Quotes on the European Commission Ruling

A sampling of commentary from participants and observers on the European Commission's ruling Wednesday on Microsoft. Includes commentary from Sun Microsystems, the Software & Information Industry Association, RealNetworks, the Cato Institute and others. 03/24/2004

European Commission Fines Microsoft $613 Million

The European Commission on Wednesday ordered Microsoft to pay a record $613 million fine, offer a version of Windows that does not include the Windows Media Player and disclose to competitors the interfaces required to communicate with Windows. Microsoft will appeal. 03/24/2004

Windows XP to Go One More Round?

Possible Windows XP Reloaded to follow mid-year release of XP SP2. 03/24/2004

Managing User Profiles Your Way

Better methods for managing user profiles en masse. Plus, an SBS problem. 03/23/2004

IDC: Big Changes on the Way for Software Licensing

More than half of enterprise software vendors are likely to change their licensing models in the next year, according to a new study by IT researchers at IDC. 03/23/2004

Is Somebody Watching Me?

Technology similar to the gizmos featured in the high-tech thriller "Enemy of the State" entered the everyday business application world this week when Microsoft released a new server for building location-based services into applications. 03/23/2004

So What's Windows Storage Server for Anyway?

Microsoft made its first overt move into the dedicated storage server space in September with the release of Windows Storage Server 2003. In a field of Windows Server operating system versions that seems to be growing by the month, the company is still struggling to define what distinguishes its Storage Server SKU from all the other versions of Windows Server 2003. The company recently embarked on an education campaign to clarify its intentions for the product. 03/22/2004

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3...

Disaster recovery plans should be part of any testing plan. 03/22/2004

Dell Releases NAS Device

Dell on Monday began shipping a rack-optimized Network Attached Storage (NAS) server that runs Microsoft's Windows Storage Server 2003. 03/22/2004

Muglia Promises Low Price for Virtual Server 2005

While Microsoft isn't saying how much it will charge for Virtual Server 2005, the company is promising the price will be low. 03/18/2004

UPDATE: Help Desk Contest Winners

In honor of MCDST's release, winners of help desk heroism/horror submissions announced. 03/18/2004

System Center Coming This Year

Microsoft is forging ahead with plans to offer its two flagship management products, Systems Management Server and Microsoft Operations Manager, in a package called Microsoft System Center later this year. 03/18/2004

SMS Feature Packs Getting Close

A few details dribbled out this week at the Microsoft Management Summit about two feature packs Microsoft will ship for Systems Management Server 2003. 03/18/2004

Ballmer Talks to European Commission

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer cancelled a planned keynote this week at the Microsoft Management Summit to go to Europe and negotiate with the European Commission as the antitrust case there reaches a critical stage. 03/17/2004

Software Update Services Overhauled

Software Update Services 2.0, Microsoft's next release of a patch management technology for small and medium organizations, is getting a major overhaul and a new name -- Windows Update Services. 03/17/2004

MOM 2005 Enters Final Beta

LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft demonstrated features of the new Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, which entered its final beta stage on Tuesday, and unveiled a new version called MOM 2005 Express that is aimed at smaller and medium-sized businesses. 03/16/2004

Talking Web Services with Mainframes

If you think that the days of the mainframe are numbered, you’ve got another thing coming. With sales of mainframes and mainframe-related software and services picking up last year, and with strong growth in the early months of 2004, it appears that reports of Big Iron’s death have been greatly exaggerated. 03/16/2004

Managing User Profiles

A slap-dash solution for transferring profiles in toto. Anyone with a more elegant method? 03/16/2004

Educational Opportunities

Security training, free for the asking. 03/15/2004

Double-Secret Forest Functional Level

New! Windows admin tips, tricks, and secrets. First up: migration via the "interim" forest functional level. 03/12/2004

Major ISPs Launch Spam Lawsuit Under New Law

Four of the largest e-mail and Internet Service Provider companies in the United States this week launched the first major industry lawsuits under the new federal anti-spam law. 03/11/2004

Microsoft: Yukon Delay Won't Impact Longhorn

The official line out of Microsoft is that delays in the SQL Server roadmap will not affect delivery of the "Longhorn" version of Windows. 03/11/2004

Office XP Bulletin Critical After All

Users who use Outlook Today as default folder at risk for privilege elevation attack. 03/10/2004

