News

2/17/2011

Microsoft confirms Windows BROWSER protocol zero-day

A security researcher has released proof-of-concept code for an unpatched security vulnerability affecting all versions of Windows, prompting a warning from Microsoft that remote code execution attacks are theoretically possible.


2/15/2011

Microsoft can fend off mobile, cloud competition

Competing vendors have been intensifying their efforts to claim a portion of the enterprise software pie long dominated by Microsoft, with Google and Oracle betting on mobile and cloud computing to advance their cause. Analysts reckon Redmond is doing well to defend its turf but say the software giant will need to find ways to better monetize its existing Windows and Office products.


Report: Microsoft to nix Zune branding

Every once in a while the Microsoft news world (us included) goes into a tizzy over the imminent death of Zune, the entertainment platform that initially launched around an MP3 competitor designed to take on Apple's iPod, and that has since gone on to become the brand and software music experiences found inside the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20032076-75.html#ixzz1EBbjmNdA


2/14/2011

Microsoft to support same IE9 security, privacy features on phone and desktop

Microsoft officials unveiled plans to deliver IE9 Mobile as part of the first “significant” operating system update to Windows Phone 7 in calendar 2011.


2/13/2011

Nokia's Elop to sell remaining Microsoft shares

Nokia chief Stephen Elop is trying to rid himself of his numerous shares in Microsoft, he said at a press conference ahead of the start of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.


2/12/2011

Inside Microsoft's science fair

REDMOND, WA.--It would seem to be just another day here on Microsoft's campus. In one building the next version of Windows is being built in secret, and in another the next version of Office. But this day is a little different from the rest. In a closed off auditorium, a gathering of Microsoft employees are showing off their latest science projects.


Weekly News Roundup: Microsoft Corporation

Here’s this week’s round-up of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) news briefings. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) stocks ended the week at 27.25 (as of 2/11/2011).


2/11/2011

Nokia Joins Forces With Microsoft to Challenge Apple, Google; Shares Slump

Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, said it’s forming a software partnership with Microsoft Corp., betting that together the two companies can challenge Google Inc. and Apple Inc.


2/10/2011

IE9 Release Candidate review: will Microsoft's big browser bet pay off?

By any objective standard, Microsoft has succeeded at the task it set out to do: build a fast, standards-compliant browser with a clean, modern design that integrates well with Windows 7


2/9/2011

Microsoft Office and SharePoint 2010 SP1 coming later this year

After today's big announcement of Windows 7 SP1 coming later this month on February 22, 2010, Microsoft has just posted an update about the upcoming Office 2010 SP1 update.


Nokia rumored to shift toward Silicon Valley, Windows Phone 7 [u]

The world's top mobile vendor is reportedly considering plans to move its executive decision making from headquarters in Espoo, Finland to Silicon Valley in California, and is potentially eyeing an alliance with Microsoft in a bid to compete against Apple and Google in smartphones.


The tech helper: Fixing Microsoft Word annoyances

A few problems that most users of Microsoft Word run into and simple solutions to get around them.


2/8/2011

Bug bounty program reveals 22 unpatched flaws, 5 in Office

Computerworld - As it promised last year, on Monday the world's biggest bug bounty program released information about nearly two dozen unpatched vulnerabilities, including five in Microsoft Office, after deadlines expired.


Microsoft patches Windows, IE

Microsoft today issued three "critical" security bulletins as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday program. Together with nine other alerts, which the company rated as "important," the bulletins address 22 vulnerabilities spanning Microsoft products from Windows and Internet Explorer to Office and Internet Information Services. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20031048-75.html#ixzz1DTlqppLs


Microsoft to make Outlook easier to touch

A Microsoft job posting has provided clues into Microsoft's strategy to make its Office Web applications more friendly to touch-screen devices. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20031084-75.html#ixzz1DTm1LIvC


2/7/2011

Microsoft Ships WP7 Cut and Paste Update to Developers

Microsoft has released to developers its latest update to the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system giving the added functionality of being able to cut and paste.


Why Microsoft Will Win The Small Business Cloud War

And yet…you know who’s going to win the small business war of the cloud? Microsoft. Want proof? All you have to do is visit Paducah, Kentucky.


2/2/2011

IBM Puts Symphony in the Cloud, Targets Microsoft's Web Office Suite

IBM joins the charge to corner the market for Web office productivity suites with the launch of LotusLive Symphony for the cloud, an office suite that offers a social platform enabling simultaneous collaboration on documents in the cloud.


2/1/2011

10 Telling Tidbits From Microsoft's 10-Q

Investors need to look beyond the headlines and read the fine print to understand the real challenges and opportunities facing the world's biggest software company.


