Microsoft is hatching plans for a new Exchange Server e-mail system, with improved security, a facelift for Outlook, and better support for cell phones and other handhelds. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is expected to elaborate on the new version of Exchange in a speech to business partners Monday at its Fusion conference in Los Angeles.
The new version of Exchange messaging software, which handles e-mail, calendars and contact lists, will be the company's first major update of the product since releasing Exchange 2000 nearly two years ago. Microsoft, which competes against IBM, Novell and others in the market, will release a test version of the new Exchange later this fall, with a final version expected by mid-2003, company executives said.
The new version of Exchange, code-named Titanium, will be more secure because the company will, by default, disable certain messaging features to prevent hackers or virus makers from taking advantage of openings, said Jim Bernardo, Microsoft's Exchange product manager.
Thanks to ActiveWin for the link.
Microsoft Corp. is mapping out the next major version of its .Net Framework, with features designed to make it easier for enterprise developers to deploy .Net applications and Web services. .Net Framework 2.0, code-named Whidbey, should be available late next year, but coding on the technology is scheduled to begin this month, according to developers close to the Redmond, Wash., company. The first beta is targeted to go out in January 2003, with a second beta of Whidbey set for August 2003, according to sources. The final version is expected to be released in December 2003. Microsoft will release an interim .Net Framework, Version 1.1-code-named Everett-later this year. Everett code will be folded into Windows .Net Server Release Candidate 2, said sources, as well as the first beta of the next release of Visual Studio .Net before year's end.
Hackers are increasingly targeting Web servers based on the Linux operating system, while the number of successful attacks on Windows systems decreases, according to a new report from a U.K. systems integrator. The study by Mi2g also found that successful attacks on U.K. and U.S. government sites have decreased, which may be due to tougher laws and improved security.
Mi2g has recorded 7,630 successful attacks on Linux systems in the first six months of this year, up sharply from last year's 5,736 attacks. In the meantime, successful attacks on Windows systems running Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) have fallen by 20 percent from 11,828 in the first half of 2001 to 9,404 in the first half of this year. The total number of successful attacks for the first six months of the year rose by 27 percent, from 16,007 on 2001 to 20,371 in 2002.
Microsoft has announced today that Gearbox Software is developing a PC version of Bungie's acclaimed Xbox FPS, Halo: Combat Evolved. Westlake Interactive is developing the Mac version which will be published by Destineer. Penciled in for a summer 2003 release on PC and sometime in 2003 for the Mac, further details regarding specific features are yet to be revealed.
"PC gamers worldwide will soon be able to dig into the addictive gameplay of 'Halo,'" said Stuart Moulder, general manager, Microsoft Game Studios. "By combining the success of 'Halo' on Xbox with Gearbox's proven talent in the first-person shooter genre, PC gamers are guaranteed a lively and 'up-all-hours' single and multiplayer experience on the PC."
The award-winning "Halo: Combat Evolved" for Xbox earned the distinguished honor of being the fastest million-unit seller ever for any next-generation console according to NPDFunworld (SM). Statistically, this means that more than six copies of "Halo: Combat Evolved" were sold every minute of every day between the launch of Xbox on November 15, 2001 and April 8, 2002.
On the eve of Apple Computer's semi-annual MacWorld event, Microsoft has dropped a bombshell on the company: Work harder to accelerate Mac OS X sales, or Microsoft will exit the Mac market forever. This sentiment is one shared by many Mac developers, as Mac OS X has not sold well at all, as reported recently in WinInfo Daily UPDATE. Currently, Apple estimates that as few as 1 to 2 million people have switched to its latest operating system, despite the fact that it's shipped free on several million computers. But a more telling figure from Microsoft may put things in perspective: Sales of the software giant's OS X-specific Office version, dubbed Office v. X, have been very dispappointing, with the company selling just 300,000 units since the suite went on sale last year. Microsoft had expected to sell over 750,000 copies in the first year.
Microsoft introduced "Corona," its next generation of Windows Media technologies, at the Streaming Media East 2001 conference in New York, but because of the surprise early birth of my second child, Kelly, I wasn't able to attend. So I got a Corona demonstration a month later at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and came away impressed. Since then, I've seen Corona demonstrated at WinHEC 2002 (April 2002) and the Windows .NET Server Reviewer's Workshop (June 2002), and on July 15, Microsoft announced that Corona would be marketed as Windows Media 9 Series.
With the increased emphasis on consumer oriented digital media tasks at Microsoft, the Windows Media division has become increasingly important to the software giant's image. It's Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) codecs are widely acknowledged as being superior to any and all competition, and consumer acceptance increased dramatically in 2001 as CD players, car stereos, and DVD players were added to the ranks of portable audio players that already support the formats. Microsoft notes that Windows Media-compatible devices are the most often used of any players, with over 350 million units sold.
Microsoft on Monday launched the first of several preemptive strikes against Apple Computer's Macworld trade show by making announcements about new technologies far ahead of their delivery to market. The strategic attack comes as tensions mount between Apple and Microsoft. During Macworld five years ago, the two companies announced a five-year technology agreement, whereby Microsoft committed to continued development of Office and Internet Explorer for the Mac. The two companies have yet to extend that agreement. In Microsoft's first salvo, the company revealed details about the next version of its digital media technology, code-named Corona, including that it officially will be known as Windows Media 9 Series. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is slated to launch the first public beta, or test, version of Windows Media at a Sept. 4 event.
Microsoft on Monday will announce its crown digital media technology, code-named Corona, officially will be called Windows Media 9 Series.
The new technology also will compete against products from Apple Computer and RealNetworks. Both companies deliver players, authoring and server software for other operating systems, not just Windows. Microsoft on Monday also will reveal that Pioneer Electronics plans to support Windows Media file formats in its upcoming Digital Network Entertainment (DNE) line of products. Pioneer will use Window Media file formats in the first DNE device, DigitaLibrary, for delivering secure digital content. Consumers would retrieve digital media in Corona file formats from select Internet sites using the entertainment device. Microsoft has been marshalling to gain widespread device support for Windows Media formats. The strategy, in part, is a way of spurring consumer adoption in the face of content provider resistance, say analysts. The software titan estimates that 30 million devices will support Windows Media file formats by the end of the year.
Microsoft is to release an enhanced Media Player that can send high-definition video and surround-sound audio over the internet.
The Redmond giant said that chairman Bill Gates would unveil the new system, code named Corona, on 4 September. The move is a direct attack on RealNetworks, which leads the online digital software arena with a 16.2 per cent market share, compared with Microsoft's 14.4 per cent.
Key features touted by Microsoft include near-instant playback that gets rid of the initial delay when streaming web content, high-definition television-grade picture quality, and Dolby Digital that delivers surround-sound over five channels and a subwoofer. Users will need a broadband connection and new audio/visual hardware to take advantage of the new features, although Fester maintained that users with conventional dial-up speeds and hardware would still benefit from the enhanced features.
Microsoft on Sunday offered its partner community both an olive branch and carrot stick, reflecting a fundamental go-to-market shift occurring within its walls. Predicting PCs sales will return and opportunities are rife as the company and its partners realign around packaged services based on its .Net strategy, Microsoft executives speaking here at the Fusion partner conference promised to repair broken links with its partners.
[Also] Microsoft on Sunday detailed plans underway to restructure its MCS (Microsoft Consulting Services) services division. The plans includes an investment of $100 million in "readiness and enablement" to develop customized product solutions and field sales programs. In addition, MCS is working with Microsoft product groups to insert customer feedback into the development cycle, and "professionalize services" to improve areas such as time to problem resolution.