News


Dev Teams Hobbled by Poor Metrics, Study Suggests

Borland commissioned a study on the effectiveness of performance measurements in application development projects. The study surveyed 20 application development and project management organizations with revenues ranging from $1 billion to $5 billion.

Microsoft Sells Banner Ads on MSN Mobile

Microsoft Corp. has started placing advertisements on the U.S. version of MSN Mobile, a Web portal for cell phone browsers that connects users with Hotmail, instant messaging, search, news and other content.

Microsoft Releases Entity Framework Beta 3

Microsoft released Entity Framework Beta 3 on Dec. 6 and officially announced the third-party database vendors and ADO.NET 2.0 data providers that have agreed to support the framework.

Microsoft, Oracle Diverge on Outside VM Support

In case there was any doubt that virtualization is the hottest trend in IT, witness the rush of vendors glomming onto this technology.

Microsoft PDC Is Back On

Microsoft Professional Developers Conference is back on the roster for October 2008 in L.A.

Microsoft To Test Windows on '$100 Laptop'

Microsoft Corp. will begin testing a version of Windows XP in January on the "$100 laptop" from One Laptop Per Child.

Windows Server 2008, Vista SP1 Hit RC Milestone

Microsoft publishing release candidates of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista's first service pack.

7 Fixes for Final Patch Tuesday of 2007

Microsoft's last Patch Tuesday release of 2007 is a big one -- seven fixes, with three of them deemed "Critical" and four labeled "Important."

Economy May Slow Tech Industry's Growth

Weakness in the U.S. economy figures to take a bite out of the technology industry's growth rate in 2008, when analysts expect tech spending to slow around the world.

New Exploit Targets Internet Explorer

Researcher in New Zealand discovered holes in Microsoft's Web Proxy Automatic Discovery (WPAD) program.

Microsoft Sparks Volta Test For Multi-Tier App Dev

Volta toolset, used with Visual Studio 2008, promises easier deployment of apps beyond the .NET world.

Dell Launches Formal Partner Program

Direct-sales stalwart Dell on Wednesday launched its formal global channel program, providing details and a U.S. launch of the partner program that Chairman and CEO Michael Dell first hinted at in May of this year.

Bidders Emerge in Wireless Auction

Internet giant Google Inc. and telecommunications carriers AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless are among those expected to bid in January in a government auction of the last remaining smidge of wireless airwaves.

Sun Releases Virtualization Management Tool Under GPLv3

Sun Microsystems today announced the availability of the first component of its new virtualization platform, and laid out a roadmap for opening the platform's source code. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based systems company bills its xVM Ops Center virtualization management tool as a "highly scalable datacenter automation tool for complete management of heterogeneous global IT environments."

Dell Board OKs Share Repurchase Plan

Dell Inc. is reviving plans to buy back shares in the company and will begin to repurchase $10 billion in common stock this week, chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said Tuesday.

New Windows 2008 Exam Betas Available

Microsoft beta tests three TS-level exams until Dec. 21.

Vista SP1 To Enhance Security, Block Piracy

Microsoft said that the first service pack for Windows Vista will fight off known exploits as well as kill off its "reduced functionality mode."

SAP Trots Out CRM 2007

SAP today showed off its latest CRM wares, recast as a good Web 2.0 citizen.

Google to Bid for Wireless Spectrum

Google Inc. confirmed its plans to bid for a prized piece of the airwaves in an upcoming government auction, further underscoring the Internet search leader's determination to shake up the wireless market and plumb more profits from mobile phones.

Justices Turn Down Online Piracy Case

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider an appeal by an online publisher that claims credit-card companies are enabling the piracy of its pictures of nude models.