News


Ballmer at Microsoft Shareholder Meeting: 'We Are in the Windows Era'

For the most part, Microsoft's shareholder meeting on Tuesday was the usual, speedy, buttoned-down affair; one shareholder even argued that the event should be 30 minutes longer.

Microsoft Reveals Windows Embedded Roadmap, Announces 'v.Next'

On Monday, Microsoft shared some of its roadmap plans for the next generation of Windows Embedded operating system products, labeled "v.Next."

Windows Phone's Market Share Down Just 0.1 Percentage Point in Q3

Microsoft's beleaguered Windows Phone platform continues to lose ground to the major smartphone OSes, but at a less precipitous rate than in previous quarters, according to the latest market share figures from Gartner.

Former Windows Azure GM Named CIO of Washington State

Bharat Shyam, an 18-year Microsoft veteran, has been named the new chief information officer (CIO) for the state of Washington.

Microsoft Rolls Out System Center Operations Manager 2012 RC

Microsoft issued a release candidate (RC) version of its System Center Operations Manager 2012 solution last Thursday; it's available for download here.

Microsoft Enters Display Ad Deal with Yahoo, AOL

Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL have entered a publisher partnership deal to cross-sell their inventories as part of a collaboration on Web-based display ads.

Adobe Kills Mobile Flash, Slashes 750 Jobs

Adobe is phasing out its browser-based Flash Player for mobile devices, and is planning to cut 750 jobs as part of a financial restructuring, the company announced this week.

Microsoft Talks Cloud (Not 'Software Plus Services') at Investor Event

Charles Di Bona, general manager of Microsoft's Server and Tools Division, offered some perspective on Microsoft's cloud vision on Monday at the CLSA Asia USA Forum for investors in San Francisco.

Former Samsung VP Joins Microsoft's Windows Phone Team as GM

According to an interview on the Web site Boy Genius Report (BGR), the former vice president of Samsung's Consumer & Enterprise Services division, Gavin Kim, is moving to Microsoft to become the general manager of the Windows Phone division.

Microsoft Reveals SQL Server 2012 Licensing Model

Microsoft recently shared the details of the licensing model for its up-and-coming relational database management system, SQL Server 2012 (previously code-named "Denali").

AT&T Starts Selling 'Mango'-Based Samsung Devices

Less than two weeks after participating in Nokia's hotly anticipated unveiling in London of Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango"-based devices for international markets, Microsoft was in New York Monday to launch several devices with AT&T in the United States.

Best Buy To Acquire Cloud Provider mindSHIFT

Nearly a decade after it acquired Geek Squad, consumer tech retailer Best Buy has agreed to buy IT outsourcer and cloud provider mindSHIFT Technologies for $167 million.

Dell Bundles Microsoft's SBS Essentials 2011 with Entry-Level Server

Dell has released a bundle targeted at small businesses that includes Microsoft's Small Business Server (SBS) Essentials 2011 running on an entry-level PowerEdge system.

Report: Google Enters Cloud Deal with General Motors

According to a report published Friday by The Wall Street Journal, Google has entered an agreement with General Motors Corp. to provide its cloud-based Google Apps suite to more than 100,000 of the automaker's employees.

Microsoft Considers Making Cloud Sales Required for Gold Competencies

It's no secret that Microsoft is encouraging partners to offer its cloud computing services, but the company may ultimately step that up to a requirement.

Post-Master VAR, Microsoft Cracks Down on Alternative Approach

With its first two Master VARs named, Microsoft is cracking down on a so-called buying group that sprung up in response to the recent changes for Microsoft partners focused on the business application/Dynamics side of Microsoft's product portfolio.

Microsoft Releases Office 2007, SharePoint 2007 SP3

Microsoft recently released the third and, probably, last service pack for Office 2007 and SharePoint 2007.

Microsoft Named Best Multinational Workplace

Microsoft has landed the top spot on this year's "Top 25 World's Best Multinational Workplaces List."

Microsoft Issues Updates of System Center 2012 Products

Some of Microsoft's System Center 2012 management applications got fresh test versions this week.

10 'Mango' Features for Microsoft Partners

The Windows Phone 7.5 release is chock full of business-friendly functionality.