[The articles below were posted between Mar. 25, 2002 and Apr. 22, 2002 and appear in the May 2002 hardcopy edition of Update.]

Server Applications

Commerce Server 2002 Ships

Commerce Server 2002 is available in two versions: a Standard Edition for limited deployments and an Enterprise Edition for large-scale e-commerce sites

Operating Systems

Free! Software Update Service to Ease Patch Distribution

Organizations without a software distribution system in place should evaluate Microsoft’s new automated technology for keeping Windows machines up-to-date with the latest patches

Microsoft Formalizes Embedded Support

Microsoft unifies and formalizes previously separate and ad hoc embedded partner support programs, and centralizes technical information that was previously hard to find

Development Tools & Programs

ADO Redesigned for Web Architecture

ADO.NET, the data access architecture introduced with the .NET development platform, has new capabilities for incorporating XML and building scalable Web applications

Visual Basic 6 Support Until 2008

All support for Visual Basic 6 will be discontinued in 2008, and some support options, such as service packs, will only be available only until 2005

Free Visio SDK Posted

The Software Developers Kit augments existing product documentation with sample code and wizards that run under Microsoft's older Visual Studio 6.0 development environment

Desktop Applications

Macintosh Applications to Continue

Microsoft will continue to develop apps even after the company's current agreement with Apple expires, but it will not create Mac versions of key Windows developer technologies

Appliances & Emerging Networks

Broadband Crucial to Consumer Strategy

Microsoft is relying on broadband to counter the PC slump, and has invested more than US$10 billion in broadband distributors as part of this strategy

Commercial & Consumer Services

MapPoint .NET Shows Way to Commercial Web Services

MapPoint .NET shows how a commercial Web service can add functionality to apps, but also illustrates provisioning, billing, and security issues that could hamper Web service growth

Corporate News

President, COO Belluzzo to Resign

Rick Belluzzo was charged with overhauling Microsoft's consumer strategy and filling the difficult number-three spot under Gates and Ballmer

Q3 Profits Solid, but 2002 Estimate Lowered

Despite some disappointments, Microsoft posted record profits in Q3 and reiterated that it is making investments for the long-term

Trustworthy Computing a New Priority

Microsoft is promoting the concept of Trustworthy Computing, which it defines as future computer systems as reliable as today’s telephone systems