Neowin reports that Microsoft has released the release candidate of Office 2010 to technical beta participants today.

"The software giant has made available the release Candidate Builds of Microsoft Office 2010 client (build 4734.1000) and server products (build 4730.1010). Earlier this week Microsoft officials confirmed to Neowin that it had made the build available to TAP testers.

Early Release Candidate builds began leaking to the web in January this year as Microsoft was preparing for the RC release to Technology Adoption Program (TAP) testers. Russian site Wzor recently confirmed that the release candidate build (14.0.4734.1000) is an RTM escrow build that Microsoft is testing internally. Screenshots of the build leaked last week and a download was made available on torrent sites early this week."

>> Office 2010 RC released to testers

TechReviewSource.com send words that Microsoft Office 2010 has reached release candidate stage

""Microsoft has provided some testers with a release candidate (RC) version of the upcoming Office 2010 software suite as Microsoft works to make the final version available in June 2010. This RC release is just one of the last steps toward the RTM and retail release of the software in June."

>> Microsoft Office 2010 Is In Release Candidate Stage

Microsoft has released BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Service Pack 1

"Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an update for BizTalk Server 2006 R2. The SP1 installation program that’s available on this page offers a unified installation experience: It will automatically detect and update all of the BizTalk Server components that are currently installed on your machine. It will also detect all BizTalk Server hotfixes currently installed, and will distinguish between hotfixes that predate this service pack, and those which were issued after this service pack was released. An SP1 Guide document is also available for download on this page, and describes the installation experience in detail.

SP1 includes a roll-up of hotfixes from the BizTalk Server 2006 and 2006 R2 releases, some hotfixes from the BizTalk Server 2009 release, as well as some additional enhancements. "

>> BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Service Pack 1

Neowin reports that a former Microsoft developer has published Microsoft's upcoming release schedule

"Is Microsoft looking to close the gaps between major OS updates? A posting on an MSDN blog may shed some serious light on Microsoft’s upcoming release schedule. According to Chris Green, a developer who recently finished working for Microsoft, Windows 8 mainstream support is targeted for 07/01/2011 which is the first date that we have seen regarding the release of Microsoft’s next OS.

Other dates of interest are for Office 2012 which shows a targeted date 7/2/2012. While there is a lot of speculation involved with the release dates mentioned, some of the dates are correct for previous launches. The chart stipulates Office 2010 for a June release and we know that this has already been confirmed by Microsoft."

>> Ex-Microsoft worker pens Windows 8 for July 2011

Neowin reports that Microsoft has filed a patent that reveals Internet Explorer 9 is set to have better tab management options and enhanced functionality.

"The patent, spotted by Microsoft MVP Manan Kakkar, describes a system and method for selecting a tab within a tabbed browser. Originally filed in September 2009, the patent reveals that the Quick Tabs feature in Internet Explorer is likely to be enhanced with better functionality and greater tab management options. In Internet Explorer 8 Quick Tabs simply display thumbails of all tabs open with the option to close them individually. "

>> Internet Explorer 9 to enhance tabbed browsing

All About Microsoft reports that Microsoft pulled Office 2003, Word 2003, Office 2007 and Word 2007 SKUs from its distribution channels and sites.

"January 11 is/was the day by which Microsoft was required to stop selling versions of Office or components of it that included the Custom XML technology, as a result of a patent-infringement ruling against the company.

Given that Microsoft released to PC makers a patch designed to remove the infringing technology at the end of last year, it looked like the Softies were ready to comply with the ruling over a month ago. But on or just before the actual compliance deadline, Microsoft ended up pulling existing copies of Office that included the technology from its various distribution channels and sites, including the Microsoft online store, MSDN and TechNet."

>> Microsoft pulls Office from distribution channels on patent-infringement deadline day

All about Microsoft posted a news story that Microsoft offers Windows XP, Office XP users 50 percent discount to encourage upgrades

"Microsoft officials are well aware that its biggest Windows 7 and Office 2010 competitors are its own previous product iterations (Windows XP and Office XP/2003). To try and wean users away from older, “good-enough” releases, Microsoft is introducing a new licensing promotion.

The revamped “Up to Date Discount” program is targeted at small/mid-size business (SMB) customers running older versions of Windows and Office. Between January 1 and June 30 of this year, Microsoft is enabling users running Windows XP or Vista (on the operating system side) and Office XP, Office 2003 or Office 2007 (on the productivity suite side) to receive a discount of 50 percent on the cost of their licenses for Windows 7 and Office 2007 (or Office 2010, once it is released by June 2010)."

