14 DAY TRIAL // The 2008 International CES gave Microsoft a chance to announce the new titles it added to the Games for Window initiative on Monday. Based on the success that it had in its first year, the Redmond-based giant decided that it was a worthy investment to continue it, so it will continue the momentum for Windows based gaming in 2008 as well.
"Games for Windows truly thrived in 2007. We went from two titles in 2006 to a continually growing portfolio of over 60 titles here at CES 2008. [?] We delivered on our promise one year ago to reinvigorate the PC gaming space and bring the best portfolio of games to Windows. And this is just the beginning. With our partners, we will continue to drive the resurgence of Windows-based gaming", said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Games for Windows, in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.
The CES attendees will be delighted to be able to play some of the most expected and most important games of 2008 like "Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures" (Funcom, Eidos Interactive), "Conflict: Denied Ops" (Eidos Interactive), "Frontlines: Fuel of War" (THQ), "Space Siege" (SEGA), "Turning Point: Fall of Liberty" (Codemasters). I know how difficult the wait must have been, but bare with me, it get's better: renown publishers Atari Inc., Capcom, Eidos Interactive, LucasArts, Microsoft Game Studios, SEGA and Stardock bring the new over 60 titles to the table. If you want a sneak peak at the titles, here are some of the bigger ones: "Alone in the Dark" (Atari), "Bionic Commando" (Capcom), "Conflict: Denied Ops" (Eidos Interactive), "Empire: Total War" (SEGA), "LEGO Indiana Jones" (LucasArts), "Microsoft Train Simulator 2" (Microsoft Game Studios), "Sins of a Solar Empire" (Stardock), "Space Siege" (SEGA) and "Tomb Raider: Underworld" (Eidos Interactive).
"Games for Windows-branded titles were among the most popular Windows-based games purchased as gifts this holiday", said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising for GameStop Corp. "Microsoft's efforts to revive Windows-based gaming have helped grow the category."
I'm certain that all that gaming left you craving for the good old controller, but try to pull yourselves together and see what Tuesday had to offer: enterprise search power like few have seen before. Microsoft announced on the 8th of January that it would make an offer to acquire the Norwegian Fast Search & Transfer ASA at a price of about 1.2 billion US dollars overall, or 19 Norwegian kroner per share.
"Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to businesses of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly", said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. "Until now organizations have been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search technologies or more mainstream, infrastructure solutions. The combination of Microsoft and FAST gives customers a new choice: a single vendor with solutions that span the full range of customer needs."
Wednesday Microsoft explained in detail what the Windows XP SP3 changes would be and mentioned that there was more to a release than what met the eye. The basic "everything released so far will be included" was backed with the announcement and the full disclosure of the modification impacting the Distributed Computing Environment/Remote Procedure Call, or DCE/RPC in short. It's true, if you were to look at it while not working in the domain and with a hefty background information to help you, you'd most likely be looking at it like you'd be looking at the insides of an alien, or at a book written in Aramaic.
"We have received a few inquiries about the full disclosure posting [over Windows XP SP3 - DCERPC Changes], where a range check was added in Windows XP SP3 for the Terminal Server RPC function RpcWinStationEnumerateProcesses. The speculation stated that this change was to hide an overflow condition, potentially leading to an exploitable vulnerability in previous Windows versions. In reality, this update to the Terminal Service RPC interface definition was made to better adhere to our own RPC best practices", explained a member of the Security Vulnerability Research & Defense team.
Thursday saw Microsoft Corp. sign a cooperative agreement with the Library of Congress that will fundamentally change the way the latter's visitors will experience U.S. history. According to sources at Microsoft, the technology innovation effort of the two will electronically expose the Library's immense collection of artifacts, dating back to the early days of the pilgrims and even beyond that, to those that will choose to visit the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, DC, and will allow some immersive interactive experience to them.
The joint effort's result will be revealed through interactive kiosks in the Jefferson Building and on the Internet, through applications delivered through a well-defined web infrastructure. "Microsoft is helping to put a vast array of the Library's unparalleled educational resources literally at the fingertips of students and lifelong learners alike, both onsite at the Library of Congress and virtually through the Web", said Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington. "The Library of Congress and the causes of inspiration and creativity will benefit immensely from this act of generosity and expertise."
Friday had some bad news brought to the world, with the public announcement of the retirement and transition plan for Jeff Raikes, the President of Microsoft Corp.'s Business Division. The transition is to be lasting nine months, so he will be completely retired in September 2008 and, by that time, he will have had every opportunity to transfer the management of the division to his successor.
"Since 1981, I've had an incredible journey here at Microsoft. Given the success of our business and the depth of leadership we have in place today, the time is right for me to leave the MBD business in the capable hands of our new generation of leaders. I remain committed to Microsoft and will work full time between now and September when I retire. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to working closely with Stephen and the MBD leadership team to ensure a smooth transition", Raikes revealed. The successor mentioned is Stephen Elop, the former COO at Juniper Networks. Best of luck to him, he'll have big shoes to fill.
