On Tuesday, Microsoft and handheld maker palmOne announced a strategic partnership in which palmOne will license Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync for use in future Treo smartphones. The technology will help Treo owners to synchronize data, including email, between their devices and Exchange Server 2003.
"palmOne has built its brand on making complex technologies easy to use, and having wireless synchronization to Exchange 2003 available out of the box will enhance our Smartphone customers' experience while slashing company IT costs," says palmOne president Ed Colligan.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Monday told the Financial Times newspaper that the company has no intention of stepping in as a white knight to acquire PeopleSoft Inc. and save it from Oracle's clutches.
That's not surprising, analysts said, running down a list of points that could sour Microsoft on such a deal: that PeopleSoft is a strong IBM partner; that it has lower market share than the enterprise management software company-SAP AG-that Microsoft did in fact consider acquiring; and that its acquisition cost is high when compared with its earnings.
A planned component for Microsoft 's next version of Windows is causing consternation among antivirus experts, who say that the new module, a scripting platform called Microsoft Shell, could give birth to a whole new generation of viruses and remotely exploitable attacks.
Microsoft Shell, code-named "Monad," is still in development and is planned for release with the next version of Windows, known as "Longhorn." Monad will allow developers or administrators to configure Windows systems using text commands or scripts containing multiple commands. But the flexibility of the new platform and its support for remote execution of commands could spawn a whole new generation of "script viruses," like the "Melissa" script virus of 1999, e-mail worms and remote attacks, said Eric Chien, a Symantec researcher.
Though a Friday patent lawsuit verdict against Sun Microsystems Inc. could potentially have a wide-ranging impact on the computer industry, the ruling appears unlikely to affect three of the world's largest IT companies, who have licensed the technology in question. Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Microsoft are licensees of the software patents in question, the patents' owner, Eastman Kodak, confirmed Monday.
On Friday, a federal jury in New York ruled Friday that Sun's Java technology violated several Kodak patents, setting the stage for a damages ruling against Sun that could cost the Santa Clara, California, computer maker as much as $1.06 billion, which is the amount being sought by Kodak.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, speaking to a gathering of reporters here, didn't pass up the opportunity to take several digs at archrival Apple Computer. At the heart of his criticism of Apple was DRM (digital rights management) technology, which aims to help content providers such as record labels and movie studios control their intellectual property--or at least ensure all royalties are paid and copyrights observed.
"We've had DRM (digital rights management) in Windows for years," Ballmer said. "The most common format of music on an iPod is stolen."
The judge deciding whether to uphold or suspend the European Union's landmark antitrust ruling against Microsoft prefers encouraging parties to find a "third way" outside of litigation--partly because that's the way things are often done back in his home country of Denmark.
The judge has the power to suspend the EU order in total or in part, but cannot rewrite it himself. However, legal experts say he could suspend it for a limited period to encourage the parties to work things out, reporting back to him on their progress, as he did in a recent case involving the European Commission and French beef producers.
Is Microsoft's presence in Redmond going to get even bigger?
It might seem improbable, given the huge amount of property the company already occupies in its hometown. But events at two other companies with operations in the city are driving speculation that large chunks of real estate near the Microsoft campus may become available for lease or purchase in the next year or so. And if the past is any indication, Microsoft would be the most logical company to expand onto the sites.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the task of trying to stay one step ahead of virus writers and hackers is a never-ending battle. Speaking at a gathering of U.K. press, Ballmer said Microsoft's "trustworthy computing" effort is far more than just a one-off initiative.
"We will be working on 'trustworthy computing' for the rest of my days at Microsoft, which I hope are many. There are bad people out there in cyberspace, and they are not going to go away. We are going to have to be vigilant. That's going to last for the duration," he said.
Hoping to whet the appetite of developers specializing in mobile and embedded devices, Microsoft on Monday made available a free technology preview of Windows XP Embedded containing Service Pack 2 that it expects to deliver by year's end. Using the client version of Windows XP SP2 as a guide, Microsoft is beefing up the embeddable version with improved default security and networking capabilities. At least as important however, according to company executives, are the improved management features of the product something high on the wish lists of its corporate users.
Microsoft is developing versions of its Windows operating system with only a subset of the Windows code base, designed for specific server tasks, in a move that could reduce maintenance costs for customers and create products that are less vulnerable to attack. The new "role-based" products may appear in 2007, when the server version of Longhorn is scheduled for release. Offering a smaller code base would mark a significant technical shift for Microsoft and could help it to better address the competitive threat posed by Linux. But it also presents significant engineering challenges for the company, industry analysts said.