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Windows 7 for XP ProfessionalsUpdating Support Skills from XP to Windows 7by Bink.nu's Raymond Comvalius
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It was just over a month ago that Microsoft officials said the company had sold 60 million copies of Windows 7. On March 2, they updated that tally, claiming 90 million copies of Windows 7 have been sold to date.Microsoft released Windows 7 to manufacturing in July 2009 and kicked off consumer sales of the product in October of last year. Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein shared the new Windows sales figures during a March 2 presentation at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom Conference.
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Company makes U-Prove technology widely available to enable identity with privacy and announces release of Forefront Identity Manager 2010.
Today at RSA Conference 2010, Microsoft outlined how the company continues to make progress toward its End to End Trust vision. In his keynote address, Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, explained how the company’s vision for End to End Trust applies to cloud computing, detailed progress toward a claims-based identity metasystem, and called for public and private organizations alike to prevent and disrupt cybercrime.
“End to End Trust is our vision for realizing a safer, more trusted Internet,” said Charney. “To enable trust inside, and outside, of cloud computing environments will require security and privacy fundamentals, technology innovations, and social, economic, political and IT alignment.”
Today, Microsoft is announcing three solutions that empower local language communities to discover, share and develop IT terminology in their native language. First, they are announcing the current list of languages that will be supported for the new releases of Windows, Office and, for the first time, Visual Studio:
• Fifty-nine new Language Interface Packs (LIPs) for both Windows 7 and Office 2010 • Four new LIP additions for Visual Studio 2010These new offerings are in addition to the 178 downloads available in 67 different languages for which there are already LIPs and CLIPs for earlier versions of Windows, Office and Visual Studio.
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“We are pleased to have entered into this patent license agreement with Amazon.com,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft. “Microsoft’s patent portfolio is the largest and strongest in the software industry, and this agreement demonstrates our mutual respect for intellectual property as well as our ability to reach pragmatic solutions to IP issues regardless of whether proprietary or open source software is involved.”
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq “YHOO”) announced today that they have received clearance for their search agreement, without restrictions, from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission, and will now turn their attention to beginning the process of implementing the deal.
Implementation of the deal is expected to begin in the coming days and will involve transitioning Yahoo!’s algorithmic and paid search platforms to Microsoft, with Yahoo! becoming the exclusive relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers globally. Once the transition is completed, the companies’ unified search marketplace will deliver improved innovation for consumers, better volume and efficiency for advertisers and better monetization opportunities for web publishers through a platform that contains a larger pool of search queries.
“This breakthrough search alliance means Yahoo! can focus even more on our own innovative search experience,” said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz. “Yahoo! gets to do what we do best: combine our science and technology with compelling content to build personally relevant online experiences for our users and customers.”..................Continue At Source
Microsoft Corp. today announced record revenue of $19.02 billion for the second quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, a 14% increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $8.51 billion, $6.66 billion and $0.74 per share, which represented increases of 43%, 60% and 57%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period.
These financial results include the recognition of $1.71 billion of deferred revenue, an impact of $0.14 of diluted earnings per share, relating to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program and pre-sales of Windows 7 to OEMs and retailers before general availability. Adjusting for the deferred revenue recognition, second-quarter revenue totaled $17.31 billion, and diluted earnings per share totaled $0.60 per share.
“Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company,” said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Our continuing commitment to managing costs allowed us to drive earnings performance ahead of the revenue growth.”
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 launched globally on October 22 as anticipated. Through the second quarter, Microsoft has sold over 60 million Windows 7 licenses making it the fastest selling operating system in history......................Continue At Source
Microsoft employees are contributing to a worldwide relief effort, both at the scene and remotely through technology assistance and cash donations.
Twenty-three hours after Haiti was struck by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake, Gisli Olafsson touched down in Port-au-Prince.
“The scene was horrible, with large parts of the city collapsed, bodies lying in the streets, and people trying to seek shelter outdoors since they were afraid of aftershocks,” said Olafsson, a disaster management technical advisor for Microsoft's Global Strategic Accounts team. “As you drive through the city, power cables are down in many places and rubble is often in the street, making it hard to get around.”
Members of Gisli Olafsson's search and rescue team in Haiti carry an injured woman from a collapsed building.
Olafsson had arrived to lead Iceland’s Urban Search and Rescue team, the first international rescue team to arrive in Haiti. The death toll remains unknown – the International Red Cross estimated on Thursday that it could be as high as 50,000. The organization also estimated that 3 million people — a third of Haiti’s population — may need emergency relief.
A groundswell of Microsoft employees has rallied to help raise money, with 1,600 employees already contributing over US $280,000 to 104 nonprofits working in Haiti. In addition, Microsoft made an initial commitment of US$1.25 million, which includes cash and in-kind contributions.
“The response has been phenomenal,” said Akhtar Badshah, senior director Global Community Affairs. “It’s a massive tragedy, and we are very humbled by the response from our employees and the response from our relief organization partners who are moving very quickly to bring in all the help that is needed.”
Continue: Microsoft Employees Quick to Help in Haiti Microsoft employees are contributing to a worldwide r
Pinpoint is the fast, easy way for business customers to find experts, applications, and professional services to meet their specific business needs—and build on the software they already have.
At the same time, Pinpoint helps developers and technology service providers quickly and easily get software applications and professional services to market—and engage customers who need what they offer.
Whether you’re searching for expert help or offering it, Pinpoint helps you easily find and engage the right people and technologies to get the job done.
Only available in 4 countries: US, UK, India and The Netherlands (wow Netherlands included at launch time)
Microsoft Pinpoint
Microsoft today announced “Microsoft Health Tech Today,” a fast-paced online video series designed to showcase how software innovation is improving health around the world. The show, at the intersection of health and information technology, highlights the latest industry trends and features examples of proven solutions that are improving health and changing lives for clinicians, patients and consumers worldwide.
As the global economic crisis persists, organizations continue to struggle with unsustainable systems. “Health Tech Today” aims to lead the movement toward highlighting sustainable solutions that improve patient services — increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of care while simultaneously reducing costs. By making the connection between the business value of technology and the resulting improvements in personal and population health, “Health Tech Today” generates excitement and solutions for health IT. The show is hosted by Bill Crounse, M.D., senior director of Worldwide Health for Microsoft.
“Since coming to Microsoft, it’s been my desire to do something more to disseminate information showing how information technology is transforming health and healthcare, and now is the time,” Crounse said. “With the worldwide interest in health and particularly health IT, we want to give people a forum to talk about how important IT is to the industry, and how it can improve the cost and quality of care as well as the satisfaction of those providing and receiving care. ‘Health Tech Today’ gives the industry a voice that it currently does not have on the Web.”
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Author Ken Auletta is in a unique position to compare Microsoft and Google, having written "World War 3.0" about the Redmond company's antitrust era and the new "Googled," an inside look at the search giant. So his perspectives on the tech giants were particularly interesting to hear during an event in Seattle tonight promoting his Google book.
Google now is similar to Microsoft in the 1990s in that its top executives seem surprised that the government would consider the company worthy of regulatory scrutiny, Auletta said in response to questions from the Seattle Times' Brier Dudley in front of an audience at the Seattle Central Library's Microsoft Auditorium.
But there are still differences between the two, Auletta said.
"Microsoft, I came to think, were cold businessmen. They really wanted to harm Netscape," Auletta said. "Google, they're not cold businessmen, they're cold engineers. No, it's true. They're not trying to kill the opposition, but they will kill opposition, but it's inadvertent. ... They're not consumed by the thought of destroying their opposition. Bill Gates was consumed -- and Microsoft was consumed -- by the thought of destroying Netscape."
Full story at source Comparing Microsoft's ruthless execs to Google's cold engineers
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of online engagement at the top worldwide properties based on data from its comScore World Metrix service. The study found that Microsoft Sites captured nearly 15 percent of time spent online worldwide in September, making it the most engaging global property, followed by Google Sites and Yahoo! Sites. Facebook.com, which continues to see significant growth on a worldwide basis, was the fourth most engaging destination with visitors spending 1.4 billion hours on the site in September, up 193 percent from the previous year.
Microsoft Sites Captures Nearly 15 Percent Share of Attention Worldwide
In September 2009, nearly 27 billion hours were spent on the Internet globally by a record online population of 1.2 billion Internet users age 15 and older. Microsoft Sites accounted for 14.5 percent of total minutes spent online in September, making it the most engaging global property, with Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger representing nearly 70 percent of time spent on the property during the month. Google Sites captured 9.3 percent of total minutes (2.5 billion hours), with YouTube accounting for nearly half of total time spent (1.2 billion hours) at the property. Yahoo! Sites ranked as the third most engaging Web property at 1.7 billion hours, followed by Facebook.com at 1.4 billion hours. Facebook’s share of attention reached 5.1 percent in September, an increase of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year, as its continued growth in popularity precipitated this surge in share.
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Continue: Microsoft Sites Captures Largest Share of Time Spent Online Worldwide - comScore, Inc
We've seen slides and videos of Microsoft's Courier booklet in action, but nothing has quite explained how all of these things actually work. This document explains Courier's interface, gestures and features more in-depth than ever before.
More screenshots at Gizmodo
Microsoft officials have confirmed that the company is making another round of job cuts today, according to reports from TechFlash and PaidContent. Rumors of the cuts have been widely circulated. The software giant is eliminating 800 jobs around the world, TechFlash reports, citing Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos as saying that the cumulative number of layoffs go beyond the planned 5,000 cuts announced in January. About a quarter of the job cuts are reportedly in Washington, where Microsoft’s headquarters are. While early reports on adoption of the company’s new Windows 7 operating system are positive, the latest round of cuts may still have to do with the mobile tech-related reasons for staff reductions that the company cited in January.
UPDATE: Microsoft employees are now confirming online that they’ve been let go–more below the fold.
Full Story at GigaOm
Microsoft Corp. plans to spend $9.5 billion in research and development projects in 2010, a considerable portion of which will go to cloud-computing technologies, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said.
The software giant, which last month launched the latest version of its operating system, Windows 7, signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan's government to jointly set up a research center for cloud computing.
On the outside, Microsoft's massive new data center resembles the other buildings in the industrial area.
Even the inside of the building doesn't look like that much. The ground floor looks like a large indoor parking lot filled with a few parked trailers.
It's what's inside those trailers, though, that is the key to Microsoft's cloud-computing efforts. Each of the shipping containers in the Chicago data center houses anywhere from 1,800 to 2,500 servers, each of which can be serving up e-mail, managing instant messages, or running applications for Microsoft's soon-to-be-launched cloud-based operating system--Windows Azure.
Upstairs, Microsoft has four traditional raised floor server rooms, each roughly 12,000 square feet and consuming, on average, 3 megawatts of power. It's all part of a data center that will eventually occupy 700,000 square feet, making it one of the world's largest.
"I think, I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think this could be the largest data center in the world," said Arne Josefsberg, general manager of infrastructure services for Microsoft's data center operations.
Even with only half the site ready for computers, the center has 30 megawatts of capacity--many times that found in a typical facility.
On a hot day, Microsoft would rely on 7.5 miles worth of chilled water piping to keep things cool, but general manager Kevin Timmons smiled as he walked in for the facility's grand opening in late September. It was around 55 degrees outside.
"When I stepped out, I said 'what good data center weather'," he said. "I knew the chillers were off.
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Inside one of the world's largest data centers Beyond Binary - CNET News