Monday, April 28, 2008

Windows XP SP3 now available via Windows Update

For the people who doesn't want to download from pirated sites and who were waiting for the official release of Windows XP SP3, now the wait is over and it is available for download via Windows Update site though it is still not available on automatic updates.This is the full 316 meg file.

This file can be downloaded here

Friday, April 25, 2008

Microsoft says 140M Vista licenses sold

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that it has sold 140 million licenses of Windows Vista.
Colleen Healy, general manager of investor relations, made the statement during a conference call with Wall Street analysts after Microsoft posted its third-quarter earnings. The company pointed to strong PC sales for helping the much-maligned operating system achieve that number.
However, revenue from Microsoft's client division, which overwhelmingly comes from sales of Windows Vista or XP licenses, was down 24% from last year's third quarter to $4.03 billion. Chris Liddell, Microsoft's chief financial officer, attributed the decrease to strong sales a year ago immediately after Vista's launch, plus increased software piracy in developing countries and other reasons.
View Full Article: Computerworld

Thursday, April 24, 2008

New FolderShare client for Windows available

There's a new version of FolderShare for Windows that's designed to help improve security and reliability. To bring as many people as possible up to date, we’ll start prompting users to upgrade this week. When the time comes, you won't be able to sign in until you update. We understand this process may cause some inconvenience, so we strongly encourage you to get a head start and install the new version today.

Thanks for your patience as we get FolderShare into even better shape!

—The FolderShare team

Source: foldershareteam.spaces.live.com

BizTalk R3 Announced

Steve Martin sent out the announcement yesterday that the BizTalk Server line of products would be getting an R3 update during the first half of 2009. BizTalk Server 2006 R3 moves the BizTalk platform to the Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and .NET Framework 3.5 wave of releases. In addition, there are feature enhancements planned for:

  • Supporting UDDI 3.0
  • Improved integration and hosting with service-oriented applications
  • Connectivity with RFID and mobile devices
  • Enhanced interoperability for business protocols such as EDI and SWIFT

You can read the original announcement by Steve on BizTalk Server 2006 R3 for more details.

Microsoft Not To Raise Bid For Yahoo!

Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corp, Steven Ballmer was adamant and refused to raise its $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! Inc. The CEO of Washington-based Microsoft said, “We know what Yahoo is worth to us. We offered a lot of money: $44 billion. It is not a lot of euros anymore. If their board thinks that's fair, great. If not, we'll move forward,"

Ballmer did clarify as to what he meant by ‘moving forward’. He however clarified that Microsoft would not make a bid for Google primarily for regulatory reasons.

Yahoo! has four days before Microsoft's deadline to agree to its offer or face a hostile takeover fight and risk a lower bid. Earlier Yahoo! had rejected Microsoft’s offer and had argued that it's worth more than the $31 a share in cash and stock that the latter offered. Yahoo! management and directors have said Microsoft's cash-and-stock offer "significantly" undervalues their company.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! also announced its first-quarter financial results on April 22nd. These results were closely watched as these could make a statement in themselves and coax Microsoft for a higher bid. Revenue, excluding the amount paid to advertising partners, rose to $1.35 billion. That beat forecasts of $1.32 billion.

After the results, CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang reinforced that the Microsoft bid was low and said, "The quarter's results underscore the fact that our strategy and investments are beginning to pay off. Our board and management are committed to choosing a path to maximize stockholder value and will not enter into any transaction that does not recognize the full value of this company."

Are these results good enough to compel Microsoft shell out a higher amount? At least Steven Ballmer does not think so. He has already threatened to take the proposal straight to shareholders if Yahoo doesn't agree to its terms by April. 26. Prior to the declaration of the results, e had said, "I wish Yahoo all the success with its results, but it doesn't affect the value of Yahoo to Microsoft."

Microsoft fell 17 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $30.25 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading yesterday. The shares have fallen 15 percent this year. Yahoo fell 1 cent to $28.54 yesterday and the stock has risen 23 percent this year.

Source- TheMoneyTimes