14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft started the week in force with a big piece of news that was expected for some while: the release date for Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5. Well it's not exactly the date but more of an "it'll be out there when we're good and ready" type of time period specified, like the Redmond giant often happens to announce. The big information was disclosed on Monday at the keynote address at Microsoft TechEd Developers 2007, where S. Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft Corp., announced that Microsoft will release Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 by the end of November 2007.
"The highly social and visual nature of the Web has fundamentally changed what users expect from all applications they interact with, regardless of whether it's on a customer-facing Web site or Windows rich client application, or a desktop business application built using Microsoft Office," said Somasegar according to the press release issued. "Traditionally, organizations have been hard pressed to deliver the richer, more connected applications and services they need to boost productivity, drive revenue and stay ahead of the competition. With Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5, it is easy for developers to use the skills they already have to build compelling applications that take advantage of the latest platforms."
Several tools and resources were also announced on the same occasion, among which the first CTP of the Microsoft Sync Framework and a new release of Popfly Explorer will add new Web tools that provide developers and Popfly users an easy way to add Silverlight gadgets built in Popfly to their Web pages, as well as publish HTML Web pages directly to Popfly.
Tuesday came and made enterprise search look like a breeze with the new Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express, a new addition to its enterprise search lineup. The product is freeware and combines simplicity of installation and ease of use with a powerful set of search features, including new security-enhanced capabilities that help businesses connect to a wide range of information.
In order to make it work Microsoft took the enterprise class search of Microsoft Office SharePoint server 2007 and transformed it into a standalone server that's free of any charge. Furthermore it has no preset documents limits so it should scale a company's evolving needs and provide users with advanced security and easy access to relevant, action-oriented results using a familiar Web search experience.
And then came Wednesday the 7th, with its unveiling of the official name for Windows Essential Business Server (previously codenamed "Centro") and the "leaking" of news about its key components and features. Steven VanRoekel, director of the Windows Server Solutions group at Microsoft who oversees product management of the family of server products that are tailored to the specific needs of distinct customer segments, shed some light on the matter: "Windows Essential Business Server is an integrated server infrastructure solution designed for the unique needs of midsized organizations.
Combining the technologies of Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, Forefront Security for Exchange, System Center Essentials, the next version of ISA Server and SQL Server 2008 into an "all-in-one" solution. Windows Essential Business Server provides a single Client Access License for all included products and offers new technologies that simplify license management. Within the administration console, IT professionals can easily ascertain how many licenses they have, who the licenses are assigned to and - when an employee leaves the company - easily re-assign licenses."
He also mentioned progress on the work at the next Windows Small Business Server which is at the moment in its first, beta release and further data and information will be provided once this period of trial is over, in the coming months.
The worldwide auto-services leader, Midas, has selected Microsoft Dynamics GP to overhaul and expand its corporate business management systems and the official announcement was made on Thursday. Midas recently switched its financial management and general ledger reporting systems from another company's more limited enterprise resource planning system to Microsoft Dynamics GP, which provides completely integrated and scalable financial management, intelligence, forecasting, budgeting and reporting.
"We looked at other software packages, but nothing came close to Microsoft Dynamics GP," said Bennett Cikoch, vice president of IT at Midas. "The powerful business management tools, flexible and familiar components and many personalization features of Microsoft Dynamics GP are transforming the way we manage Midas' corporate finance and other business systems."
The result is that Microsoft Dynamics GP will enable Midas' 40-member finance team to integrate and electronically manage virtually all of the business processes and corporate transactions within the organization's more than 1,700 franchise and company-owned locations.
Microsoft Research made a huge acquisition on Friday the 9th by adding Daniel A. Reed to its team in the position of director of Scalable and Multicore Computing. He is an expert in scientific applications high-performance computing and multicore architectures, as well as a leader in U.S. information technology research policy. His experience in large scale system design, parallel computing and any related domains will surely bring much to the table and Rick Rashid, Senior Vice President of Research was more than happy to welcome him.
Reed on his recent career change: "Two great forces are reshaping computing: multicore processors with unprecedented power and the explosive growth of software services hosted on megascale data centers. There's no better place than Microsoft Research for me to explore next-generation hardware and software designs that address these fundamental technology challenges."
