Connectix is shipping a software emulator that will let companies install and then run a number of different operating systems on one PC, without rebooting. The software could have benefits for companies that use a variety of systems, or are considering upgrading operating systems.
Virtual PC lets machines running Windows 2000, Windows NT or Windows Me host and run up to 32 different Intel-based operating systems concurrently. The list includes Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 95, Windows NT, Linux and MS-DOS. While Windows Me programs will run under Windows 2000, for example, there are often unforeseen compatibility problems. Virtual PC is designed to avoid these, and also make it possible for a Windows 2000 program to run under Windows Me.
Microsoft and ArtinSoft, the industry leader in enterprise migration and upgrade technologies, today announced a strategic alliance to help developers interested in building XML Web services with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework.
This alliance includes services, a strategic equity investment and software that provides Visual Studio .NET developers with a wizard for upgrading to Visual Basic® .NET from Visual Basic 6.0. The Upgrade Wizard uses ArtinSoft's industry-leading upgrade technology, is integrated seamlessly into the Visual Studio .NET Integrated Developer Environment (IDE) and is provided at no additional cost to Visual Studio .NET customers.
As promised, Microsoft has made part of the source code to Windows CE available to the public under its new "shared source" program. The Windows CE 3.0 source code, which provides the basis for the OS powering Pocket PC products, comes over three months after Microsoft VP Craig Mundie announced that the company would do so. "We are licensing Windows CE source code through Platform Builder 3.0, [which is] generally available to all developers," Mundie said in early May during a speech at the New York University Stern School of Business.
Microsoft announced this weekend the availability of its first USB 2.0 beta drivers for Windows XP and Windows 2000. USB 2.0 provides compatibility with today's USB peripherals while significantly increasing the available bandwidth, from 11 Mbs to 400 Mbs. The additional speed makes USB 2.0 suitable for high-performance storage devices such as hard drives and CD-RWs, while enabling new hardware scenarios, including video conferencing-capable cameras, high-resolution scanners, and the like. Microsoft first provided USB support in a PC maker-only release of Windows 95; the technology took off with the release of Windows 98.
Microsoft is moving into the handset-making business, hoping to give more bite to its Stinger operating system for "smart phones." The software maker will announce Monday that it invested an undisclosed sum in Sendo, a U.K.-based handset maker that is one of the four companies developing prototypes for a combination cell phone and personal digital assistant that will run on Microsoft software, company executives said.
Stinger is Microsoft's code name for its software that will run on a family of smart phones--a class of wireless phones with oversized displays and color screens--designed for wireless Web access and conventional phone calls. The product has been in the works for two to three years and will be marketed by Samsung in the United States and Europe.
With Windows 2000 implementations still chugging along, enterprise IT folks might figure they can sidestep Windows XP. Think again.
Don't write off Windows XP as just another consumer OS or a 21st century version of Microsoft Bob. If your staff is stretched to support branch offices, telecommuters, and other satellite installations, Windows XP could be a compelling alternative to Windows 2000. Several of the following XP features could help ease the burden of remote support:
- easier networking that's as close to plug and play as it gets
- an improved help system
- a better user interface
- easier setup, configuration, and management with new wizards that make short shrift of complex tasks
Microsoft said on Monday it has bought a minority stake in British mobile phone manufacturer Sendo, strengthening its ties with one of the first customers for its mobile phone software. Details of the deal were not disclosed. Microsoft paid some $12 million for a stake of close to five percent of the company, valuing the two-year old privately held company at several hundred million dollars, a source close to the transaction said. The investment follows Sendo's agreement earlier this year to use Microsoft's Stinger software for a future generation of smartphones, which can handle email, calendars and Internet information alongside voice calls.
Microsoft Corp, the Justice Department and state officials will meet this week in a first step toward settlement negotiations in the three-year-old antitrust lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Monday. Citing people close to the case, the newspaper said the meeting would be their first face-to-face encounter since a unanimous federal appeals court found last month that Microsoft was a monopolist and had violated antitrust law. The meeting was expected to focus largely on procedural issues, the sources said.
Gateway will be jumping ahead of the curve on Monday when it launches two new notebook PCs. The San Diego-based PC company will introduce an ultraportable laptop weighing less than 3 pounds and a consumer model with a $999 starting price. The notebooks will be the first pair among many from other PC makers in the next couple of weeks, as companies prepare new units for the back-to-school buying season.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have been awarded the International Union of Immunological Societies' prize for supporting the development of vaccines. The prize committee said the foundation established by the couple has played an important role "in the development and distribution of vaccines against major infectious diseases that threaten mankind.'' The award, which was given for the first time, was accepted on behalf of the couple by a senior official from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation during a ceremony at the International Congress of Immunology Sunday.