Microsoft News Tracker

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.

Paul Thurrott reports the latest schedules based on “very recent internal Microsoft documentation”. Hit the link for the full details, but here’s a capsule summary:

Windows Vista - RTM on August 9, 2006

Longhorn Server - RTM on January 10, 2007

WinFS - RTM in 3Q2007

SQL Server 2005 - RTM on October 14, 2005

Alex Barnett has the details:

Pepsi is running a sweepstakes competition, giving away an Xbox 360 every 10 minutes until 10/31/05. Starts 8/28/05.

Judging from the rules, which Alex quotes, they designed this one for heavy geek content.

Update: Joe Wilcox observes something rather odd about the promotion.

John G. Spooner and Mary Jo Foley report that some analysts are cutting their forecasts for Tablet PC shipments. Basically, they have given up hope that Tablet PCs will break into the mainstream and they are relegating them to a niche market.

One can argue at length why Tablets aren’t catching on, but Nathan Weinberg points out something that’s got to be a problem:

I’ve been itching to try out a Tablet for a while, and might have thought to buy one when I bought my new laptop weeks ago, but I’ve never had a chance to try one out. See, no matter which store I went to, their Tablet unit was broken and missing the stylus.

James Kendrick points out another problem in Open letter to Microsoft- re: Tablet PC recovery problems, although it isn’t unique to Tablets.

Update: David Coursey has some thoughts on the forecasts.