Next two versions of Microsoft's home-entertainment-hub version of Windows are already in the works. Even though it has barely put the finishing touches on its Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 release, Microsoft is already forging ahead with the next two versions of its home-entertainment-hub product.
According to sources briefed by the company, the "Symphony," or Media Center 2005, release is expected to enter beta testing in the first quarter of next year. ("Harmony" was the code name for Windows Media Center 2004, which Microsoft unveiled in late September.) Based on past shipping history, Microsoft will likely release the 2005 version at the end of calendar 2004.
Microsoft is to invest $10 billion over the next five years to develop its software offerings for small and medium-sized businesses, according to Germany's Euro am Sonntag Sunday newspaper. SMB sales strategy chief Orlando Ayala told the paper in an interview Microsoft was taking a long-term view of the sector, which consists of some 40 million companies around the world, and expected its investments to turn profitable in 2005.
Microsoft is the operating software on more than 90 percent of desktop computers around the world but is now pushing into the market for more powerful and expensive computers as growth in its core Windows business slows.
Under a new partnership, AT&T Wireless subscribers will have access Microsoft's MSN Hotmail and Messenger and Web content as a new premium paid service by year's end. The offerings will be available nationwide by year's end on AT&T's mMode phones, a spokesman for the nation's third-largest mobile operator said. Pricing hasn't been set.
At the same time AT&T is adding MSN content and services, it also announced a partnership to put RealNetworks' digital media player on mobile phones so customers could grab streams of breaking news, market reports, sports highlights and weather forecasts.
Microsoft said Friday that it received preliminary approval for settlement in a class-action antitrust suit with consumers in Tennessee. Under the terms of the deal, those who bought certain Microsoft products will be eligible for vouchers good toward the purchase of future computer gear.
If less than $64 million in vouchers is awarded, Microsoft will give half of the remaining amount to Tennessee schools, in the form of vouchers. The software maker said late last month that it had reached a pact with lawyers in six states, including Tennessee.
I've heard from several sources now that there will be "multiple" Longhorn beta releases which, to me, casts more doubt on a late 2005 release date than any of the other claptrap I've read online. This would be a departure from previous Windows versions, which tend to have several alpha milestone releases and then two or three beta releases, followed by a small number of release candidate builds. Microsoft's John Montgomery, the Director of the company's Developer Division told me that Longhorn Beta 1, due in summer 2004, will be developer focused, but huge, with tens of thousands of managed testers and millions of external testers. Beta 2 (ETA unknown, but I'm expecting it in the first half of 2005) will be more consumer focused, with better fit and finish, and a near-final user experience (which I take to mean this is the beta release where we'll finally get Aero). Regarding those who are testing build 4051, Microsoft is considering doing a post-alpha longhorn SDK drop, based on feedback, which would necessitate a new alpha build release before Beta 1. That's something I'd really like to see happen; it's a long time 'till summer 2004.
Despite slow sales for the first generation of Tablet PCs--Microsoft says just 500,000 of the devices have been sold since November 2002--the software giant is upbeat about the future of what is perhaps its most innovative product. And the company has a right to be excited: Thanks to an improved mobile platform, daring new designs by hardware makers, and a revamped version of the OS that drives Tablet PCs, enterprise customers who avoided the first generation are finally starting to take notice.
Despite taking a beating in the press and from customers for security holes in its products, decision makers at Microsoft appear to think the company still has something to teach the world about computer security. The Redmond, Washington company this week published a technical white paper that describes its internal security practices, which Microsoft hopes will "help customers successfully secure their environments," the company said.
The paper, simply titled "Security at Microsoft," details the methods and technologies that the company's Operations and Technology Group (OTG) use to secure the company's global corporate network of more than 300,000 computers and 4,200 servers.
Microsoft has appointed a senior executive to a new position in Europe to improve relationships with governments across the continent, a move apparently designed to counter interest in open source software there. Jonathan Murray has been appointed "national technology officer" and will be based in Zurich. Until about two weeks ago he oversaw sales to Microsoft's top 50 business customers as vice president of global accounts, a group he helped create in early 2000.
The new job is part sales and part evangelism, Murray will be "building better relationships in the public sector across Europe," a Microsoft spokeswoman said Friday. Peter Moore, chief technology officer and general manager of technical sales, plays a similar role in Asia, she said.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, was in Bejing on Thursday to sign a deal that will partner the software giant with the state-owned China National Computer Software & Technology Service (CS&S, the country's largest domestic software development and systems integration firm.
The two companies are set to co-develop products based on Microsoft's .Net and Office System platforms. Another focus of the agreement is IT training, with plans for the companies to jointly train 200 CS&S developers and 120 IT architects within one year, according to a press statement from Microsoft.
In early 2004, two of Microsoft's watch-making partners will release four new watch models based on Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT), a Microsoft representative told me today. Microsoft Research's Roger Gulrajani demonstrated final and near-final watches from Suunto and Fossil that offer a SPOT-specific version of the Windows .NET Framework, access to the MSN Direct subscriber service, and antennas capable of accessing the new MSN Direct DirectBand wireless network, which pumps information to customers' watches at regular intervals by using FM subcarriers in major cities around the United States. SPOT watches feature a 120 x 90 black-and-white LCD display and an ARM CPU that runs at 28MHz with 512KB of ROM and 384KB of RAM.