Microsoft plans to launch MSN 8, the next version of its online service, on Oct. 24, CNET News.com learned on Monday. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant plans to make the announcement on Tuesday, along with additional details about MSN 8. On Monday, Microsoft signed off on the gold, or final code, to MSN 8.
MSN 8 marks a dramatic turnabout for Microsoft as the company reels in its cumbersome consumer Web strategy. Under an initiative announced last year known as HailStorm, Microsoft planned to offer a la carte services to consumers through MSN.com. In a retrenchment, Microsoft will offer its consumer Web services to paying customers through MSN 8.
The latest Mozilla and Netscape Web browsers are cropping up on more computers worldwide, but they still only represent a few trees in a forest of Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers. According to new research from Amsterdam-based OneStat.com, Mozilla 1.0 global usage has grown from 0.4 percent in June to 0.8 percent this month, nearly four months after its release. Netscape 7.0 global usage has risen from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent in the same period.
In comparison, global usage for Microsoft's latest browser, IE 6, has grown from 46.4 percent to 52.3 percent from June to September, the study found. In total, Microsoft's collection of IE browsers constitutes 94.9 percent of the market; the browsers of AOL Time Warner-owned Netscape and Mozilla represent 3 percent of the market; and Opera constitutes 0.9 percent.
Attempting to deliver systems management that spans from the datacenter to mobile devices, Microsoft on Monday issued the first beta of Systems Management Server 2003. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant also detailed forthcoming Feature Packs that will bring some of the technologies to emerge in SMS 2003 to current customers before the final release of SMS 2003.
In SMS 2003, Microsoft focused on three key areas of improvement: support for mobile devices, integration with Active Directory, and enhancements to the metering and reporting functions. "We've done some small things along these lines in the past, but this time the changes are dramatic," said David Hamilton, director the of management business group within Microsoft.
In another boost to its media software aspirations, Microsoft on Monday said four independent films will be shown this week in the company's newest digital format.
The films will be shown at IFP Market, a conference taking place this week in New York to showcase films and works-in-progress from up-and-coming directors. Aion Velie's "Taft," Tod Harrison's "The Big Bend," Elizabeth Dimon's "Private Property" and Ghazi Albuliwi's "West Bank Brooklyn" will be digitally screened in Microsoft's Windows Media Series 9 format, the company said.
"The use of digital media for distribution makes it possible for filmmakers to put their movie before audiences, providing the theatrical-quality image and surround sound that audiences desire," Dave Fester, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Digital Media Division, said in a statement. The announcement highlights Microsoft's long-term goals as the company seeks to woo Hollywood to Windows Media 9 Series. In fact, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates unveiled the beta version of the technology earlier this month at a Hollywood-style gala in Los Angeles.
Microsoft enlisted Epiphany to showcase how the software giant's .Net tools can help develop viable Web services. Epiphany, which makes customer relationship management (CRM) software, said it would provide a Web services version of its products using Microsoft MapPoint .Net, one of Microsoft's .Net tools. Microsoft is planning its own CRM software through its Great Plains division. But as a provider of infrastructure software, such as operating systems and database management software, the software giant is also keen to gain business for its .Net generation of products.
"Although MapPoint is a .Net-based Web Service, and Epiphany E.6 is based on J2EE, today's open Web Services standards allow for seamless interoperation between these important technologies," Phil Fernandez, Epiphany executive vice president, said in a statement. "
Online music company Liquid Audio said Monday it agreed to sell its digital encoding patents to Microsoft for $7 million in cash, opening the door for its proposed merger with Alliance Entertainment. The agreement will allow Microsoft to own Liquid Audio's patented digital rights management and secure file-transferring technologies. Along with the $7 million in cash, Liquid Audio will receive a royalty-free license to continue using the patents. Once the patents are sold, Liquid Audio said it will focus on selling digital distribution technology to online retailers, a move that will complement Alliance's existing business of distributing media in the offline world.
ViewSonic will join the growing number of handheld licensees of Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 operating system. Microsoft will announce on Monday that Walnut, Calif.-based ViewSonic will become the 29th licensee of its handheld operating system. ViewSonic will offer a $299 device, the V35 Pocket PC, starting Nov. 1.
The 4.9-ounce device will come with a 300MHz Intel XScale PXA250 processor, 32MB of memory, a 3.5-inch transflective color screen and a Secure Digital expansion slot. The V35 will also come with Microsoft PowerPoint file viewer and digital imager viewer applications. One of the major hurdles for Microsoft and manufacturers of Pocket PC 2002-based devices was the high price of the handhelds compared with those from rival Palm and its OS licensees. The devices had many high-end features supported by the OS, such as color screens, built-in audio players and voice recorders, which require more memory and a beefier processor.
Overture will continue to provide search services to Microsoft's MSN through 2004, the companies said Monday. The new deal, an extension of earlier agreements between the two companies, also calls for Overture to provide search for Microsoft's MSN search pane through December 2003.
The deal covers sites in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and has been expanded to include Germany and France. Microsoft will also test Overture's search in Japan following the pay-for-search company's Japanese market launch. Overture's Japan launch has been bumped up to the fourth quarter, a quarter ahead of schedule.
Although much of the hype surrounding Trustworthy Computing has subsided, Microsoft Corp. is quietly pushing the initiative ahead with behind-the-scenes efforts that include an extension of its developer training program and the possible development of additional stand-alone security products.
But while customers give Microsoft credit for its recent efforts, some said the company has much work to do before it reaches Chairman Bill Gates' stated goal of making software as reliable as electrical power.
Among recent changes at Microsoft is the inclusion in every product group of a person responsible for the security of that product's code. Although developers remain accountable for their code, the security liaison is accountable for the overall quality of the product.
As I discussed in my last article, I believe that .NET will grow into a standard development framework that encompasses both Microsoft and non-Microsoft platforms. Before you turn in your keyboard and become a Sherpa guide in the Himalayas, however, consider some of the advantages of a world unified around a common development framework like .NET. Just as .NET has been touted as the savior of the "little language" (due to its emphasis on multi-language support in .NET), it may also be the technology that raises the fortunes of many non-Microsoft platforms and applications, including Linux.