Rather than develop a separate application server, as companies such as BEA Systems and IBM have done, Microsoft is positioning its upcoming Windows .Net Server 2003 operating system as having all the functionality needed for deploying Internet applications and Web services.
The IIS (Internet Information Services) 6.0 component of .Net Server enables a new process model for developers to tap into and for managing of processes, O'Brien said. IIS provides more granular control of applications and processes within Web sites. IIS is intended to boost Web server security and features cryptographic services, advanced digest authentication, and configurable access control of processes, according to Microsoft. Microsoft's strategy of maintaining application server functionality within the operating system means enterprises do not have to layer these capabilities on top of the operating system, O'Brien said.
Intel has been shipping 64-bit Itanium hardware for over a year now, but the only products we've seen out of Redmond that support the platform so far are limited-availability versions of Windows and an early beta of SQL Server 2000. The company is hoping to address this problem soon with a 64-bit version of SQL Server 2000 Beta 2 (seriously) and the release version of .NET Server, due late this year, but what's taking so long? Shouldn't these products have been in the pipeline during the Itanium and Itanium 2 development? This far into the life of the Itanium, and the 64-bit world is still nothing but promise. It shouldn't have happened this way.
Microsoft released an upgrade to it Works home productivity software suite Thursday, adding 150 more templates as well as new task organizer tools. Works Suite 2003 includes the latest versions of Microsoft Works, Word, Encarta Encyclopedia Standard, Money Standard, Microsoft Picture It! Photo and Streets and Trips. In addition to increasing the number of task templates in the suite, which now total 400, the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker added a new Task Launcher Home and My Project Organizer. Task Launcher Home is designed to track schedules and includes a calendar and to-do list, while the new Project Organizer integrates all six Works applications.
Imagine having a PC that allows you to listen to music. And view your photos. And even record your favorite television programs. What? You can do all of that stuff right now? Oh yeah, that's right, you can. Which is part of the problem with Windows XP Media Center Edition, the latest enhancement to Microsoft's flagship OS. While Media Center adds some nifty user-interface enhancements, it doesn't enable you to do much that's truly new. In fact, the only significant addition--the ability to use your PC as a TiVo-like personal video recorder (PVR)--has long been available for Windows XP through third-party apps like SnapStream's Personal Video Station (ironically, SnapStream's one of Microsoft's Windows XP Launch Partners).
Microsoft, in hot pursuit of digital-media dollars, is learning to party with Hollywood. For the launch of Windows Media 9, Bill Gates shared the stage with movie director James Cameron, Beatles producer Sir George Martin, and rapper/actor LL Cool J.
Bill Gates goes to...Hollywood?
As Microsoft delves more deeply into the digital-media business, the company is courting Hollywood and entering into fierce competition with front-runner RealNetworks. The new Windows Media 9, which Microsoft has spent four years and $500 million developing, launched Wednesday at an extravagant, star-studded party. The software offers improved media management for businesses, as well as speedy, high-quality playback for consumers. Microsoft has proven it can win over end users, but can it also charm movie and record studios? The first challenge will be to convince copyright owners that, if they use WM, their content won't be pirated.
PacketVideo, a provider of MPEG 4 streaming video to wireless carriers announced this week that it will support Windows Media Audio and Video 9 series in its PacketVideo pvServer Mobilemedia content delivery system. The PacketVideo technology is embedded in handsets and PDAs and has a server component. The agreement between the two companies means that PacketVideo will be able to deliver Windows Media content to handsets not using Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system, such as the Symbian operating system, used by Nokia, and data-enabled cell phones of Ericsson. PacketVideo will also use Microsoft's .Net technology to add SOAP and XML interfaces to MPEG 4 and Windows Media systems.
Microsoft and business software giant SAP plan to offer prototype versions of their software to work with Hewlett-Packard servers using Intel's new Itanium 2 processor, the companies said Thursday. The cooperative program, which begins this month, is geared to encourage customers to adopt the new software and hardware. Programs such as SAP's R/3 accounting and inventory management software or Microsoft's .Net Server 2003 operating system must be overhauled to take advantage of the Itanium family of processors, which work very differently from Intel's Pentium and Xeon products.
Security remains a hot-button issue for Microsoft, as Brian Valentine, senior vice president for the Windows division at Microsoft, took center stage this morning at Windows Server DevCon in Seattle to tout Redmond's new "hardened" approach to software development. According to Valentine, Microsoft has done everything it can to make sure its new server operating system, Windows .NET Server 2003, doesn't fall victim to the same security holes that have plagued the product in the past. During his keynote, Valentine said Windows .NET Server represents a paradigm shift for Microsoft, in that it was "engineered for security."
Microsoft may backtrack on an earlier pledge not to use its Xbox Live online gaming service to crack down on "mod chips"--chips that modify the Xbox console so it can run copied game discs and unlicensed software. The 14-page user agreement and privacy notice included with the first Xbox Live kits sent to beta testers specifies that Microsoft reserves the right to revoke Xbox Live privileges for anyone with a hacked Xbox and to scan consoles on the network to enforce its rights.
A handful of gray-market Xbox mod chips have gone on sale in the past few months. Once soldered onto the Xbox's main circuit board, the chips disable various copy protection measures, allowing the machines to run legally or illegally copied discs, imported games and unlicensed software. Numerous hacking projects have emerged to use the chips to adapt Xbox units for use as media players and Linux boxes.
The notion that Windows users might be the target of hacker attacks is, of course, nothing new, given the vast market domination of the platform and the sheer number of Windows-based desktops and servers. But a mysterious new type of attack has security watchdogs and Microsoft itself baffled this week, with the company issuing a security warning that appears to offer little help in fending off the attack. As is often the case, this latest problem involves a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, but from there things get interesting, as the attack also involves the insertion of code on the PC which can later be used to compromise security. Victims of the attack are often left unable to logon to their system.