Update: Yukon, Whidbey Delayed Until 2005

Microsoft officials said on Wednesday that the next version of SQL Server, code-named "Yukon," and the next version of Visual Studio, code-named "Whidbey," will be delayed until the first half of 2005. 03/10/2004

Siebel's "New" Windows-Only CRM Software

It's a repackaged CRM Midmarket Edition. The product's lower price should appeal to small and mid-sized companies. Siebel is working with third parties to provide fixed-price integration and implementation services. 03/10/2004

In Through the Back Door

A routine audit of Active Directory permissions can expose this example back-ended breach. 03/09/2004

Microsoft Posts 3 Security Patches, None Critical

Microsoft released its monthly security patches for March on Tuesday. Three patches were released -- one for Windows 2000 Server, one for Office XP and one for MSN Messenger. None of the patches is critical. 03/09/2004

Want to Become MCP Magazine Editor-for-a-Day?

Become Editor-for-a-Day and help formulate editorial content for a future issue. Plus, win a free expenses-paid trip to MCP TechMentor! 03/09/2004

RSA Musings

Something old, something new, something quite innovative at this year's security show. 03/08/2004

Microsoft-EMC Launch Solution for Backing up Branch Office Data

Microsoft and EMC launched a 10-city tour this week to promote a joint solution for consolidating and protecting data in branch offices and other remote sites. 03/05/2004

Microsoft Plans Update Release of Windows 2003

Microsoft will release an update to Windows Server 2003 to bundle in some of the add-on components the company has put out since shipping Windows Server 2003 last April, a company official said Friday. 03/05/2004

A Battle Royale of Bagle, MyDoom and NetSky?

The incessant flood of variants of three major new worms -- Bagle, NetSky and MyDoom -- may be more than a coincidence. 03/04/2004

BizTalk 2004 Coming, But the Rest of 'Jupiter' is Dead

The availability of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 at the beginning of next month will mark the end of Microsoft's once-grand "Jupiter" project. 03/04/2004

Office 2003 SP1 Slated for June

Microsoft plans to deliver the first service pack for Office 2003 in late June. 03/03/2004

InfoPath Service Pack to Add Features

In another example of Microsoft's new willingness to push feature changes into service packs, the company plans to include additional functionality into its fledgling Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 in the product's first service pack. 03/03/2004

Project Management Experts Exam Now Live

Exam 70-281, released to general public March 2, tests project management skills. 03/03/2004

IDC: Volume Servers Shaking Up Server Market

Volume servers, the industry-standard servers powered by Intel and to a lesser extent AMD processors and generally running Windows or Linux, are having a profound impact on the worldwide server marketplace, according to IDC analysts who just published their estimates for server shipments in 2003. 03/03/2004

RTM for BizTalk Server 2004

Microsoft on Tuesday said BizTalk Server 2004 is released to manufacturing and will be generally available by April 1. 03/03/2004

Intel Rolls Out New SMP Xeons

A new line of Intel Xeon MP processors for four-processor and larger systems hit the market on Tuesday. 03/02/2004

How Google Bursts the Pop-Up Bubble

Google's toolbar comes with a fairly effective pop-up killer—and it's free. 03/01/2004

Use DataSets as Business Objects

Enhance the DataSet class with inheritance and extend its associated XML schema to hook validation checks and custom validation routines into DataSets declaratively. 03/01/2004

The Microsoft Security Debate: The Final Chapter

Roberta responds to a readers' essay on what he views as Microsoft's poorly implemented security strategy. 03/01/2004

Secure Your Directory-Enabled Apps

Find out how Active Directory Application Mode and Windows Authorization Manager can simplify security, personalization, and configuration for your directory-enabled applications. 03/01/2004

Password Currency

Why it's important for remote users to change passwords regularly. 03/01/2004

Grabbing the Throttle; Tool Time; Attachment Security; and more

STOPZilla Bursts the Pop-Up Bubble

Stop popups dead in their tracks with this inexpensive but sanity-saving blocker. 03/01/2004

There’s a New (Web) Marshal in Town

NetIQ’s content tool keeps an eye on your Web surfers. 03/01/2004

Doing Windows 2003 Right

Windows Server 2003: Best Practices for Deployment helps IT plan for the new operating system, lay the network groundwork and keep it all secure. 03/01/2004