[The articles below were posted between June 24, 2002 and July 22, 2002 and appear in the August 2002 hardcopy edition of Update. One or more are available below for free to non-subscribers.]

Development Tools & Programs

Free! .NET Framework Makes Thick Clients More Attractive

The .NET Framework and accompanying Windows Forms class libraries address some longstanding problems for Windows developers creating thick-client applications

Web Matrix Makes ASP.NET More Accessible

In an effort to recapture mindshare, especially among 'casual' developers, MS is releasing a free tool that allows programmers to build ASP.NET apps without the expense of Visual Studio

Java Returns to Visual Studio

The just-released Visual J# enables developers to use the Java programming language to build applications with Visual Studio.NET

Corporate News

Free! Ballmer Keeps Hold on Organization

This article outlines the organizational changes the company has made at the vice-presidential level and above between February and July 2002

Q4 Revenue Stable, Unearned Revenue Grows

Q4 showed flat revenues but major growth in unearned revenues as more customers sign up for multiyear licensing agreements; Microsoft is also changing the way it will report earnings

Agreement Funds Chinese Software Development

An unusual US$750 million investment could help Microsoft build bridges with the Chinese government and deal with threats such as the growing use of open source software in China

Server Applications

BizTalk Accelerator for RosettaNet 2.0

The newly released BizTalk Accelerator for RosettaNet 2.0 supports the latest versions of the RosettaNet supply chain integration standards

New BizTalk Edition, Pricing

A new low end version of BizTalk, BizTalk Server 2002 Partner Edition, provides a low-cost way for small organizations to connect their applications to those of a larger business partner

MSCRM Pricing, Availability Announced

Microsoft's customer relationship management (CRM) server will be available in the fourth quarter of 2002 at six different price levels

Latest Service Packs for Current Server Products

An list of recent service packs released for eleven Microsoft server-based applications

Operating Systems

"Palladium" Plan for Trustworthy OS Revealed

Palladium is a three-year-plus project to create a virtual "vault" to secure data on Windows PCs; improved privacy, security, and content protection are among the intended benefits

Active Directory Improvements Remove Many Migration Roadblocks

Active Directory improvements in Windows .NET Server may accelerate upgrades from Windows NT 4.0-based directory services

DoJ Compliance Shapes First XP Service Pack

Microsoft’s first service pack for Windows XP includes a new feature that allows it to comply with the proposed DoJ antitrust settlement and fixes a variety of bugs

TrustBridge to Simplify Resource Sharing

TrustBridge will make it easier for companies to open their internal resources to trusted parties; MS is announcing it now to spur adoption of its products and proposed specifications

Datacenter Server Updated for 16-Way Systems

Windows Datacenter Server Limited Edition, optimized for 32-bit systems with 16 or more processors, is an interim release until Windows .NET Datacenter Server ships

Desktop Applications

Next Office More Connected

For customers deciding whether to buy upgrades to the next release of Office, Microsoft has revealed a lot about the release's goals, but little about its features

Appliances & Emerging Networks

DVR Lives on After UltimateTV

Digital video recording will be a core technology of Freestyle PCs, and it might be added to Xbox as well

GameBoy Gets Xbox Titles

Microsoft Xbox games will appear on Nintendo's GameBoy Advance handheld game system under a new licensing agreement between game publisher THQ and Microsoft

Wireless Vendors Get Focal Point

The Open Mobile Alliance will provide a single forum where Microsoft and its partners can work on standards to speed up the development of wireless data services

Commercial & Consumer Services

Alliance Could Increase Passport Users

Banks that use Arcot Systems' TransFort platform to prevent online fraud will now be able to accept Passport IDs and passwords as a form of user identification

MSN Ticket Service Launched

A joint venture with TicketMaster will enable MSN to sell concert tickets, and could pave the way for future fee-based services

Verizon, MSN Team Up on Broad

All Verizon DSL users will receive a cobranded Web browser with links to MSN sites and services beginning in 2003

Sales and Support

OEM Landscape Changes

Market and legal factors have given OEMs more clout than ever in deciding what the PC desktop looks like, but they might not use it

Partners Sought for Small Business Manager

Microsoft Great Plains has created a new incentive program and enlisted Ingram Micro as a distributor to encourage small partners to resell and recommend Small Business Manager