Posted: Jul. 23, 2007

[The articles below were posted between Jun. 25, 2007 and Jul. 23, 2007 and appear in the August 2007 hardcopy edition of Update. One or more are available below for free to non-subscribers.]

Application Platform

Free! Visual Studio 2008: A First Look

Visual Studio (VS) 2008 will include the latest version of the .NET Framework, significant improvements in the way developers query databases, and better support for developing applications with Office 2007

Acquisition Nets BI Tools

The acquisition of Stratature could make the forthcoming PerformancePoint Server 2007 a better reporting tool for large organizations with complex financial or reporting structures

Software Protection Tools Coming

Software Licensing and Protection Services (SLP) could help developers implement product activation systems for their .NET applications and make reverse engineering more difficult, but significant technical questions remain

Sales, Marketing, and Services

Free! Optimization Model Structures Sales Efforts

Infrastructure Optimization provides a framework that customers, partners, product teams, and Microsoft's sales force can use to analyze systems improvements, but it has limitations

Software Plus Services Becomes Urgent

At its annual partner conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer acknowledged the shift to online services will require a 'transformation' for both Microsoft and its partners

Vista Virtualization Change Reversed

On the verge of relaxing virtualization rules for the use of Windows Vista in virtual machines, Microsoft changed course

Windows & Mobile

IIS 7 Aims at Apache

IIS 7 aims to make Windows a better platform for Web hosters with a more modular architecture, better performance for PHP applications, and management tools more suited for large-scale servers

Windows Server Logo Updated for 2008

The Windows Server Logo has been updated for the 2008 version of the OS, and additional testing agencies and testing tools are now available

Business Applications & Services

Office-like UIs for Dynamics GP and SL

New versions of Dynamics GP and SL improve usability and deliver on promises to update the products while Microsoft works out the long-term consolidation plan for its ERP portfolio

CRM Service Pricing, Schedule

Dynamics Live CRM, an online customer relationship management service from Microsoft, will be available commercially in early 2008

New Lead for Business Solutions

Corporate Vice President Kirill Tatarinov will replace previous Microsoft Business Solutions leader Satya Nadella, who left the post in Mar. 2007

Systems Management and Security

Identity and Access Integration Under Way

Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 begins the integration of Microsoft's identity and access management tools that will be completed with the next release of the product

Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Ships

Service Pack 1 for Virtual Server 2005 R2 adds several important new features in addition to fixing some critical bugs

Forefront Client Security Subscription Licensing

Forefront Client Security uses a subscription rather than a perpetual license, and customers should be aware of the full costs and commitments of subscription licensing

Monitoring Added to Desktop Optimization Pack

Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM), for centralized monitoring of OS crashes and unexpected application terminations, is now included as part of Microsoft's Desktop Optimization Pack (DOP)

New Virtual Server Management Tool

VMRCPlus is a free—but unsupported—tool that makes administration of Virtual Server 2005 R2 easier

'Stirling' to Unify Forefront Family

'Stirling' should unify Microsoft's Forefront family of security products for the enterprise, but integration may take longer than planned

Consumer and Small Business

New Windows Live Client, Service

Windows Live will offer a photo-editing application that will let users post images to Microsoft's Spaces blogging site, as well as an online file-storage service

Xbox 360 Failures Acknowledged

With complaints mounting about widespread hardware failures, Microsoft has extended the Xbox 360 warranty from one to three years at an expected cost of more than US$1 billion

IPTV Platform Updated, Rebranded

New features and a consumer-friendly brand—Mediaroom—are meant to spur consumer demand for TV systems based on Microsoft's IPTV platform, but IPTV in general faces an uphill battle against incumbent cable providers

Mobile Portal Relaunched

The MSN Mobile portal has been redesigned for the more advanced displays on modern mobile phones

Corporate and Legal

Q4'07 Results Show Volume Licensing Strength

Strong sales of business software helped Microsoft grow revenue in Q4'07, but a charge related to defective Xbox 360 consoles hurt profits

Google, GPL, and Other Legal News

Google complains that Vista violates the terms of the U.S. antitrust consent decree; Microsoft preemptively denies that it's bound to a forthcoming open-source license; and other legal news

Facilities Expanding Outside Redmond

A planned development center in the Vancouver, Canada, area will help Microsoft hire and retain employees facing U.S. immigration restrictions