Microsoft is continuing its march into the data storage realm, announcing an upgrade to its storage-focused operating system and changes to its server computer OS that are designed to improve the management of storage networks.
The moves, announced Monday, are the latest sign that the Redmond, Wash. company is serious about making its Windows technology a major player in networked storage environments, which are being used by companies to squeeze more out of their storage equipment and manage the gear better.
The Redmond software giant is making its Windows installer technology under OSI's Common Public License. On Monday, Microsoft released some of its code under an open-source license, and posted it on SourceForge, the open-source code repository. To date, Microsoft has made its source code available under a variety of licensing mechanisms, all under its "shared source" umbrella. But until today, the company had not released code under what is commonly considered a true open-source license.
The fast growing Linux operating system will not dethrone Microsoft's Windows soon because a switch to the freely available Linux is prohibitively expensive for big companies, according to a Yankee Group survey released on Monday. About 90 percent of the 300 large companies with 10,000 or more users surveyed said a significant or total switch from Windows to Linux would be prohibitively expensive, extremely complex and time consuming.
After years of jabbing at one another, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems set aside their punching gloves on Friday, agreeing to a 10-year deal that will see the two companies collaborating on a variety of topics and Microsoft forking over $1.6 billion to its longtime rival.
In an interview in San Francisco with CNET News.com, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Sun CEO Scott McNealy talked about the deal, what it means for competitors, whether Scott will stop making fun of Steve and who might really deserve credit for initiating the deal.
Microsoft is hashing out dramatically different licensing options for its next-gen servers, including a universal client access license (CAL) option, several sources said. Such a "SuperCAL," would bundle rights to many more server offerings than are now included in the "core CAL" as part of enterprise agreement (EA) licenses, several sources confirmed.
The universal CAL option could include access to BizTalk Server, SQL Server, Live Communications Server, Virtual Server and other "Windows Server Systems products, in addition to the Exchange Server, SharePoint Portal Server and Systems Management Server (SMS), and Windows and Office licenses offered in the current core CAL.
There's something about Microsoft that makes smart people stupid. It's not the company's products, annoying though they can be. Instead, it's the aura of arrogant, absolute power emanating from the world's biggest software maker. It drives some people into a blind fury, a determination to hurt Microsoft, no matter the cost to consumers or the software industry.
Police can now wiretap Internet phone calls on Cox Communications' network, kicking off a new era for law enforcement. Law enforcement officers can now eavesdrop on every call made by Cox's nearly 1 million voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone subscribers. Police can already tap calls on 12 of Cox's 13 telephone markets because they rely on traditional phone equipment equipped with eavesdropping abilities. But in December, Cox deployed VoIP, a much cheaper alternative that uses the unregulated Internet. Roanoke, Va., is the first of several small markets where Cox is deploying VoIP technology.
Emphasizing ambitions in RFID (radio frequency identification), Microsoft on Monday will announce formation of the Microsoft RFID Council, a multi-vendor group that will study requirements for Microsoft's software to participate in RFID data processing systems.
The company also will announce that it joined EPCglobal (Electronic Product Code), an industry organization eyeing standards for RFID technology, in March.
Microsoft can pursue its lawsuits in Europe against Linux software maker Lindows.com over the Windows trademark, a U.S. judge ruled. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle rejected Lindows.com's request to put seven overseas suits on hold until a trademark-infringement suit in the United States is decided.
Courts in Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands have barred Lindows.com from using the name. The San Diego-based company has said it fears a Dutch court may raise daily fines to $121,330 from $1,213, forcing it to close its Web site and give up defending the Lindows.com name.
Microsoft next week will host about 1,500 of its Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) at its Redmond campus, where the software titan plans to announce big changes to how it incorporates their feedback into its product life cycles.
The 1,500 attending this year's summit hail from 65 countries across the globe and comprise more than half of Microsoft's current 2,600 global MVPs. It is also double the 750-odd MVPs who showed up for last year's summit.