Windows Archive

"Microsoft is building a high-end feature into Windows for speeding up data access in multiprocessor servers--a feature that to date has been available only in high-end Unix servers, the company said Tuesday. The Redmond, Wash.-based software company is working on support for a technology called non-uniform memory access, or NUMA, one method for designing large servers crammed with processors, said Sean McGrane, program manager for Microsoft's top-end Datacenter server. The support will be available in two versions of the next edition of Windows for servers, .Net Enterprise Server and .Net Datacenter." The report can be found at Yahoo! News.

"Jim Allchin, Microsoft group vice president for the platforms group, confirmed at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle this week that the "Longhorn" release will come later than originally planned. Longhorn first emerged as an interim operating system release between Whistler, which later became Windows XP and the Windows .NET Server family, and Blackcomb, a major rev of the operating system that is supposed to revolutionize the user interface and fully embrace XML Web services." Read the report at ENT-News.

Microsoft has released a 22 MB Windows Update through their web-based update utility that includes a recommended critical update, a cd-burning fix, a backwards compatibility fix for older Windows versions, and for the first time, Microsoft includes the .NET Framework runtime (20 MB alone - Japanese version also available), which allows users to run .NET applications. While the runtime was available for some time now through the .NET development page at Microsoft's web pages, it is the first time they actually include it by default to the Windows Update, for large public consumption. Update: For the developers who would like to have a look or develop for the .NET Framework but do not own Visual Studio .NET, I would recommend to download the 137 MB of the SDK (which does not include an IDE or debugger, but the rest of the tools needed are there) and this free (GPL) IDE, SharpDevelop.

The first release candidate for Microsoft's Windows .Net Server software family will be released this quarter, with a final release of the product set for the end of the year. Microsoft released the third beta for the product in late October and has been receiving extensive feed back from testers since then. The release of this server family has been pushed back twice, with the last delay being attributed to Microsoft's "Trustworthy Computing" initiative, which resulted in development being halted and all code being reviewed.

"Microsoft this summer will institute some changes to Windows XP as part of a settlement agreement meant to benefit consumers and increase competition. But some state trustbusters and Microsoft's chief rivals aren't convinced that those changes go far enough." Read the rest of the report at ZDNews.

"You might still be wrestling with your Windows 2000 deployment. You don't have the time or inclination to consider a migration to Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server). But you might want to take a moment to see what Win.NET Server has to offer: Although Win.NET Server isn't a momentous release, as Win2K was, it offers some serious new features and significant improvements that smooth out some of Win2K's rough edges. The complete list of Win.NET Server's new and improved features is long, but the product's key infrastructure improvements—such as Active Directory (AD) modifications—can present compelling business reasons to consider the new platform." Read the exclusive report on the next major Widnows version at WinNetMag.

ActiveWin got their hands on a beta version of the third service pack for Windows 2000. They report that the update will be released very soon. Here is the bug fix list for the SP3.

"Microsoft has reshuffled its roadmaps once again, and begun briefing partners and customers to expect an interim upgrade to Windows XP, dubbed XP "SE", in the first quarter of next year. This buys more time for the Longhorn team to complete the complex task of implementing a native database file store, which Jon Honeyball first revealed to the world at The Register here, last August. In January we exclusively confirmed that the native, SQL Server-derived database would go in Longhorn, with the Blackcomb release - originally earmarked for the transition - pushed out to 2004." Read the exclusive report at TheRegister.

The Microsoft Windows CE .NET Device Emulator is a tool that allows you to view an Emulation Project Kit. An Emulation Project Kit contains an operating system image for a Windows CE-based platform. The platform is designed to run in the Device Emulator. The Device Emulator provides a viewer that allows you to run the Windows CE .NET OS on your desktop computer without specialized hardware. The Device Emulator makes it possible to download and view a Windows CE .NET-based device without acquiring additional hardware. They are sample platforms, each with a custom skin to showcase some of the capabilities of Windows CE .NET. The Microsoft Windows CE .NET Emulation Kit Creator is a tool that allows you to create an Emulation Project Kit for your Windows CE .NET-based platform. The Windows CE .NET Driver Development Program (WCEDDP) enables independent hardware and driver developers to get to market faster with free grants of Windows CE .NET.

"To achieve the long-elusive goal of easily finding information hidden in computer files, Microsoft is returning to a decade-old idea. The company is building new file organization software that will begin to form the underpinnings of the next major version of its Windows operating system. The complex data software is meant to address a conundrum as old as the computer industry itself: how to quickly find and work with a piece of information, no matter what its format, from any location." We have already reported on this here and here, but News.com has more information on the subject today.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that the BMW 7 Series, the line of cars introduced last month in the United States, features Microsoft’s real-time embedded operating system, Windows CE. This announcement comes shortly after Microsoft’s Automotive Business Unit launched Windows CE for Automotive v3.5, the newest version of its telematics software platform based on Windows CE, and announced an end-to-end solution to enable the auto industry to cost-effectively implement and maintain advanced automotive telematics. Siemens VDO Automotive AG, the preferred navigation supplier of BMW, is using the Microsoft Windows CE operating system in the Control Display, which is part of the innovative BMW iDrive concept.

"Microsoft will ship Service Pack 1 in Q3 this year, a little later than expected. But from the sound of it the company is planning SP1 more as a bundle of goodies and enhancements than as a plain old fix roll-up. It'll include support for the Mira and Freestyle technologies Microsoft intends to unleash on us, and will also apparently support Tablet PCs, which are due out later this year." Read the rest of the report at TheRegister.

"Microsoft, trying to protect its software empire from open-source rivals such as Linux, on Thursday said it is expanding a program to share the underlying code of its Windows operating system. Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative, which it started last year to counter the image that it jealously guards its products, is being expanded to let systems integrators--companies that help other companies manage their computer systems--peek at the Windows blueprints." Read the rest of the report at ZDNews.

"Microsoft on Tuesday announced several new efforts to bring wireless capabilities to devices using its operating systems. Among them is its Phone Edition application, which will help handheld owners access data and make voice calls. The software runs on the Pocket PC 2002 operating system and will be used with Hewlett-Packard's Jornada 928 Wireless Digital Assistant, which the PC maker is also expected to announce Tuesday. Microsoft also revealed plans to work with Intel as well as Texas Instruments to develop reference designs for phones that will run its Windows Powered Smartphone 2002 operating system. A reference design is basically a blueprint for a technical system that lets different manufacturers build essentially the same device. This process will help wireless phone manufacturers get products to market faster." Read the rest of the article at C|Net News.com and check some screenshots of the SmartPhone operating system running on a Texas Instrument mobile phone.