News


Microsoft Tweaks Support Lifecycle

Microsoft Corp. today announced that it is slightly modifying its support lifecycle to provide what it calls “more predictability” for customers.

Partner Watch, Jan. 9

Storage maker EMC acquires IT services firm Internosis.

A Peek Into the Sounds of Windows Vista

Microsoft looks to electronic musician Robert Fripp to create the sounds of the next Windows OS.

IT Weekly Roundup, Jan. 6

From the business wires: a Group Policy security extension, a load testing tool for Web apps, USB flash drives with LCD displays, and Windows Media Player 11.

Watch It: Microsoft Touts New SPOT Products

Microsoft showed off the newest additions to its growing Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, including an updated line of SPOT-enabled watches and a wireless weather forecasting center with an information link through MSN Direct.

Microsoft to Post WMF Vulnerability Patch Ahead of Schedule

Microsoft is releasing an out-of-cycle patch Thursday for the Windows Meta File (WMF) vulnerability that attackers were already exploiting when the flaw was made public in the last week of December. Earlier this week, Microsoft had said it would not release a patch until its regular Patch Tuesday event next week.

IDC: IT Spending To Grow Modestly in 2006

Spending on IT in the United States is set to grow by a modest 5 percent this year, according to new projections released by the technology market research firm IDC on Wednesday. The firm expressed unusual confidence about its numbers.

Gates Shows Vista Off to the Masses at CES Las Vegas

The focus of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is, as you might expect, consumer electronics. But amid the smart watches, television-ready cell phones and movie download services were a few tidbits sure to impact IT in the coming year.

Symantec To Purchase IM Vendor

Symantec is acquiring instant messaging software maker IM Logic.

Firefox Held Nearly 10 Percent Share at Year’s End

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser slowly but surely lost significant market share to Firefox over the past year, according to the latest monthly traffic report released Wednesday by Web metrics tool vendor Net Applications.

Microsoft Ships First Python Beta

At the very end of 2005, Microsoft quietly began shipping the first beta of IronPython, a release of the open source Python scripting language that functions within the .NET common language runtime (CLR).

Semiconductor Sales Continue at Record Pace

The Semiconductor Industry Association announced Tuesday that global sales of semiconductors continued to set a record pace in November, up 7.2 percent over a year earlier.

Intel Overhauls Branding

Intel kicked off the new year by updating its brand image to focus on the company’s emerging strategy of featuring itself as a platform company rather than just a chip giant.

Microsoft Responds to WMF Zero-Day Exploit

Microsoft is nearly finished with a patch for a zero-day exploit discovered in malware last week, but the software giant doesn't plan to release the fix until next week.

Private Eyes

Microsoft leads an industry-wide struggle to balance customer privacy and business value.

I Spy

An industry alliance formally defines "spyware,"a move that should help companies combat insidious intrusions.

Open Warfare

Microsoft and Massachusetts continue sparring over file formats.

New Zero-Day Exploit Threatens XP Users

Security experts at F-Secure reported on Tuesday a zero-day exploit that exposes vulnerabilities in the Windows graphics handling engine to enable malware to take control of PCs running fully patched Windows XP SP2.

Call for Reviewers: Developer, SQL Exams

If your plans call for taking the new-generation MCP developer and SQL exams in the next few weeks, tell us how you plan to approach them and what steps you'll take to pass them.

Seagate To Buy Maxtor in $1.9 Billion Stock Deal

Twas the week before Christmas when Seagate Technology announced plans to acquire smaller rival Maxtor in an all stock deal worth an estimated $1.9 billion.