Google accuses Microsoft of copying search results

IDG News Service - Officials from Microsoft and Google sparred at an event on Tuesday over Google's accusation that Microsoft copies Google search results and feeds them into its Bing search engine.


1/30/2011

Microsoft Earnings, Kinect Sales, Salesforce Conflict Marked Week

Microsoft's earnings call dominated its week, with news of strong Kinect sales. Microsoft also fought TiVo and a Salesforce.com hire.


Office 2010 sales power record Microsoft quarter

Division that sells Office accounted for 30% of all revenues in 2010's final quarter


1/28/2011

Live Blog: Microsoft Office 2010 - A Discussion With Executive Management

We are hearing from Kurt delBene, president of the Microsoft office team. We'll be looking for how the team sees Office fitting with the cloud and Web apps.


Microsoft Gets `Little Credit' for Gains Amid Windows Concerns

Microsoft Corp. fell after a report showing a shortfall in Windows revenue raised concerns about demand for the operating system and outshined better-than- predicted second-quarter sales and profit.


Where's Microsoft's 'lucky 7' release of Windows Embedded Compact?

Late last year, Microsoft officials said that the latest version of its Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating system was running slightly behind schedule and would be out in the first quarter of 2011. It looks like like that date might be pushed back again, based on some updated information.


1/27/2011

Microsoft introduces ‘try before you buy’ Office for Macs

Now Apple users have an extra 30 days before dropping serious cash on Microsoft's Office suite for OS X, thanks to a free trial.


1/26/2011

HTML5, Silverlight sessions face off at Microsoft Mix '11 conference

Microsoft has opened registration, as of January 25, for its Mix ‘11 conference. And to keep things interesting, the company is allowing the community to vote on which sessions they’d like to see at the April Mix conference.


Microsoft Earnings Report: Bright Expectations, Big Questions

When Microsoft announces revenues and earnings for the second quarter of its fiscal 2011 on Thursday, the company appears primed to turn in a record performance -- as usual.


1/25/2011

Kinect and the Power of Big Broadband

Innovative uses of the game technology show the need for fatter broadband pipes and the possibilities with greater speed, such as remote robot-assisted surgery


Microsoft and RIM grow on app developers: survey

The survey of more than 2,200 developers found many expect to produce more apps for more platforms with more complexity.


The State of Windows 8

Beneath a thin surface layer of established fact about Microsoft’s next OS lies a deep pool of rumor and speculation. We plunge in to test the water.


1/24/2011

Microsoft‘s cloud strategy

While some industry watchers say Microsoft has been late in getting its cloud computing game rolling, the company’s strength and capabilities should not be underestimated.


1/23/2011

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Cloud, HP Collaboration Marked Microsoft's Week

Microsoft made yet another foray into the cloud with its Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and displayed some of its collaborative work with Hewlett-Packard, during this week.


1/21/2011

Microsoft cloud not just for consumers as Ballmer takes on CRM

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is revved up about cloud-based software. But not for Photoshopping or watching DVR, like in his commercials. He's aiming at enterprise, and taking on two heavy hitters in CRM.


With Schmidt out as CEO, Google can stop copying Microsoft

There’s much to praise in departing Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s tenure. But if the stagnation of recent years can be pinned on one fault, it’s this: Schmidt’s Microsoft obsession.


1/18/2011

Microsoft launches cloud-based CRM software to take on Salesforce and Oracle

After its last high-profile cloud-computing launch, the Office 365, Microsoft has announced that Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, its cloud-based CRM offering, will be available worldwide.


1/17/2011

Ballmer Leads Microsoft's Cloud CRM Charge

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer personally introduced the company's Dynamics CRM 2011 product, underscoring the importance the company places in its competition with Salesforce.com.


1/14/2011

Microsoft delivers version 1.0 of its open-source CMS platform

January 13 is the launch of Microsoft’s WebMatrix open-source-friendly Web-development tool bundle. But that’s not the only new open-source Microsoft deliverable that’s hitting today.


Top 10 Business Intelligence predictions for 2011

Are you ok? Perhaps you should sit down. The Business Intelligence (BI) industry developed at a frenetic take-your-breath-away pace during 2010. In 2011 the tempo will be dialed up a few beats per minute, with a continuation of trends centered around the ease-of-use, access to, and speed of reporting and analytics.


1/13/2011

Microsoft working on 'Concero' cloud-management portal

Microsoft is building a new management tool, code-named “Concero,” that will allow customers to oversee both on-premises and cloud-based services.


