News


Windows CE .NET 4.1 Available

Microsoft on Tuesday made available an interim release of its Windows CE .NET operating system for mobile and small-footprint devices that adds IPv6 support, new file viewers and a Speech API.

IBM Opens Windows .NET, Xeon MP High-End Benchmarking with a Roar

Leveraging Windows .NET Datacenter Server beta code and Intel's new Xeon MP chips, IBM used the Transaction Processing Performance Council's OLTP benchmark to demonstrate impressive performance on its funky new eight-processor servers.

Gates Outlines 3 Waves of Software Coming from Microsoft

Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates spent his day Thursday trying to help the financial community understand the themes behind Microsoft's dozens of planned product releases over the next few years. The "wave" model he came up with may be equally helpful for IT decision makers trying to make sense of how Microsoft's roadmaps fit with their own organizations' plans.

Company Extends Apache to Support .NET

Covalent Technologies this week released extensions to their Apache Web server product to allow integration with Microsoft's ASP.NET.

Microsoft Puts Out 5 Security Bulletins Overnight

Microsoft issued five security bulletins on Wednesday night, including one bulletin and patch addressing three critical vulnerabilities in SQL Server 2000. Two of the bulletins dealt with SQL Server 2000, one dealt with Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, another involved Microsoft Metadirectory Services 2.2 and a fifth bulletin was a reissue of an earlier patch for Windows Media Player.

Exchange 2000 SP3 Posted

Microsoft on Wednesday posted the third Service Pack for Exchange 2000 that includes fixes from an eight-week Trustworthy Computing-related code review.

Windows .NET Server RC1 Ready

Release Candidate 1 of Windows .NET Server is finished and Microsoft will distribute the code to anyone who wants to test it, the company said Wednesday. Shipping RC1, which is feature complete, is a major milestone in Microsoft's process for delivering a finished operating system.

Microsoft Creates .NET Provider for Oracle

Microsoft on Tuesday made one of its occasional noises about integration with a competitor when it trumpeted a new tool for wiring Oracle databases to applications developed in the .NET Framework.

Microsoft, Lotus Claim Victory in IDC Findings

Market research firm IDC released its annual report on messaging and collaboration Tuesday, concluding that the market is growing in number of seats but shrinking in revenues.

IBM Unveils Latest DB2

The latest beta of IBM Corp.’s relational database server, DB2, has hit the Web, revealing what will come in the next release. When version 8 is released later this year, it will include new management features and Web services functionality.

Microsoft to Release Q4 Earnings

Microsoft is scheduled to discuss its earnings this evening for the fourth quarter of the 2002 fiscal year and for the entire year, which ended June 30.

Microsoft Taking Nominations for 64-bit SQL Testers

Simultaneous with the Itanium 2 processor launch last week, Microsoft began taking nominations for the SQL Server 2000 64-bit beta program.

Free Windows 2000 Security Configuration Tool Posted

Groups independent of Microsoft have put out a new free tool for securely configuring Windows 2000 desktops.

HP Benchmarks Itanium 2 Servers

Hewlett-Packard racked up some records on standard business benchmarks using its new servers built on the Itanium 2 processor, the Limited Edition of Windows Advanced Server and beta code of 64-bit SQL Server.

Unisys Expands Wintel Mainframe Line

In the wake of Intel's launch of its second-generation 64-bit processors, Unisys this week unveiled its plans for its next generation of Wintel mainframes. Unisys is packaging a new line of its big boxes to make it attractive in more cost-conscious markets. The new servers will roll out over the next few months.

Microsoft: 41 Percent of Exchange Customers on Exchange 2000

Microsoft is finally getting comfortable enough with its Exchange 2000 market adoption to trumpet some numbers.

Exchange 'Titanium' Unveiled

Microsoft for the first time publicly discussed details of the next version of its Exchange messaging and groupware platform, code-named Titanium. Titanium will incorporate new features, but Microsoft officials say it will constitute an “evolutionary” upgrade from Exchange 2000.

SQL Vulnerabilities Disclosed

Microsoft-centric database administrators were greeted last week with a pair of security bulletins about new problems with SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE).

BPI or Simple Integration? The Debate Rages On

Is business process integration worth the trouble? Over the past year, there's been a lot of industry buzz around the topic of business process integration, or – as it’s often referred to in its broader context – business process management. Many EAI vendors have widened their offerings to include BPI functionality. Not to be left out of the action, Microsoft positions its BizTalk Server as a BPI server and modeling environment that employs Web services protocols to link application sets. However, many experts question the value of approaches being undertaken in the name of BPI.

Web Services: Everyone’s EAI?

Many enterprise developers and IT shops are beginning to build applications around Microsoft's .NET architecture and BizTalk Server, which supports common standards, including XML. Will Web services change the course of Enterprise Application Integration, and even make it more accessible to smaller to mid-size IT shops? The market space could become another example of a familiar tale: An expensive customized approach swamped by a less functional alternative that costs much, much less.