3/10/2010
Google's Big New Cloud Play: Should Microsoft Be Afraid?
Late last week, Google made another aggressive move to stay ahead of Microsoft in the online productivity tools space by acquiring DocVerse, a startup founded by two former Microsoft employees, known for tools that let users collaborate on Microsoft Office files on the Web.
Microsoft Patches 8 Vulnerabilities in Windows and Office
It’s a slow month for Microsoft, as far as patch releases go, a situation which could be disrupted only if the company decides to release an out-of-band patch for the Internet Explorer 0-day confirmed on March 9th.
Microsoft's Patch Tuesday Party Gets Troublesome Surprise
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) had expected things to be somewhat sedate; however, instead of two vulnerabilities that it expected needed patching, it got hit with four, including a new zero-day Internet Explorer exploit.
3/9/2010
Microsoft Fixes Eight Bugs, Warns Of IE Zero-Day
A light Patch Tuesday brings word of a new zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6 and 7
3/5/2010
Budget cuts pushing some IT managers to the cloud
User acceptance may be an issue at first, but early users already find big savings
Google acquires DocVerse to connect with Microsoft Office
Google has fired another shot across Microsoft's bow – or perhaps right at it.
Google Acquires Docverse To Further Office Arms Rac
Docverse lets users collaborate directly on Microsoft Office documents. The company was founded by Microsoft veterans Shan Sinha and Alex DeNeui.
Microsoft's embrace of the cloud is not as whole-hearted as Ballmer claims
There are plenty of ways in which Microsoft doesn't truly embrace cloud computing, most notably in its upcoming release of Office 2010.
3/3/2010
More from Microsoft's TechFest
Although I am missing getting to see TechFest first hand this year (it's not open to the press), it has been interesting to look at some of the projects that Microsoft is detailing publicly.
3/2/2010
Hedge fund offers $1.8 billion for Novell
Elliott Associates has offered to acquire software maker Novell.
2/26/2010
Uncovering Microsoft Office Labs
Office Labs isn’t like Google Labs. Their products aren’t floating around on the Internet for months before Microsoft decides if they’re worth keeping.
2/24/2010
Windows XP downgrade suit against Microsoft is dismissed
Anyone remember this one? Last February — when Microsoft was fending off Vista complaints (legal and otherwise) left and right — Emma Alvarado sued the company for using its monopoly power to force her to pay to downgrade from Vista to XP on a new laptop.
2/23/2010
Microsoft vs. Google: The empire strikes back
It can't be easy being Ray Ozzie. Microsoft's chief software architect is just 18 months into the job as Bill Gates' handpicked successor, yet depending on whom you ask, his tenure will either signal a bold new era for the company or mark the beginning of its terminal decline.
2/18/2010
Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series May Face Hard Road with Businesses
While the revamped user interface has attracted notice, analysts and pundits have been questioning whether corporate users will gravitate toward devices running the new operating system, especially if it means redesigning and redeploying specialized applications.
2/17/2010
Microsoft to pull Facebook, MySpace into Outlook
Microsoft Corp. is taking another step toward turning Outlook, its desktop e-mail program, into a hub for information from popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
2/16/2010
Windows Phone 7 Gets Early Thumbs Up
Bloggers are praising Microsoft's new mobile device software for its sleek interface and touch-screen capabilities.
2/15/2010
Hands On with Windows Phone 7 Series
WP7 – there's no "Windows Mobile" any more – uses a bold array of tiles and pivoting panels to let users easily access their personal information, Zune music and Xbox Live gamer card.
2/13/2010
Office 2010 is slated to be released on June 15th,
If you’re eagerly anticipating the arrival of Microsoft Office 2010, listen up. Paul Thurrott of WindowsITPro has confirmed on a piece published Friday that Office 2010 is slated to be released on June 15th, 2010.
2/12/2010
Microsoft And Partners Are About To Add A Big Fat Social Layer To Outlook
The product, dubbed Outlook Social Connector, essentially aims to make Outlook more social by integrating streams from Windows Live and third-party networks directly into the widely used communication app.
Microsoft Pulls Security Update Blamed For Windows XP Blue Screen Of Death
Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) has stopped serving a security patch that has apparently triggered the infamous Microsoft Blue Screen of Death for a number of Windows XP users.
