This post was written by Jeff Johnston
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 physical design has matured with time. The noise issues that have long been an annoyance have also been lessened by including a smaller and cooler processor, which reduces fan speeds. The new update also offers the option for users to install games directly onto the hard drive, further reducing the high-pitched sound of the disc drive. Now that Blu-ray has become the pre-eminent high-definition standard for discs, the Xbox 360 has yet to support it, but it still remains an excellent game console with a superior game library and online experience.
Recently, eWEEK Labs took at look at the Microsoft’s emerging Windows security strategy of application whitelisting. The Windows feature, called Software Restriction Policies, or SRP, enables administrators to control whether applications and libraries are allowed to run on a Windows machine based on the path, digital certificate, hash or extension attributes of the executable in question. This feature in Microsoft Windows doesn’t offer the same granularity of control management capabilities as whitelisting options from third-party vendors, but there also are no extra licensing costs and it works well with Windows clients and servers.
Microsoft’s Explorer Mouse deserves attention for its BlueTrack sensor technology that lets you use it on surfaces where other mice fail. Laptop owners, or anyone else who uses a nondeskbound computer, will benefit from Microsoft’s innovative new technology. A mouse pad or a desk blotter will pose no trouble to current mouse technologies. The Explorer Mouse works fine even in a nonstandard location, a reflective kitchen countertop, for example, or on your lap in the living room.
On Computerworld, Scot Finnie says that Microsoft Inc. is standing at the most important crossroads. The company, which always managed to provide customers with what they wanted, seems to have lost its focus after the 2004 antitrust ruling. It even allowed the search business opportunity to pass by and started taking focusing on generating short-term profits rather than on charting a long-term strategy. IT customers expect the industry leader to ante up some big-time vision and R&D that delivers significant innovation.
Microsoft has published technical documents describing how it built support for the rival Open Document Format within Office 2007. In addition, Microsoft has also given away notes on how it supported its own format, Office Open XML (OOXML). This information could be helpful for third-party software firms trying to build applications that work with Office 2007. Despite Microsoft’s long-standing argument that customers benefit from the tight integration between Office 2007, SharePoint and other Microsoft applications, the company was sincere about promoting interoperability with other formats and applications.
Microsoft is adding support for multi-touch touch screens in the next version of Windows, Windows 7. The inclusion of multi-touch capabilities in Windows marks the surest sign yet that touch will join the mouse and keyboard as a common interface in computing. Microsoft Inc. has firmly put its stake in the ground in touch technologies already, with its tabletop Surface multi-touch computer beginning to show up in AT&T stores and is likely to make its public debut shortly in places like Sheraton hotels and Harrah’s casinos.
Microsoft’s tricky balancing act in 2009 will be to phase out Windows XP while boosting demand for Windows Vista and building anticipation for Windows 7. Compounding this challenge is that Vista has been Microsoft’s most embattled operating system, and though recent reports say that Vista has improved over the past year, there are also reports of a growing indifference from users. Many are sticking with Windows XP for now (or even requesting to “downgrade” to XP with new computer purchases) with the hope that Windows 7 will be more nimble and efficient than Vista.
Microsoft Inc. has further extended the life of Windows XP so that computer makers can include the operating system on low-cost desktop PCs. Microsoft has been under pressure from computer makers to provide a version of its OS for an emerging class of very low-cost laptops and desktops. Its new Windows Vista OS is widely seen as too resource-hungry for those machines. PC makers can now include Windows XP in those systems until 2010, the same as the deadline for low-cost laptops.
Awareness Inc. has launched its platform that has been integrated with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. This integration, developed by working with Microsoft Inc., brings the value of social media to Microsoft Office SharePoint Products and Technologies and enables users to directly engage with Awareness-powered, external-facing Web 2.0 communities. The scalable and searchable backend of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, ideal for broad information-sharing within an enterprise, combined with Awareness’ expertise in powering social media communities, gives companies an effective way to tie their internal collaboration closely to their external Web communities.
Microsoft Corp. has launched the first public beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2). It is now available in five language-specific editions: English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. Microsoft has not committed to Vista SP2 delivery or RTM dates, but a Web site that has a solid track record of predicting such things said the update would hit RTM in April 2009. Vista SP2 can be downloaded as a 388MB stand-alone installer for 32-bit versions.