In the first stop on its Security Summit tour, Microsoft lays out its security progress and commitments. Microsoft isn't veering from its well-documented security course.
That message rang loud and clear, as the Redmond software giant officially kicked off its 20-city Security Summit tour here on Tuesday morning.
"The idea of these summits is to give you the information you need to have a great experience around security, without having to suffer through bad experiences," said Mike Nash, corporate vice president in charge of Microsoft's security and business technology group, who delivered the opening summit keynote.
In describing his attitude these days, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is "super optimistic."
Microsoft would appear to have a long list of serious concerns: the recent antitrust setback in Europe, including a proposed $613 million fine; ongoing security issues with the Microsoft's software; a stagnant stock price; the steady encroachment from Linux; and a murky release date for the next version of Windows.
Undaunted, Ballmer prefers to maintain that the company's legal worries are abating and that Microsoft is poised to release exciting products for homes and businesses.
Given the current state of its business, Sun had everything to gain and nothing to lose when it swallowed its pride and joined the Microsoft team.
Sun Microsystems made decisions based on outdated information regarding the competitive landscape. Though Microsoft certainly did, and does, constitute a competitive threat, Sun's real challenge is the growth of a free and open source Unix alternative named Linux. The settlement hints that competitive advantage might be found in a common (albeit loose) front among vendors of proprietary software, each of whom are free to license each other's intellectual property.
Today at the Intel Developer Forum in Tokyo, microprocessor giant Intel released four new mobile processors designed for ultramobile devices such as subnotebook computers and Tablet PCs. Intel says that the new chips enhance performance and extend battery life. Three of the processors are Low Voltage or Ultra Low Voltage products that provide speed bumps, and the fourth chip is a low-end processor that offers a budget alternative. The chips are available starting today, and Tablet PC maker Motion Computing is already selling a new system based on one of the designs.
Oracle's announcement Tuesday that it is bundling its Standard Edition One database prepackaged on Dell PowerEdge servers formed the latest salvo in the ongoing database price war launched against Microsoft and its low-cost SQL Server database. Predictably, Microsoft was dismissive of the move.
"They did the same thing back with Standard Edition One," said Mitch Gatchalian, product manager for SQL Server, in Redmond, Wash., referring to a January announcement by Oracle President Chuck Phillips at Oracle AppsWorld. At that time, Phillips said it was time to go on the offensive against Microsoft and that pricing for the Windows version of Oracle Database 10g would be set at the same list price per processor as SQL Server.
"They said, 'We'll lower the price and compete with Microsoft,'" Gatchalian said. "There didn't seem to be much uptake there, so they're trying a new trick."
Ask Microsoft if the company has plans to get into the vertical-application space - by selling healthcare software or pharmaceutical applications, for example - and the company's pat answer is only via its software and reseller partners. But the real answer is much more complicated.
Microsoft Business Solutions, Microsoft's small/mid-size business division, is adding more layers to its software stack upon which it is encouraging independent software vendor (ISV), system-integration and reseller partners to build.
Microsoft quietly launched a new site Tuesday that combines blogs, discussion forums and other technology to improve communications with developers. Channel 9 was created by a group of engineers and "technology evangelists" at Microsoft convinced the software giant could do more to promote free discussion with outside developers. The name refers to the audio channel most airlines use to allow passengers to listen in on conversations between flight crew members.
Linux is not the low-cost alternative to Unix and Windows that many of the open-source operating system's proponents claim it is, a research firm said Monday. Switching from Unix or Windows to Linux doesn't make sense for most mid- and large-sized organizations, said Laura DiDio, a senior analyst at Yankee Group who compiled the results of a survey of more than 1,000 IT administrators, chief information officers, and chief executive officers.
Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit on Tuesday will announce that Office 2004 for Mac will ship the third week of May. While the release is still six weeks away, Mac users can preorder Office from several online retailers beginning Tuesday. Analysts feel that the contribution that Office makes to the Macintosh platform cannot be underestimated in Apple's push for more customers.
In an interview with MacCentral, Jessica Sommer, product manager for the Macintosh Business Unit (Mac BU), said that the code for Office 2004 would be released to manufacturing on April 14. In the next few weeks, six localized versions of Office 2004 for Mac will be released to manufacturers: French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Swedish.
Microsoft will lug out the marketing drum for its next generation of products later this month when it kicks off its Worldwide ISV Road Show that will travel to 11 cities in nine countries. The Road Show, which kicks off April 22 and ends May 26, is expected to lay out for developers the best ways to address some of the business problems now facing corporate users through a combination of existing and future products, including Longhorn, Whidbey, and Yukon.