2/10/2010
Microsoft Plugs 26 Vulnerabilities With 13 Patches In Record Update
Of the 13 patches Microsoft released Tuesday, five are rated critical, seven are given the slightly less severe ranking of "important," and one is deemed "moderate."
2/9/2010
Patch Tuesday: Microsoft plugs critical Windows worm holes
Microsoft today released 13 security bulletins with fixes for 26 vulnerabilities affecting Windows and Office users and warned customers to pay special attention to a slew of flaws that can be trivially exploited by malware miscreants.
2/5/2010
Microsoft Defends Itself Against Op-ed by Former VP
Microsoft defended itself against an opinion piece written by a former vice president, who argued the software company has lost its edge and is "failing" as a result. In response, the software company said it remains competitive and innovative.
Microsoft Patch Tuesday for February 2010: 13 bulletins
According to the Microsoft Security Response Center, Microsoft will issue 13 Security Bulletins addressing 26 vulnerabilities on Tuesday, and it will host a webcast to address customer questions about the bulletins the following day (February 10 at 11:00am PST, if you're interested)
2/4/2010
IBM launches Lotus Symphony 3 beta; Office alternatives pile up
IBM on Thursday rolled out the beta of Lotus Symphony 3.0, its free office productivity suite built on the OpenOffice.org code base.
Microsoft unit's decline underlines 'Office' importance
Google's rival technology making gains; Oracle gets in on the action
What we know about Oracle Cloud Office, OpenOffice.org
Announcements raised questions Oracle and OpenOffice.org didn't want to answer. Here's what we know.
2/3/2010
Office 2010 hits RC, Windows 8 planned for July 2011
Microsoft Office 2010 has finally hit release candidate, and Redmond has distributed the productivity suite to members of the technology adoption program (TAP).
2/2/2010
What's New for CPAs in Office 2010
This article describes the features in the new versions of Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook that are likely to be most important to CPAs when Office 2010 is released in June.
2/1/2010
Microsoft accuses Google of 'software plus services'
Microsoft has accused Google of behaving like Microsoft.
1/28/2010
Microsoft posts record sales as profit jumps 60%
Microsoft Corp. posted a 60% gain in fiscal second-quarter profit on Thursday, as the software giant benefited from improving personal computer sales and the recent release of its flagship Windows 7 operating system.
Microsoft Profits Jump 60%
Software maker roars past Wall Street estimates on the back of robust Windows 7 demand.
1/27/2010
Oracle will boost MySQL, release Cloud Office suite
Computerworld - Oracle Corp. today promised to aggressively push its newly acquired MySQL open-source database, rather than kill it.
1/25/2010
Boxed Software Revenues Slipping
The 7% dip in 2009 was an improvement over the double-digit drop in 2008, and came on sales of Microsoft Windows 7 and Apple Snow Leopard.
Is Microsoft's Office 2010 'a Couple of Months' Away?
There's one perk that Microsoft's Steve Ballmer likes to exercise, as much as the CEO's handlers might like him to stifle some of his out-of-the-blue statements. The head of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) can announce anything he wants, even unrealistic ship dates for important products.
1/22/2010
Microsoft Office 2010 system requirements: Changes in disk space, GPU recommendations
Via a January 22 blog post, Microsoft is providing more details about the system requirements for its Office 2010 suite, due out by June 2010.
Microsoft Office 2010: What's in It for You?
Office Web will be Microsoft's answer to Google Docs and other cloud office suites that allow you to work on browser-based word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation apps. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote will be offered in the Office Web suite. And they will be free -- a business model that may present problems for Microsoft.
1/21/2010
Microsoft's 'Don't Be Evil' Dilemma
As Google promises to stop censorship in China, free speech criticism is shifting to its biggest rival.
Where Secrets Aren’t Safe
Google insists that cloud computing is perfectly secure. But of course Google says that—it's trying to build a business out of it.
1/20/2010
Microsoft to issue emergency IE patch Thursday
Admits attacks also possible through Office docs, dodges question of DEP bypass
1/19/2010
Microsoft turns finding Office commands into game
Introduced on Tuesday, "Ribbon Hero" is aimed at turning into a game the often frustrating task of finding commands on Office's Ribbon toolbar, which debuted as part of Office 2007.
1/15/2010
Steve Baller: Microsoft Will Not Quit from China
The world's biggest computer software provider Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft, NASDAQ: MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating, SEHK: 4338) has no plan to quit from China, the CEO Steve Baller said on January 14, 2010.
