Microsoft Partnering 101


Microsoft Adds Virtualization to Unified Communications

Microsoft continued its foray into unified communications (UC) with an announcement last week of support for a virtualized topology in Microsoft Office Communications Server R2 (OCS R2).

Microsoft Issues Security Alert on IIS Web Server

Responding to public reports of a wild bug, late Monday Microsoft issued a security advisory to address a potential vulnerability in its Internet Information Services (IIS) Web server software.

Office XML Document Format Tools Released

Microsoft announced on Monday that new tools have been released to help further extend the compatibility and interoperability of OfficeOpen XML (OOXML) document formats used in Microsoft Office 2007.

Visual Studio 2010 and NET FX 4 Beta Drops

The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 bits became available to MSDN subscribers Monday. A public beta is scheduled for release on Wednesday.

Groove To Get a Name Change

Microsoft Office Groove 2007 will get a name change next year that's more in tune with the SharePoint side of things.

Intel Fined $1.45B in European Competition Case

The European Union has slapped Intel with a 1.06 billion euro ($1.45 billion) fine for anti-competitive behavior in the x86-based microprocessor market.

Outsourcing: Smaller, Selective Deals This Year

Outsourcing activity is increasing, experts say, even as the scope and nature of that activity changes.

Lone Microsoft Patch Fixes PowerPoint Vulnerability

As expected, Microsoft rolled out only one patch for this month's Patch Tuesday, a critical bulletin for PowerPoint.

Federal Agencies Using Azure To Store Data

Microsoft has set up a repository in which government agencies may upload and store their public-facing datasets so that they can be reused by other parties.

Tech-Ed: Windows Timeline Unveiled at Keynote

The opening keynote address at Tech-Ed on Monday featured Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Windows business, who described a number of upcoming milestones for Microsoft's new products.

Microsoft Updates Surface, But Can It Gain Broad Appeal?

Looking to give its Surface table top device more functionality, Microsoft today released its first service pack with a new SDK that the company says will give developers more flexibility in adding more features.

Microsoft Releases Second Beta of Geneva

Microsoft on Monday launched the second beta of its claims-based identity management server platform, code-named "Geneva."

SQL Server To Get Real-Time Boost

The next release of Microsoft's SQL Server database, code-named "Kilimanjaro," will offer master data management (MDM) and support real-time data feeds for business intelligence (BI), reporting and analytics, the company revealed today.

Tech-Ed Today

Third parties take the spotlight. Plus, AMD pushes the graphics envelope, and Internet providers consider charging by usage levels.

Microsoft Releases CTP2 of System Center Service Manager

The second community technology preview of Microsoft's System Center Service Manager is now available for a virtual test drive, according to a Microsoft announcement last week.