1/12/2011

Microsoft Pushes Office 365 to Education

Microsoft on Tuesday announced an expansion of its Office 365 service to the education market. On the good-news front, some versions of Office 365 will be free to students


1/10/2011

Microsoft enters critical stage with Muglia departure

Microsoft calls a review of its US$1 billion media business in North America, stays bullish on the channel, drifts from Intel to ARM, and unceremoniously bids farewell to Bob Muglia after 23 years.


1/7/2011

More on Microsoft 'Jupiter' and what it means for Windows 8

After a first tip this week on Microsoft’s Jupiter — a new “application model” for Windows 8 — I started nosing around to learn more about this mysterious new Microsoft codename.


1/6/2011

CES: New Microsoft Surface to be priced at $7,600

Microsoft officials showed off “Surface 2.0″ — the new version of the company’s multitouch tabletop — at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) yesterday.


Motorola uncloaks 10.1-inch Xoom fondleslab

iPad challenger runs Android 3.0


1/5/2011

CES 2011: Microsoft shows Windows, Office on ARM

At CES in Las Vegas today, Microsoft Windows boss Steven Sinofsky announced support for System on a Chip (SoC) architectures from Intel, AMD, and ARM.


1/3/2011

Forecast for New York City computing: cloudy

Last October, New York City decided to bring the benefits of cloud computing to 120 of its government agencies. Up to 100,000 city government workers will begin using an online version of Microsoft Office, meaning data will be stored on Microsoft servers instead of municipal hard drives. The move to cyberspace will save an estimated $50 million.


1/1/2011

Looking ahead to 2011: What's on the Microsoft calendar

It’s that time: Time to start plotting the travel schedule and penciling in the Microsoft events (that we know about so far) for the new year.


12/31/2010

Six Downloads to Improve Microsoft Office

Here are six programs that bring Office a lot closer to what it should be. The first three work across multiple Office applications, improving the much-loved--and much-hated--ribbon-based interface. The other three are application-specific, giving Outlook, Word, and Excel additional capabilities that Microsoft either didn't think of or didn't bother with.


12/29/2010

Can Microsoft Win Back Lost Client Share in 2011?

Microsoft's new year promises to kick off with a bang, with new products coming on line and fairly new ones ramping up.


12/28/2010

It's tablet time at CES 2011

This year the Consumer Electronics Show, in early January, is shaping up to be the year of the tablet.


12/27/2010

Three things to love about Microsoft's Office 365

The beta of Microsoft's Office 365, its suite of business-focused, cloud-based applications, is out, and there's plenty of things to like about it. Here are three reasons small businesses should give the beta a try.


12/26/2010

The Web's Best Productivity Sites

The Web is a big place. Really big--around 300 million sites and counting. So no one could blame you if you don't have time to browse through all that stuff, try all the latest and greatest online services, and find the very best. Good news: We've done it for you.


12/23/2010

Microsoft opens HTML5 Labs

Microsoft has debuted HTML5 Labs, a test and sandbox site for developers to experiment with early draft specifications of emerging HTML5-based technologies.


Readers vote with their clicks: The 20 hottest Microsoft stories in 2010

Unsurprisingly, I noticed that you readers can’t get enough about what’s next: IE 9, Windows 8, Office 15, mobile futures. But you also are still very interested in Windows XP (not too surprising, given XP represents more than half of the Windows installed base out there).


12/22/2010

Q&A: Microsoft's Tom Rizzo Gives Partners the Skinny on Office 365

Microsoft's Online Services Director explains how Office 365 fits into the partner ecosystem, and how the transition from BPOS to Office 365 will work.


12/21/2010

Microsoft on Windows Phone 7: "We're in it for the long run"

Microsoft is finally ready to talk about numbers for its Windows Phone 7 platform. But the numbers they’ve released need a bit more parsing than usual.


12/20/2010

The top 12 gifts of cloud from 2010

We've seen an amazing year of innovation, disruption, and adoption--one I personally think will go down in history as one of the most significant years in computing history. Without a doubt, a significant new tool has been added to the IT toolbox, and its one that will eventually replace most of the tools we know today.


12/19/2010

Developers Take Up The Fight For Privacy

It was only a matter of time before protection from online tracking went mainstream.


Microsoft silverlight 5.0 features for developers

Recently on Silverlight 5.0 firestarter event ScottGu has announced road map for Silverlight 5.0. There will be lots of features that will be there in silverlight 5.0 but here are few glimpses of Silverlight 5.0 Features.


12/17/2010

How to avoid Office 2010 upgrade pitfalls

Forrester report stresses the need for careful planning and user training


Oracle's New Office App Suites Target Microsoft, Google

Oracle is pitching the products as lower-cost alternatives to its competitors, especially Microsoft Office.


