Microsoft News Tracker

Stephen Shankland at CNET - Itanium allies to pool development efforts:

Many companies backing Intel’s Itanium processor are planning to announce a new alliance in September to try to make it easier for customers to adopt systems using the high-end chip, CNET News.com has learned.

Hit the link for more details (Microsoft is a member of the group), but here’s the key paragraph from a Microsoft planning perspective:

In line with that high-end positioning, Microsoft’s planned update to its Windows Server 2003 operating system–called R2–won’t be available for Itanium. Microsoft’s rationale for the move is that R2 is geared toward smaller servers. The Window Server 2003 successor due in 2007, code-named Longhorn Server, will support Itanium, however.

Press Release:

Microsoft Corp. today announced it has acquired Teleo Inc., a provider of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) software and services that enable the placement of phone calls from PCs to traditional phones and that deliver this technology in unique ways through a variety of software and Web applications. Microsoft expects to combine the technology and expertise of Teleo with the existing VoIP investments of MSN to further develop products and services that connect consumers to the people and information that most matter to them. Financial details were not disclosed.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in San Francisco, Teleo is a privately held company whose initial planned service offering, also called Teleo, was designed to allow customers to use their PC to make phone calls to cell phones, regular phones or other PCs. Through its integration with Microsoft® Outlook® and Microsoft Internet Explorer, the Teleo service was designed to facilitate click-to-call dialing of any telephone number that appears on-screen, for example through a Web site or via search results or e-mail.

John Borland has some analysis in MSN buys into Net calling future including:

Microsoft has its eyes set on something more like Net phone company Skype’s service, however. A key part of Teleo’s technology is focused on making calls from a computer to an ordinary telephone, a feature that company executives said would start finding its way into MSN Messenger before the end of 2005.
…
Richardson said the Teleo technology would be used primarily within MSN applications, rather than being integrated into the Windows operating system.

Update: The old Teleo web site is already redirected to a page on MSN.

From theTechSage:

After weeks of beta testing and user feedback, Microsoft has released SyncToy 1.0, a non-beta version of the PowerToy that allows for simple scheduled synchronization of files and folders to other folders and computers.

The Windows Server Division Weblog has the details:

Today our Windows Server product development team reached a very important milestone - the release of Windows Server 2003 R2 RC0. If you haven’t heard about R2 before, R2 is an update release of Windows Server 2003 with SP1, and provides improved branch office server solutions, identity and access management and storage management. You can get R2 RC0 from the R2 web site. Both x86 and x64 versions are available for download.

More by following the link and there’s also a Channel 9 video discussion. R2 is scheduled to be released by year end.

John Borland at CNET - Hollywood, Microsoft align on new Windows:

As Microsoft readies the next version of its Windows operating system, called Vista, the software giant is building in unprecedented levels of safeguards against video piracy.

For the first time, the Windows operating system will wall off some audio and video processes almost completely from users and outside programmers, in hopes of making them harder for hackers to reach. The company is establishing digital security checks that could even shut off a computer’s connections to some monitors or televisions if antipiracy procedures that stop high-quality video copying aren’t in place.

In short, the company is bending over backward–and investing considerable technological resources–to make sure Hollywood studios are happy with the next version of Windows, which is expected to ship on new PCs by late 2006. Microsoft believes it has to make nice with the entertainment industry if the PC is going to form the center of new digital home networks, which could allow such new features as streaming high-definition movies around the home.

On this subject, Michelle Meyers offers the Quote of the day: Eat or wash cars.