News


Another Technical Preview Available for SQL Server 2005

Microsoft released its second SQL Server 2005 Community Technology Preview on Friday, giving customers another taste of the long-awaited "Yukon" version of SQL Server now planned for a mid-2005 release.

'Brighter' Days for MessageLabs’ Updated Anti-spam Service

The new release of MessageLabs’ anti-spam service provides corporate users with an added layer of protection from spurious e-mails by incorporating Symantec’s Brightmail technology as well as by bulking up MessageLabs’ own spam filtering technology.

Executive Software Ships Patch Management Tool

Executive Software is shipping a patch management module for automating installation of Microsoft security patches that can be used either by itself or as part of the company’s Sitekeeper systems management suite.

Gartner Predicts PC Market Consolidation

Analysts at Gartner expect tough times ahead for the PC industry.

Microsoft Posts Critical Patch for IE Ahead of Regular Schedule

Microsoft on Wednesday released a security patch for the critical Internet Explorer flaw that was being exploited through compromised Web banner servers. Microsoft considered the flaw, which has been public for about a month, important enough to release the patch ahead of its normal patching day, which falls on Dec. 14 this month.

Major Windows Crash Hits U.K. Agency

A widespread crash of Windows desktop systems threw the United Kingdom's Department of Work and Pensions into disarray for several days last week.

IDC: Windows Server Revenues Essentially Equal Unix Market in Q3

Factory revenues for Windows servers and Unix servers were "essentially equal" in IDC's market share report for the third quarter, marking a potential turning point for the Windows server market.

IE's Market Share Falls Below 90 Percent

A Dutch Web analytics provider released statistics this month showing that market share for the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser fell below 90 percent for the first time in several years as Mozilla browsers surged to 7.35 percent.

Opteron is to Linux as EM64T is to Windows?

It may not be time to retire the term "Wintel" yet.

Attackers Deface SCO Site with Microsoft Lawsuit Threat

Attackers defaced the SCO Website at least twice in recent days -- in one case changing the company's logo to "We own all your code, pay us all your money," and in the other case claiming the company was preparing to sue Microsoft.

Sky’s the Limit with Horizon for SAP Update

Tidal Software is shipping an update to its performance and availability management software for SAP on Windows that takes advantage of just released Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005.

WINS Exploit Posted

Security experts are warning users to lock down unused ports after an exploit surfaced for an unpatched flaw in Microsoft WINS.

Sober.I Makes the Rounds

Another version of Sober is getting attention from the major security companies.

Sonasoft Bows Windows Backup and Recovery Suite

Sonasoft has bundled its backup and recovery products for major Microsoft systems into a comprehensive suite.

No Windows 2000 SP5, Expect Security Rollup Instead

Microsoft has killed its planned Windows 2000 Service Pack 5. Instead the company will release an Update Rollup for Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 in the middle of next year.

'Avalon' Community Technical Preview Released

Microsoft earlier this month released a Community Technical Preview of "Avalon," the new presentation subsystem for Windows.

Wise Solutions Revs Software Deployment Tools

Wise Solutions is shipping an update of its premier lifecycle management tool, Wise Package Studio. The latest release – version 5.5 – adds automated patch impact assessment and testing tools, as well as support for new features in Microsoft’s Windows Installer 3.0.

SMS 2003 Feature Packs Arrive

Microsoft this week delivered two long-promised feature packs for Systems Management Server 2003 -- an Operating System Deployment Feature Pack and a Device Management Feature Pack.

NetIQ Ties Its System Management and Security Tools

NetIQ this month will begin shipping a “connector” tool to enable systems management and security information to be displayed on the same console.

Dogfood Report: Microsoft IT and MOM 2005

To coincide with the worldwide general availability of Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 this week, Microsoft's IT department released a 32-page whitepaper detailing its internal deployment of the management software.