>> Microsoft offers Windows XP, Office XP users 50 percent discount to encourage upgrades

Neowin posted new Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 screenshots

"Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 will come with tabbed conversations, much the same way Internet Explorer 8 works. Other noticeable changes are the "X" close button at the bottom of user's messenger windows, possibly allowing users to hide the advertisement."

>> New Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 screenshots

Engadget reports that Microsoft loses the Word/XML patent appeal

"It's getting closer and closer to check-writing time for Steve Ballmer, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has just upheld a decision that would see Microsoft Word and Office banned from sale starting January 11. If you'll recall, Microsoft lost a patent infringement suit against XML specialists i4i back in May when it was found that Word's handling of .xml, .docx, and .docm files infringed upon i4i's patented XML handling algorithms, but the injunction against further Word sales was put on hold pending the results of this appeal. Now that Microsoft has lost once again, we'd expect either another appeal and request for the injunction to be stayed, this time to the Supreme Court, or for a settlement between these two that would end this whole mess right now. We'll see what happens -- stay tuned."

>> Microsoft loses patent appeal; Word and Office to be barred from sale starting January 11

All About Microsoft reports that the European Commission announced it had agreed to Microsoft’s concessions in the Opera vs. Microsoft case.

"Microsoft started this past decade in the midst of a fight over whether Internet Explorer (IE) was part of Windows (in U.S. antitrust courts in the U.S. Department of Justice vs. Microsoft case). The company ended it the same way in the European Union — but deciding this time to settle rather than fight.

On December 16, the European Commission announced it had agreed to Microsoft’s concessions in the Opera vs. Microsoft case. By agreeing to offer Windows users a ballot screen of browser choices, the Softies were able to avoid fines or other EC-imposed remedies. The outcome: European PC users running XP, Vista and/or Windows 7 will be getting ballot screens, listing a total of 12 browser choices, one of which will be IE. (The top five — IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera — will be listed more prominently than the other seven, AOL, Maxthon, K-Meleon, Flock, Avant Browser, Sleipnir and Slim Browser.)"

>> Microsoft's browser bundling battle is over (for this decade, at least)

Microsoft Press published a free e-book on Microsoft Office 2010

"Greetings! For a limited time you can download this free e-book without stepping through any registration. First Look: Microsoft Office 2010, by Katherine Murray, offers 14 chapters of early content, organized like so:

Part I, “Envision the Possibilities,” introduces you to the changes in Office 2010 and shows you how you can make the most of the new features to fit the way you work today. Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010,” gives you a play-by-play introduction to new features; Chapter 2, “Express Yourself Effectively and Efficiently,” details the great feature enhancements and visual effects throughout the applications; and Chapter 3, “Work Anywhere with Office 2010,” explores the flexibility factor by presenting a set of scenarios that enable users to complete their work no matter where their path takes them.

Part II, “Hit the Ground Running,” focuses on each of the Office 2010 applications in turn, spotlighting the key new features and showing how they relate to the whole. These chapters provide a how-to guide for many of the top features you’re likely to use right off the bat, and they offer inspiring ideas on how to get the most from your favorite applications.

Part III, “Next Steps with Office 2010,” zooms up to the big picture and provides examples to help you think through interoperability. How often do you use the various Office applications together? Customer research shows that people often don’t realize how well the applications work together as a complete system—which means they might be laboring over items they could easily incorporate from somewhere else. This part of the book provides examples for integrating the applications and explores Office 2010 security and training opportunities, as well."

>> Free e-book: “First Look: Microsoft Office 2010”

Neowin posted screenshots from Windows Live Messenger 2010

"Firstly the main Messenger window that contains your contacts has changed somewhat. Included on the left hand side is a "social stream" of updates provided by Windows Live. These are updates from your Messenger contacts and the data is provided by Windows Live. In current public Messenger builds some of this integration is present at the top of a conversation window. Windows Live Messenger aims to add to this by using the "social stream" as a showcase for your contacts updates. Providing your friends have including their Facebook, Twitter and Blog posts into Windows Live then you will see this in the stream."

>> Windows Live Messenger 2010 revealed

InformationWeek reports that Microsoft denied a claim that its November security patch is among the possible causes of the black screen problems affecting some Windows users.

"On Friday, Prevx, a maker of antivirus software, attributed some of these black screen crashes to a recent Window operating system change that locked down Windows registry keys.

But Microsoft insists that's just wrong.

"Microsoft has investigated reports that its November security updates made changes to permissions in the registry that that are resulting in system issues for some customers," said Christopher Budd, Microsoft security response communications lead, in an e-mailed statement. "The company has found those reports to be inaccurate and our comprehensive investigation has shown that none of the recently released updates are related to the behavior described in the reports. While we were not contacted by the organization [that] originally made these reports, we have proactively contacted them with our findings.""

