Avalon: The Longhorn Presentation Layer

Avalon is a core part of Microsoft's presentation layer for its next major version of Windows, code-named Longhorn. Drill down on what it contains in this architecture model. 02/01/2004

Serialize Arrays and ArrayLists to XML

The XmlSerializer class provides a great way to convert objects to XML and back. However, it can be difficult to serialize collections such as Arrays and ArrayLists properly unless you know a few tricks. 02/01/2004

Distribution Patterns

Imanami’s SmartDL helps manage distribution lists. 02/01/2004

Storm Stories

It’s a truism in IT that various parts of your network—servers, hard drives, video cards, that mission-critical software program—will grind to a halt eventually. Here we present four disaster-recovery scenarios and how to recover from each. 02/01/2004

WINS-WINS Situation

In one domain where the servers seem to be missing, setting up WINS correctly may be the quick fix. 02/01/2004

Psychologically Acceptable Security

Getting user buy-in for security is critical. Using certificate autoenrollment is a way to make it pain-free. 02/01/2004

Books: Develop UIs in C#

Chris Sells shows you how to develop user interfaces in .NET in his book, Windows Forms Programming in C#. 02/01/2004

Q&A: Use Word's Spell Checker in .NET

Use Word's spell check from within your .NET application. 02/01/2004

Free Thinker

Is it time to set your own code of ethics? 02/01/2004

Score cards; Password Workout; MX Records; and the Cool Factor.

Don't Forget the Consumer

Longhorn and DRM offer a lot to digital rights holders and businesses, but what's in it for consumers, the ostensible target for the next version of the operating system? 02/01/2004

BusinessWeek: SCO Supplants Microsoft as Most Hated Company in IT

BusinessWeek Magazine, in its Feb. 2 editions, is declaring that SCO Group with its Linux lawsuits has replaced Microsoft as the most hated company in IT. 01/29/2004

MyDoom Gets Worse

The already fast-spreading MyDoom or Novarg mass-mailing virus got a boost from an effective variant that hit about two days after the original virus was discovered. 01/29/2004

Update: Quest Buys Aelita

Quest Software Inc. will buy privately-held Aelita Software for $115 million in a deal announced by the companies late Wednesday. The deal, a combination of two of the companies with the deepest sets of Active Directory and Windows-specific migration and management technologies, is expected to close this quarter. 01/29/2004

Microsoft Beefs up Online Security Offerings

Perhaps no company in the industry is working harder than Microsoft at making sure the public knows what steps to take to secure its products. 01/29/2004

Microsoft Puts Bounty on MyDoom.B Writer

Following in the footsteps of the SCO Group Inc., Microsoft on Thursday put up a $250,000 bounty for the perpetrators of MyDoom.B. 01/29/2004

Q&A: Windows Storage Server

Microsoft's Zane Adams recently discussed the growing potential for Windows Storage Server with Senior Editor Keith Ward. 01/29/2004

Longhorn Developer Details Released

Microsoft is now releasing more details on how to build Longhorn desktop applications—and pushing developers to crack open the early SDK. 01/29/2004

A 70-291 Self Assessment Manual

How well do you know Windows 2003? Enough to pass the 70-291 exam? Assess your knowledge with this book from Sybex. 01/28/2004

Microsoft Launches SQL Reporting Services

Microsoft on Tuesday launched its SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services, a technology three years in the making that has market-changing potential for business intelligence over the long term. 01/28/2004

ISA Server 2004 Enters Broad Beta

Microsoft posted a public beta of Internet Security & Acceleration Server 2004, the second-generation version of Microsoft's enterprise firewall and Web caching product. 01/28/2004

Gates: Microsoft's Upping Security R&D Budget

More of Microsoft's $6.8 billion research budget will be directed toward making its software more secure and reliable, chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates said at a European technology conference. 01/28/2004

70-291 Help in Excruciating Detail

Syngress' companion book/DVD is aimed at novices and experienced Windows 2003 pros who've set their sights on passing this core MCSA/MCSE exam. 01/28/2004

MyDoom Targets Microsoft, Breaks Records, SCO Fires Back

In its third day of activity, the MyDoom mass-mailing virus spread chaos like ripples in a pond. 01/28/2004

MyDoom Spreads Rapidly, but Corporate IT Well Prepared

A new mass-mailing virus known as MyDoom or Novarg spread at a record-setting pace this week, but its rate of success was fairly low against corporate servers already hardened against similar attacks. 01/27/2004

Microsoft Revenues Up, Profits Down

Microsoft on Thursday announced record revenues of $10.5 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2001, but the company posted lower profits than it did for the year-ago period. 01/22/2004

