WinInsider

If Microsoft thought its CRM channel changes would go smoothly it must be sorely disappointed. In the second conference call in less than a week, company executives got an earful from nervous, sometimes irate, Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) partners angered by Microsoft's decision to put its CRM offering through broad distribution and volume licenses. Microsoft executives were on a call for more than three hours Wednesday fielding questions and complaints about the changes, first reported by CRN. A similar teleconference was held last Friday.

Many of these partners, with roots in Great Plains and Navision accounting and ERP applications, feel disenfranchised now that Microsoft CRM will be sold the same way as Office, Windows, and other high-volume SKUs. This decision confirms their fears that Microsoft only understands the volume-and not the high-value add-sales and support model.

A stealth distribution on Windows Update let loose the final version of Microsoft's P2P designs for Windows XP this past week. The update has also been released as a standalone download, with the plumbing of a software development kit in close quarters.

The upgrade for Windows XP Service Pack 1 repositions the operating system's Internet underpinnings to the next generation IPv6 networking stack. The download also bridges together legacy network standards through NAT traversal technology known as "Teredo."

Service Pack 2 for Windows XP will include the technology, and close ties have also been cited with Microsoft's Live Communications Server -- formerly code-named Greenwich -- product team.

Six months into the release of Microsoft's CRM suite, the company is already exceeding its expectations as its customer count approaches the 1,000 mark. "We're well into the hundreds [in customers], it won't be long before we can say we're over 1,000," said Holly Holt, group product manager for Microsoft CRM.

Holt added that in Microsoft CRM's first quarter of existence, it's already surpassed the business that was done during a three-year partnership with Siebel Systems Inc., when Microsoft and its Great Plains Software predecessor resold the Siebel Mid-Market Edition Suite.

I started writing this column on a computer running Windows XP Professional, but also on a handheld with no desk or other flat surface to support it. That paradox is provided by the namesake computer of Tiqit, Tiqit is neither the first nor most recent company to try to shrink the PC to its practical limits, but it may be the most successful and indeed only choice for something near its dimensions when it ships in the U.S. later this year.

The idea of the mini-PC or sub-subnotebook (before marketing departments renamed that category "ultraportables") has been around for a while, The first one I tried was the IBM PC 110, a Japanese clamshell palmtop 486 that has clearly influenced the current Sony Vaio "U" series. This is especially true of the PCG-U101 that is also exclusive to the Japanese market but imported by specialty retailers such as Dynamism and Kemplar.

Microsoft has donated US$266,000 to Asia-Pacific schools doing research on devices running flavors of its embedded Windows operating system. Embedded Windows is used in devices such as handhelds, high-end phones, set top boxes, industrial control machines. Grant recipients were selected on scientific merit, novelty, innovation and public accessibility to results of the work, among other criteria.

A total of 12 schools were selected to receive grants in conjunction with the Microsoft Windows Embedded Academic Program (WEMAP), which provides researchers with source code, development tools and support.

Attorneys general from more than two dozen states have agreed to cooperate on an antitrust probe of Oracle's hostile bid for PeopleSoft, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

One state, Connecticut, has already launched a lawsuit attempting to block a takeover, citing the anticompetitive effects of a merger between two of the largest enterprise software vendors. Connecticut's pending litigation prevents it from joining in the other states' investigation, according to the newspaper.

The proposed acquisition is also being examined by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which slowed Oracle down by requesting from the company additional information about its plans.

Microsoft's corporate Web site became unavailable Friday afternoon amid heightened fears that a major Internet attack could be on the horizon. Microsoft's Web site became largely inaccessible at about 12:50 p.m. PT, according to reader reports received by CNET News.com. A Microsoft representative confirmed the site was experiencing problems and said the company is investigating.

Although the cause was unknown, the Microsoft.com outage occurred as system administrators and security experts were bracing for a potentially large Internet attack. The U.S. federal government warned earlier this week that an attack could be brewing that exploits a widespread flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Head over to WindowsUpdate.com and apply RPC security patch if you are running any Windows NT based operating system (NT 4.0/Win2K/XP/Win2003). As I am typing this message, microsoft.com seems to be down. Either RPC worm that is being developed hit microsoft.com or MS took server(s) down to apply patch. Be safe then sorry.

Buffer Overrun In RPC Interface Could Allow Code Execution
Security bulletin No.: MS03-026
Security KB article No.: 823980

To verify that you have the patch installed...

• Windows NT 4.0:
  To verify that the patch has been installed on the machine, confirm that all files listed in the file manifest in Knowledge Base article 823980 are present on the system.
• Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition:
  To verify that the patch has been installed on the machine, confirm that all files listed in the file manifest in Knowledge Base article 823980 are present on the system.
• Windows 2000:
  To verify that the patch has been installed on the machine, confirm that the following registry key has been created on the machine:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows 2000\SP5\KB823980.

  To verify the individual files, use the date/time and version information provided in the file manifest in Knowledge Base article 823980 are present on the system.

• Windows XP
  • If installed on Windows XP Gold:
    To verify that the patch has been installed on the machine, confirm that the following registry key has been created on the machine:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows XP\SP1\KB823980

    To verify the individual files, use the date/time and version information provided in the file manifest in Knowledge Base article 823980 are present on the system.

  • If installed on Windows XP Service Pack 1:
    To verify that the patch has been installed on the machine, confirm that the following registry key has been created on the machine:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows XP\SP2\KB823980.

    To verify the individual files, use the date/time and version information provided in the file manifest in Knowledge Base article 823980 are present on the system.

• Windows Server 2003:
  To verify that the patch has been installed on the machine, confirm that the following registry key has been created on the machine:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Window Server 2003\SP1\KB823980.

  To verify the individual files, use the date/time and version information provided in the file manifest in Knowledge Base article 823980 are present on the system.

Microsoft on Friday outlined new terms under which other companies can gain access to Windows protocols, an important element in its antitrust settlement with the federal government. Last week, Microsoft said it would alter the terms to make it cheaper and easier for software developers to license protocols that allow other products to work with Windows. Following the concessions, Microsoft received approval from U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that it was in compliance with the terms of its landmark settlement. Under that deal, Microsoft is supposed to license such code on "reasonable and non-discriminatory" terms.

You know, I love Scott McNealy. I really do. The Sun CEO isn't just a historical figure in the context of the computer industry, he's also a technology leader, a smart--even brilliant--man in his own, down home style, but he's also quite funny, and his anti-Microsoft rants over the years have never ceased to amuse. But recently, McNealy, whose company is increasingly--dare I say it--beleaguered thanks to competition from Linux and other open source projects, has ventured off the deep end. In UK this week for a technology forum, McNealy claimed that his company's approach to software development and its Solaris operating system give Sun a distinct advantage over Microsoft, a company that could--and does--squash Sun like a bug. How delusional do you have to be to make such a claim? As delusional as Steve Jobs telling Mac fans at MacWorld that Windows and the Mac together combine for "100 percent of the desktop market," when 95+ percent of that was Windows, I guess. Here's what the Master of Deception had to say, in his own words. "Our interfaces are open, so when there is a system problem we get help from the industry, but Microsoft flunked Sharing 101. I think that was a third year Harvard course," he said. The idea is that Sun's software interoperates with everything, while Microsoft's, in Sun's opinion, only interoperates with Microsoft's software. Open your eyes, Scott. You might discover the world you live in is starkly different from the one you imagine.