Microsoft Unveils Presence Tools for Real-Time Collaboration

Microsoft on Thursday unveiled tools to make it easier to include Instant Message-style presence information from Live Communications Server 2005 in business processes and line-of-business applications. 08/25/2005

Layton Offers Consultant Pricing on Audit Tool

Microsoft SUS Gets 6-month Support Extension

Microsoft Software Update Services got a six-month support extension to Dec. 6, 2006, the company said Wednesday. 08/24/2005

Low Power Key to Upcoming Intel Designs

As expected, Intel told attendees at this week’s Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco that the next generation of its processors will follow a low-power path to reduce heat leakage while still providing higher performance than ever. 08/24/2005

Windows XP SP1 Vulnerable to Attacks Based on MS05-039 Flaw

Microsoft posted a security advisory to warn customers using "Simple File and Print Sharing" on systems running Windows XP Service Pack 1 that they are at increased risk for the flaw patched two weeks ago in bulletin MS05-039. 08/24/2005

Winternals Ships Defrag Manager 4

Winternals Software is shipping version 4 of its Defrag Manager utility for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. 08/23/2005

Subscription Service Adds License Management

AssetMetrix has added software license management to the list of services it provides through its subscription-based asset management service for IT. 08/23/2005

Epicor Standardizes on SharePoint For Portal

Epicor Software says it will ship in the fourth quarter a major update to its enterprise portal solution that uses Microsoft’s SharePoint Services and Office SharePoint Portal Server as its underlying infrastructure. 08/23/2005

Partner Watch, August 23

Aderant announces the upcoming release of its .NET-based Back Office financial management solution. 08/23/2005

Certiport Announces World Champions of Office Competition

This year’s winners in Microsoft Excel and Word Specialist exams hail from Switzerland and England. 08/19/2005

Certiport To Head Microsoft IT Academy

Microsoft outsources its global training program to Certiport, based on its success with Microsoft Office Specialist. 08/19/2005

IT Weekly Roundup, Aug. 19

From the business wires this week: a database development suite for Windows XP, an enterprise defragmentation solution, a Windows Server security appliance and more. 08/19/2005

Zero-Day Exploit for IE Flaw Allows Remote Code Execution

Even as a Microsoft advisory took an unnamed group of security researchers to task for releasing information about the flaw and exploit code publicly, Microsoft itself was scolded by incident handlers at the SANS Institute for providing an infrastructure with IE that allows such attacks in the first place. 08/19/2005

MCP Exam Second-Shot Promo Nears End

The second coming of Microsoft's MCP exam retake promotion is coming to an end on August 31, 2005. 08/18/2005

EXCLUSIVE: New Software Assurance Benefits to Include 24x7 Support, Virtual PC Express

Microsoft plans to bolster the Software Assurance component of its volume licensing program next month with several additional benefits covering deployment services, enhanced support, training and exclusive software, according to a source familiar with Microsoft's plans. 08/18/2005

Q&A: SAFLink Launches Channel Program

Biometric firm that once targeted government now looks to partners to address SMBs. 08/17/2005

Major Late Stage Change on Tap for Visual Studio

According to a senior Microsoft executive, Microsoft is introducing what he calls a "big change" to Visual Studio 2005 in the August Community Technology Preview that is coming out shortly. Such a major change is unusual for a product this late in the development cycle. 08/17/2005

Exchange 2003 SP2 Preview Code to Post Friday

Microsoft plans to release a Community Technology Preview of Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 on Friday. 08/17/2005

VMware’s Multi-core Strategy: Per-CPU Pricing

VMware announced this week it will price its products per CPU and not per core, assuring users that they will not be penalized for moving to emerging multi-core processors. 08/17/2005

Worms Hit High-Profile Targets

CNN, New York Times, Caterpillar and others reported serious problems from worms stemming from the Plug and Play vulnerability in Windows 2000. Microsoft continues to rate the worms a low threat. 08/17/2005

BindView to Update Compliance Tracking Tool

Houston, Texas-based BindView Corp. says this quarter it will ship an update to its regulatory compliance tracking and reporting tool, that adds support for major databases and for Microsoft Exchange. 08/17/2005

Orchestrate Complex Data Collaboration

Use BizTalk Server 2004 to orchestrate complex data collaboration and exchange scenarios. 08/16/2005

Intel to Ship First Dual-core Xeons Early -- Cuts Some Pentium 4 Prices

As the multi-core duel heats up, Intel moved to steal some thunder from AMD this week by announcing it will ship its first dual-core Xeon CPUs earlier than promised. Additionally, over the weekend, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company slashed prices on several of its Pentium 4 desktop processors. 08/16/2005

Quest Unveils Vintela Details

Quest Software this week revealed its initial blueprint for the integration of Vintela technology with Quest tools. Quest bought Vintela in a $57 million deal that closed last month. 08/16/2005

Microsoft and Federated Identities: The Road to Single Sign-On

Confused by Microsoft's jumble of directory technologies for user-account management? ENT contributing editor Stuart Johnston sorts out the differences between Microsoft's existing Microsoft Identity Integration Server and its forthcoming Active Directory Federation Services, and explains where third-party tools from Quest/Vintela and Centrify fit into the puzzle. 08/16/2005

Zotob Worm That Exploits Plug and Play Hole Spreading Slowly

A Microsoft official said that a dangerous new worm dubbed Zotob is spreading slowly, but Microsoft is on high alert and the company recommends that customers apply a patch for the Windows Plug and Play vulnerability the worm exploits. 08/16/2005

Partner Watch, August 16

Hosting.com offers users a chance to test out betas of Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 and SQL Server 2005. Also, SyncCast develops a digital music kiosk with partner Mix & Burn. 08/16/2005

IT Weekly Roundup, August 12

From the business wires this week: 08/12/2005

Updated CRM App – RightNow

RightNow Technologies released RightNow CRM 7.5, the latest version of the company’s on demand CRM solution. 08/11/2005

New MCP Exam for Systems Management Experts

Systems Management Server 2003 exam being beta tested from Aug. 8 to Aug. 22. Will count toward MCSE and new Technology Specialist cert. 08/11/2005

NuView to Ship MyView

Houston, Texas-based data management tool vendor NuView says in the next month it will ship a new Active Directory security product aimed at providing administrators with a centralized view of all users and the resources they have access to on an enterprise-wide basis. 08/11/2005

Opinion: Thanks, Mike Lynn -- Thanks for Nothing

Mike Lynn is being hailed in some quarters as a hero, but I don't buy it. I'm sure his heart was in the right place when he discussed a serious vulnerability in Cisco routers at the recent Black Hat USA conference, and his courage in quitting his job, rather than be censored by Cisco and his own employer, is admirable. 08/11/2005

Jet Blue Picks SOA for New Architecture

Earlier this week Santa Monica, Calif.-based SOA Software, provider of Web services management tools and a Microsoft Certified Gold ISV partner, announced that Jet Blue Airways has incorporated its Service Manager product into the company's Web services architecture. 08/10/2005

Critical Security Patch for IE Pulled, Reposted

A problem in Microsoft's process for posting patches to the Microsoft Download Center during the August patch day on Tuesday caused users attempting to pull down a critical cumulative patch for Internet Explorer to receive a corrupted file. 08/10/2005

AMD Set To Unleash “Pacifica” Emulator

AMD says it will release later this month SimNow, a free AMD64 simulator that will let developers work with the company’s next-generation processor technologies, including AMD’s virtualization technology, codenamed “Pacifica,” today. 08/10/2005

VMware Opens Up Virtualization

Software maker VMware announced this week it is working with a wide range of other technology companies to establish “open” virtualization standards based on its products and technologies. 08/10/2005

Partner Watch, August 9

Three vendors offering custom software engineering to asset management solutions join the ranks of Microsoft Gold Certified partners. 08/09/2005

Centrify to Ship Updated Active Directory Suite

Centrify will begin shipping on Monday version 2.0 of its flagship product DirectControl Suite 2.0 for integrating non-Microsoft systems into Active Directory. 08/09/2005

Patch Tuesday Brings 6 Bulletins, 3 are Critical

Microsoft released six security bulletins on Patch Tuesday, including three bulletins rated "critical." All six bulletins involved Windows, and one of the bulletins also involved Internet Explorer. 08/09/2005

Spammer to Pay Microsoft $7 Million to Settle Lawsuit

Accused spammer Scott Richter agreed to change his business practices and pay Microsoft $7 million to settle a lawsuit the software giant filed against him and his company, OptInRealBig.com LLC, Microsoft and Richter announced Tuesday. 08/09/2005

Windows Vista Beta 1 Delivers UI, Gives IT a Chance to Kick Tires

As a first beta, Windows Vista Beta 1 gives no indication of the size or performance of the operating system, and Microsoft remains quite cagey about what the final system requirements will be. What this beta does provide is the first tangible look at the user interface, end-user functionality and many of the IT-focused features of the follow-on to 2001's Windows XP. 08/08/2005

Private Beta of Longhorn Server Focused on Fundamentals

Microsoft put out a private beta of Windows Longhorn Server at the same time as the Windows Vista Beta 1 release. But don't worry if you're not among the 5,000 hardware and software industry insiders graced with the server code. You're not missing much yet. 08/08/2005

Internet Explorer Gets First Look-and-Feel Overhaul in Years

Internet Explorer 7 got its first facelift in years when Microsoft delivered twin betas of the Web browser this summer -- one in the Windows Vista beta and a technical beta for Windows XP Service Pack 2. 08/08/2005

Outsider to Fill Microsoft COO Post

Microsoft named a new chief operating officer this week. Kevin Turner comes to Redmond after 19 years with Wal-Mart where he most recently was president and CEO of Sam’s Club. 08/05/2005

IT Weekly Roundup, Aug. 5

From the business wires this week: pre-configured Microsoft Exchange 2003 migration packages, a software deployment solution, an automated disk defragger and a search engine for Microsoft Exchange. 08/05/2005

MCDST Title Hits Milestone

Microsoft sees desktop tech cert catching on, with the company issuing more than 8,000 Microsoft Certified Desktop Technician titles as of June this year. 08/04/2005

August Patch Tuesday to Bring Six Bulletins

The Microsoft Security Response Center said Thursday that it plans to release six security bulletins for Windows in August. The maximum severity of the bulletins, scheduled to post on Tuesday, is critical. 08/04/2005

IBM Ships Portal Update for Big Iron/Mid-range

IBM/Lotus is shipping updated editions of its WebSphere Portal for mid-range and big iron systems that bring those systems into sync with the portal on other platforms. 08/04/2005

iWay Sells BizTalk Application Adapters to Microsoft

iWay Software, one of the most prolific writers of application adapters for Microsoft's BizTalk Server, sold a bundle of the adapters to Microsoft, the companies said this week. 08/03/2005

Microsoft to Unveil Next Generation of Software Assurance Next Month

Microsoft has scheduled four Webcasts starting at midnight on Sept. 15 to unveil the "Next Generation of Software Assurance." 08/03/2005