What’s on Microsoft’s agenda for 2008?

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What to expect from Microsoft in 2008

What to expect from Microsoft in 2008 I just had to share this link http://bink.nu/news/what-to-expect-from-microsoft-in-2008.aspx it's going to be a fun year:)! And this is just the stuff we know is going to drop ... add in what's happening around live and sites like blink.nu are going to be important sites to watch. Merry Christmas! Published Saturday, December 22, 2007 2:44 PM by matt deacon [lien] [EN]

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac now supports the French spelling reform

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac was released this week. Users who are interested in the French language will notice a change in the French spell-checker, which now takes into account the French spelling reform, which is recommended by official bodies such as the Academie Francaise, the Conseil Superieur de la langue francaise, the French Ministry of Education, the Groupe quebecois pour la modernisation de la norme du francais, the Reseau pour la nouvelle orthographe du francais, etc. The official texts make it abundantly clear that both the traditional (‘old’) spelling and the ‘new’ (recommended) spelling are valid. As can be seen below, the Mac Office 2008 speller accepts both forms by default (traditional and new spellings). Users of the Office 2007 French speller are already familiar with the three options which enable them to change this default mode. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft Scotland 2008 Launch Event

On 23 April 2008, Microsoft Scotland will be hosting a launch event for our Scottish customers and business partners at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. The day will include a welcome from Raymond O’Hare, our Director in Scotland, and a keynote from Bruce Lynn, Head of the UK Server Business Group. Our top UK technology experts will then tell you about the key products being launched: · Windows Server 2008  - with built-in web and virtualisation technologies this is our most advanced Windows Server operating system yet. Its advanced security enhancements harden the operating system and protect your server environment with Network Access Protection and the Read-Only Domain Controller. · Visual Studio 2008  - delivers on Microsoft's vision of helping development teams to create connected applications. [lien] [EN]

More Microsoft predictions from around the Web

Earlier this week, I weighed in with my 10 Microsoft predictions for 2008. A few other Microsoft watchers have done the same. Among some of the other interesting prognostications out there: Steven Bink: Don’t forget about the Windows Server 2008-based bundles that are coming in the new year. Bink mentions Cougar (Windows Small Business Serer 2008); Centro (Windows Essential Business Server 2008; Windows Storage Server 2008; and Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2008. WindowsConnected: Betas of Windows Server 2008 SP1 and Windows Vista SP2, predicts WindowsConnected’s Josh Phillips. (Me? I’ll be surprised if there are even private betas of either of these next year, especially given the pace at which Microsoft is developing/testing/rolling out Vista SP1 and XP SP3. [lien] [EN]

Internal Microsoft IE 8 build passes the Acid standards test

A week after Opera Software filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft that focused, in part, on Microsoft’s falure to make Internet Explorer (IE) standards-compliant, Microsoft has gone on record stating IE 8 will include support for key Web standards. Microsoft verified last week that an internal test build of IE 8 passed the Acid2 Browser Test, according to Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager of IE Development. Hachamovitch noted the milestone in a blog post to the IE Team blog on December 19. Microsoft also posted a video to its Channel 9 Web site explaining the finer points for developers interested in the Acid2 details. Acid2 is a test page, maintained by the independent Web Standards Project group, that was written to help browser vendors ensure support for Web standards in their products. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft ‘officially’ announces XP SP3 public test build

Even though Microsoft began pushing out a public test build of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 the week of December 10, it wasn’t until December 18 that the company would acknowledge officially the existence of that build. On the 18th, Microsoft made the XP SP 3 Release Candidate (RC) build available for download from the Microsoft Download site. Microsoft allowed the same, near-final build to be released last week on several public file sharing sites. When I asked Microsoft December 11 whether the public RC of XP SP3 was available, the company declined to comment. Yesterday, Microsoft sent me the following statement: “Today, Windows XP SP3 RC was made available to the public via the Microsoft Download Center. While Windows Vista provides the most advanced security and management capabilities of any Windows Operating System. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft’s $300 million ‘consumer product blitz’ inches closer

What kinds of products will Microsoft be pushing when it launches its new $200 million to $300 million consumer-product ad campaign in early 2008? AdAge has reported that Microsoft has narrowed its search for an agency to handle creative for the forthcoming “consumer-products blitz” to two: MDC Partners’ Crispin Porter & Bogusky and Publicis Groupe’s Fallon. No doubt, Xboxes and Zunes will be on the roster. Windows Home Server (which is currently plagued by a serious and still unresolved file-corruption bug) could be on the list, too. Windows Live services and Windows Vista could stand for some serious consumer advertising help. Other likely candidates for Microsoft’s consumer ad campaign? I’d bet the Surface tabletop technology — which Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will show off during his Consumer Electronics Show keynote in early January — will be part of the campaign. [lien] [EN]

What does Microsoft’s IPTV reorg have to do with ‘Fiji’?

