Microsoft News Tracker

Reuters via CNET:

That all changed in 2005, in what became a string of investments in local partners aimed at advancing or cementing its software and Internet businesses.

In the latest, Microsoft said Monday that it and International Finance, the World Bank’s private sector arm, would together invest $35 million in software maker Chinasoft International.

In May, Microsoft announced the creation of two ventures for its MSN Internet service in China, saying the development would allow it to offer services running “the full gamut of a true Internet portal” in the market–including services targeted at China’s 370 million mobile phone users.

In June, the company unveiled plans to team with Indian software outsourcing leader Tata Consultancy and several Chinese partners to form an IT outsourcing firm, which the investors hoped would serve as a model for Chinese firms hoping to replicate India’s outsourcing success.

And in July, Microsoft agreed to invest $25 million in Hong Kong-listed Lang Chao International, a unit of a larger Chinese software maker.

More on Microsoft’s ups and downs in China by following the link.

In the wake of Massachusetts’ requirement for OpenDocument Format support and Microsoft’s refusal to provide it, competitors are stepping up.

First out of the gate is Sun, but IBM and Corel are right behind - Sun Launches StarOffice 8:

On Tuesday, Sun will announce the availability of StarOffice 8, the latest version of its desktop productivity suite.

StarOffice 8 is based on OpenOffice.org 2.0, a popular open-source office suite, which is now in pre-release.

It is designed to be very compatible with Microsoft Office (see also this NY Times article) and:

In addition to all this Microsoft Office compatibility, StarOffice 8 is the first commercial office suite to use the OASIS OpenDocument file format.

Sun won’t be the last. IBM is adding it to IBM Workplace and Corel is expected to be incorporating OpenDocument into its WordPerfect Suite in the near future.

The free software OpenOffice.org 2.0, of course, already has it.

The state of Massachusetts has also made OpenDocument, along with Adobe Acrobat PDF, one of its two official office formats.

Other governments, including the European Union, are also considering such moves.

It’s not just governments that may be considering StarOffice.

“Organizations are seeking out ways to both reduce their costs of using information technologies and also make their IT investments provide real, measurable benefits in a very short term,” said Dan Kusnetzky, IDC’s VP of system software research.

StarOffice may well be “good enough” for most users and the price seems right:

StarOffice will be available in seven languages. The suggested list price for the packaged software product will be $99.95, and a download price is $69.95.

For enterprise customers, StarOffice 8 software is priced on a tiered, per-user basis, starting at $35 for new users and $25 for upgrades.

IBM, typically, is offering a dreadnought - IBM’s potential MS-Office killer to roll out by year’s end:

In an telephone interview earlier today, IBM vice president of Workplace, Portal and Collaboration Products Ken Bisconti told me that IBM not only has an ODF-compliant solution in the works, but that it will also be released by the end of the year. That solution is IBM’s Workplace. Built on top of IBM’s Java 2 Enterprise Edition-based Websphere application server stack, Workplace can trace its pedigree to the collaboration technologies found in Lotus Domino/Notes and to Big Blue’s portal technologies, typically based on WebSphere.

Much more by following the link, but the net is that while Workplace isn’t really a server based application, there definitely has to be a whole server infrastructure in the picture:

Another key IBM proposition of Workplace, said Bisconti (using the term “server-managed clients”), is that upgrades to the components can be rolled out salesforce.com-style. In other words, when the components are upgraded, the user simply inherits those upgrades in their personal portal.

But, by the end of the year, when IBM officially makes the solution available to any enterprise (typical cost runs in the six digit category), ODF-support will be baked in. Currently, the Workplace Managed Client (WMC) supports Microsoft’s file formats. What that means, according to Bisconti, is that users who need to convert their Office documents into ODF-compliant ones (the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will soon have this need) will be able to do so by opening them with WMC and then saving them in ODF.

I suppose this may play in big customers, but it’s a commitment to a lot more than a mere Microsoft Office replacement.

Matthew Aslett at Computer Business reports Itanium supporters launch solutions alliance

A group of hardware and software vendors will today announce the formation of the Itanium Solutions Alliance in an attempt to increase ISV and end user support for Intel Corp’s 64-bit processor architecture.

Intel has been joined by Itanium co-developer Hewlett-Packard Co in forming the Itanium Solutions Alliance, along with server vendors Groupe Bull SA, Hitachi Ltd, Silicon Graphics Inc, Unisys Corp, NEC Corp, Fujitsu Ltd, and its Fujitsu Siemens Computers BV joint venture.

Software vendors are also involved in the attempt to drive up interest in the Itanium processor, with Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, Red Hat, Novell, BEA Systems, and SAS Institute also joining the alliance as founder members.

Despite disappointing take-up for Itanium, which was once heralded as the enterprise server processor that would displace RISC-based architectures from enterprise data centers, ISA members insist that it represents a significant opportunity for systems vendors, ISVs, and users alike, and that their role is to accelerate its adoption.

We knew this was coming. The question is whether it will make any difference.

JBoss and Microsoft Outline Interoperability Goals:

JBoss® Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to explore enhanced interoperability between their respective JBoss Enterprise Middleware System (JEMS™) and Microsoft® Windows Server™ products and deepen JBoss support for the Windows Server operating system.

While the two companies will continue to compete for software developers with their respective Java and Microsoft .NET offerings, the companies are exploring opportunities to improve interoperability and ensure an optimized experience for customers using JBoss on the Windows Server platform. The cooperative effort seeks to provide customers with richer functionality and better integration, resulting in a lower cost of ownership.

The technology engagement between the two companies is expected to include technical assistance and architectural guidance on the following features:

• Microsoft Active Directory®. Integrated sign on and federated identity

• Web services. Interoperability using WS-* Web services architecture

• Management. A Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager

• SQL Server™. Optimized performance for users of Hibernate, JBoss’ object/relational mapping technology, and Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0

Microsoft Launches System Center Data Protection Manager as Part of Its Universal Distributed Storage Vision:

Microsoft Corp. today announced the immediate general availability of Microsoft® System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM), the next step forward in the company’s Universal Distributed Storage strategy. Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Windows Server™ Division, will make the announcement during his keynote address at the Storage Decisions conference this evening at 6 p.m. Data Protection Manager promises to lower the total cost of ownership for backup and recovery while enabling entirely new customer scenarios around rapid and reliable recovery and near-continuous protection.

“Backup has been the bane of IT professionals for decades,” Muglia said. “Disk-based data protection provides a revolution in providing continuous backup and fast recovery of data. Data Protection Manager will help usher in this new era of disk-based data protection.”

The release of DPM is a step closer toward the realization of Microsoft’s vision for Universal Distributed Storage, aimed at delivering distributed storage solutions built on industry standard hardware.
…
At an estimated retail price of $950 (U.S.), which includes one server license and the management licenses to protect three file servers, Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager is designed to provide customers with more rapid and reliable recovery and less potential data loss relative to tape backup. DPM offers customers and partners an effective backup and recovery solution that significantly lowers IT costs and the risk of permanent data loss and increases productivity and efficiency. More information on DPM and industry partners can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/dpm.

In addition:

Microsoft also announced the beta release of Windows Storage Server 2003 R2, targeted for release to manufacturing by the end of 2005, and the company’s intent to build solutions from storage industry partners.

There’s also a Q&A with Bob Muglia.