Stuart J. Johnston

Microsoft has begun dropping hints about what the revamped Windows Live service will look like. First it offered a preview of the next iteration of the Windows Live Messenger IM client, and now the company is offering details about the redesign of Hotmail. The new Web-based e-mail client will allow users to store documents online […]

Microsoft is unveiling a new initiative aimed at throwing computing power and the cloud behind real-world modeling — aiming to simplify modeling while making it less resource-intensive. The idea is to lay the groundwork and promote advancements in improving modeling that could one day benefit everything from combating diseases and making scientific discoveries — not […]

Microsoft’s been having a tough time with its patent disputes lately. It’s still mulling its dwindling options in the i4i case, and now it’s agreed to shell out licensing fees for the intellectual property in two patents covering technology used in virtual private networks (VPN). Under the settlement with VirnetX, Microsoft said it will pay […]

After about two-and-a-half years in beta, Microsoft’s Office Live Workspaces is transitioning to the company’s Windows Live SkyDrive service, offering expanded Web-based access to its business productivity suite. Microsoft is billing the transition as an upgrade, saying that Office Live Workspaces users will soon enjoy larger storage capacity and access to Office Web Apps, pared-down, […]

When Yahoo completes the transition of its ad platform to Microsoft’s technology through the two companies’ search partnership, how will advertisers be affected? Recognizing that many in the advertising community are concerned, Yahoo took a moment to answer a few questions about the transition. E-Commerce Guide has the story on Yahoo’s message for marketers after […]

With rivals like Google, Zoho and others gaining traction in the online apps space, Microsoft is now unleashing its own Web-based productivity suite. Office Web Apps is available to users of Microsoft Office 2010, which is currently shipping for volume-licensing customers and is poised to ship next month for consumers. Owning Microsoft Office 2010 isn’t […]

The new version of Microsoft’s popular project management tool, Project, went on sale for business customers this week, along with its business diagramming software, Visio. Both Project 2010 and Visio 2010, released in connection with the Office 2010 launch, aim to incorporate new collaborative features enabling users to better share and work with colleagues across […]

Wednesday was a big day for Microsoft. Not only did the software giant roll out the long-awaited Office 2010, but it also debuted the latest version of the SharePoint collaboration server. And they’re not unrelated. Microsoft is betting that SharePoint 2010 will work in concert with the new release of its productivity suite, a tie-in […]

Was it worth the wait? Time will tell, but without a doubt, the release of Office 2010 to business will be welcome news for some enterprise customers who have been eagerly awaiting the upgrade. In a gala launch event in New York, Stephen Elop, the president of Microsoft’s Business Division, talked up the new features […]

First it was the courts, not it’s the Patent and Trademark Office. Microsoft can’t get a break on this one. The USPTO has denied Microsoft’s request to invalidate a Custom XML patent held by Toronto-based i4i, dealing the software giant another setback in a long-running infringement case and leaving it with few option. Following a […]

IT administrators are getting a bit of a break this month courtesy of Microsoft following a hectic April when they were swamped with security patches. Microsoft only had two to offer up in May’s Patch Tuesday, though both are deemed critical, the most serious classification in the company’s ranking system. eSecurity Planet reports on Microsoft’s […]

Every month, Web analytics firm comScore provides a fresh batch of figures tallying the market share of each of the major search engines. And each month, the numbers are a stark reminder of just how far ahead Google is from the rest of the pack. But in April, the long-struggling Yahoo appeared to gain a […]