 | :: M-Dollar - Microsoft | | | | | | | | | | | Microsoft goes green: data centers, offices to be carbon neutral come July |  This summer, Microsoft is launching a new green energy initiative in which all of the company's direct operations, "including data centers, software development labs, air travel, and office buildings," will go carbon neutral. The program will begin in July, at the start of Microsoft's 2013 fiscal year, and includes a company-wide carbon fee, whereby various divisions will be held accountable for their own energy usage. 
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 | | | | | | | | Nokia being sued by investor for fraud after share price tumbles |  Nokia has been hit with a class-action lawsuit for failing to turn around its smartphone business in six months and reporting substantial losses for the first quarter of this year. Investor Robert Chmielinski says that between October 11th, 2011, and April 10th, 2012, Nokia engaged in fraud. Over that period Nokia CEO Stephen Elop made a number of confident statements about the prospects of the company's then-forthcoming Lumia range of Windows Phone handsets. On April 11th, however, Nokia issued a warning that its quarterly performance would be worse than expected. The company posted losses of ?1.34 billion ($2.17 billion) for the first quarter of 2012. Combine that with the $100 rebate for early Lumia 900 buyers—a move that knocked 16 percent off Nokia's share price—and the company's shares have taken a beating. As is customary, Nokia's forward-looking statements were all suitably disclaimed. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 has a "safe harbor" provision that protects companies from legal action should their forward-looking statements turn out to be untrue. Nokia included the necessary wording to indicate that the statements were dependent on market conditions and many other factors, and that reality might diverge from its predictions. However, Chmielinski argues that Nokia isn't protected, because Elop and other company officers knew that the forward-looking statements were false, and were not related to any business plan or projections. Chmielinski is claiming class-action status, with anyone who invested in Nokia in that six-month period included in the class. Nokia has issued a statement saying that it is aware of the lawsuit, believes it to be without merit, and is investigating further. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Windows 8 to integrate cloud services, ditch Windows Live branding |  The Windows Live branding that Microsoft has used since 2005 for its range of consumer-oriented cloud services will fade away over the next few months, as the company positions the online services as an integral, integrated part of the Windows experience. This integration includes the ability to log on to Windows using a Microsoft Account (formerly known as a Windows Live ID), and the automatic configuration of the mail, messaging, and contact applications using information from the Microsoft Account. "Windows Live" is currently used both for the services themselves, and the corresponding desktop applications that access them. Microsoft has historically gone back and forth on how this branding is used; Hotmail, for example, has had its name changed from Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail, then back to Hotmail again; its desktop application counterpart is Windows Live Mail. Even the domain names used by the services show this same inconsistency: logging on at hotmail.com will take you to a mail.live.com domain. The new branding will introduce uniformity; although many of the services will continue to use live.com domains, their names will exclude any hint of the Live branding. With this change, the Windows Live Essentials application bundle will go away. Microsoft first announced Windows Live Essentials in 2008, with the first release coming alongside Windows 7. The intent was to decouple the applications—including Mail, Messenger, Movie Maker, and Photo Gallery—from Windows itself, so that they could be regularly updated on their own timetable. Most of the applications themselves will live on, but in Windows 8 (and Windows Phone) they are pre-installed apps, rather than a separate package. The Windows Live Writer blogging software, however, was not mentioned. Though never wildly popular, it remains much loved by its users. It is, however, something of an anomaly, as it no longer has a corresponding online service: Microsoft closed down its blogging platform, Windows Live Spaces, last year. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Microsoft buys stake in Nook, college textbook business | | Microsoft is set to invest $300 million in Barnes and Noble's Nook business, Microsoft announced Monday. With that investment, Microsoft will have a 17.6 percent stake in a newly formed subsidiary that will handle B&N's digital and college bookstore businesses, and the partnership will result in a Nook application for Windows 8. B&N announced in January that it was exploring a "strategic separation" of its digital business. The formation of Newco, the subsidiary that will contain the company's digital and college textbook businesses, could be a first step toward spinning off its digital business entirely. Representatives for both companies expressed enthusiasm for using the Windows 8 Nook application. Andy Lees, president at Microsoft, said the app will "accelerate e-reading innovation across a broad range of Windows devices," while William Lynch, CEO of B&N, said the partnership will "bring world-class digital reading technologies and content to the Windows platform." It's worth noting that there is already a Nook for PC app (as well as apps for Android, iOS, and Mac); this suggests that the Nook app may have a far broader range of functionality than just being a vector for e-reading. That the new subsidiary also includes B&N's textbook business may indicate that Microsoft and B&N are looking to compete with Apple in its recent push in the e-textbook market. As a result of this partnership, Microsoft and B&N have settled their patent disputes. Going forward, B&N and Newco will have a royalty-bearing license under Microsoft's patents for its Nook e-readers and tablets. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Microsoft patches major Hotmail 0-day flaw after apparently widespread exploitation | | Microsoft quietly fixed a flaw in Hotmail's password reset system that allowed anyone to reset the password of any Hotmail account last Friday. The company was notified of the flaw on April 20th and responded with a fix within hours—but not until after widespread attacks, with the bug apparently spreading "like wild fire" in the hacking community. Hotmail's password reset system uses a token system to ensure that only the account holder can reset their password: a link with the token is sent to an account linked to the Hotmail account, and clicking the link lets the account owner reset their password. However, the validation of these tokens isn't handled properly by Hotmail, allowing attackers to reset passwords of any account. Initially hackers were offering to crack accounts for $20 a throw. However, the technique became publicly known and started to spread rapidly with Web and YouTube tutorials showing the technique popping up across the Arabic-speaking Internet. Videos showing the technique (or at least, something close to it) can be found as far back as April 6th. As well as targeted attacks against specific Hotmail users, there was also brute force cracking of accounts with two- and three-letter e-mail addresses. Researchers at Vulnerability Lab discovered the flaw on April 6th, and they reported it to Microsoft on April 20th, with the patch following shortly after. It's also claimed that the flaw was discovered by a Saudi hacker at dev-point.com, and there's certainly plenty of discussion of the attack on that site during the period between Vulnerability Labs' claimed discovery and the decision to notify Microsoft. If your account has been hacked with this technique, you'll know it instantly, as your password will no longer work. Getting it back may be more difficult, as the standard first step in any account hack is to reset all the recovery information so that the original owner can't retrieve it. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | A sysadmin's view of Microsoft's private cloud promises |  At last week's Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) in Las Vegas, Microsoft execs tried to pitch their vision for cloud computing to the 5,300-plus systems administrator attendees of the meeting. They promised that the shiny new features of Microsoft System Center 2012 will revolutionize our lives. In the keynote, the features all demoed perfectly. But we weren't there for the keynotes—we were there for the education sessions. Sessions are about reality—how we take the System Center software and make it work in our environments, with a limited budget and resources. This isn't to say the MMS crowd doesn't get excited about Microsoft's management products—we do, and we know that's weird. (Talk at the closing party for MMS included discussion of who got their photo taken with Wally Mead—"He’s like the father of ConfigMgr!”) We just happen to be the same people who have spent more of our lives reading Microsoft knowledge base articles and banging our heads against obscure errors than we would like to talk about.
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 | | | | Feature: Windows 8 on the desktop—an awkward hybrid |  Windows 8's new user interface has proven nothing short of polarizing. The hybrid operating system pairs a new GUI concept, the touch-friendly Metro interface, to the traditional windows, icons, menus, and pointer concept that Windows users have depended on for decades. In so doing, it removes Windows mainstays such as the Start button and Start menu. While few are concerned about Windows 8's usability as a tablet operating system, desktop users remain wary. Will the new operating system take a huge step back in terms of both productivity and usability? Specific concerns voiced in our forums have included the mandated fullscreen view and a lack of resizable windows, the tight restrictions on what applications are permitted to do, and the automatic termination of background applications. The good news is that these specific criticisms are largely off-base. Windows 8 includes a full desktop with all the applications and behavior that you expect a Windows desktop to include. This means full multitasking (no background suspension or termination), full system access (to the extent that your user permissions allow), resizable non-maximized windows, Aero snap, pinned taskbar icons, alt-tab—it's all still there and it all still works. The bad news is that the various pieces of the operating system do not in fact mesh together smoothly; the seams, especially between the Metro and legacy interfaces, remain obvious and jarring. For desktop users, the experience remains decidedly mixed.
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 | | | | Windows 8 "Release Preview" due in the first week of June | | Traditionally, Microsoft has released "betas" and "release candidates" of in-development software. But Microsoft hasn't had an official beta release of Windows 8—instead, the company has labeled it a "Consumer Preview." Now, Microsoft has announced it won't have a "release candidate" either, because that too has been renamed: Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows Division, has announced that Windows 8 "Release Preview" will be released and freely downloadable in the first week of June. Sinofsky made the announcement at a Windows 8 developer event in Japan. The news confirms previous rumors that the release candidate was due in June, and leaves Microsoft on track for a retail release in October. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Microsoft takes on Dropbox with major SkyDrive update |  A couple of years ago we lamented the state of Microsoft's cloud storage services. On the one hand, there was SkyDrive, with gobs of storage. On the other hand, there was Mesh, with file synchronization and remote access. Two separate products, when really there should have been one. And now there is. Microsoft has rolled out a set of new SkyDrive apps and new online capabilities to make SkyDrive the one-stop shop for file syncing and remote file access. On the software side, there are new clients for Windows and Mac OS X to sync files with the cloud, and updated versions of the Windows Phone and iOS clients (there's no first-party Android app, but Microsoft recommends a couple of third-party programs).
