14 DAY TRIAL // On Monday, the first rumors concerning a bundle deal for Windows Live services was almost confirmed after Microsoft-Watch reported Microsoft is looking to announce a partnership with one or more companies to include its Live products into their solutions. The publication sustained the main candidates are Gateway, HP and Lenovo, the firms that are going to distribute the Windows Live Toolbar and other utilities meant to provide quick access to the Windows Live Homepage or Live Search. As you might know, another Internet giant, Google, made a partnership with Dell in May 2006 to include their online services into the company's products. The first Dell solution bundled with Google's services was announced late last year, numerous users confirming they bought computers equipped with several products designed by the search giant: Google Desktop, Picasa and the Toolbar for Firefox.
"Sources tell Microsoft Watch that in the months before the November 2005 launch of Windows Live, the operating system division began absorbing what had been previously been MSN. Recent executive changes reflect the Windows organization's increasing role and control over MSN/Live. The bundling deal also reflects the directional shift, as MSN/Live moves away from being a separate online service to serving as an adjunct to bolstering either Office or Windows," Microsoft Watch sustained.
The deal can be extremely important for Microsoft because since the release date of its Live suite, the company worked hard to promote the services but it is continuously challenged by Google, the owner of the most powerful search engine on the Internet. Using this partnership, Microsoft aims to make its solutions more popular and attract another category of users to its Live suite.
As you surely know, the software giant developed Windows Vista to represent the perfect solution for all types of users, no matter if they're individual users, business clients or educational organizations. Since the release of the operating system, more and more issues started to show the vulnerabilities of the application, convincing the users to avoid the upgrade to Vista. On Tuesday, two federal agencies decided to ban Vista and other programs designed by Microsoft because they don't represent an advantage for the organization as their prices are quite high while the features are unimpressive.
"Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade including: the cost of performing the upgrade (hardware/software upgrades, applications upgrades, labor for planning and implementation, etc.); previous version compatibility concerns regarding Office 2007 components (primarily Word); the move to the new Headquarters DOT building that would be competing with the same IT expertise required to support the migration to any of these products," it was mentioned in a memo released by The Department of Transportation.
On Wednesday, the software giant released one of the most important updates ever launched by the company because it addresses numerous aspects of the Windows Server 2003 Server Pack 2. "It's a big update, if Microsoft's list of updates is any indication. And there are some interesting tools, such as the hotfix tool for testing which "hotfixes that will potentially regress after you install" SP2, according to the Microsoft support page. Yikes! Microsoft shouldn't want to give IT organizations a reason to flip off update services, but this stealth service pack release could be good reason to do just that," Microsoft Watch sustained in an article about the released update.
Among other improvements for the Windows Server 2003 Server Pack 2, Microsoft developed several important updates including: Tool kit to temporarily block delivery of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 32-bit support tools; System preparation tool for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 deployment; Hotfix scan tool for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 deployment; Windows Server 2003 Server Pack 2 32-bit; Windows Server 2003 Server Pack 2 64-bit; and Windows Server 2003 Server Pack 2 Itanium.
For more information about the updates included in the pack as well as the entire list of improvements, you should click on this link.
As I said before, since the release of the Windows Vista operating system, Microsoft tried to promote the application and make it the main application for all types of users including individual, business or enterprise users. Although it is regarded as the most powerful version in the Windows family, the operating system is often avoided by the users because most of the applications available in the present are currently incompatible with Vista. Because this is one of the main reasons to avoid Vista, Microsoft decided to release on Thursday a pack of improvements meant to create compatibility with numerous popular programs.
According to an article published by Microsoft Watch, the pack of updates adds compatibility with eight well known applications: AcdSee 8, AOL Safety and Security Center 2.5.4.1, Lenovo Presentation Director 1.0.0.1, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Administration Tools Pack, RealNetworks RealPlayer 6.0.12, Toshiba Tecra M7 1.70, Trend Micro Internet Security 2006 (PC-cillin) 14.0 - 14.59 and Trend Micro Internet Security 2007 (PC-cillin) 15.0 - 15.19.
On Friday, Microsoft finally confirmed the Tellme acquisition, a company that was specially designed to improve the business communications by phone. Tellme is the provider of a huge amount of information distributed by phone to more than 40 million users every day and was acquired by Microsoft to improve the relations with their customers as well as other products scheduled to be released in the near future.
"We've made great strides in speech technologies, but have only scratched the surface of what is possible. The acquisition of Tellme will bolster Microsoft's existing speech capabilities, bringing both immediate and longer-term value to our customers and partners," said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. "Tellme was founded with the idea that anyone should be able to simply say what they want and get it from any device, starting with the phone. Now, with Microsoft, we'll be able to extend that vision to millions of businesses and consumers around the world," said Mike McCue, co-founder and CEO of Tellme, according to a press release published on Microsoft's website.
