Microsoft

Most people compare Bill Gates' keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show and Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo address by analyzing the relative strength of the products announced.

That's all fine and dandy, but what about looking at the words themselves? That's exactly what the ever-resourceful Todd Bishop at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has done. In a blog posting Tuesday, Bishop includes a tag cloud showing the most frequently used words by each, as well as an analysis of the rate of big words used by each.

In terms of which words came up the most, a tag cloud shows words … Read more

Officially, Microsoft has very little to say about Windows 7.

But since nature abhors a vacuum, and tech enthusiasts like them even less, the rumor mills are starting to crank into high gear.

Postings in the last week suggest that Windows 7 may arrive in 2009, not 2010, as had become the conventional wisdom. Meanwhile, a poster at enthusiast site Neowin, claims to have played with an early development build of the software.

I've long been skeptical of the notion that Microsoft would wait until 2010 to try to update Vista. It just doesn't fit well with CEO … Read more

Ahh, would that Microsoft really were adding an easy button to its Windows Mobile software. But alas, Microsoft is only announcing that it has hired one of the marketing executives behind Staples "easy button" campaign.

Todd Peters, who has also worked at Intel, joined Microsoft on Monday as corporate vice president for Windows Mobile Marketing, reporting to mobile-business head Peter Knook. Peters fills the spot created after Suzan Del Bene left last August.

"Microsoft is gaining a real foothold with its mobile products and services in the consumer world," Peters said in a statement. "I … Read more

At its Government Leaders Forum in Berlin on Wednesday, Microsoft plans to announce that it is reinvesting in its Partners In Learning program, a global effort to provide software and training to teachers, students, and schools. The company is committing to another five years of the program.

In its first five years, Microsoft said the program reached 90 million people in 100 countries. The company plans to spend $235.5 million over the next five years, bringing its total investment to $500 million, but reach twice as many people in the next five years as it did during the first … Read more

Microsoft's decision to allow Home versions of Vista to run inside virtual machines may have far-reaching benefits in the coming years.

The initial market for such virtual Vista machines is likely to be among Mac users looking to run Windows or within the ranks of hard-core PC enthusiasts. But the move could also benefit the average PC user who just wants a machine that's easier to use, says Woody Hobbs, CEO of Phoenix Technologies, a leading maker of the BIOS (basic input/output system) software that loads before a PC boots up.

Phoenix has been working on HyperSpace, … Read more

Microsoft is making a new bid to get governments to go with its technology, rather than open-source alternatives such as Linux and OpenOffice.

At its Government Leaders Forum in Berlin, which kicks off on Tuesday, the company plans to announce what it is calling the Citizen Service Platform. It's not a whole new set of products, but rather templates and architecture that use a range of Microsoft products to provide electronic access for residents.

At its most elaborate, large governments could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on everything from Dynamics CRM to SharePoint to Internet Information Server to … Read more

That Microsoft has its sights set on the virtualization market dominated today by VMware is nothing new. However, the announcements Microsoft made on Monday show that the company is putting a tremendous amount of resources toward moving from vision to reality, analyst say.

Microsoft's approach of having a data center that can respond dynamically to business needs, while still years off, is compelling, said Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett. Virtualization is a key component that can take the Dynamic Systems Initiative of a few years ago and make it approach reality.

Now, Microsoft is far from alone in this … Read more

Most people expect some flip-flopping in an election year, but not usually from their software vendor.

Nonetheless, Microsoft on Monday changed its mind again, saying it will allow users to run Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium as guest operating systems on a virtual machine. The news is especially welcome for Mac users who want to run the latest Windows version without having to pay an arm and a leg. Until now, Mac users and others wanting to run Vista virtually have had to fork over for the most expensive Business and Ultimate versions.

Microsoft had briefed reporters in … Read more

Lotus Notes is one of Microsoft's favorite punching bags.

It's a frequent target at Microsoft's partner conferences and sales meetings. Want more sales, go after Notes.

The effort appears to be paying off. Microsoft says that in the last six months of 2007, more than 300 big companies, representing 2.8 million people, began switching from IBM software onto Exchange Server, Office and SharePoint Server.

The company said it expects an even greater number to switch in the next six months. That's despite the fact that the number of Notes customers has been shrinking.

"The … Read more