News


China Declares Crack Down on Online, Mobile Spam

BEJING-China is cracking down on junk e-mail and "illegal" mobile phone text messages, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

Microsoft Releases New Exams

Company plans crossover with partner program.

Microsoft Posts, Yanks List of Windows Vista Edition Names

After appearing to release official names for the editions of Windows Vista over the weekend, Microsoft now says the Web page where the names appeared was posted prematurely and the names are not final.

SMS 2003 R2 Beta Begins

Microsoft announced this week it has begun beta testing Systems Management Server 2003 Release 2.

MS Commerce Server 2006 Enters Beta Test

The latest release of Microsoft's full-on e-commerce package has begun beta testing, the company said this week. Microsoft Commerce Server 2006 is currently targeted for final release in July.

Borland Rolls Out 'Personalized' IT Governance Solution

As if to reinforce its message that it is now an application lifecycle firm, Borland Software announced this week it is shipping a new IT governance solution.

Alero 2006 Release 2 Ships

Alero Technology announced this week it is shipping Release 2 of its Alero 2006 enterprise information management package.

'Office 2007' It Is

It's official. Microsoft announced overnight on Wednesday that Office "12" will be officially known as -- ta da! -- Office 2007. At the same time, the Redmond software maker announced a dizzying array of packaging and licensing options.

MCITP Exams Now Live

Microsoft releases two more exams, aimed at MCITP for SQL Server DBA candidates.

Microsoft Counterattacks on EC Claims

Declaring that it has fulfilled both the letter and the spirit of the law, Microsoft Wednesday denied it is still in violation of European Community fair trade laws and attacked the EC's Commission for Competition.

Utility Makes Sure 'Deleted' Files Really Are

German utility firm 1-abc.net announced it is shipping a new product aimed at making sure that files you delete stay deleted.

Survey: Skip the Cold Calls in Selling Managed Services

A recent survey, billed as one of the first polls of end users of managed services, found the customers were much more responsive to managed service providers they encountered at trade shows and to referrals than to cold sales calls.

Microsoft Offers Free Exam Retakes Through June

Popular "second-shot" promotion keeps coming back; this time, it's worldwide.

Microsoft Beta Tests Office Live Services

Microsoft's Office Live online services for small companies officially entered beta mid-week.

Microsoft Updates Active Directory Roadmap

Microsoft said Tuesday that it is making additions and changes to Windows Server "Longhorn" and to Internet Explorer 7 to add capabilities to better support security and identity protection.

7 Bulletins for February Patch Tuesday

Microsoft released seven security bulletins, including two bulletins that addressed critical flaws affecting Windows. The other five bulletins included patches for flaws with a maximum severity rating of "important" in Windows and Office.

Partner Watch, Feb. 13

Security specialists Websense and Network Engines team up with Microsoft to offer integrated solutions.

Microsoft Buys Mobile Search Company

Microsoft came late to desktop search; it doesn’t intend to make the same mistake with mobile search. The company announced Monday that it has bought MotionBridge, a French maker of "mobile search" technology.

IT Weekly Roundup, Feb. 10

From the business wires this week: an application control manager for Windows servers, backup and recovery software and an authentication appliance.

ISA 2006 Beta Bows

Microsoft is shipping the first beta of Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA) 2006, as well as early select customer betas of its Microsoft Client Protection and Microsoft Antigen for Exchange products.