News


Microsoft, Yahoo! Announce IM Interop Deal

Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! announced an initiative on Wednesday to make MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger compatible with each other.

Microsoft Offers Small Business Package with a Partner Twist

Microsoft on Monday unveiled two new financial incentives designed to get U.S. small businesses more deeply invested in Microsoft infrastructure – while helping partners in the process.

RealNetworks, Microsoft Reach Settlement

Longtime technology rivals RealNetworks and Microsoft on Tuesday settled their antitrust case and created a new partnership in digital music and games in a deal valued at $761 million to RealNetworks.

Microsoft Releases 9 Security Bulletins

Three of the Patch Tuesday bulletins are critical.

Kahuna Gets Bigger

MSN is expanding the beta program for the next generation of its Hotmail Web-based e-mail service, known by the code-name "Kahuna."

Navision SP1 Available with New Employee Portal

The first service pack for Microsoft Business Solutions-Navision 4.0 became available to some customers on Monday, marking the start of a tiered release.

Discount Office, XP Bundle Created for Small Businesses

Microsoft also offers to help small businesses pay Microsoft partners for deployment consulting and services.

Windows XP N Stands for 'No Sales'

A senior Microsoft official in the United Kingdom confirmed this week that no computer manufacturers took up the option to install Windows XP N, the operating system Microsoft created in response to the European Commission decision against it.

Partner Watch, Oct. 7

Texas picks Winternals Software to provide system recovery solution.

EC Sniffing Around Microsoft's Security Plans

The European Commission, which proved with its 497 million Euro fine and behavioral restrictions last year to be a formidable antitrust adversary for Microsoft, is showing interest in the American software giant's security plans.

Newspaper: Microsoft-Time Warner Resume AOL Talks

Time Warner Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have restarted discussions about forming an alliance of their Internet units, America Online and MSN, the Wall Street Journal reported in its Friday editions.

IT Weekly Roundup, Oct. 7

From the business wires this week: software for documenting your network’s assets and vulnerabilities, a solution for joining heterogeneous systems to Active Directory, and network time servers.

EC Appoints Advisor to Monitor Microsoft

Professor Neil Barrett, a computer scientist and specialist in researching Internet crime, will serve as a technical advisor to the European Commission on questions of Microsoft's compliance with the EC's 2004 decision against Microsoft.

Nine Security Fixes Coming on Patch Tuesday

Get ready for a huge Microsoft Patch Tuesday next week. The Microsoft Security Response Center is preparing nine security bulletins, according to its Thursday night advance notification e-mail.

Windows XP SP2 Hotfix Posted for SBP-2 Problem

A hotfix was posted to the Microsoft Download Center on Friday for users who ran into trouble with Serial Bus Protocol 2 devices after installing Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Get Used to Windows XP SP2 -- SP3 Looks to be a Long Way Off

The official position out of Microsoft on Windows XP Service Pack 3 is, Yes we're working on SP3, and stop asking about it.

Microsoft Unveils Unified A-V, Anti-Spyware Product for Corporations

Microsoft on Thursday formally unveiled its much-anticipated corporate client protection software that combines the anti-virus and spyware technologies the company has been developing since purchasing GeCAD Software in mid-2003 and Giant Company Software in late 2004.

Altiris Joins the Virtualization Land Rush

Lifecycle management tool vendor Altiris says it is readying a virtualization product for release later this year aimed at driving down support costs and making operations more efficient by eliminating application conflicts.

Microsoft to Add Homegrown A-V Engine to Sybari Antigen

Microsoft's first major release of the product since buying Sybari earlier this year will enter beta testing in the first half of 2006.

Exchange "12" DevCon Scheduled

Even as the SQL Server 2005 launch takes place in San Francisco Nov. 7, Microsoft will be quietly giving developers and ISVs inside details on the next version of its other major back-end server -- Exchange.