News


Windows XP Free Support Ends April 14

Microsoft will end "mainstream support" of XP on April 14, 2009, meaning that there will be no more free per-incident support for that operating system.

Survey: IT Pros 'Cautious' on Move to Windows 7

A survey of IT professionals conducted last month for systems management provider KACE found that a majority of respondents expect that they won't deploy Windows 7 in the next year.

Numerous New Dev Tools at Web 2.0 Expo

The annual Web 2.0 Expo is considered a prominent showcase and launching ground for noteworthy next-generation applications, and last week's gathering in San Francisco was no exception.

Datacenter Design Leader Leaves Microsoft

A key Microsoft team member involved with the modular design of Microsoft's server farms has joined another company.

Velocity CTP3 Released

Microsoft this week rolled out the next community test version of a distributed cache platform code-named "Velocity" that promises to speed up .NET-based applications.

US-CERT Warns of Conficker Variant

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team warns that researchers on April 9 discovered a new variant of the Conficker worm that updates earlier infections via its peer-to-peer network.

Microsoft Unveils MED-V 1.0

The first version of Microsoft's desktop virtualization tool was announced last week.

Microsoft To Appeal Uniloc Case, Pay Other Fines

Microsoft may face millions in losses following two separate legal decisions announced on Wednesday.

Five 'Critical' Patches Planned for Tuesday

After some comparatively light patch rollouts in past months, Microsoft's April Patch Tuesday promises a fuller slate with eight security bulletins.

Microsoft Delays 'Stirling' Security Suite

Microsoft has delayed the release of an upcoming enterprise security suite that integrates Microsoft Forefront security solutions, the company announced late last week.

First Service Pack Released for SQL Server 2008

Microsoft on Tuesday released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1, which provides updates to the relational database management system, but no new features.

'Neeris' Worm Using Old Tricks on Windows PCs

While the IT security community waited anxiously to see what havoc the Conficker worm might bring to infected systems on April 1, another worm slithered into the picture and now has Microsoft's full attention.

Cost Replacing Functionality as Linux's Appeal

With a shrinking server market, financial services firms are porting more applications to Linux at the expense of Unix and other legacy platforms. While that has been an ongoing trend for many years, the motive has shifted in the past year from adding new functionality to reducing cost.

Sun VirtualBox 2.2 Adds Open Virtualization Format Support

Sun Microsystems has released VirtualBox 2.2, an update to the company's free and open source desktop virtualization solution.

Windows 7 RC Nears, and There Will Be Pain

Windows 7 beta testers will experience some pain when moving to the release candidate version of the operating system when it comes out, Microsoft officials explained on Tuesday.

Windows 7 Will Have an XP Downgrade Option

Microsoft will permit Windows 7 Professional edition downgrades to Windows XP Professional, according a report by veteran Microsoft watcher Mary-Jo Foley published on Monday.

Microsoft Partner Phase 2 Adds IBM's Hosted Apps

Phase 2 International now offers online IBM Lotus applications to SMBs, adding to its various hosted service offerings which already include a Microsoft solution stack.

Zend Releasing Enterprise-Grade PHP Server

Zend Technologies will release its commercial-grade server for PHP applications on Tuesday.

VMware Pledges Savings Guarantee on Server Hardware Costs

VMware believes it can save you at least half on your server hardware through virtualization. It's so confident of the savings that the company is announcing that it will work for you for free if it can't meet that goal.

WSJ: IBM, Sun Talks 'Unraveling'

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the proposed $7 billion dollar deal for IBM Corp. to acquire Sun Microsystems virtually collapsed this weekend.