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 | | | | Facebook will buy 650 AOL patents from Microsoft |  Facebook has struck a deal with Microsoft to obtain most of the patents Microsoft is acquiring from AOL. Microsoft earlier this month agreed to pay AOL $1 billion to acquire 800 patents and gain licenses to the remaining 300 patents AOL plans to keep. The sale includes patents related to the Netscape Web browser and many other technologies. Now, Microsoft and Facebook have agreed to a deal in which Facebook will pay $550 million to Microsoft for 650 AOL patents and patent applications. Facebook will also gain a license to all the AOL patents that Microsoft will retain ownership of, the companies announced today. The deal is, of course, contingent on the completion of Microsoft's patent purchase from AOL, which is still pending regulatory approval. Facebook is quickly beefing up its patent portfolio in the wake of a lawsuit filed against the company by Yahoo. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Microsoft's record 3rd quarter revenue: Windows grows, Entertainment staggers |  Microsoft has published its numbers for the third quarter of its 2012 financial year and the company reports record revenue for the period with double digit operating income growth. Revenue for the quarter was $17.41 billion, up 6 percent year over year. Operating income was up to $6.37 billion, a 12 percent rise on the prior period. Net income and earnings per share were both down, at $5.11 billion and $0.60, respectively. In the second quarter, the Windows and Windows Live Division showed a drop in revenue, attributed to a slow PC market and hard disk shortages. The situation seems to have picked up. Third quarter revenue was up 4 percent year on year at $4.62 billion, with operating income growing 5.7 percent. The underlying PC market grew by between 2 and 4 percent. Business PCs grew by 8 percent and consumer PCs excluding netbooks grew by 6 percent. This was a much stronger performance than in the second quarter, in which business PCs grew by 2 percent and consumer ones fell by 6 percent.
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 | | | | Management "lite": Microsoft's answer to bringing Windows RT into IT fold |  At the Microsoft Management Summit, company executives have been talking up Microsoft's "bring your own device" strategy, noting how much work has gone into making it possible for companies to deploy line-of-business apps to mobile platforms. The problem is ensuring that devices that connect to corporate systems are secure enough to touch sensitive data without intruding too deeply into what employees can do with their own devices—especially ones that don't fit easily into the enterprise domain. That's a particular problem for Windows RT, Microsoft's Windows version for ARM processors. As we've previously reported, Windows RT can't join Active Directory domains, which poses a problem for IT managers who want to deploy ARM devices as part of their enterprise. Instead, Microsoft has developed a new management client for the operating system that will give administrators some limited abilities to deploy corporate-approved applications to Windows RT devices, and give users access to a self-service portal from which they can select and download corporate apps on their own.
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 | | | | Etc: Microsoft Developer Evangelist Nuno Silva has retracted his claim that Microsoft will update every current handset to Windows Phone 8. | | Microsoft Developer Evangelist Nuno Silva has retracted his claim that Microsoft will update every current handset to Windows Phone 8. Read More: Nuno Silva's official Microsoft blog, Past coverage Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | The Windows 8 Enterprise SKU: Windows To Go and new Software Assurance benefits | | Microsoft's introduction of the Windows 8 SKUs on Monday left many of the details of the corporate-oriented Enterprise edition unknown. The company has started to fill in the blanks in a new blog post. Windows 8 Enterprise will include a number of features not found in Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, the ARM-oriented Windows RT, or the emerging markets edition. On top of these software features, the Software Assurance license scheme is being changed to offer customers some new capabilities. The exclusive software features include the ability to create Windows To Go portable USB installations, DirectAccess VPN-less remote access to corporate networks, BrancheCache cached access to remote fileservers, AppLocker software restrictions, enhanced 3D, USB, and touch performance in VDI deployments, and the ability to side-load Metro-style applications. To make full use of these features, Software Assurance usage rights are changing too. Any employee with a company PC with a Software Assurance license will also have a corresponding Windows To Go license, so that they can boot a secure, corporate-controlled environment on their home PCs. This can be extended further with Companion Device licenses (for extra cost), allowing employees to access corporate environments through either Windows To Go or VDI on up to four personally-owned systems. There will be a license change relating to the Windows RT operating system used on ARM machines: when used as a companion to a Software Assurance-licensed machine, the ARM device can be used to access a VDI image with no additional license required. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Microsoft not really sure if it's going to upgrade Windows Phones to Windows Phone 8 |  We've expressed concern about the prospects of upgrading current first and second generation Windows Phone handsets to Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo, when it is released later this year. Microsoft refuses to commit publicly, and we've heard from employees within the company that some or all current users won't be able to upgrade, even those who buy new, second-generation devices. Others have heard similar tales. Nuno Silva, who works as developer evangelist at Microsoft, seemingly delivered a clear answer to the upgrade question in an interview with Portuguese technology site Zwame, but Microsoft won't corroborate the statement. Though the original hour-long interview video appears to have been pulled, a fragment of it was saved by WMPoweruser. In the clip, the following translation is offered:
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 | | | | Microsoft gives Windows Server "8" an official name, ships System Center 2012 |  At the Microsoft Management Summit today in Las Vegas, Microsoft officially announced that the next version of Windows Server, previously code-named Windows Server "8," will officially be named Windows Server 2012—and will be released this calendar year.
