AS MICROSOFT DRIVES XML into the core of its client software stack, Groove Networks is set to unveil a new toolkit designed to extend the collaborative capabilities of Windows applications.
The move is part of Microsoft's overall effort to leverage XML to make Office the de facto front end to any enterprise application, and more specifically tightly couple Office with Microsoft offerings such as Great Plains and BizTalk.
Microsoft, Intel, and Dell Computer will provide the CTC, located on the Ithaca, New York, campus of Cornell University, with US$60 million in technology resources over the next four years. The agreement, which calls for the IT vendors to donate the technology, will help CTC double the size of a current 425 server cluster used for high performance computing (HPC) tasks.
The company says it plans to abide by certain provisions of the settlement agreement it reached with the Justice Department, even as court proceedings continue.
WORKING TO BETTER compete in the data center market against entrenched Unix and mainframe systems, Microsoft has launched a program to help customers build standard and tested configurations of its Windows 2000 operating system for data centers.
Microsoft Corp. is about to complete the biggest change in five years in the way that it sells its software to businesses with a system of locked-in upgrades and fixed payments that promises steadier revenue but has also rankled some smaller customers.
The software giant on Tuesday announced a new version of its Windows CE .Net operating system, adding broader support for its .Net services from within Windows CE, a slimmed down version of Windows used to power devices ranging from handheld computers to gas pumps.
MICROSOFT IS ENROLLING a team of academic researchers to boost its security efforts and develop new technologies based on its .Net technology.
The company Monday announced the formation of the Trustworthy Computing Academic Advisory Board, which will bring together academics from 12 to 15 colleges and universities to study and contribute to Microsoft's recent effort to improve the security and reliability of its products. Microsoft calls that effort the Trustworthy Computing Initiative.
DURING THE MONTH since Microsoft announced Palladium, the new plan to marry hardware and software security inside every Windows PC has been hailed as either a potential savior or a scourge for computer security and user freedom.
Details about Palladium, which remains years from mass deployment, have been sketchy and are bound to change, but Microsoft is now providing more information about the system, what it will do and what it won't.
CENTRAL TO MICROSOFT'S grand vision of unifying its entire software stack through use of XML is the task of keeping its loyal following of VB (Visual Basic) developers in the fold.
"Our developers are an important asset, if not the most important asset. Developers drive everything. They're the ones who are going to take us into tomorrow," said Chris Flores, Visual Studio .Net product manager at Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.
Microsoft will hold its annual research conference next week, detailing lab projects as well as ongoing projects sponsored by Microsoft at universities.
At a time when financial scandals have left CEOs in the hot seat, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday went on the good corporate citizen offensive and attempted to downplay the company's enterprise agenda.
Bucking pressure from politicians and investors, the software company says it will stick with the high-tech industry's practice of not listing employee stock options as expenses.
Microsoft's Bill Gates kicked off the company's annual Financial Analysts Day here Thursday by announcing the company will boost R&D spending by 20 percent from $4.3 billion in FY 02 to $5.2 billion in FY 03.
The planned spending brings Microsoft back in line with previously announced R&D investment levels. In July 2001, Gates announced at Microsoft Research Faculty Summit here that the company would spend $5.3 billion on R&D over the coming year in 2002.
A revamped suite of Visual Studio.Net development tools will be released this fall, with more updates to follow. They're weapons in the battle for enterprise customers, says Microsoft.
The software behemoth plans to increase its research and development budget by 20 percent and hire 5,000 new workers in the coming year, Chairman Bill Gates says.
The software heavyweight on Wednesday will take an important step toward expanding the appeal of its .Net software plan by announcing a link to the Apache Web server.
Technical glitches prompt Microsoft to stop offering for download a free program that allows Palm handhelds to synchronize with the Macintosh version of Office.
Users of Microsoft's home set-top box are inadvertently calling emergency services after falling prey to a prank program that changes their dialup number to 911.