Microsoft has signed up a key beta tester for the next generation of its server operating system: itself. In recent weeks, the company has switched 79 of 80 servers that power Microsoft.com over to Windows Server 2008, a new version of its server operating system still in testing. The company is intentionally leaving one box to run the existing server OS, Windows Server 2003, so it can compare versions.
"To deploy a new operating system and new Web server into an environment like this without compromising performance or reliability is quite a feat," Microsoft Technical Product Manager Eric Woersching said on his blog.
Even though Microsoft had already warned users that its Family Discount Program would be ending on June 30, it still hasn't stopped some from taking issue with the move.Windows Vista team member Nick White reminded consumers of the program's imminent demise in a blog post to the Windows Vista web log Wednesday afternoon. When it was announced, the company also added a sunset clause as well.
At 11:59pm Pacific Time on June 30, the program closes. White said the company was pleased with the response to the program, that it enabled "thousands" of multi-computer families to upgrade more than one PC in their home."
Microsoft has no current plans to join the Open Innovation Network, a move that some in the free and open-source community have suggested would benefit them both.
OIN is an intellectual property company that was formed to acquire Linux-related patents and share them, royalty-free, to any organization that agrees not to assert its patents against Linux or its applications.
With member companies including IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat, Sony and Oracle, OIN represents a considerable patent litigation threat to any company that might try to take Linux to court.
Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard announced on Tuesday an extension of their long-running collaborative sales and marketing pact as they seek a bigger share in the growing market for supercomputers.
The two companies aim to give high-performance computers more "mass market" appeal by making them easier to deploy, support and manage. Enhancements will include work on Windows Compute Cluster Server that includes custom installation scripts and documentation aimed at making deployment easier. HP said there is now increased scalability of large clusters with the HP Message Passing Interface and InfiniBand drivers offering better performance in applications that require high-speed, low-latency communications.
Pete Boden wants people at Microsoft to think like criminals. That's why the company held its first "Blue Hat" meeting in 2005, which invited hackers onto the corporate campus for lectures and meetings intended to expose security employees to the mentality of digital intruders.
Although it has become a popular biannual event, Blue Hat can still be an unnerving experience at times as guest hackers occasionally break Microsoft products in front of the people who built them. But studying such simulated attacks--a process known as "threat modeling"--provides invaluable lessons in teaching developers how an application can be attacked and what the security controls should be.
A former Googler who returned to Microsoft after a start-up he left the software giant to launch was acquired by Google, has some not so positive insights to share about what it's really like to work at the Googleplex.
Behind the lava lamps, organic dinners and free shuttle buses lurks a company where employees end up working long hours, don't enjoy private offices and get paid less than Microsofties.
That's according to an internal Microsoft e-mail that has made its way to the Web. The blog posting is believed to have been written by a Microsoft recruiter who interviewed the ex-Googler.
Microsoft announced this week it has begun shipping new community technology previews of two key upcoming server products ? Windows Server 2008 and Office PerformancePoint Server 2007.
Previously codenamed Longhorn, Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 shipped two months ago and, with this CTP, is now feature complete, a Microsoft spokesperson told internetnews.com in an e-mail.
The latest CTP of Windows Server 2008 is available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers and Microsoft Connect customers. Microsoft claims there has been more than 200,000 downloads of Beta 3 so far. Windows Server 2008 is planned for release by the end of the year, although some industry observers have speculated that actual commercial availability of the product may not occur until early 2008.
Microsoft has launched another low-cost PC effort in India, this time partnering with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices in an effort to get more computers into the hands of students.
Beginning next month, Microsoft and its partners plan to start selling the IQ PC through computer retailers, bookshops and other stores in Bangalore and Pune, with plans to sell it throughout the country by November. The company expects the machines to start selling for 21,000 Indian rupees ($513), though it hopes to bring those prices down over time.
Social networking sites are already popular places to share information, connect with other people and communicate online. So why not use a social networking tool to learn a language?
That's the concept behind a site created by a group of North American college students as their entry in an international Microsoft software development competition. Their project, Omni, connects people who are learning languages, using a social approach to translation.
The basic idea is to tap into "the excitement surrounding social networks" to help people learn languages, said team member Brian Thomas, 21, of Tacoma, a computer science major at Western Washington University.
Microsoft is continuing to flesh out its Windows Live strategy, on Wednesday releasing beta versions of Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Folders. The additions will join Windows Live Mail Desktop, Windows Live Writer, and a number of other applications as part of the Windows Live Suite. Although the company has arguably done a poor job of branding and marketing Windows Live up to this point, Microsoft is hoping to simplify things with a single, downloadable package it can offer to Vista users.