04/01/2008
April 2008 - The New Face of User Groups
Even with the Web and IM, professional-level IT user groups are as important as ever. Also, readers comment on Vista, virtualization, Windows Server 2008 and more on the Redmond reader survey; best practices for ensuring high availability for your mission-critical apps; product reviews; and much more!
In-Depth
Even with the Web and IM, professional-level IT user groups are just as vibrant and important as ever.
Hardware and software products use different approaches to high availability.
Readers reflect mixed emotions on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, virtualization and the corporate juggernaut that is Microsoft.
Follow these best practices to help ensure high availability for your mission-critical applications.
News
One of Microsoft's retail point-of-sale applications has an incompatibility with Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1.
Betas debuted at this week's Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas.
IT execs are focusing on cutting costs rather than investing in technology this quarter, according to a report by research analysts at IDC.
Live Mesh sounds like "HailStorm" in concept -- a way to access your data from any device with an Internet connection -- says Microsoft's Rosoff.
Microsoft had flat revenue results as reflected in its third-quarter 2008 report.
Windows XP, which will no longer be sold after June 30, will not get a reprieve despite Ballmer's quip at a press conference about relenting to customer feedback.
New attack vectors and methods for hacker intrusion, it seems, are popping up every few months.
Team Sparx takes away top honor and trip to global final in Paris in July.
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has been released to manufacturing, according to a post on Microsoft TechNet.
Security personnel in Redmond are investigating a newly reported zero-day bug vulnerability in Microsoft operating systems and server systems.
Hundreds of executives at some of America's most well-known companies received e-mails that they probably didn't want to get -- even if those messages weren't a hoax.
Microsoft is finally tuning up its Microsoft Developer Network site and promises to resolve long-running frustrations developers have encountered working with it.
Microsoft revealed "Albany," a consumer-oriented hosted service that provides Excel, PowerPoint and Word applications, plus security and collaboration tools.
Microsoft announced through two blogs that it plans to release the next service pack to SQL Server 2005, Service Pack 3 (SP3).
Software development competition finalists compete to move on to global finals in Paris, France.
As of yesterday, Vista Service Pack 1 is now generally available in all 36 supported languages.
Rumors that Windows XP Service Pack 3 will appear this month continue to flourish.
sQL Server 2008 offers new support for spatial data types that some analysts say should deliver a real boost to geospatial applications and data sharing.
The Microsoft Windows operating system has become unwieldy and is choking on the amount of code that needs to be maintained.
About a fourth of CIOs in the United States reported decreases in their budgets in the first quarter of this year, according to a survey released by Gartner this month.
Microsoft's latest tally of MCPs shows MCTS: Vista-Configuration to be one of the hotter certifications.
Windows processing environments put themselves at risk whenever they check their MySpace pages or shop for other goods and services -- all while at the workplace.
Microsoft's automated security suite for home users and small businesses is available for testing from the Microsoft Connect Web site.
Microsoft today released information on protocols used in some of its software products.
If the traditional notion of infrastructure-based perimeter security is not yet dead, it's not for lack of effort by keynote speakers at this week's RSA Security conference.
Microsoft rolled out five "critical" and three "important" patches for Windows Server 2008, Vista, Office, IE and other software.
Microsoft's released a public beta version of an integrated security solution, code-named "Stirling."
Yahoo's board of directors got a letter from Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer over the weekend about Yahoo's slow response to Microsoft's proposed takeover bid.
Microsoft reported today that it has fixed a problem that caused some users upgrading to Vista Service Pack 1 to enter "an endless reboot cycle."
Microsoft yesterday provided new details about the life of its popular Windows XP operating system.
When it comes to infrastructure and operations, research firm Gartner says that virtualization will be the most significant trend through the next four years.
Redmond is poised to release eight security bulletins for its April patch release, with five designated as "critical" and three deemed "important."
The virtualization stalwart's product guru, Raghu Raghuram, helps the company set its sights on next-generation products and services.
Automating your virtualized data center can be a challenge.