Redmond Releases Operations Manager SP1

Nobody has yet warmed to our suggestion to call System Center Operations Manager 2007 "OpMan" (hey, it's better than SCOM ), but at least the product now has its first service pack .

Posted by Lee Pender on February 27, 20080 comments


IE 8 Beta on the Way

Of course, those of us who use Firefox really don't care . (Oh, snap!)

Posted by Lee Pender on February 27, 20080 comments


Yahoo Shareholders Getting Antsy

Another week, another update on Microsoft's attempt to spend every bit of the cash it has in its coffers (and more).

Even if Yahoo isn't ready to accept Redmond's overtures, Microsoft employees will be, or should be, ready for what seems to be an inevitable consumption of the Internet pioneer. Microsoft executives e-mailed the company's employees last week a guide to swallowing Yahoo, laying out how an acquisition would affect Redmond's rank and file.

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Posted by Lee Pender on February 26, 20080 comments


Microsoft To Boost Developers of Heath Care Apps

If you've always wanted to develop a killer health care application but couldn't find the capital, part of a $3 million Microsoft fund might have your name on it.

Also, Microsoft and SAP are bringing the Duet product More

Posted by Lee Pender on February 26, 20080 comments


Open Source Community Tepid on Microsoft Announcement

Last week's big to-do about Microsoft offering up some of its protocols and otherwise paying EU-mandated lip service to "openness" drew a surprisingly mixed reaction from the open source community -- surprising because it wasn't entirely negative.

Linux guru Linus Torvalds, in fact, seemed downright pleased with Microsoft, if still a little skeptical of the company's motives. Other folks took more of a wait-and-see attitude, with some complaining that Microsoft isn't releasing code to open source and is still going to charge license fees for some patents.

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Posted by Lee Pender on February 26, 20080 comments


More Eurofines for Redmond?

Well, that's what " people say ," anyway, according to the Bloomberg headline.

Posted by Lee Pender on February 26, 20080 comments


Deconstructing Microsoft's New Openness

Next time you get a traffic ticket, take the money to pay your fine, place it lovingly in a cheery greeting card, deliver it to city hall and declare in the most grandiose manner possible that you're "making a donation to the city." Then, you'll know exactly what it's like to be Microsoft.

Heck, you could even hold a press conference. That's what Microsoft did yesterday to announce its new openness initiatives, the basics of which RCPU managed to sneak into yesterday's issue. The conference call, which evidently required a "War Declared"-level media alert on Thursday morning, started brilliantly -- after waiting about 15 minutes past the start time, reporters finally heard some Microsoft official apologize for the late start and explain that it had been caused in part by "technical problems we had to solve." What, did Ballmer's PC blue-screen when he tried to open PowerPoint, or something?

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Posted by Lee Pender on February 22, 20081 comments


Vista SP1's Nasty Side-Effects

It turns out that a bunch of stuff isn't working with Vista's first service pack -- which seems appropriate given how much stuff never worked with Vista in the first place.

Posted by Lee Pender on February 22, 20080 comments


Gates: IT Talent Is Overseas Now

Bill says that graduates in North America just aren't getting it done these days.

Posted by Lee Pender on February 22, 20084 comments


HP Earnings Surprise the Street

Recession? What recession? Strictly speaking, this isn't channel news (for Channel News Thursday), but it is interesting. HP had a blowout quarter in its last quarter, and things are looking positive going forward. Let's have more news like this, please.

Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments


Extricom Introduces Channel Program

The provider of wireless LAN infrastructure systems has a new partner program. Check out all the details here .

Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments


Microsoft Continues Dance with Open Source, EU

Microsoft made a big kafuffle today to announce yet another "openness" initiative. This time, it involves publishing tens of thousands of pages of software protocols, something European Union regulators have been demanding More

Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments