WinInsider

As Microsoft prepares for the April launch of Windows Server 2003, it is already hard at work on what it sees as the next big challenge: the virtual datacenter. Addressing a small group of attendees at Microsoft's Mountain View campus on Wednesday afternoon, Bill Veghte, Microsoft's corporate vice president of the Windows Server group, committed to making the virtual datacenter an industry-wide initiative. For its part, Microsoft will provide a system definition model, resource virtualization and partitioning, operational automation, as well as management of APIs and solutions, he said.

Why now? Why did more than 30 of Microsoft's rivals decide to open a new front in the antitrust battle with the US software giant, just weeks before European regulators are due to reach a decision on a four-year-old case against the company? This question on Tuesday split European Commission watchdogs, Microsoft officials and Brussels lawyers into two camps.

To some, the move by the Computer and Communications Industry Association smacked of desperation. The group complained to the Commission over Microsoft's alleged breach of competition law in several markets.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Tuesday said the software giant is "the most optimistic company" about advancing new technology innovations. "That wasn't true three or four years ago," Gates told more than 600 attendees at the company's Most Valued Professionals Summit at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The three-day event, which is closed to the public, started Tuesday. Microsoft is holding the event to honor 1,300 professionals who are chosen on an annual basis from the ranks of Microsoft resellers, consultants and other business partners.

"We found ourselves a little bit in a strange position where a lot of the hype was talking about things happening overnight, and banking and shopping and all these things would be immediately different," Gates said, referring to the dot-com boom. "And a lot of the focus was on the latest person to do a new Web site and the whole start-up phenomenon."

Microsoft Corp. Chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates on Tuesday weighed in on the threat the Linux operating system poses to his company's business, saying he is taking the threat seriously as Linux is "out there and very pervasive." Addressing more than 600 of Microsoft's Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) from around the globe at the Redmond, Wash., campus, Gates said that during other points in Microsoft's history there had been technologies that people said were going to kill the company.

"OS/2 for about six years was that. And it wasn't a joke; it was all of IBM that was 10 times the size of Microsoft putting all their energy, their leverage on ISVs, bundling it with their systems, everything they could do to beat Windows, and we as a company had to learn new things, do new things to respond to that competition," he said.

Having been rebuffed in U.S. courts, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) has taken its case to Europe. CCIA filed a complaint with the European Commission claiming that Microsoft has violated European Union competitive laws with its Windows XP operating system. The European Commission enforces EU antitrust laws.

In a 260 page complaint, the CCIA lays out its case that Microsoft is using its dominance in PC operating systems, browsers and office applications to unfairly push into new markets, such as audio and video streaming, e-mail client software, instant messaging software, server operating systems, Web services, consumer Internet portals, authentication services, handheld and smart phone operating systems, and server operating systems.

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday continued the expansion of its security response process, unveiling a new security mailing list specifically for home or other non-technical users. The Home User edition of the Security Update newsletter will deliver security bulletins and other security-related information to users who don't need all of the technical details contained in Microsoft's TechNet Security Notification Service advisories. Late last year Microsoft began developing the simplified versions of its bulletins in response to customers who said they were overwhelmed with all of the details and just wanted to know when a new patch was available and whether they needed to apply it.

Web portal MSN is testing a new search service that boasts faster, tidier results, in what is the latest alteration in a fast-moving contest to help people find what they're looking for online.

The Microsoft-owned division launched a test site for MSN Search on Tuesday that omits banner advertisements and a large navigation column for the MSN network, freeing up more room on the page to display query results. The new site also touts that it can display results 65 percent faster than before.

"At the end of the day we have to focus on what users want, and that's getting results quickly," said Parul Shah, product manager for MSN. She added that the company makes regular changes to the search service.

Microsoft is readying an update to Windows XP Media Center Edition and has invited prospective candidates to apply for the upcoming best test. "The program will introduce you to a set of technologies providing new digital media experiences on Windows consumer PCs," according to Microsoft. Interested testers must complete a survey located at BetaPlace, and those selected will be contacted next month.

New features of the Media Center Edition Update have not been announced by Microsoft, but the survey includes questions regarding burning and copying of DVDs. Microsoft also asks how often a candidate uploads and shares music via the Internet.

The Justice Department, a longtime adversary of Microsoft Corp. until the two decided to settle their antitrust dispute, may now be preparing to line up on the software giant's side as it battles the states of Massachusetts and West Virginia. The department has put a federal appellate court on notice that it may enter the appeal filed by those two states seeking stiffer antitrust controls on the way Microsoft does business. If it does enter, it almost certainly would be to argue against added restrictions on the firm.

Justice Department officials declined to comment yesterday on arguments they would make to the appeals court if they decide to take part. Spokesmen for the Massachusetts and West Virginia attorneys general had no comment.

Detained immigrants seeking asylum or other help with their status could soon receive free legal assistance through a new project offered in Washington by the Microsoft Corp. and six Seattle law firms. The pro bono project will handle about 50 cases per year and will be administered by the American Bar Association, which is holding its midyear meeting this week in Seattle.

Lawyers from Microsoft's in-house legal department and the six Seattle firms will be trained, mentored and matched with immigrants. The software company is paying most of the administrative costs in a three-year, $375,000 grant. Microsoft lawyers will handle a minimum of 10 cases per year. Smith said 300 immigrants are detained on an average daily basis in Washington, and only one out of six can afford a lawyer.