News


Yukon Getting Data Warehousing Overhaul

The next version of Microsoft SQL Server, code-named "Yukon," will have a completely rebuilt engine for extraction, transformation and loading of data from one source to another -- a key element of data warehousing and business intelligence operations.

IBM 32-Way Xeon System Slated for 2004

As IBM rolled out its 16-way Itanium 2 servers this week, the company confirmed that it still plans to bring out a 32-processor system based on the 32-bit Intel Xeon processor.

World's Biggest Production Databases Now Include Windows

Windows servers and SQL Server 2000 now power some of the world's biggest production databases, according to an annual survey from data management analysts at Winter Corp.

Noski, Panke Named to Microsoft Board

Microsoft shareholders approved the addition of two outsiders to the corporate board of directors and a reduction in the number of committees each board member serves on.

SMS 2003 Launches at Last

Having pre-announced the official announcement of Systems Management Server 2003 last month, and having discussed the features to death in the years of delivery delays, there wasn't much left for Microsoft to do at the official SMS 2003 launch other than talk about customer momentum.

3 Critical Bulletins in Microsoft's Monthly Patch Collection

Three critical security patches are included in Microsoft's bundle of security bulletins for November. The critical problems affect Internet Explorer, Windows and the Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 RTMs

Microsoft this week completed its first conversion of virtual machine technology acquired from Connectix Corp. into a product.

IBM's Itanium-Based Offering Quadruples in Scale

IBM joined the mid-range Intel Itanium 2 scalability party this week with the rollout of an IBM eServer xSeries 455 that scales up to 16 processors.

HP Fleshes Out Server Line

HP this week pushed out a raft of new Intel-based servers, including a pair of Itanium servers that fill a gap in HP's 64-bit server line.

Itanium System Breaks 1 Million Transactions on TPC-C

HP, Intel and Oracle crossed a psychological performance threshold this week when their Itanium/HP-UX/Oracle10g system achieved more than 1 million transactions per minute on the industry-standard OLTP scalability benchmark, the TPC-C.

IIS Slips in Netcraft Survey

Microsoft’s Internet Information Service continues its slide in market share. According to Netcraft, a U.K.-based consultancy that scans the Web each month for the most-used Web servers, Apache made major gains at Microsoft’s expense in the November survey.

Opinion: Real Intelligence, or Paralysis by Analysis?

Business intelligence and analytics used to be a closed process in which a small room of analysts loaded sales figures into proprietary software or onto spreadsheets to generate reports for corporate decision makers. Now, three trends are sweeping away this process, but threaten to make the IT director’s job untenable.

Microsoft Puts Up $5 Million to Catch Hackers

Microsoft raised the stakes for virus and worm authors on Wednesday by putting $5 million into a reward fund for information leading to the arrest of malware writers. Specific bounties of $250,000 each are in place for the authors of the MSBlastA worm and the Sobig virus.

Security Lockdown Wizard Coming to Windows 2003 in SP1

The security configuration lockdown wizard for Windows Server 2003 that was supposed to be delivered shortly after the operating system shipped has now apparently been pushed into the first service pack.

Microsoft Releases Windows Rights Management Services

Microsoft released the final version of its Windows Rights Management Services add-on for Windows Server 2003 on Tuesday. RMS can be installed for free on licensed copies of Windows Server 2003, but organizations that plan to use the technology must pay for a special CAL that is layered on top of normal CALs.

Longhorn Packed with Changes

A drill-down into the themes and technologies on the drawing board for the next version of Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft Pushes 'Watson' for ISV Apps

Software developers are in the crosshairs of Microsoft’s “Watson” initiative, now that the company is claiming success with the automated customer feedback program in improving the quality of its own software and third-party hardware drivers.

Gates Kicks Off 'Longhorn' Generation

Bill Gates kicked off the "Longhorn" generation of products in his Los Angeles keynote speech at the Professional Developers Conference, one of the most hotly anticipated Microsoft conferences in years.

Microsoft Updates Product Roadmap at PDC

Microsoft refined its roadmap for future versions of Windows, SQL Server and Visual Studio this week at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles.

The Microsoft PDC Goody Bag

Attendees at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles this week got their hands on enough code to keep them busy until formal public betas hit next year.