Microsoft is ratcheting up its Windows XP Service Pack 2 distributions as the company seeks to meet an internal goal of getting the critical security update out to about 40 percent of its Windows XP installed base within two months of SP2's release.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- October 05, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    At the one-year anniversary of the release of Windows Small Business Server 2003, the packaged server for small business is outpacing sales of the previous version of the product, according to Microsoft.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- October 05, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft is releasing an update of its enterprise resource planning package for midsize project-, service- and distribution-oriented organizations this month.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- October 05, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft and the European Commission faced off in open court on Thursday for the first time in their five-year legal battle over antitrust concerns.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 30, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Fast on the heels of its announcement that Russia would be the fourth of five countries in a pilot program of a low-cost, limited-functionality version of Windows XP, Microsoft named India as the fifth country.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 30, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    When Microsoft delivers the Beta 3 version of SQL Server 2005, formerly code-named "Yukon," it will carry a number of feature enhancements that weren't available in the more broadly distributed Beta 2 version.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 29, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    After having taken nearly every opportunity so far to push back the release schedule for SQL Server 2005, formerly known as "Yukon," Microsoft is allowing its SQL Server PASS Community Summit to pass without disclosing a new delay.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 29, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft extended the usefulness of its SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services by making available three Report Packs, which are collections of report templates for specific Microsoft applications.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 29, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft this week announced that it's expanding its Windows XP Starter Edition pilot program into Russia. The company said that it hopes to get the software to PC OEMs in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States by early 2005.
                    
			            - By Michael  Domingo
- September 28, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    The Mainframe Migration Alliance, Microsoft's coalition of the willing for moving customers from mainframes to Windows servers, got some new members and an official Web site on Tuesday.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 28, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    About a year after releasing Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft rolled out a free, automated best practice tool to help IT get the most out of the e-mail server and its two predecessors -- Exchange 2000 and Exchange 5.5.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 27, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Over the last few years, EMC has found itself controlling a number of the assets that medium-sized businesses might need to consolidate and manage their Microsoft Exchange-based storage.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 27, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft formally launched Exchange Server 2003 about a year ago. The company is holding off until next month to formally announce how much momentum the incremental upgrade to Exchange 2000 Server has built up in that time. Several analyst firms that track messaging closely, however, think they have a pretty good idea how migrations are going.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 27, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft made some minor changes to its volume licensing programs this week as it launched a new centralized Web site for licensing information.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 23, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Dell and Oracle this week began jointly promoting a packaged offering of Oracle's low-end Standard Edition One version of its 10g database on Dell hardware and running Windows Server 2003. Previously Dell and Oracle only offered the packaged deal on the Red Hat Linux operating system.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 23, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    The seriousness of an already critical flaw in the way a Microsoft component processes JPEG files got ratcheted up a notch this week as exploit code began circulating.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 23, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft has issued a formal fix for a problem in Windows XP Service Pack 2 that resulted in error messages for programs that attempt to use loopback addresses other than 127.0.0.1.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 22, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    It’s never taken Microsoft longer than three years (give or take a few months) to deliver a new version of its business-class operating system. And when Redmond ships its Longhorn operating environment sometime in 2006, more or less than three years will have elapsed since the software giant delivered Windows Server 2003. 
                    
			            - By Stephen  Swoyer
- September 22, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    William G. Reed Jr. will retire from the Microsoft board of directors after 17 years.
The board has decided not to replace Reed, reducing the size of the Microsoft board from 10 members to nine.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 22, 2004
 
            
                
	                
                    
                                        
		            
                    Microsoft expanded its controversial Government Security Program to allow governments that Microsoft trusts to review the source code of Microsoft Office.
                    
			            - By Scott  Bekker
- September 21, 2004