lives in a neighborhood across the street from where the first new building would go up under the campus redevelopment plan.

Microsoft posted the first service pack for BizTalk Server 2004 late Wednesday. In addition to bug fixes and performance improvements, the service pack provides new performance counters, allows throttling of the FTP adapter, includes additional transaction handling for pipeline components, provides more information in SQL Adapter error messages and supports use of simplified Chinese characters.

The service pack is available from the Microsoft Download Center. It is a recommended update for all BizTalk Server 2004 customers.

Microsoft reported net income of $3.46 billion on revenues of $10.82 billion for the quarter that ended Dec. 31. Company officials attributed the record revenues to 18 percent growth in the Server and Tools business and the first profitable quarter for Microsoft's Home and Entertainment business.

"Our record revenues came from across-the-board strength in both our business and consumer segments," outgoing chief financial officer John Connors said in a statement. Connors announced earlier this year that he will be leaving Microsoft to join a venture capital firm.

Microsoft's plan to redevelop its Redmond campus, more than merely adding new buildings, would significantly reshape major portions of the software giant's sprawling corporate home.

Internal company documents describe an extensive series of potential changes -- including plans to redesign key campus entrances, replace surface lots with parking structures, establish a centralized campus traffic circle, and create new internal roadways to cross and connect different parts of the campus.

The documents identify the structures slated for eventual demolition. And they address some potentially controversial aspects of the development plan, such as the company's proposal to ultimately put new buildings on the existing sports fields at the center of the main campus.