1/14/2010
VMware Takes On Microsoft With Zimbra
VMware's (VMW Quote) deal with Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) to acquire email specialist Zimbra looks set to boost the virtualization giant's cloud story, while ramping up competition with arch-rival Microsoft(MSFT Quote).
1/13/2010
Software sales slip just 1 percent for holidays
Retail software sales rang in at $278 million for the 2009 holidays, a dip of 1 percent from the prior year, NPD Group reported Wednesday. But the results were far more joyous than in December 2008 when software revenue fell by 13 percent.
1/12/2010
2+ Million Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 Downloads Since Launch
While still far from Microsoft’s largest Beta testing pool for a developing product, which belonged to Windows 7, Office 2010 is by all means holding its own.
Google Docs to Allow Storage of Any Type of File
Google is opening up its Docs hosted office productivity suite so that users can store any type of file in it, giving the popular software-as-a-service product an important online storage component.
Microsoft patches critical security issue
In today's Patch Tuesday, Microsoft delivers one bulletin that fixes a vulnerability targeting Windows.
1/11/2010
Microsoft makes it legal to rent Windows, Office worldwide
For the past few years, Microsoft has been conducting experiments in various countries as to how and whether “renting” software could become a viable business model. The answer seemingly must have been yes, since Microsoft quietly added rental SKUs, as of January 1, to the list of license types available to customers worldwide.
Microsoft Word and Office 'sales ban' begins
A ban on Microsoft selling certain versions of its flagship products Word and Office has begun.
1/7/2010
HP Slate Lowers the Bar for Apple's Tablet PC
Steve Ballmer's keynote address at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) did not unveil the rumored Microsoft Courier tablet PC. Ballmer did take the opportunity, though, to reveal an HP tablet PC dubbed the "Slate".
1/6/2010
Office 2010 Beta Draws 2 Million Downloads
Microsoft says users are testing the software in record numbers.
1/5/2010
Adobe Keeps Focus on Security in 2010 as Attackers Circle
Almost a year after changing its development process and a week away from a Jan. 12 patch for yet another zero-day vulnerability, Adobe Systems remains a popular target for attackers. But the company is not taking it sitting down.
Microsoft details Office 2010 pricing for US
Microsoft has announced US prices for the retail versions of Office 2010, the forthcoming refresh of its application suite due for release this year. Prices for other territories including the UK are set to be revealed at a later date, possibly by the end of January.
1/4/2010
Microsoft Considers OpenOffice.org As A Major Threat To Office Suite
Open Office, a free and open source suite of office productivity programs, has apparently emerged as a potentially lethal threat to Microsoft’s flagship Office suite, which also faces serious competition from web-based Google Docs.
1/3/2010
Four reasons Apple will launch a tablet in 2010
It’s the one product everyone just knows Apple will unveil in the coming year. It’s also the one product no one really knows anything about.
1/1/2010
Google Docs Grows
Widespread Google Docs use was reported by 28% of the survey’s line-of-business respondents vs. 15% of IT respondents. “I think these tools are being picked up by line-of-business users,” Webster says. “It’s happening without IT knowing about it. They’ll find out soon and start worrying about it.”
12/29/2009
Adobe Will Be Top Target for Hackers in 2010, Report Says
Adobe Systems' Flash and Acrobat Reader products will become the preferred targets for criminal hackers in 2010, surpassing Microsoft Office applications, a security vendor predicted this week.
Archives » “Microsoft Project 2010 Beta”
The launch of the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta brings with it a number of changes. Here are some of its productivity enhancements:
12/28/2009
Labs Outlook 2010: Oracle/Sun, Microsoft Azure, Office, Ubuntu and Chrome OS Will Make Big Waves
Some of the biggest events of 2009 served mostly to set the stage for bigger things in 2010.
Microsoft rolls out Word patch
Workaround will allow Redmond to comply with court ruling banning the sale of certain versions of Word
New Mind Group: Why We Chose Google Apps
Partnering with Google in 2007 was somewhat of a gamble, Jefferies says, because Google Apps didn’t yet offer things like Outlook integration of any kind.
Top 10 ed-tech stories of 2009: No. 8
It might not be on par with the infamous platform wars between Microsoft and Apple that have spanned three decades--at least, not yet--but the rivalry between technology giants Microsoft and Google heated up significantly during the past year, with schools and their students as key beneficiaries.
