Microsoft News Tracker

Press release:

Dec. 14, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, reflecting a one cent, or 12.5%, increase over the previous quarter’s dividend. The dividend is payable March 9, 2006 to shareholders of record on Feb. 17, 2006. The ex-dividend date will be Feb. 15, 2006.

“We remain confident in our growth prospects and have an exciting product line-up, which includes major releases like Xbox 360™, SQL Server™ 2005, Office 12 and Windows Vista™,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Today’s announcement of increasing our quarterly dividend continues our momentum on returning cash to shareholders after last year’s $44 billion cash payout and our previously announced intention to execute the $19 billion remaining under our stock repurchase plan twice as quickly.”

China Martens at InfoWorld:

It’ll be up to third-party vendors to supply the necessary converters and filters so that users can move between Microsoft’s proposed Open XML specification and the OpenDocument standard supported by the likes of IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc., according to a Microsoft executive.

“Additional standards give you more choice over a period of time,” Alan Yates, general manager, business strategy with Microsoft’s information worker group, said Wednesday. “Governments should be open to both [Open XML and OpenDocument] and whatever else is rolling down the street. Choosing both is really wise.”

Yates was one of the members of a panel debating the future of electronic data formats in Boston Wednesday. The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and the Commonwealth’s Science & Technology Caucus convened the panel to provide a forum for IT vendors, state officials and the public to air their views on a Massachusetts policy that continues to generate plenty of controversy.

More from the debate by following the link.

Reuters:

Microsoft Corp. has split its entertainment and devices division into four businesses, the latest reorganization at the world’s largest software maker, according to a company e-mail to employees seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
…
The chief of the entertainment and device unit, Robbie Bach, responsible for launching Microsoft’s Xbox video game business, told employees in a Wednesday e-mail he would turn his focus to longer-term strategy and partner relationships.
…
Bach said Bryan Lee would take over as head of a new entertainment business charged with overseeing the company’s growing digital efforts in music, television and video.

Other changes include broadening the role of Peter Moore as head of the interactive entertainment business, which includes both the Xbox and Games for Windows business, Bach said.

Tom Gibbons will remain in charge of the consumer productivity experiences unit, which includes the computer mouse and keyboards business. Pieter Knook remains chief of the mobile and embedded business and the communications sector sales force, the memo said.

Richard Waters at the Financial Times has more:

Another senior Xbox executive, J Allard, has been handed responsibility for the platform technology across the digital entertainment group, making him key in Microsoft’s attempt to create a technological foundation for its broader digital home vision.

Mr Allard first grabbed attention inside Microsoft a decade ago, when he wrote a memo to Bill Gates warning of the threat to the software company posed by the rise of the internet – a memo that helped prompt Mr Gates to revise Microsoft’s strategy.

Business Week recently profiled Robbie Bach and there are standard Microsoft bios: Robbie Bach, Bryan Lee, Peter Moore, Tom Gibbons, Pieter Knook, J Allard.

Kiswahili software may not be on the top of everyone’s list, but its announced availability is the first product of Microsoft’s Local Language Program (LLP). From the AFP, datelined Nairobi:

“We see this as a turning point for us as technology plays such an important part in our lives here in the region,” Microsoft’s regional manager Isaiah Okoth said.

“When computers are easy to use and relevant they can be embraced far more widely and used far more effectively,” he told a news conference to unveil Kiswahili versions of Microsoft’s Office, Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint programs.

Okoth said the venture into Kiswahili was a first for the US-based company under its new Local Language Programme (LLP) which plans to develop translations of Microsoft software into 40 regional tongues by the end of 2006.

The LLP is a lightweight way to build localized language support for the less used languages within Microsoft products in cooperation with local governments and experts. It looks like it is running behind though since the original claim was 40 languages by March 2005.

Update: There are more LLP details in this report from Xinhua.

If you are involved with US government contracting, you are likely aware of The Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme for testing the conformance of IT products to a set of security standards. Today Microsoft announced that Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows XP Embedded, and Windows Server 2003 Certifcate Server have achieved Common Criteria (CC) Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 4 + Augmented with ALC_FLR.3 certification. More details by following the links.