Microsoft News Tracker

Scott Spannbauer at PCWorld:

If you dropped a bundle on a high-end computer display or HDTV, you could be in for an unpleasant surprise when you slip your new high-definition DVD of Star Wars: Episode III into your Windows Vista PC. Vista, the next version of Windows that’s slated to appear in about a year, will feature a new systemwide content protection scheme called PVP-OPM. If your monitor doesn’t work with PVP-OPM, all you’ll likely see is either a fuzzy rendition of your high-def flick or Hollywood’s version of the Blue Screen of Death–a message warning you that the display has been ‘revoked’.

Forthcoming Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs promise higher resolution than a standard DVD’s 480-line maximum. But to protect its high-quality content from pirating, the film industry, along with disc and hardware makers, has created an umbrella content protection scheme known as AACS. If Windows is to play the new discs, Microsoft has little choice but to support AACS, which is where PVP-OPM comes in. According to Microsoft, PVP-OPM will prevent pirates from attaching recording devices directly to the PC graphics card’s DVI or HDMI video outputs in order to capture a pristine digital copy of the disc’s otherwise encrypted content.
…
Unfortunately, PVP-OPM will also shut out plenty of law-abiding video watchers whose current displays aren’t future-proof.
…
If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of current wide-screen desktop display owners, you can probably forget about viewing Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs on your nearly new (and far from cheap) monitor.

Follow the link for the details. This could be more than mildly annoying. And HDTV owners need to worry too.

(Via WinInsider) The Associated Press has the details at CRN:

Microsoft this month is expected to begin paying $72 million to nearly 8,600 former contract workers who were part of a 1992 class-action lawsuit claiming they were denied benefits.

The workers, “permatemps” who were hired during Microsoft’s early growth spurt, won a $97 million settlement in 2001 after a court found they were improperly restricted from the company stock-purchase plan. The ruling forced Microsoft to change its temporary-worker policies and limit contract lengths.

There have been years of delays and procedural haggling since the verdict…

A case study of why most companies are now very careful in their policies regarding temps.

Press release:

REDMOND, Wash., and CHICAGO — Oct. 4, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. and Motorola Inc. today announced an alliance to provide marketing and development support to deliver next-generation software applications to law enforcement, first responder and criminal justice customers. Motorola will offer mission-critical software applications built on the Microsoft® platform, including the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Windows Server System™.

These integrated applications are designed to provide a complete rapid, seamless incident management solution that enables first responders to quickly and efficiently handle incident information and accurately record, store and retrieve department records. Motorola’s current NetRMS™ Records Management System and Motorola Computer Aided Dispatch Software will immediately take advantage of this agreement. Motorola will develop justice, public safety and public service applications using Visual Studio® .NET 2003 and Microsoft Windows Server System software, including Microsoft SQL Server™, Microsoft BizTalk® Server and Web services built on the .NET Framework.
…
Microsoft and Motorola will focus on developing technologies for enhanced communications between all levels of government, providing a unified architectural approach to integration and information-sharing that meets the security and interoperability requirements of comprehensive government information systems of all sizes, types and standards. The alliance also includes plans to further refine and enhance current versions of Motorola’s justice, public safety and public service software applications for the Microsoft platform — market-leading solutions in broad use by government agencies today.

Simon Taylor at InfoWorld:

The European Commission has appointed Professor Neil Barrett, a British academic specializing in computer science and cybercrime, to oversee Microsoft’s compliance with the antitrust ruling against the company, it announced Wednesday.

European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes informed Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer of the decision in a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday morning.

I hope Steve didn’t choke on his Belgian waffles! Actually, it apparently wasn’t that bad:

She expressed faith in Barrett, emphasizing his role is to advise, not to mediate. “I’m highly confident that Professor Neil Barrett will do an extremely good job. … The CEO of Microsoft is aware and in favor [of this appointment]. Professor Barrett will team up with other technical experts to give advice to the Commission,” she said.

Tim Stammers has the story at Computer Business Review and it reflects the commoditization of the Windows-based NAS market:

EMC has been squeezed out of the market for Windows-powered NAS, and is ending production of its own-brand gear in favor of reselling third-party products.

AdvertisementIn November the company will cease delivery of the NetWin 110 and 200 boxes that it began selling two years ago. EMC will fill the gap by reselling NAS servers made by as yet un-named third parties, via its Select reselling program.

EMC will not say how many NetWin boxes it has sold, but admits that it has had a tough time competing with volume server makers in a low-end NAS market that suffers notoriously thin margins, and involves little or no software value-add.
…
EMC claimed that two years ago it had little choice but to launch its NetWin boxes. It said it was compelled to include low-end Windows NAS in its portfolio, but until last summer had no mechanism by which it could resell other vendors’ products.

The argument about the need to offer Windows NAS is backed up by the example of IBM. IBM abandoned the Windows NAS market in 2003, but was forced to re-enter it this summer, when it also announced a plan to OEM mid-range and high-end NAS gear from Network Appliance.

A box with a lot of disk drives and Windows Storage Server installed is hard to differentiate.