12/24/2009
Microsoft's Chris Liddell hands CFO post to upstart Peter Klein
Peter Klein is enjoying his first week of life running finance at the top of the Microsoft tree after the technology icon’s group CFO Chris Liddell departed, possibly for a board-level, non-financial role on 31 December.
12/23/2009
Microsoft yanks Custom XML from Word, offers patch to OEMs
Microsoft already has a patch available that strips out XML technology the company is barred from using after Jan. 11, in Word 2007 and Office 2007, according to a Microsoft Web site.
12/22/2009
Microsoft Word Sales Face U.S. Ban
An appeals court on Tuesday ordered Microsoft to stop selling Microsoft Word 2007 and other Office 2007 products by Jan. 11 because the software infringes on a patent held by a Canadian company. The judge also hit Microsoft with a $290 million fine.
12/18/2009
So, is it safe to tweet now?
The site was replaced with a foreboding message from "Iranian Cyber Army" before crashing entirely, indicating that it had been the victim of a malicious attack that targeted its internal servers.
12/17/2009
EC, Microsoft settlement broadly welcomed
Microsoft's successful settlement of its antitrust issues with the European Commission was welcomed by the software company's foes and friends alike Wednesday, with many hailing the moment as a turning point for the computer industry.
Firefox, Adobe top buggiest software list
Firefox was the application that had the most reported vulnerabilities this year, while holes in Adobe software more than tripled from a year ago, according to statistics compiled by Qualys, a vulnerability management provider.
12/16/2009
EC, Microsoft Settlement Broadly Welcomed
Microsoft's successful settlement of its antitrust issues with the European Commission was welcomed by the software company's foes and friends alike Wednesday, with many hailing the moment as a turning point for the computer industry.
Microsoft Releases Bing App for iPhone
Despite its own branded moves in the mobile space throughout 2009, Microsoft has also demonstrated relatively few qualms about porting its mobile functionality onto rivals' devices, including Nokia's Symbian OS, Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone.
Microsoft: Blood, Sweat and Bing [2009 in Review]
From the launch of Windows 7 to the rise of Bing and the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal, here is a review of the key events, trends, and products that shaped Microsoft in 2009.
12/12/2009
Week in Microsoft: Windows 7, USB keys, and open source
This week in Microsoft the top stories ran the gamut from Windows 7 and Bing to WSUS and Windows Live OneCare. Come on in and check it out.
12/11/2009
Microsoft buys Opalis to strengthen cloud management capabilities
Moving to strengthen its management tools related to virtual environments, Microsoft Friday said that it has purchased IT process automation vendor Opalis for an undisclosed sum.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/12/11/urnidgns852573C40069388000257689006876E4.DTL#ixzz0ZUz0OGYT
12/10/2009
Microsoft creates new server and cloud division
Microsoft Tuesday created a new division designed to brings its cloud and on-premises software development together and provide a consistent platform for corporate customers.
The Year's Most-Hacked Software
At the beginning of this decade, Microsoft represented a cybercriminal's dream target: universally-used software, brimming with bugs ready to be exploited to hijack users' PCs. But as the software giant has slowly cleaned up its security flaws, hackers are looking toward another vendor whose products are nearly as ubiquitous and whose bounty of vulnerabilities are just being discovered: Adobe.
12/8/2009
Microsoft starts planning Office 15
Microsoft Office 2010 (also called Office 14) may not be ready to ship yet, but Redmond is already hard at work on Office 15.
12/4/2009
Microsoft to release six security bulletins for forthcoming Patch Tuesday
The software affected by the vulnerabilities includes the newly-released Windows 7, along with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, and Office 2003. Moreover, Project 2000, Project 2002, Project 2003, Microsoft Works 8.5, and Microsoft Office Converter Pack have also been said to be vulnerable.
12/3/2009
Microsoft Office 2010 beta hits 1M downloads in two weeks
Stephen Elop, President, Microsoft Business Division stated he was "very proud" of the download achievement in a message posted to his official twitter account.
Patch Tuesday heads-up: MS to fix 'critical' IE, Office security holes
Just two weeks after the release of exploit code for a critical (remotely exploitable) security hole in its Internet Explorer browser, Microsoft says a fix will be included in this month’s batch of Patch Tuesday updates.