I’ve been thinking about Microsoft’s quiet reorg, via which the company unified the IPTV, Media Center and HD DVD initiatives into a single organization, known as the Microsoft Connected TV business group. Just munging these three teams together doesn’t necessarily mean a cohesive set of Microsoft TV products and services will suddenly emerge. As Microsoft Platform Strategy Advisor Harry Mower blogged: “This is a step in the right direction as long as we also begin to consolidate the underlying platforms and developer technologies. Today, if you want to build a media experiences that spans devices, you are forced to use a hodgepodge of languages, tools and standards. Until we (Microsoft) realize that we need to deliver one unified platform for multimedia development and consumption. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft to build an ‘Emacs.Net’ text editor

Developers are puzzling over recent clues blogged by a few Microsoft employees regarding a new “Emacs.Net” tool the company is building. Microsoft’s Connected Systems Division (the folks who developed the Windows Communication Framework, a k a “Indigo”)  is hiring developers  to build a product that team member Doug Purdy described as “Emacs.Net.” Purdy hinted that Microsoft will divulge its Emacs.Net product/strategy plans at the company’s Professional Developers Conference in late October 2008. Emacs is a text editor used primarily by the Unix community (though versions of Emacs that work on Windows systems already exist). Richard Stallman is credited as the father of Emacs, the name of which was derived from “Editing MACRoS.” “Emacs is a text editor where a lot of the functionality is written in Lisp. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft offers a Vista two-for deal

As 2007 rolls to a close, Microsoft isn’t letting up on its efforts to push Windows Vista. The latest promotion is aimed at subscribers Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) or TechNet who provided Microsoft with Vista testing feedback. “As we approach the one year anniversary of launching Windows Vista we want to remember you as one of the many people who downloaded and tested one of the Windows Vista Beta or Release Candidates through TechNet or MSDN. YOU were a significant contributor to the development of Windows Vista. Your participation was extremely valuable to Microsoft, and we would like to say, ‘Thank You!’” according to an e-mail message I received about the promotion at the end of December. Under terms of “The Ultimate Offer,” testers can go to any retail or online store and buy a copy of Vista Ultimate (full or upgrade version) for full price and Microsoft will match it with a second complimentary Vista Ultimate Upgrade product key. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft softens limits on its Windows Web Server

When Microsoft starts shipping Windows Web Server 2008 real soon now, the licensing terms and conditions it will require of its customers will be different than they were for prior versions of the company’s Web-server version of the product. Customers will be able to use any type of database software, with no limit on the number of users, with the Web-server SKU based on Windows Server 2008, according to Microsoft. CRN first reported the change in the database-licensing terms for Windows Web Server 2008. With the Windows Server 2003 Web Edition product, Microsoft customers were not allowed to use the product with “non-enterprise database engine software, such as Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine, licensed to support not more than 25 users at one time,” a company spokeswoman said on January 4. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft adds a new subscription licensing plan for SMBs

Microsoft is making available in the U.S. and Canada a volume-license subscription plan aimed at small and mid-size businesses (SMBs). The plan, known as the Open Value Subscription, has been available in various Microsoft international subsidiairies since 2000/2001, according to company officials. Eric Ligman, Microsoft US Senior Manager for Small Business Community Engagement,  announced via a posting on the Microsoft Small Business Community blog Microsoft’s strategy to add Open Value Subscription as an option, starting on March 3, 2008. Liggman blogged: “The Microsoft Open Value Subscription Program provides a way for SMB customers to ’subscribe’ to the Microsoft software they want to utilize in their businesses in a ‘lease-like’ fashion. This option provides the up. [lien] [EN]

CES: New applications to surface for Microsoft Surface

Sunday night is Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates’ big hurrah: His last Consumer Electronics Show (CES) keynote as Chief Software Architect. Gates is expected to talk about future scenarios for the Microsoft Surface platform as part of his keynote address (according to an e-mail message I got from the Surface team): “Since you last saw Surface, a lot has changed – there are new applications and a great deal of momentum. The Microsoft Surface team will be at this year’s CES and we’d appreciate the opportunity to schedule some time for you to get some in-person, hands-on time with Surface and the new applications. Bill Gates will be featuring Surface in the keynote, and there will a couple exciting new applications for you to play with.” Surface, in case you need a reminder, is the Microsoft Vista. [lien] [EN]

Microsoft and Samba finally come to terms over Windows protocols

After years of public disagreement over ensuring interoperability between their respective software, Microsoft and Samba have come to terms. And not surprisingly, each vendor is offering quite a different spin on the licensing agreement they unveiled on December 20. It took an intermediary, the Protocol Freedom Information Foundation (PFIF) — a non-profit organization created by the Software Freedom Law Center — to hand off the Microsoft protocol documentation that Samba said it needed to make its Unix/Linux file/print sharing products work properly with Windows. According to a press release issued December 20, Samba is paying Microsoft a one-time sum of 10,000 Euros, after which the PFIF will make available to the Samba Team, under non-disclosure, “the documentation needed for implementation of all of the workgroup server protocols covered by the European Union decision. [lien] [EN]