Stuart J. Johnston

Microsoft is pressing ahead with its SQL Server database offering, releasing community technology preview (CTP) copies of a product codenamed Denali that offers multi-state clustering, among other features. Additionally, Microsoft rolled out what it’s billing as the Microsoft Critical Advantage Program (MCAP), which provides a litany of services and support offerings. Server Watch has the […]

Just six weeks after it sued Motorola for patent infringement, Microsoft is out with fresh allegations against the mobile phone maker. This time, it’s arguing that Motorola is charging excessive royalties for licensing rights to a video technology standard. Microsoft uses the international H.264 video standard in its Xbox 360 gaming console, and alleges that […]

With Microsoft’s software so pervasive throughout the enterprise, the company’s monthly Patch Tuesday announcement is always of interest to IT departments in general and security personnel in particular because the implications of critical vulnerabilities are not to be taken lightly. November’s Patch Tuesday was a relatively modest announcement but, as eSecurity Planet reports, the patch […]

Anytime a company promises a 100-fold increase in the performance of its flagship product, you know it’s hoping to make a splash. That’s exactly what Tableau Software is looking to do with its new business-intelligence offering, which, released in version 6 this week, now offers a new data engine that “achieves instant query response on […]

For more on cloud computing and the enterprise, visit Internet.com’s new cloud computing site. Microsoft continues to move aggressively in the cloud computing area. As Code Guru details, the software giant’s new Hyper-V Cloud initiative has already signed up several blue chip IT partners to help with its cloud computing rollout. Microsoft says it’s signed […]

For more on cloud computing and the enterprise, visit Internet.com’s new cloud computing site. Cloud computing is touted as a more flexible, scalable and cost-effective solution for cash-strapped, resource-constrained IT departments. But is there a “Green IT” angle to the cloud? Datamation details the results of a new Microsoft-sponsored study that shows the benefits of […]

Microsoft announced some details this week about the timing, pricing and product names of its latest Small Business Server (SBS) product releases. According to SmallBusinessComputing.com, the new releases will include a cloud email and collaboration edition and a database transaction processing version. Pricing starts at $545 for 25 users, and availability is expected early next […]

Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday release of bug fixes rightfully gets a lot of attention from IT and security professionals. But as eSecurity Planet reports, next week’s Patch Tuesday release will be relatively light. The three fixes contrast with the 16 patches Microsoft released last month. But as the article explains, Microsoft shops should still take […]

For years, Microsoft executives have said the future of computing is what’s known as “natural user interface.” It embraces the idea that the computer should communicate with the human user in a mode that is “natural” for the user — like talking. HardwareCentral reports that could encompass the use of interactive voice recognition (IVR), which […]

Backtracking or clarifying? In an attempt reassure developers that it won’t pull the rug out from underneath them after it has spent three years convincing them that it is the future platform for streaming media, President of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Server and Tools Division, Bob Muglia, said in a follow up blog post this week […]

Windows 7 uptake among businesses has been slow so far, but that could be about to change, according to a new Forrester Research report. Windows XP has been stubbornly hanging on in enterprises, but as the economy emerges from recession and older PCs limit productivity, Windows 7 appears poised to take off. And that could […]

As the Green IT movement gains momentum, developers are stepping up with new solutions designed to help IT monitor energy use and proactively manage consumption. Datamation reports on the latest release of NightWatchman from software and services firm 1E. Version 6 calculates the energy consumption of IT operations and includes an integrated tariff system that […]