Stuart J. Johnston

Microsoft will announce its fourth quarter, as well as its year-end, revenue and earnings later today after the markets close. Whether analysts’ already downsized expectations for the software maker will keep them from battering Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock in the wake the announcement remains a question. Estimates from Thomson Financial predict that, for its fourth […]

It might feel a little too “inside baseball” to excite general consumers, but the moment for which potential Windows 7 customers, tech aficionados, and financial analysts have been waiting impatiently has finally arrived. Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Division, announced in a blog post that Windows 7 has reached its Release to […]

A new survey of small businesses finds that due to budget constraints, many aren’t making the grade when it comes to getting a handle on their IT needs. The IT Effectiveness Index (ITEI) consortium’s midyear survey found that 23 percent of the firms it surveyed either flunk or get a “D” grade when it comes […]

With Windows 7’s “Release to Manufacturing,” or RTM, only days away, Microsoft announced Tuesday which users will be able to get the final code before its official October 22 commercial debut. In a posting on Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows 7 team blog, spokesperson Brandon LeBlanc outlined who will have early access and when. In many […]

While Microsoft has said the next version of its Exchange e-mail server will be incorporating a number of improvements, one change won’t be the use of SQL Server as its storage engine. Instead, when Exchange ships as part of the Office 2010 lineup, it will continue to use its existing Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) database […]

After years of complaints by users and competitors, Microsoft quietly announced in a blog post Thursday that Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) will no longer automatically set itself as the default during any part of its installation process. Additionally, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said it will distribute the new settings and screens to IE8 users next month. […]

It’s only fitting — at least as far as bad puns go — that the end of Microsoft’s mashup tool, Popfly, should come in the middle of baseball season. Popfly, which went into alpha testing in May 2007 and moved into beta in November of the same year, will be shut down next month, according […]

The competition between Apple and Microsoft has always been a bit strained. Now it seems it’s getting personal. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) COO Kevin Turner revealed just how much so during his keynote Wednesday at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans. It’s the annual conference for Microsoft’s partner community and normally draws the company’s top […]

Microsoft issued six patches that included fixes for three zero-day vulnerabilities on July 14 — this month’s “Patch Tuesday.” Two of those three — all designated as “critical” — are already being exploited on the Web. One of the patches includes a fix for a serious zero-day exploit that has been causing major headaches in […]

Microsoft apparently almost announced Monday that Windows 7 had been “Released to Manufacturing,” or RTMed, according to several sharp-eyed observers who read an unedited transcript of a senior executive’s speech — after the speech. However, the speech itself, when it was presented by Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Windows marketing, at this year’s Microsoft […]

CEO Steve Ballmer speaks during Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference. Source: Microsoft Microsoft revealed pricing for the company’s upcoming Azure cloud computing services on Tuesday, while its CEO worked to pump up partners in the face of a continuing down economy. Bob Muglia, president of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) server and tools division, described the pricing model […]

Just a day before Microsoft releases a sizable set of patches, including a fix for a nasty zero-day bug, another critical vulnerability is rearing its ugly head. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) confirmed Monday that yet another bug that takes advantage of a hole in an old ActiveX control to violate a PC’s security has cropped up. […]