Sun Microsystems' top software sales executive has left the company to join Microsoft. Barbara Gordon, who until about a month ago led Sun's software sales efforts as vice president of worldwide software sales under Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's executive vice president of software, now is running the top 50 accounts for Microsoft, according to several sources.
"Sun gave its old boys club network of salespeople who had been there for 15 years responsibility for North American sales and passed her over," a Sun partner told CRN.
The partner called the move "bad news" for Sun because Gordon, who previously was Sun Chairman, President and CEO Scott McNealy's chief of staff, "knows Sun inside and out."
Got this info from our beta insider, Ditto!
Dear Microsoft Customer,
Soon, Microsoft will make available to beta testers a pre-release copy of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP.
As one of our valued customers, we'd like to invite you to participate in the Windows XP SP2 Beta Program. Your participation is completely voluntary. Service Pack 2 Beta Program participants will preview Service Pack 2 software and have the opportunity to provide Microsoft with invaluable feedback as we continue work on this important release.
What is Windows XP SP2?
Windows XP SP2 will include many security and performance enhancements developed since the October, 2001 release of Windows XP. In addition, Windows XP SP2 will contain new "security technologies" specifically designed to help you protect your computer from malicious attacks, including port-based and e-mail attacks, malicious Web content and buffer overrun based attacks.
Other planned changes for Service Pack 2 include:
- An enhanced personal firewall with improved features designed to better secure your personal computer.
- Security Enhancements to Internet Explorer and Outlook Express
- Support for new processor technology to further protect your machine from potential exploits.
- Improved Windows Update support designed to make it easier than ever to help keep your system secure and up to date.
What you can expect if you participate?
When the pre-release Windows XP SP2 Beta becomes available in a few weeks, we'll notify you by email. It is your choice whether to participate. The beta software will be available either via download or if you elect, Microsoft will mail a CD containing Service Pack 2 beta to you. If you choose to participate, Microsoft asks that you install the beta software once it is received. We would like to hear from you regarding your overall experience with the beta software. If you encounter any issues or problems please feel free to file a problem report. You will also have the opportunity to communicate with other beta participants if you so choose. You will receive limited support through Microsoft's private newsgroups.
To accept this invitation please visit BetaPlace at <http://www.betaplace.com/> and then follow the below instructions:
- Sign In with your Passport ID
- Click 'Windows XP-SP2'
- Click 'Yes, I Would Like to Participate!'
- Fill out the questionnaire and click 'Submit'
After you have accepted your invitation, please verify your contact information by following these steps:
- Select the 'Modify Your Info'option on the blue toolbar
- Select 'Modify Your Address Info'
- Click the 'Change' button to make any modifications to your contact information
Thank you in advance. We appreciate your willingness to consider participating in the Windows XP SP2 Beta software program!
The Windows Development Team
The first thing you notice about the tablets on display here is the variety of form factors they've adopted. Perhaps the most interesting shape is that of an HP machine that was called "Raptor 2.0" before it shipped, the HP Compaq Tablet PC TC1100.
Raptor is a convertible, meaning it switches from a screen-and-keyboard portable to a pure tablet. Other convertibles typically perform that trick by turning the screen around and folding it down onto the keyboard. The Raptor does it by sliding the screen down over its exceptionally thin keyboard; when you need to type, the screen slides back and angles up to reveal the keyboard.
At Microsoft, we're excited to be part of a technology industry that is fundamental to the way people live, work, and play. We're also dedicated to supporting the industry and the partners and developers that comprise it, and to creating opportunities for our customers.
All kinds of people; all kinds of potential
At Microsoft, when we talk about recruiting the best and the brightest, we're talking about people who thrive on the excitement of collaboration and the discovery of new opportunities. They like setting their own goals and working hard to achieve them in their own style.
Gaming technology company GameSpy said on Wednesday that it had signed a deal with Microsoft that will help turn the software maker's personal computer games into online games.
Under the agreement, Irvine, California-based GameSpy will provide software technology that will allow Microsoft to manage and create online communities for PC-based games, including the PC version of "Halo," the blockbuster action game that debuted on Microsoft's Xbox video game console.
The software giant's elusive strategy--a hot topic a few years ago but overshadowed by other Microsoft efforts lately--was declared alive and well during a panel at the Comdex trade show. While .Net was initially understood as a strategy for delivering software functionality as a Web-based service, it actually represents several major changes in direction for Microsoft, said John Montgomery, a group product manager for the software giant.
Businesses should see a 180-degree improvement in the security of their Windows software environments within eight months, according to Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates. Although Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative is a multiyear effort, Gates says bug-weary customers will get relief in months, not years.
"By the middle of next year, I think even our critics would say, 'Wow, they've really turned this patching thing around...This is night-and-day different. This is not a big problem for us,'" Gates said during an interview with InformationWeek on Monday, one day after his annual keynote address at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas.
Microsoft has agreed to pay as much as $18.33 million to settle class action lawsuits in North Dakota and South Dakota that alleged the vendor overcharged for its software. Both settlements are similar to the ones Microsoft has agreed to in other states. Buyers of Microsoft's Windows, Office or stand-alone Word or Excel products can apply for vouchers that may be used to buy desktop or notebook computers, software or select peripherals from any vendor. For North Dakota, the maximum value of the vouchers issued will total $9 million; for South Dakota the maximum is $9.33 million, Microsoft said in a statement Wednesday.
Gates has used his Comdex keynote speech to mark out his vision for technologies from the Internet to XML. This year he used the bully pulpit to make it clear that the industry is at one of its perennial crossroads.
Once considered simple nuisances attending the digital lifestyle, cyberattacks and spam have morphed into disruptions costing millions of dollars in downtime and wasted manpower. Against a backdrop of mounting customer frustration with insecure digital infrastructures, Gates laid out his vision for a new era of technology that removes much of the hassle of being a computer user.
A raft of storage vendors have gotten their devices and host bus adapters qualified for use with Microsoft's iSCSI architecture. Fourteen vendors, including some industry heavyweights, pushed their products through the Microsoft Designed for Windows Logo Program, Microsoft declared on Wednesday in a momentum announcement.
The announcement follows on the June release of Microsoft's iSCSI Software Initiator. iSCSI, or Internet Small Computer System Interface, allows block-based storage transfer over existing network infrastructure. Industry experts foresee wide adoption of iSCSI technology, which will make storage area networks a cost-effective possibility for the small and medium enterprises that had previously been priced out of the SAN market. The Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator is a stand-alone download for Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.