Windows Vista the last of its kind?

Windows Vista the last of its kind?

Vista will be the last version of Windows that exists in its current, monolithic form, according to Gartner.

Instead, the research firm predicts, Microsoft will be forced to migrate Windows to a modular architecture tied together through hardware-supported virtualisation. "The current, integrated architecture of Microsoft Windows is unsustainable - for enterprises and for Microsoft," wrote Gartner analysts Brian Gammage, Michael Silver and David Mitchell Smith.

The problem is that the operating system's increasing complexity is making it ever more difficult for enterprises to implement migrations, and impossible for Microsoft to release regular updates. This, in turn, stands in the way of Microsoft's efforts to push companies to subscription licensing.

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Can the Mac Counter Windows Vista?

Can the Mac Counter Windows Vista?

Apple is already gearing up for a major marketing campaign for the holidays, and if they're able to ramp up demand, and then deliver the system when they say it will be delivered, it could trump Microsoft in a way that Apple's CEO Steve Jobs would crow about for years.

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Gloves come off in Symantec, Microsoft dispute

Gloves come off in Symantec, Microsoft dispute

After initial courtroom sparring in Symantec's trade secret lawsuit against Microsoft, the companies are now shaping up for the real fight.

A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday approved an order that lets both parties in the case file documents under seal. They can now fully cooperate in gathering information pertinent to the case, since sensitive details won't become public record. An actual trial, should it come down to that, is still far away, though. In a court filing last week, both Symantec and Microsoft suggested trial dates in December of next year.

"We want to drive this forward," Michael Schallop, director of legal affairs at Symantec, said in an interview Wednesday. "We think we're right, and we will be able to prove it. The sooner we get this resolved the better, whether through trial or through a negotiated resolution."...

Microsoft Vista Preview-Release Candidate 1 In The Wild

Microsoft Vista Preview-Release Candidate 1 In The Wild

Microsoft late Thursday began distributing the newest build of Windows Vista to a select circle of testers. The new version, dubbed "Pre-RC1" by the Redmond, Wash. developer, immediately got the thumbs-up from several prominent Windows enthusiast sites.

Officially pegged as Build 5536.16385, the preview of Release Candidate 1 (RC1) marks significant progress toward the final, Microsoft claimed. "We have made a lot of progress since Beta 2 and 5472, and we think you will notice the quality improvements that we've been seeing in the daily builds," wrote Nick White, a Vista program manager, on the group's blog.

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Mozilla accept to help Microsoft

Mozilla accept to help Microsoft

Mozilla has accepted Microsoft's offer of help toward ensuring interoperability between Firefox and the upcoming Vista operating system.

Microsoft's offer to help came on Saturday when Sam Ramji, the director of the company's open-source lab, posted an open letter on a blog used by Mozilla developers. Microsoft offered to open up a new open-source facility at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash., to Mozilla software engineers, including giving them one-on-one time with Microsoft workers. The offer includes help with Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail client.

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Apple recalls Sony-made PowerBook, iBook batteries

Apple recalls Sony-made PowerBook, iBook batteries

Apple and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Thursday announced a recall of 1.1 million battery packs made for Apple’s PowerBook and iBook battery packs. Information on the recall has been posted to the CPSC’s Web site. Users who have batteries affected by this recall are entitled to a replacement battery, free of charge. Instructions are supposed to be available on Apple’s Web site (the URL was not working as Macworld posted this article).

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Microsoft flaw fix opens users to attack

Microsoft flaw fix opens users to attack

Microsoft continued to work on Tuesday to create a fix for an exploitable flaw introduced by the company's latest security update to Internet Explorer.

The flaw, initially thought to only crash Internet Explorer, actually allows an attacker to run code on computers running Windows 2000 and Windows XP Service Pack 1 that have applied the August cumulative update to Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, security firm eEye Digital Security told SecurityFocus on Tuesday.

The update, released on 8 August, fixed eight security holes but also introduced a bug of its own, according to Marc Maiffret, chief hacking officer for the security firm, which notified Microsoft last week that the issue is exploitable.

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Microsoft delivers stronger security and simpler patching

Microsoft delivers stronger security and simpler patching

Microsoft's been up to several things in the past week or so. Not the least surprising was the company's invite to Mozilla developers to come up to Redmond and make sure that Firefox and Thunderbird run correctly on Vista. Microsoft also took Small Business Server 2003 R2 out of circulation with a sudden recall. But the company tossed a few new things out there for IT managers, too, just to balance the scales. Unfortunately, they both require some upgrade time.

First there's an updated version of the Windows Firewall available. Fittingly, it's called Windows Firewall with Advanced Security -- no wisecracks, please. The straight Windows Firewall was decent enough as an incoming traffic filter, but Advanced Security adds a few new bells and whistles....

New Vistas for Microsoft-so why not Europe?

New Vistas for Microsoft-so why not Europe?

In the wake of Europe's latest and most amusing action against Microsoft-a new fine of $357 million levied by the European Commission because it doesn't like the way the software giant opened up its source code in response to the Commission's antitrust decree-the company has unveiled new operating principles for its software design.
These principles, which are to be reflected in next year's scheduled launch of Vista (the next version of Windows), emphasize flexibility, easy interoperability with other manufacturers' products, innovation and market choice.

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Linux: Who Needs the Desktop?

Linux: Who Needs the Desktop?

The CTOs of Red Hat and Novell agree: Linux doesn’t need to win the desktop battle in order to conquer.

Think of Linux as the beat cop of the software world. While Windows sat snugly in your office’s desktop, the open-source operating system roamed the streets and alleys of the networking world. Microsoft’s Windows minded word processing and spreadsheets. Linux served up web pages, fetched email, and powered security systems—all the kinds of jobs that put meat on your frame. More than 60 percent of the World Wide Web’s servers, for example, run open-source software.

Nevertheless, some open-source enthusiasts await the arrival of Linux on the desktop the same way fundamentalists await the Rapture. When Linux takes a big slice of the desktop market away from Windows, they argue, open source will have arrived. Linux hasn’t made the “big breakthrough,” a deal to bundle Linux with desktop systems sold by a...