News


Microsoft: 106 Million Downloads of Windows XP SP2

It was an ambitious, self-imposed goal -- distribute 100 million copies of Windows XP Service Pack 2 within two months of the critical security update's release. On Wednesday, Microsoft declared success.

Istanbul to Bring Telephony to Windows Instant Messaging

"Istanbul" is Microsoft's client component for moving its Live Communications Server-based presence platform forward with telephony.

Gartner Issues Warning to Windows NT 4 Workstation Users

The blizzard of Microsoft security patches last Tuesday serves as a harsh reminder to organizations still running Windows NT 4.0 Workstation that you're on your own.

Windows Server Roadmap Gets Down to Specifics

During a series of recent media briefings, Microsoft began to give out nitty gritty details about specific timetables for the betas, SDKs and release candidates that will lead to the next round of Windows server operating systems.

Microsoft to Give Customers a Break on Dual-Core Licensing

With the expected arrival of dual-core processors from both Intel and AMD next year, Microsoft faced a licensing dilemma -- do right by customers by charging for only the physical processors or do right by investors by wringing maximum profit from each core on the processor.

SQL Server 2005 Beta 3 Coming Later, Interim Preview Code Available

Microsoft released a technical preview of its upcoming SQL Server 2005 database on Friday at the same time as the company adjusted its timetable for delivering the next major beta, and possibly, the long-delayed product itself.

Microsoft, Cisco Team on Network Access Protections

New integrated approach will cause quarantining technology to be delayed from the Windows Server 2003 "R2" release to the Windows "Longhorn" Server release.

Gates Q&A Appears to Leave WinFS Fate Open

In a Q&A session this month, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect talked briefly about the next version of Windows, code-named "Longhorn," and seemed to be describing the WinFS technologies that are supposed to have been cut.

ProClarity Expands Beyond SQL Server Data Sources

For much of its existence Boise, Idaho-based ProClarity has built its analytic technology stack almost entirely on top of Microsoft’s SQL Server 2000 database. That changed late last month when ProClarity announced a new version 6.0 release of its ProClarity Analytics platform.

Quest Updates Exchange Reporting Tool

Quest Software this week released a new version of its usage reporting and analysis tool for Microsoft Exchange.

Microsoft Releases 10 Security Bulletins

In one of its biggest monthly "Patch Tuesday" events yet, Microsoft posted 10 new security bulletins, seven of them for critical flaws that could allow attackers to remotely take control of a computer.

The Windows "Longhorn" Roadmap

Some notable milestones in the Longhorn delivery schedule and Microsoft's dates for future deliverables.

Big Ideas on the Longhorn Trail

Windows Longhorn is becoming less a code-name for an operating system than it is a code-name for a family of major technology projects that are becoming less and less coupled to the next version of Windows.

Longhorn Resources

A collection of links to resources about Microsoft's Windows "Longhorn" project.

How Much Will Longhorn Matter?

Windows "Longhorn" took a serious blow to its coolness quotient a month ago when it got a hard ship date and a serious loss of exclusive features. Suddenly, many of the big ideas in this operating system are either separated from the OS or will be available in older versions of Windows.

Executive Stakes in Longhorn

The roles of a handful of top executives in shaping the Windows "Longhorn" project so far have come to light.

SANS Posts Top 20 Vulnerabilities List

The SANS Institute on Friday unveiled its fifth annual list of the most commonly exploited vulnerable services in Windows, Unix and Linux systems. For Windows-based systems, Web servers and services topped the list as the biggest vulnerability.

Security Firm Finds Program to Create JPEGs Exploiting Microsoft Flaw

Panda Software reported finding a tool on black hat hacker sites that can be used to create files in the JPEG image format that exploit the vulnerability in Microsoft's JPEG processing component.

Opinion: Upcoming Service Pack Doesn't Change Much -- And That's Good

All the emphasis right now is on Windows XP SP2 -- and rightly so. But there's another Windows service pack just around the bend, and if early indications are accurate, Windows Server 2003 SP1 shows how far Microsoft has come in terms of OS security.

Microsoft Licenses Exchange Sync Technology to Palm OS Smartphone Maker

Treo, a maker of Palm OS-based smartphones, entered a licensing agreement with Microsoft to allow the next generation of its phones to link up with the ActiveSync technology in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.