WinInsider

Microsoft on Monday announced it has signed agreements with resellers ScanSource and Tech Data to distribute its software geared for high-tech cash registers. The so-called point-of-sale (POS) product is designed for retailers that garner up to $5 million in annual revenue at each store, as well as those companies with 100 or more stores. Until now, resellers could get the Retail Management System software only from Microsoft directly.

With contracts coming up for renewal this year, many Microsoft customers will have the opportunity to pass judgment on the company's software maintenance plan. Some analysts see the looming contract expirations as the biggest challenge yet for the much-critiqued SA (Software Assurance) program.

The most enticing aspect of the three-year SA agreement is that it allows customers to obtain the latest software free of charge. But, given that the next big wave of Microsoft products will not come before 2006, the software maker could experience customer backlash.

Beta testers of Redmond's latest rendition of its MSN client have a secret admirer: Microsoft itself. Testers have begun to receive valentines from the MSN butterfly, complete with a pass for one free year of the service.

In an interview last month, Lisa Gurry, MSN Group Product Manager, told BetaNews that over 25,000 customers participated in the early access program resulting in over 150,000 pieces of feedback.

Microsoft has provided a modified version of Windows XP with reduced features for use in the Thai government's low-cost PC program, and may make this software available to other governments, the company said.

The "entry-level" version of Windows was created to allow Microsoft to participate in the Thailand ICT Ministry's program without adjusting its policy of charging the same price for Windows and Office no matter where in the world they are sold, Microsoft said Monday. The software was provided at a cost of 1,500 baht, or about $40, compared with the usual price of several hundred dollars.

Ending days of speculation, entertainment giant Walt Disney Company announced a multiyear agreement with Microsoft to license the software giant's Windows Digital Media technologies, including the Digital Rights Management (DRM) component that can be used to protect the delivery of digital content. Microsoft's Windows Digital Media technologies are increasingly gaining favor with Hollywood, as content creators seek to find secure ways to expand into new digital markets and Internet content delivery. Disney is the second major Hollywood player to embrace Windows Media in recent days; Time Warner licensed the technologies last fall. But the combination of Microsoft and Disney represents a melding of two of the most respected brands in America, and reestablishes Windows Media as the de facto standard for digital media delivery.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates must submit to questioning under oath by lawyers for Burst.com and Sun Microsystems as they prepare antitrust claims against the world's largest software maker, a U.S. judge said Friday. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz in Baltimore ordered Gates to undergo the pretrial questioning for three hours.

Burst.com has sued Microsoft, accusing the company of breaking antitrust laws to prevent competition for software used to broadcast sound and audio programs over the Internet.

Microsoft's next-generation Xbox console (Xbox Next in Redmond parlance) might still be more than a year away, but details about the product are starting to leak. According to reports, Xbox Next will feature three 64-bit IBM microprocessors, a next-generation ATI Technologies graphics chip and Longhorn-based graphics libraries, 256MB to 512MB of RAM, and a DVD or Blu-ray drive. The most important feature of Xbox Next, however, is its delivery schedule. For Microsoft to be successful with this release, the company must ship the console before Sony launches its eagerly awaited PlayStation 3, now expected in 2006. Also, Microsoft is reportedly wrestling with how to make Xbox Next compatible with the first generation of Xbox titles, given the changes to the underlying platform. Heads up, Microsoft: If Xbox Next doesn't run first-generation Xbox games, you might as well just pack it up and go home.

Microsoft is hard at work to make "Longhorn," the next iteration of its Windows Server product, do more for less by integrating various server software systems. To do it, the company plans to extend .Net's capabilities even further with common execution environments and complete .Net Common Language Runtime support, said Valerie Olague, a Windows Server System director, in an interview.

In addition, when Longhorn ships (expected late next year or early in 2006), the new WinFX set of managed APIs that are designed to supersede Win32 will play a big role across all the server stacks, said Olague, in Redmond, Wash.

Performance Starts at the Web Server By Port80 Software Abstract This paper outlines a common sense, cost-effective approach to lowering total cost of ownership and improving Web site and Web application performance according to two simple principles: - Send as little data as possible - Send it as infrequently as possible We will explore "best practice" strategies that can be systematically employed in Web front-end source code and at the origin server in order to achieve performance improvements. These basic strategies, which all avoid expensive hardware solutions in favor of software and business process enhancements, include: - Code optimization - Cache control - HTTP compression We assume that our typical reader is responsible in some way for development and/or management of a Web site or application running on one or more Windows servers with Internet Information Services (IIS) and that he or she has an interest in improving its performance as much as possible without deploying additional hardware (such as dedicated acceleration appliances) or services (such as Content Distribution Networks). As we examine each strategy, we will explore the potential benefits to a variety of different Web sites and applications in terms of three vital metrics: - Faster Web page loads and an improved user experience, translating into higher revenue and increased efficiencies - Reduction of bandwidth utilization and increased, ongoing savings - Consolidation of the number of server resources required to deliver existing sites and applications We will suggest relatively inexpensive software tools that will leverage common Web standards in order to maximize hardware and network resources, thus improving Web site and application performance while lowering the total cost of ownership of Web infrastructure.

Stung by the costs of compensating a larger work force, Microsoft's Server and Tools business posted a hefty operating loss in the December quarter, reversing the profit posted a year earlier.

The unit lost $204 million, as compared with a $234 million profit in the same quarter a year ago, according to a quarterly report filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Microsoft's two other main units--the Client business, which includes desktop versions of Windows, and the Information Worker, which includes Office sales, posted narrow improvements in their profits from a year ago.