Gilmartin has been named to the newly created position of "lead independent director" on the Microsoft board, making him a foreman of sorts for the board members who aren't Microsoft executives.
The appointment reflects not just the dramatic changes in Microsoft's size and stature during the past decade but also the broader public push for corporate boards of directors to show more independence from management in acting on behalf of shareholders.
Microsoft plans to start shipping a new set-top box next week, and it's not your grandmother's WebTV. Though MSN TV2 is the successor to the original WebTV devices, the new box is a vast departure from its predecessors.
On the outside, it's slick, with new video-playback and photo-viewing programs, and a custom version of Internet Explorer 6 designed to make Web browsing on the television a far less painful process. On the inside, it's a Windows CE-based product with a 733MHz Celeron--slow by PC standards but downright zippy in the world of set-top boxes.
Buyers of PCs based on AMD's exciting new 64-bit microprocessors are probably wondering what's taking Microsoft so long to ship a 64-bit version of Windows XP that works natively with the systems. Well, you're not alone, and now AMD itself is wondering as well. "It's no secret that we're disappointed [Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is] delayed," says Hector Ruiz, the chairman, CEO and president of AMD. Windows XP x64 was originally due in early 2004 but was recently delayed until the first half of 2005. Ruiz says the problem is that Microsoft is concerned about security. I'm not so sure that's true. My take is that Microsoft doesn't want to ship a potentially confusing new release of XP that will likely be dogged by device driver problems when it's released. All Microsoft needs is customers crying about all their hardware products not working because XP x64 doesn't work with the existing library of 32-bit drivers. In other words, it's a support issue, not a security issue.
A hardware designer for Microsoft's Portable Media Player team said that by 2007 the players would be designed with at least 125GB of storage capacity. The recently introduced players will also be designed to record and download high-definition as well as standard-definition video, said David Proctor, hardware lead for the Microsoft Portable Media Center at Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. Future Portable Media Players, or PMPs, may include the ability to directly record video and connect to a wireless network, Proctor told attendees at the Diskcon show here.
After spending years wrapped up in legal disputes and policy debates across the United States and around the world, Microsoft says it plans to begin playing a larger role in public issues in its home state.
The Redmond software company, Washington's second-largest private employer, intends to be "more connected with what goes on" in the state than it has been historically, said Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, addressing the Association of Washington Business Policy Summit. He cited such issues as education and transportation.
Microsoft on Thursday released a new version of Works Suite, a package of applications meant to perform many of the computing tasks commonly needed in the home. Works Suite 2005 includes the Word 2002 word processor plus recent versions of the Money personal finance program, the Encarta encyclopedia, the Streets & Trips mapping application, Picture It Premium digital imaging tools and Works productivity applications.
Microsoft filed nine lawsuits against individuals and companies alleged to be involved in the distribution of spam, the company said Wednesday. The suits, all filed in the last month, include eight against individuals alleged to be behind spam campaigns that offered e-mail users a variety of products including generic online drugs, tee-shirts, software, pornography and dating services. The ninth lawsuit is against a Web hosting company that catered to the spammer community by claiming to be "bulletproof," or incapable of being shut down, Microsoft said in a statement.
European researchers lead the field in a number of key areas for the future development of computer science and play a crucial role in Microsoft's research activities, according to senior company staff speaking at an innovation fair here on Thursday. Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England, has attracted leading researchers to work there, said its head, Andrew Herbert. The laboratory has been able to build on Europe's strengths in systems and networks, machine learning, programming languages and theory, and interactive systems.
PC World
Canon will support Microsoft's new Media Transfer Protocol in its future digital camera products, a major win for Microsoft as it tries to win industry support for its new synchronization protocol. Media Transfer Protocol, or MTP, promises to make transferring data from portable devices to Windows-based PCs simpler and faster. The protocol builds on the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) standard, which was established by the International Imaging Industry Association. Microsoft has supported PTP since the release of Windows Millennium Edition in 2000.
Qualcomm plans to integrate Microsoft Windows media technology into many of its cell phone chips, the companies said Thursday. The move is expected to be a boon for both wireless streaming services and for Microsoft, which has been struggling for a bigger share of the cell phone software market. The first line of Qualcomm chips to directly support Microsoft's streaming audio and video technologies will be available by March, the companies said.