>> Microsoft Says Patch Isn't Cause Of Black Screen

All About Microsoft posted a news story that SQL Server 2008 R2 will be generally available by May 6, 2010, according to the benchmark white paper.

"SQL Server 2008 R2 is the product codenamed Kilimanjaro. Microsoft released earlier this month a new test build of the R2 update, and announced it would be adding a few new high-end SKUs to its SQL Server product list when the final bits are available.

May 2010 might end up a busy month for Microsoft. Company execs told Microsoft partners this past summer that Office 2010 would launch in the May/June 2010 timeframe. As one of my readers noted recently, Microsoft’s Office 2010 beta download site mentions a June 2010 final due date for Microsoft’s next-generation Office release."

>> SQL Server 2008 R2 gets an official due date

PC World posted a news article that the latest Microsoft patches cause a black screen of death

"Microsoft's latest round of security patches appears to be causing some PCs to seize up and display a black screen, rending the computer useless.

The problem affects Microsoft products including Windows 7, Vista and XP operating systems, said Mel Morris , the CEO and CTO for the U.K. security company Prevx.

Prevx was alerted to the problem by users of its security software last week, Morris said. Microsoft apparently made changes to the Access Control List (ACL), a list of permissions for a logged-on user. The ACL interacts with registry keys, creating visible desktop features such as a sidebar."

>> Latest Microsoft Patches Cause Black Screen of Death

Neowin reports that Office 2010 is scheduled for a June release

"Microsoft is set to launch an entirely new updated wave of Office applications in June 2010. The Office suite will be updated for Windows, including ribbon support for all products, and will also be launching Office 2010 for Mac OS X sometime in 2010.

Office 2010 will be released in six different flavours, including a free version that includes Microsoft Word and Excel, but comes with limited functionality and includes advertisements. The editions of Office 2010 will come in Starter, Home and Student, Home and Business, Standard, Professional and Professional Plus."

>> Office 2010 scheduled for June release

Microsoft has released Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 code name "R2" - November 2009 Community Technical Preview

"We invite you to install this pre-release version of Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 code name “R2” into a non-production environment to learn how Commerce Server 2009 “R2” provides an improved business management experience, enhanced cross-channel enablement with multi-tier development and deployment support, and a more streamlined deployment experience. It is recommended that you install this pre-release on a clean machine and consult the Quick Install Guide for manual steps required.

Note: Given the pre-release nature of this release, not all functionality is currently available. The release is for evaluation purposes only and is not intended to be used in a production environment. The November CTP will stop functioning on June 6, 2010."

>> Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 code name "R2" - November 2009 Community Technical Preview

Lifehacker takes a look at the new features in Office 2010

"Now that we've had some time to play with the Office 2010 Professional Beta, we thought we'd share what's new and useful inside Microsoft's big suite. Take a gander at the pictorial evidence below.

Overall, Office 2010 is not the kind of leap forward that Windows 7 was from Vista (or, for most PC upgraders, from XP). It adds a lot of stuff that's previously been available only through plug-ins, makes performing the basic tasks of opening, printing, and sharing documents a good deal more convenient, and throws in a few new features that will expand the repertoire of those who really know their Office."

>> Hands-On Look at What's New in Office 2010

Betanews talked with Microsoft's Bob Muglia and Ray Ozzie

"The first issue on our plate Tuesday afternoon concerned Silverlight, and Microsoft's continuing efforts to entice developers to build Web sites around a platform that is not considered a "standard," and perhaps never will be. Some developers discount Adobe Flash as a "standard" for the same reason; while others suggest that Flash's ubiquity renders it a de facto standard. The questions for Web developers have centered around whether they can afford to evolve any portion of their forward-facing online assets around a proprietary standard (around Silverlight) and still have it be on "the Web," whose values are based around platform neutrality. Those questions do seem a bit more pronounced for Microsoft than for other platform developers. But how should Microsoft handle the delicate issue of developing for a platform that's "ours" versus one that is "yours?" (And what's the difference really?)"

>> Microsoft's Bob Muglia and Ray Ozzie on Silverlight vs. standards

All about Microsoft published more information on Office Starter 2010

"Office Starter 2010 is the Microsoft-designated replacement for its Microsoft Works product. Starter will be a low-end, free (but ad-supported) bundle of Word and Excel.

One (of many) criticisms of Works was that it didn’t support all the same file types as Microsoft Office did, making Works only somewhat compatible with Office. It looks like that same limitation will be present in Office Starter, based on a frequently-asked questions document from Microsoft that one tester forwarded to me. "

>> Office Starter 2010: The fine print on Microsoft's Works replacement