Microsoft watchers turn to the ranks of the software company's employee bloggers for info that never makes it into the notoriously tight-lipped company's official communications. But they'd better hurry: Posts can disappear as quickly as they spread across the Web.
According to the blog, Redmond will begin a low-volume release in English via Automatic Update, initially limited to those who have downloaded installed pre-release versions.
Mid-August, business customers who use Software Update Services will begin to be prompted to do the download. By the end of August, Microsoft expects to make its downloads available to all, with a limit of 2.5 million downloads a day.
Microsoft on Tuesday released a new digital photo software package meant to help consumers turn relatively crummy photos, including those shot with camera phones, into sharper images. The Digital Image Suite 10 combines two image software applications--Digital Image Library 10, which organizes and archives photos, and Digital Image Pro 10, which edits them.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser is in the process of getting its first significant update in two years this week, as part of the company's overhaul of its operating system. The updates--part of the much broader Windows XP Service Pack 2 release--are largely focused on fixing the succession of security flaws that have surfaced in recent months, along with adding a few new features.
Two Microsoft channel partners said Tuesday they will merge to form a new company that will be among Microsoft's largest global partners serving midmarket business applications customers.
As Microsoft looks to its Business Solutions group to propel it into the ERP market, partnerships are a critical aspect of its growth plans. Business applications software requires more customization and services support than the products that are Microsoft's flagships, its operating system and desktop applications software.
Security company F-Secure has reverse-engineered SP2, a process the company compares to taking apart a virus or worm to see how it functions, and the company's initial reaction is very positive.
"They have implemented it very well, especially the stack protection and the memory protection. They really did it right this time. We won't be seeing outbreaks like Sasser. It will be hard to attack Windows XP via automated network worms," said Mikko Hyppönen, director of antivirus research at F-Secure.
Microsoft's Small Business Server is a remarkable hit, said a research firm Monday as it released the results of a survey that claimed an astounding 86 percent of small- and mid-sized businesses either use the server bundle or are planning to deploy it.
"Who knew this was going to be such as huge hit?" said Laura DiDio, the Yankee Group senior analyst who conducted the survey of some 500 small and mid-sized businesses, as well as resellers and consultants.
Advanced Micro Devices says it has one-upped rival Intel in computer security by moving more quickly to embrace new features provided by an update to Microsoft's Windows PC operating system.
AMD on Monday trumpeted a chip feature called Enhanced Virus Protection, which works with an update of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system to thwart some viruses and worms--malicious software that devours data or clogs up e-mail servers.
EVP, as AMD calls it, works with Windows XP Service Pack 2, an update for Windows XP that was released to PC makers late last week, and which Microsoft intends to make available as a download this month. Together, the two features are designed to close off a common method of attack called a buffer overflow.
Microsoft says it will pursue a software-factories approach to development in upcoming versions of its development toolset-a strategy that some call a potential boon to custom development shops and to the overall domestic software-development market.
Jack Greenfield, a Microsoft Corp. architect and one of the key architects behind the Redmond, Wash., company's Visual Studio Team System (VSTS), said that with its software-factories approach, Microsoft will provide templates and frameworks based on domain-specific languages to enable developers to build applications in an assembly-line fashion. Greenfield said Microsoft plans to provide these so-called factories for a variety of industries and markets.
Microsoft released the source code of three software toolkits designed to tie its collaboration software with applications built by the competition, officials announced Monday.
The company has been relatively quiet about its SharePoint product line since it launched SharePoint Services for Windows Server 2003 last October. The technology allows business users to share data files across the network for business projects or other collaborative efforts.
Faced with a new kind of browser war, Microsoft has kick-started renewed development around its flagship Internet Explorer (IE), prompting speculation that IE 7.0 could be coming down the pike.
This increased activity around IE has given rise to chatter that Redmond plans to release a new browser ahead of Longhorn's arrival. The company declined to discuss specifics about its browser release plans outside of the standard response that it was "committed to innovating IE and making it the best Web browsing experience for end users, businesses and developers."