A jury in Rhode Island decided Wednesday that Microsoft infringed a smaller company's software activations patent and ordered the larger firm to pay $388 million in damages and lost revenue.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft was not pleased.
"We are very disappointed in the jury verdict. We believe that we do not infringe, that the patent is invalid and that this award of damages is legally and factually unsupported. We will ask the court to overturn the verdict," David Bowermaster, a Microsoft spokesperson, told InternetNews.com in an e-mailed statement.
Microsoft says that its search experience has greatly improved over the past couple of years. Unfortunately, it's hard for users to tell. That's why the company has decided to go to 'Kiev,' according to one Microsoft executive.
That's the codename for Microsoft's total search strategy overhaul, which the company plans to unveil in the next several months.
The remake and rebranding initiative came to light in a discussion the executive in charge of Microsoft's consumer search properties had with the Wall Street Journal this week.
Microsoft says its new Windows 7 operating system will include features that improve desktop search -- long a source of frustration for computer users who complain about being able to find obscure documents on the Web faster than, say, the resumé they saved to their hard drive the previous night.
"Many users, me included, store their files, music, and pictures all over the PC in various folders," noted Yochay Kiriaty, a Windows 7 developer at Microsoft, in a blog post Monday. "This affects the indexing and therefore the entire search experience.
Intel plans to make sure all of its popular Atom microprocessors support at least two versions of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, in the second half of this year.
The chip maker will implant support for the Starter and Basic editions of Windows 7 in Atom, Anand Chandrasekher, Intel's head of Ultra Mobility said at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing on Wednesday.
Intel designed Atom microprocessors for mobile devices such as netbooks, which are down-sized laptops, as well as small, handheld computers it calls mobile Internet devices.
Microsoft has delayed the release of an upcoming enterprise security suite that integrates Microsoft Forefront security solutions, the company announced late last week.
The suite, code-named "Stirling," is designed to address various aspects of enterprise security, including "endpoint, messaging and collaboration, and network protection," according to the Forefront team blog. It will also have a management console for centralized security administration.
Microsoft attributed the delay to customer requests for interoperability with third-party security packages, according to the blog.
The anticipated initial service pack for Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 database will be available imminently, Microsoft said Tuesday. Many SQL Server 2000 and 2005 shops have been waiting for the pack before upgrading to the 2008 edition, as it contains all the cumulative updates and fixes issued since SQL Server 2008 was released to manufacturing in August, resulting in an overall more stable application.
Service Pack 1 also makes it easier to deploy SQL Server 2008. A feature called Slipstream allows users to install the database and service pack at once, easing the process of loading the software onto hundreds or thousands of servers, said Fausto Ibarra, director of product management.
Microsoft's long hold on power in the software industry has depended on its solid grip on developers. Programmers have written uncountable desktop and client/server applications over the decades that have inextricably linked independent software developers and corporate IT shops to Microsoft. Now the company aims to do the same for cloud-based software by luring loyal programmers to its Windows Azure environment.
Still in beta, Azure features both proprietary tools that Windows developers will recognize and standard technologies that could appeal to programmers outside of Microsoft's orbit.
Microsoft will restrict Windows 7 "upgrade rights" for Vista and XP users to 25 machines at any single street address, meaning that larger companies will have to go through volume licensing for their migration plans, according to a Web site chronicling the rollout of the forthcoming operating system.
Larger companies will have to rely on their Software Assurance maintenance contracts as the foundation for their upgrade path, but those without SA won't get any upgrade break at all beyond the first 25 PCs. SA gives users rights to upgrade to new versions of any software they have under their SA maintenance contract.
Microsoft's Windows Home Server got a boost this week with the release of Power Pack 2, which became available to Microsoft Developer Network subscribers on Monday.
PP2 fixes "known issues" in the server, according to Microsoft, and adds enhancements for small office/home office users. It includes more than 100 add-ons addressing antivirus protection, system performance, server security and more, according to the updated product Web site.
WHS was released in July 2007 and marketed as "the world's first stay-at-home server." The offering, however, has not been without bugs and criticism. Several early problems were related to data corruption, mostly associated with saving Microsoft applications.
Microsoft confirmed Monday that customers who buy new PCs after Windows 7 ships will still be able to downgrade those systems to Windows XP.
Confirmation came after AppleInsider reported over the weekend that HP will continue selling XP Professional as a downgrade to Windows Vista, as well as to Windows 7, through April 30, 2010 -- more than a year from now.
"We can confirm that this is happening, but no dates have been announced for the end of Windows 7 downgrade right facilitation to Windows XP," a Microsoft spokesperson told InternetNews.com in an e-mail.