12/2/2009
Microsoft Begins Preselling Office 2010
Through the Microsoft Partner Network, the Redmond software outfit is offering its partners a deal it hopes their clients will find too good to refuse.
12/1/2009
Microsoft to switch internal focus to Windows 8 in July 2010
With another month gone (boy that one flew by), it's time to take a look at what Microsoft Careers, a great source for scraps on future Microsoft products, had to say about Windows 8 over the last 30 days or so.
Microsoft's Mehdi on financial impact of Yahoo deal
Although Microsoft and Yahoo have only just inked their final search deal and still need regulatory approval, Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi talked on Tuesday about the economics that the deal will bring.
11/26/2009
Microsoft unveils a bevy of supplemental software
Silverlight and Windows Azure headlined Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference last week, but Microsoft also made a number of significant announcements concerning interoperability, identity management, Surface touch technology, and SharePoint.
11/24/2009
Microsoft says cost-cutting CFO to step down
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said its chief financial officer is departing at the end of the year and will be replaced by the man now responsible for the books at the division that produces Microsoft Office and other business programs.
11/20/2009
Microsoft Office 2010 Moves to the Cloud
In addition to the announcements of a new and improved version of Internet Explorer and a major update of the Silverlight runtime platform at this week’s Microsoft at the Professional Developer’s Conference, the software giant also released the cloud-based Microsoft Office 2010 in beta version.
11/17/2009
Update: Microsoft sets Windows Azure commercial production date
The cloud platform, which has been in the community technology preview stage, goes to the next phase early in 2010
11/15/2009
Office 2010 Beta to come in 3 different flavours, with Web Apps
Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is this week being held in Los Angeles, and excitement is already brewing over the most likely announcement on the Office 2010 Beta with the launch of a new-look website about the program.
11/13/2009
Microsoft Office 2010 beta build leaks onto torrent sites
According to Neowin, the Professional Plus version of Microsoft's next-gen productivity suite has been making the rounds online marked as Beta 2 (build 14.0.4514.1009).
11/12/2009
For the enterprise, Google Apps fights uphill battle with Microsoft
Microsoft's incumbent status gives it a leg up, according to CIOs interviewed at the Society for Information Management (SIM) conference in Seattle this week.
Microsoft Office Starter 2010 beta invites sent out
The invites are the latest clear indication that Microsoft plans to release an Office 2010 public beta shortly.
11/10/2009
Microsoft plugs 15 holes in Windows, Office
Microsoft on Tuesday released software updates to fix at least 15 security flaws in Windows, Windows Server and Microsoft Office. One of the patches addresses a flaw so serious that users could find their Windows PCs compromised just by visiting booby-trapped Web sites.
11/9/2009
Microsoft buys bridge between Java and .Net developers
San Francisco -
Microsoft plans to acquire technology that has enabled Microsoft's TFS (Team Foundation Server) software to be an ALM (application lifecycle management) server for different software development platforms.
Patch Tuesday to Tackle 3 'Critical' Bugs
Microsoft plans to fix at least three Windows vulnerabilities it rates as "critical" when it releases its regular Patch Tuesday bug-fix drop next week, the company said.
11/8/2009
Microsoft's foray in online services
The world's largest software firm now has a new target - India's commercial market for online services.
11/6/2009
DocVerse Puts Google Docs-Like Collaboration Inside Microsoft Office
Quick Pitch: DocVerse brings the collaboration functionality of products like Google Docs to the 600 million users of Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
MS Office Battles Google in the Cloud
When Microsoft releases the next version of its productivity suite, Office 2010, it will be into a very different competitive landscape than the one Office 2007 faced in late 2006.
11/5/2009
Droid: iPhone-killer or Windows Mobile-killer?
The teaser commercial for the new Motorola Droid smartphone, set for release on Friday, is clear: Verizon hopes it has an iPhone-killer on its hands.
Microsoft To Patch 15 Vulnerabilities
As part of its monthly ritual, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) in its Security Bulletin Advanced Notification for this month warned of a number of nasty vulnerabilities in its operating systems and productivity software.
11/4/2009
Microsoft Slashes 800 Jobs
Software maker says plan to eliminate 5,000 positions is now largely complete.
11/3/2009
Add Lower Prices on Microsoft Cloud Apps to CIO List of Criteria
Prices for Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite and for Exchange Online are lower, as of today, as outlined in this InformationWeek article.