Microsoft News Tracker

Bink.nu notices that Microsoft delays Windows XP Service Pack 3 from 2006 to 2007!:

2 weeks ago I posted my annual list of what we can expect for this year. WinXP SP3 was also mentioned in the list, I put it in summer 2006 as I had several sources for this, including this official list.

Now it seems Microsoft silently changed the release date to 2007, while the publishing date of the list remains unchanged. Maybe I checked the list before that date, but I’m quite sure I didn’t.

Last year in April, Ballmer said windows XP sp3 would ship before “Longhorn” comes out. Now it will be a year later: 2nd half or 2007!!!

Anyway this sucks of course, in my opinion Windows should get a SP every year until the general support is dropped.

As the article points out, the primary function of a service pack is to roll up all the released fixes to a checkpoint so that it is easier to deploy new systems for both home and business users. Techies who have to do multiple installs will likely go the trouble of using privately created service packs, while home users just get to grin and bear it.

Finally, hearkening back to last week, here’s some more on the mysterious extension of mainstream support for Windows Home edition about which Joe Wilcox was less obtuse than I:

A Microsoft spokesperson told CNET News.com that posting on lifecycle support was incorrect. Really? I find that hard to believe. The posted support period is consistent with Microsoft’s lifecycle support policy of five years for consumer products. It’s not like the first time Microsoft has heard about this support time period. I first blogged about it in May 2004, and others have pointed out the looming deadline since then.

Way I see it, Microsoft more likely extended the deadline. I see nothing wrong with that approach, or telling the news media that’s what happened. Microsoft has extended support before and should be commended for taking the right approach. The wrong approach would be to use the end of support as a way of driving upgrades. Microsoft’s not doing that.

Beats me why they are so shy about doing the right thing. Of course, my view is that they should provide five additional years of free security fixes just like they are planning to do for Windows XP Professional customers. Why not take credit for that too?

It’s probably not a glamor job at Microsoft, but maybe they should pay a bit more attention to support policy making, since it has such a large potential to annoy customers.

In the hoopla surrounding the announcement of Microsoft’s adLab in Beijing, Microsoft officials drew a lot of press by confirming what had been been pretty much common knowledge ([1], [2]) about the roll out of adCenter:

Microsoft Corp. plans to launch its system for selling advertising alongside regular search results by June in the United States, giving the company its next piece of ammunition in the battle with rivals including Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

Microsoft has been testing its ambitious new platform for selling all kinds of online advertising, called adCenter, since last spring. Right now, the company said about 25 percent of the sponsored links that accompany regular search results on its MSN Search site are from adCenter, but that will grow to 100 percent by the time the company’s fiscal year ends in June.

Redmond-based Microsoft currently outsources the job of providing such sponsored links to a Yahoo Inc. subsidiary, Overture Services, although the contract between the two expires in June.

So it’s not just a self-imposed deadline. Aside from the technical challenges, there are also some perceptional ones as well. Randy Chen at Axcess News:

Scientists at Microsoft’s AdLab are supposedly working on advanced targeting and reporting capabilities for adCenter. But sources in Beijing said there may be other considerations Internet users should consider that lay in Windows OS default settings.
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Microsoft has argued that many objects are harmful to computers and so its OS automatically prevents many online advertisements from displaying. In order for a user to fix it they have to change their OS settings to permit those objects to display, which most users are reluctant to do, or are unaware that they can even change it.

If Microsoft’s Chinese AdLab designs a new type of advertising object, Windows OS is most likely going to treat that object like it does its own default programs and permit it to be displayed while Microsoft itself will argue that what’s developed in China is outside of the Redmond, Washington software maker’s control.

The disadvantage may be considered unfair business practice but US-based ad agencies will not be able to do anything about it in court. They would have to seek legal recourse in China, where the Internet is controlled by the Chinese government.

AdLabs may also be cooperating with the Chinese government in its development work by using new technologies created at AdLab to monitor Internet users surfing habits, even to the extent that they could block certain ads by keywords or subject categories, like adult content, political advertisements and even employment.

I don’t place much credence in the first theory since any such new advertising object would be obvious to all and the equivalent of Microsoft shooting itself in the foot. The second perception will be much more difficult for Microsoft to dispel because the value-add Microsoft is claiming for adCenter is detailed demographic information about Web surfers and that was drawing privacy grumbles even before the China connection was unveiled. As for Microsoft’s current China troubles, it clearly doesn’t help that MSN China is a joint venture with the investment company of the son of a former president of China.

