Microsoft is working to produce not only non-Windows operating systems, with examples such as Singularity and Midori, but also the evolution of the web browser beyond Internet Explorer. However, Microsoft Gazelle is not a plain vanilla browser; in fact, it evolved into an operating system capable of serving as platform for the increasingly sophisticated web application environment, according to Helen J. Wang, senior researcher in the Systems and Networking group at Microsoft Research Redmond. Wang is responsible for Gazelle, which she insists is nothing more than a research project, and not even close to a prototype. “Everyone accep... [read more >>] In parallel with the evolution of the Windows 7 client and server operating system, Microsoft is also building the now-traditional releases of embedded and mobile variants of Windows, and, furthermore, the new Windows Azure cloud platform. However, the Redmond company's non-Windows operating systems are concomitantly advancing, with little details available on Midori, but with not only consistent information, but the actual code base of Singularity available for download. In this regard, Microsoft is offering version 2.0 of the Research Development Kit of Singularity via CodePlex, its repository for open source projects. “This i... [read more >>] Microsoft's first and only public demonstration of Windows 7, the next iteration of the Windows client, delivered at the end of May 2008, offers the first consistent peek at the touch computing feature of the operating system. The Redmond company is heavily committed to investing in the evolution of natural user interfaces, and having debuted a new interaction model on top of Windows Vista, the software giant continues its focus on surface computing beyond Windows 7. Sure enough, Vista's successor will include by default application programming interfaces designed to support multi-touch and gesture natural interaction not only wit... [read more >>] Project Code Named "Velocity" Community Technology Preview 1 was unveiled at the Microsoft Tech Ed 2008 conference and made available for download as of June 3, 2008. Described by the company as a distributed in-memory caching platform, Velocity is designed to integrate with .NET Framework applications and to provide not only a high level of data accessibility, but also high-speed performance in accessing information. Set up as a scalable infrastructure for .NET Framework 3.5 applications, Velocity comes with support for Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1. "Velocity is a distributed in-memory ... [read more >>] Microsoft has put a lot of faith in the magic touch of its users with the debut of what it calls an entirely new product category. Formerly under the codename Milan, Microsoft has yesterday taken the wraps off its surface computing project after over five years of cooking in the Redmond laboratories. The Surface tabletop PC makes Microsoft the first company to debut a surface computer, virtually reshaping user interaction. Human touch, natural gestures and physical objects will be at the heart of every action interacting with Microsoft Surface. "Picture a surface that can recognize physical objects from a paintbrush to a cell phone and allo... [read more >>] |