Microsoft News Tracker

Back in October, 2007 Microsoft established a new branding policy for its online offerings and in keeping with that has announced that henceforth its hosted CRM Live application would henceforth be named CRM Online. No changes in the expected 2Q2008 general availability - just a name change from Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

The distinction is that hosted versions of Microsoft’s ordinary server software applications are now supposed to get the “Online” moniker while real Web applications for individuals and small businesses get the “Live” appellation. In the first rush of Microsoft’s “Live” enthusiasm, the hosted version of CRM ended up being named “CRM Live” and this was merely a realignment.

Today Microsoft is cranking up the hoopla for the 2008 refresh of their mainline server and tools products: Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008. Visual Studio 2008 is already generally available and SQL Server 2008 won’t ship until 3Q, but some there is some claim to relevancy for the launch event beyond the marketing hype since Windows Server 2008 became generally available today.

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One of the novelties with Vista was supposed to be the Windows Anytime Upgrade which involved providing all consumers with a single DVD containing multiple versions of Vista and allowing them to upgrade their system to a pricier version by purchasing an electronic key online. Apparently the program hasn’t worked too well and Microsoft is discontinuing Windows Anytime Upgrades on Feb. 20:

Microsoft has now decided to stop distributing product keys online, it said on Thursday. Starting Feb. 20, customers who want to upgrade will have to buy a Windows Anytime Upgrade kit from a local retailer, or via postal mail from Microsoft. The kit will include a Vista DVD and a product key for the version they are upgrading to.

Microsoft said it was making the change based on feedback from users. The new system means customers won’t have to worry if they lost their original Vista DVD and now want to upgrade.

However, it also means that people will now have to visit their local retailer or contact Microsoft via post (an option not available in Japan).

I’m sure there’s a problem with consumers having trouble locating their Vista DVDs, but I also wonder how much demand there is for version upgrades in the first place.

Microsoft was sued last April over its ill-conceived Windows Vista Capable program and now the fruits of legal discovery are coming out with likely more amusing revelations than Microsoft would like:

Quoting extensively from internal Microsoft Corp. e-mails, plaintiffs’ lawyers argued Friday that the company knowingly misled consumers by allowing PC makers to emblazon “Windows Vista Capable” stickers on PCs that could run only the most bare-bones version of the operating system.
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During his opening presentation, plaintiffs’ lawyer Jeffrey Tilden of Gordon Tilden Thomas & Cordell quoted from numerous internal e-mails that appeared to show that employees within Microsoft had misgivings about the “Windows Vista Capable” campaign. The documents are under seal pending a ruling by Pechman.

“Even a piece of junk will qualify” for the “Windows Vista Capable” designation, wrote one employee in an e-mail that Tilden read out loud.

Another employee, Mike Nash, currently a corporate vice president for Windows product management, wrote in an e-mail, “I PERSONALLY got burnt. … Are we seeing this from a lot of customers? … I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine.”

Jim Allchin, then the co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division, wrote in another e-mail, “We really botched this. … You guys have to do a better job with our customers.”

Microsoft unsurprisingly says these are just “just snippets of a broad and thorough review that took place during the development of the Windows Vista Capable program.”  I still say what I said at the time which is that the Vista Capable marketing goofiness was just trouble waiting to happen and detracted from the real Vista hardware logo program.

Today’s the big day for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and And Windows Server 2008:

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