The continuing Xbox 360 roll out looks like:

Feb 2: Mexico, Columbia
Feb 24: Korea
Mar 2: Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, NZ

and prices have been announced for Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Microsoft pledges to protect young Xbox Live users in response to a child molestation that was apparently arranged via the service.

Microsoft Denies Plans For Xbox 360 Blu-Ray Support:

Following Microsoft VP of marketing Peter Moore’s remarks in an interview where he claimed Blu-Ray support was possible via another add-on to the Xbox 360, Microsoft have issued a clarification firmly stating that the company has no plans to support Sony’s next-generation media format.

“It is important to understand the context in which that statement was made,” said a company spokesman. “Microsoft firmly stands behind the HD-DVD format as the best choice for our consumers. As we’ve said before, we’re confident that HD-DVD will bring the excitement of high definition movies to the consumer faster and at a greater value. We believe that consumers have signaled what format they want to enjoy high definition DVD and we’re going to follow them down that path.”
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“The question of whether Xbox 360 has the flexibility to adapt to consumers’ needs is a different issue entirely,” according to the statement. “Xbox 360 is a future-proofed system – one that allows us to add features as consumers demand them - as evidenced by our offering of the HD-DVD drive as an accessory. Current reports indicating that we have a back-up plan, which includes Blu-Ray support are incorrect.”

They’ve got something to announce, but won’t quite tell us what it is. Press release:

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced today an alliance with 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) - the children’s entertainment company whose expertise in brand positioning has led to such powerhouse properties as Yu-Gi-Oh!(R), Pokemon(R) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(R) - to develop a unique children’s entertainment property.

Under the agreement, 4Kids Entertainment will serve as the licensing agent for a forthcoming children’s entertainment property on a global basis for Microsoft Game Studios. The exclusive representation agreement encompasses all broadcast, home video, music and merchandise licensing rights.

The only hint are comments like 4Kids being “the vehicle for Microsoft to broaden its appeal among a more mainstream market focusing on children and family entertainment.”

As had been rumored, Microsoft launched some new tools for migrating customers from IBM’s Lotus Notes/Domino email and collaboration system to Microsoft’s Exchange Server and Windows Sharepoint Services. Cut to the press release:

As part of its broader strategy to make it easier for Lotus Notes/Domino organizations to move to the Microsoft collaboration platform, Microsoft Corp. today announced a suite of new and updated tools to help organizations analyze their Notes/Domino application environment and move important application data to Microsoft’s collaboration platform. These tools, which will be available for free download, include the Microsoft® Application Analyzer 2006 for Lotus Domino, Microsoft Data Migrator 2006 for Lotus Domino, and new Windows® SharePoint® Services Application Templates.

All of the above won’t be available until later in the year.

In addition, Microsoft announced the immediate availability of updated messaging and calendaring migration and coexistence tools, available now for free download, that include Exchange Connector for Lotus Notes/Domino, Exchange Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes/Domino and Migration Wizard for Lotus Notes/Domino. Microsoft continues to be the collaboration platform of choice with hundreds of companies worldwide, such as Arcelor, First Data Corp. and Wolters Kluwer, making the decision to move in the past six months. Leading industry analyst firm IDC has also identified Microsoft as the market leader in Integrated Collaborative Environments, with a 51 percent share, a 10 percent distance over its nearest competitor based on 2004 revenue.

The migration tools are (or will be) available for download here. Some commentary:

“The only mystery here is what took them so long,” Gartner analyst Matt Cain said. “They’ve had a bunch of migration tools out there for a long time and they haven’t been revised in ages.”
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Microsoft and IBM have been aggressively targeting one another in a variety of areas. Chairman Bill Gates recently characterized IBM as Microsoft’s biggest rival in an interview with Reuters. CEO Steve Ballmer also painted a target on the Lotus Notes customer base at last year’s partner conference, saying it was “ripe to be plucked.”

On the e-mail side, Cain noted that most businesses already have e-mail server software, meaning that IBM and Microsoft are of necessity battling to swipe one another’s customers.

“There’s not a lot of ‘green field’ accounts out there,” he said. “If you want to grow market share, you have to take it from a competitor.”

Hit the link for more, but the tools aren’t really adequate for migrating a complex Notes/Domino deployment, so grabbing these customers is a doubly tough grind. There’s also more commentary here.