12/16/2010

Microsoft delivers more pieces of its Azure cloud roadmap

There were a lot of promised deliverables on the Azure cloud roadmap that Microsoft unveiled at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in October 2010. This week, the Redmondians rolled out more of them, including a public beta of the Windows Azure Virtual Machine Role.


12/15/2010

Oracle takes on Microsoft and Google with Cloud Office

Oracle on Wednesday announced Cloud Office 1.0, a Web-based productivity suite that is set to give online applications from Microsoft and Google a fresh dose of competition.


12/14/2010

Microsoft to Extend Office 2010 Security Feature to Older Office Versions

As part of its regularly scheduled Patch Tuesday event this week—at which Microsoft unleashed a record 17 security fixes addressing 40 separate vulnerabilities—the software giant also announced that it will be backporting an Office 2010 security feature to Office 2007 and 2003.


Microsoft to show off true iPad competitors at CES?

The Windows team has been striving to maintain as much secrecy as possible about Windows 8. So a showing as early as January 2011 would be uncharacteristic and surprising. But it also might silence some of the continued criticism of Microsoft’s lack of a true answer to the iPad.


12/13/2010

Demand for Microsoft Migrations Expected to Spike in 2011

With the economy recovering and the recent releases of Windows 7 and Microsoft® Office 2010, 2011 is expected to be the biggest technology upgrade since Y2K. Therefore, Microsoft migrations are expected to spike significantly in the coming year


Microsoft releases 14.0.2 update for Office 2011

On Monday afternoon, Microsoft released version 14.0.2 of its popular Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac suite. The update, a 111 megabyte download which can also be located, snagged and installed via the Microsoft AutoUpdate program, offers the following fixes and changes:


Patch Tuesday: Too Big To Ignore?

According to Microsoft's advanced notification bulletin, December's Patch Tuesday will pack a whopping 40 patches detailed in 17 separate security bulletins. Affected operating systems will include various flavors of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7. Various versions of Microsoft XP, Office 2003, Office 2007, and Office 2101. Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 doesn't escape either.


12/11/2010

Microsoft slates another monster Patch Tuesday

Microsoft today said it will deliver a record 17 security updates next week to patch 40 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Office, SharePoint and Exchange.


12/10/2010

Microsoft straightens out cloud strategy -- finally

No longer tentative about offering a full suite that combines online versions of the 2010 editions of Exchange, Office, Sharepoint and Lync, Microsoft is bringing out the big guns against rivals like Google, IBM/Lotus and others.


12/9/2010

Microsoft December 2010 patches to fix 40 flaws

Microsoft next week will release 17 bulletins to patch 40 flaws in various versions of Windows, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office.


Microsoft’s Lays Out Silverlight Upgrade Plans

Microsoft’s Silverlight abounding internet focus platform, that has been the theme of conjecture newly about its future, will obtain a modernise next year when the firm releases Silverlight 5.


Microsoft's voice platform to get a 'brain'

Microsoft is in the process of building what it's calling "conversational understanding" (CU), which mixes speech, a dictionary, grammatical structures, and machine learning to better figure out what users are saying so that the system can spit out an answer that takes into account all those things.


My Google Chromebook has arrived: First impressions after an hour

Now this isn’t a full-blown review, but immediate impressions of what I liked and areas that are going to take some work to get used to. The ultimate judge of this thing will be handing it to my 7-year-old daughter. To her, the browser is the operating system.


12/8/2010

Gartner: Microsoft SharePoint: Watch out for new kinds of content and applications to manage in 2011

By 2015, SharePoint will be as popular a platform for content applications as the iPhone, with 20,000 applications available.


12/7/2010

First service pack beta for Visual Studio 2010 now downloadable

Microsoft is making available this week a first beta of its Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack (SP) 1 release.


12/6/2010

Office Web Apps double up worldwide…and then some

Today the Office Web Apps (on Windows Live SkyDrive and Hotmail) became available in 15 new countries including China, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and Turkey.


Windows Phone 7 Updates Already Trickling Out (MSFT)

Windows Phone 7 launched less than a month ago and Microsoft is already updating it with features missing at launch, like copy and paste.


12/5/2010

Kinect Sales, Google GSA Contract, WP7 Rumors Marked Microsoft Week

Xbox Kinect has sold 2.5 million units, a bright spot in Microsoft's week otherwise marked by looming conflict with Google over government cloud contracts.


12/3/2010

Microsoft Unveils Silverlight 5 Beta Features

Microsoft announced Silverlight 5, the next version of its rich Internet platform, and previewed key features of the upcoming beta technology at its Silverlight Firestarter educational event for developers. The one-day event, which was held in Redmond, was free to developers worldwide via live streaming and on-demand video.


