News


Microsoft's Skype Buy Gets FTC Approval

Microsoft has received approval from the U.S. government to proceed with its $8.5 billion purchase of Skype, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission indicated on Friday.

Microsoft Renames Mobile Unit to 'Windows Phone Division'

Veteran Microsoft watcher Mary-Jo Foley noticed the name change on Thursday, when she discovered that the official bio of Microsoft executive Andy Lees now describes him as president of the Windows Phone Division.

Microsoft Releases Windows Phone 7 Connector RC

Microsoft has made available the release candidate (RC) of the Windows Server Solutions Phone Connector add-in, which allows Windows Phone 7 users to remotely manage and access Windows home and small business servers.

Office 2010 Turns 1 by Becoming 'Fastest Selling' Version

According to a post on the Microsoft Office Blog, businesses are currently adopting Office 2010 five times faster than they did Office 2007.

Study: Orgs Still Wary of Unified Communications in Public Cloud

According to a study commissioned by Seattle-based Azaleos Corp., one of Microsoft's top Gold Certified Partners, midsized and large businesses remain reluctant to adopt unified communications (UC) services over a public cloud.

Gartner Lowers PC Growth Forecast to Under 10 Percent

Market research firm Gartner has lowered its 2011 forecast for PC shipment growth due to shifts in consumer spending and the rising popularity of other portable computing devices, such as tablets.

Microsoft Details Windows Mobile 6.x Phaseout Plans

Users of the aging Windows Mobile 6 operating system will soon be transitioned to Microsoft's Windows Live SkyDrive storage service, Microsoft announced last week.

Supreme Court Denies Microsoft's 'Patent Reform' Argument in i4i Case

On Thursday, eight justices in the U.S. Supreme Court denied Microsoft's appeal in the long-running patent infringement case involving Toronto-based i4i LLP.

Windows Thin PC Hits RTM; Final Release Set for July 1

Microsoft's Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) product has reached the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) stage, the company announced Tuesday. The solution is expected to become generally available on July 1.

Microsoft Buys Gold Certified Partner Prodiance

Microsoft acquired Pleasanton, Calif.-based Prodiance Corp., which provides enterprise risk management products, on Monday.

Fujitsu Cloud Will Be First To Use Windows Azure Appliance

Fujitsu will offer commercial cloud services using Microsoft's Windows Azure platform beginning in August, according to a joint announcement from the companies on Tuesday.

Analysis: Microsoft-Skype Not Enough To Beat Cisco in UC (Yet)

Does Microsoft's planned acquisition of Skype pose a threat to Cisco's leadership in the unified communications (UC) space? Analysts say it depends.

Microsoft Gets Upper Hand Against Motorola in Android Patent Suit

Microsoft is making headway in its patent infringement lawsuit against Motorola pertaining to the Android mobile operating system.

Office 365 General Availability Set for June 28

Microsoft partner executive announces release date for the successor to BPOS, which adds Office integration.

Microsoft Demos 'Windows 8' at D9 Conference

Microsoft showed off "Windows 8," the codename for its newest operating system, on Wednesday evening at the D9 Conference, which took place this week in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Windows 7 Use Grows to One-Third of Global OS Market

Windows 7 ended May with 33.22 percent of the global operating system market, according to data collected by StatCounter.

Microsoft Releases Betas for Windows Deployment Tools

As part of Microsoft's free Solution Accelerator series, the company released two toolkit betas this week for Windows-based deployment and migration planning.

Microsoft Gives Hardware Partners the Limelight at Computex

Microsoft's opening keynote presentation on Wednesday at the Computex show in Taipei gave a decidedly rosy picture for its hardware partners.

Report: Cloud, Mobility Will 'Kill' Microsoft's Licensing Model

A recent Forrester Research report suggests Microsoft may soon require its business customers to pay Software Assurance (SA) licensing fees.

City of Redmond To Adopt Dynamics AX 2012 in July

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 won't become available until August, but the city of Redmond, Wash. -- also home to Microsoft's headquarters -- will begin implementing the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in July.