Gartner: Windows 9.x Support Extension an Attempted Linux Deterrent

Meanwhile, the analyst house says, Windows NT 4 Workstation support, which was not extended in Microsoft's announcement last week, is a bigger problem for the enterprise. 01/22/2004

Contest! Help Desk Technicians, Be Recognized

Online contest to honor the hard work of the desktop support person. 01/22/2004

Enhanced Security Tool Posted to Microsoft.com

Microsoft posted a minor update this week of its free Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) for download from its Web site. 01/22/2004

Salesforce.com Plugs into Microsoft Office

Company announces a new plug-in for importing Salesforce.com data into Excel, Word, and Outlook. 01/21/2004

Vendors Press Groupware Below Exchange Rate

While Microsoft’s Outlook has become a ubiquitous e-mail client within many companies, the market is still churning on the server. A number of e-mail server vendors now see opportunities to position their products as lower-cost and simpler alternatives to Exchange Server 2003. 01/20/2004

AppSense Makes the Most of Windows Servers

AppSense firmly believes that enterprises could use its application performance management software. What makes it so confident? The software was originally developed for Dresdner Bank in London in the late 1990s, when AppSense served as a systems integrator and a development arm for an application service provider. 01/20/2004

Update: Microsoft a Finalist for LinuxWorld Award

Microsoft's interoperability efforts got a credibility boost when the latest version of Services for Unix earned a nomination for best integration solution at a major Linux show. 01/20/2004

IE Flaw Remains Unpatched

The third installment of Microsoft's monthly patch roundups came and went last week with three new security bulletins but without a fix for a well-known Internet Explorer vulnerability. 01/20/2004

Have You Been Outsourced or Insourced?

Have you been involved in or affected by an outsourcing initiative at your organization? We want to hear your story. 01/19/2004

IBM Launches NT to Linux Migration Plan

Microsoft is expected to pull the plug on support for Windows NT 4.0 Server by the end of 2004, and at least one vendor -- IBM Corp. -- smells blood. 01/19/2004

Microsoft Releases 32-bit Driver for Intel Itanium 2

Microsoft posted a software driver to its Web site this week that executes 32-bit code on Intel's 64-bit Itanium 2 processors. 01/14/2004

Microsoft: SFU 3.5 Wants to be Free

Microsoft is set to release version 3.5 of Services for Unix on Thursday that will mark the product's official debut as freeware. 01/14/2004

First MCDST Exam Released

Exam 70-271 made its debut Monday; 70-272 follows next month. 01/13/2004

January Patch Day Has 3 Bulletins

Microsoft issued three bulletins on Tuesday in its monthly collection of patches for January. 01/13/2004

Microsoft Puts Plug Back in on 9.x Support

Tens of thousands of organizations worldwide running Windows 98 got a breather on Monday when Microsoft formally announced it was adding 30 months to the product's extended support phase, which had been scheduled to end on Friday. 01/13/2004

CES 2004: The IT Perspective

Gadgets with IT appeal have begun to infiltrate the ranks of devices at this predominantly consumer show. 01/12/2004

Ask Steve Ballmer

MCP Magazine is lining up an interview with the feisty and always outspoken Microsoft president and CEO Steve Ballmer. 01/08/2004

IBM Blades Cut SMP Down to Size

IBM will begin shipping four-way server blades in February that will allow consolidation-minded organizations to jam 28 Intel Xeon MP processors into 7U of rack space. 01/08/2004

Avanade Selling Process Improvements for Patch Management

Organizations looking for more than a tool to help with them cope with their patch management nightmares may be interested in a more holistic new consulting offering from Avanade. 01/08/2004

CALL FOR USERS: Looking for Exchange 2003 Implementers

Have you already implemented Exchange Server 2003 with some success? Or, are you in the midst of a migration that is/isn't going well? We want to hear your stories. 01/07/2004

OLAP Wars: Hyperion Strikes Back

With a quartet of Itanium 2-based HP Integrity servers and the 64-bit edition of its Essbase OLAP, Hyperion beats Oracle’s market-leading score in a key OLAP benchmark by 39 percent. 01/07/2004

Embracing Windows Server 2003: Moving a Global Firm from Windows NT

The final chapter in this four-part series discusses a global manufacturing firm's experiences in moving from NT 4.0 to Windows Server 2003, an operation with 10,000 computers worldwide. 01/07/2004

Microsoft Provides Blaster Removal Tool

Microsoft posted a tool in its Download Center on Tuesday for removing several variants of the Blaster worm. 01/07/2004

Mac Has a Future with Microsoft

Microsoft unveiled a short-term roadmap for Apple Macintosh products this week at Apple's Macworld conference in San Francisco. 01/07/2004