Samsung Focus: The first great Windows Phone 7 device

For professionals and companies that are already invested in Microsoft business technologies — especially Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office, and SharePoint — they will find Windows Phone 7 devices such as the Samsung Focus now offer the best way to access those systems.


12/2/2010

Using and Creating Graphics in Microsoft Office 2010

This chapter provides an overview of the options for adding graphics to your Office application files. It also looks at how to insert shapes, SmartArt graphics, images, and clip art as well as some of the new features that Office 2010 provides for working with graphics within the applications.


12/1/2010

Microsoft starts rolling out test builds of promised Azure cloud add-ons

At this year’s Professional Developers Conference, the Azure team promised to deliver a slew of new add-ons and services — in either test or final form — before the end of calendar 2010. As of this week, test versions of many of those services are available for download.


Microsoft: Google's Heart Not In Cloud Computing As Competition Heats Up

Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) is calling out its main cloud computing competitor, claiming that its chief rival isn't "all in" when it comes to the cloud.


11/30/2010

Malware Authors Turn to Extortion

Criminals have compromised a number of websites with what is known as ransomware, a Trojan that encrypts media and Microsoft Office files, so that it is impossible for infected users to open their Word, Excel and other files.


The road to Microsoft Office 365: The past

The primary champion behind Microsoft’s burgeoning Online Services push was the former president of Microsoft’s Business Division, Jeff Raikes. But Microsoft’s outgoing Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie played a role in the company’s .hosted services push, as well, according to Kelly.


11/27/2010

Microsoft Lync: Next-generation communication platform launched

Plus, users can edit on a single document at the same time using Lync, allowing for increased productivity. Users can also share documents, pictures and other files with each other.


11/25/2010

Professional Microsoft Search: FAST Search, SharePoint Search, and Search Server

Use Microsoft’s latest search-based technology-FAST search-to plan, customize, and deploy your search solution


11/24/2010

For Google, the Browser Does It All

Chrome stores everything that people have on their computers — like documents, photos and e-mail — online, or in tech parlance, in the cloud.


Microsoft Office boss on Facebook and the cloud

As Microsoft's latest internal slogan is quick to point out, the software company is "all in" when it comes to the cloud.


11/23/2010

Microsoft delivers beta update for Internet Explorer 9

A week after rolling out its seventh developer preview of Internet Explorer (IE) 9, Microsoft has gone back and delivered an update for the beta of IE 9, the first full beta of Microsoft’s next-gen browser which the company delivered in mid-September.


11/22/2010

Microsoft Lync 2010 Shows Platform of VOIP for Business

The Microsoft Office Communications successor, Microsoft Lync 2010 showed their platforms in a recent demo of voice over internet protocol (VOIP) for business and other communication services such as instant messaging, video and audio conferencing, application and desktop sharing in New York. Microsoft has been making investments over this new communication solution to create a more powerful access to communicate and share information in the most flexible way.


11/20/2010

Facebook Messaging with Office Apps: Business Ready?

Microsoft's Office Apps have been thoroughly baked into Facebook's revamped messaging platform. Does that make Facebook more attractive as a business portal?


Microsoft launches Lync 2010

Microsoft yesterday officially launched Lync 2010, an update to its converged communications platform.


11/19/2010

Windows turns 25 years old tomorrow, let’s take a look back in time

Can you even recall what Windows 1.0 looked like? We had to do some digging to be completely honest, it’s somewhat difficult to recall from memory exactly what each version of Windows looked like. Well, let us (with the help of Wikipedia’s image library) take you on a trip back in time.


11/18/2010

Bill Gates oils up Microsoft's Lync product

Unsurprisingly, Lync hooks directly into MS Office, SharePoint and Exchange products


Microsoft Lync: The Pros and Cons for Enterprises

Lync, the next generation of Microsoft's Office Communications Server software, was unveiled yesterday in New York City, complete with a surprise appearance from Bill Gates via Lync's video conference tool.


11/17/2010

Going all-in: Ars interviews Microsoft's Steve Ballmer

The big themes at PDC were cloud computing and Windows Phone 7, and it's with cloud computing that I kicked off the questioning.


Microsoft touts next-generation VOIP as its unified-communications secret sauce

One of the biggest selling points of Lync is its ability to either supplement or replace traditional PBX systems. Microsoft itself has implemented Lync inside most of Microsoft’s offices and has replaced many of the company’s PBXes and conferencing systems, saving the company more than $200 million annually, Redmond officials said.