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 | | | | Etc: Microsoft has rolled out URL shortening, ODF support, and 300 MB uploads from the browser for SkyDrive users. | | Microsoft has rolled out URL shortening, ODF support, and 300 MB uploads from the browser for SkyDrive users. Read More: Microsoft's announcement, Previous coverage Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Etc: Microsoft is preparing a new version of the Windows Intune IT management service, with greater support for mobile devices. | |
Microsoft is preparing a new version of the Windows Intune IT management service, with greater support for mobile devices.
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 | | | | Microsoft talks Windows 8 SKUs: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and "Windows RT" for ARM | | Microsoft has announced the main Windows 8 product line-up. There will be two retail editions for Intel-compatible processors (both 32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro; a third edition for ARM processors, Windows RT; an enterprise edition, Windows 8 Enterprise, for volume license customers; and finally, some number of local-language-only versions for China and other selected emerging markets. The blog post containing the announcement tabulates the major differences between the three main consumer editions—Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows RT. Windows 8 is positioned as the replacement for Windows 7 Basic and Home Premium. Windows 8 Pro is viewed as the replacement for Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate. Windows RT will be exclusively available as a pre-install on ARM hardware, with no direct retail availability. Windows 8 and Windows RT have broadly matching feature-sets. As previously announced, Windows RT adds Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote as built-in features and includes full-device encryption, which Windows 8 lacks. Conversely, Windows 8 includes support for existing x86 and x64 applications (naturally), Storage Spaces, and Windows Media Player. Windows 8 Pro builds on Windows 8 to include support for BitLocker, domain membership, Hyper-V virtualization, Group Policy support, and certain other high-end features. No edition of Windows 8 will ship with Windows Media Center. It will, however, be available as an "economical" add-on to Windows 8 Pro. Windows 8 Enterprise extends Windows 8 Pro to include various unspecified features to aid PC management, more complex security and virtualization scenarios, and "much more." We've asked Microsoft how the feature-set of the emerging market editions will compare, but the company has no comment at this time; it's likely to serve as the replacement for Windows 7 Starter, and perhaps to a lesser extent Windows 7 Home Basic. The new line-up is simpler than the Windows 7 line-up. While most consumers were never even offered the full range of Windows 7 options, the smaller set of SKUs should make purchasing simpler. One of the concerns often raised since the announcement of Windows on ARM processors is how Microsoft would inform consumers that this edition wouldn't support existing x86 and x64 software. The decision to brand the ARM edition as something other than Windows 8 appears to be Microsoft's answer to this conundrum. Whether "Windows RT" is sufficiently different from "Windows 8" in order to really set user expectations appropriately remains to be seen. Read the comments on this post 
 | | | | Leaked Office 15 video hints at SkyDrive, 365 integration | | Following a leaked roadmap of Microsoft's upcoming Office 15 productivity suite last week, a new video has been posted hinting at SkyDrive and Office 365 integration as well. Shared by Rafael Rivera of Within Windows earlier today, the video depicts a typical morning commute by car or train, where files stored in Microsoft cloud can be accessed "wherever you go ... so it's easy to pick up where you left off." Though this functionality currently exists in Office 2010, it's likely Microsoft is looking to put its cloud services front and center with the latest release. For tablet deployments of Windows 8, this could be the company's answer to Apple's iCloud/iWork document sync. Office 15 is rumored for release in 2013, with a public beta coming this summer. Office 15's "first run" introductory video.
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