Free! Raikes, Flessner Expand Reach to Field: Changes in Microsoft’s organization show two product groups increasing their control of sales strategy and field-based marketing, while Office and Exchange get new technical guidance
Free! Antitrust Settlement Approved With Few Modifications: A federal judge declined to impose additional antitrust remedies requested by nine states but will be watching Microsoft closely for compliance with its settlement
New Executives Since Nov. 2002: Since the publication of the Nov. 2002 Directions on Microsoft OrgChart, Microsoft has announced several changes at the vice-presidential level and above
Location-Based Technology Company Acquired: The US$96 million acquisition of Vicinity Corporation gives Microsoft 300 potential new customers for MapPoint .NET, as well as new location-based technology for MapPoint .NET and other products

Operating Systems

Windows .NET Server Supports Enterprise Storage: Windows .NET Server’s support for networked storage and "snapshot" capabilities may be among the most compelling reasons to upgrade
New XP Embedded; Server Postponed: The first update for Windows XP Embedded includes product updates, patches for bugs, and a look at the future of componentized versions of Windows
New Media Publishing Format, Movie Maker 2.0: A new format for storing and organizing digital media data on writable discs (HighMAT) and an update to Windows Movie Maker boost the PC's role as a digital media tool

Development Tools & Programs

New Approach To C++ Standards: By increasing ANSI compliance, the next version of Visual C++ will enable developers to better exploit open-source and commercial-source code libraries

Desktop Applications

Office Beta Released: Microsoft has released the first beta of the next version of Office, currently code-named Office 11, to a select group of beta testers
OneNote to Organize Note-Taking: The latest addition to Microsoft’s Office family of products, OneNote is designed to help office workers take, organize, share, and search for notes, including handwritten notes entered on the newly released Tablet PCs

Commercial & Consumer Services

Disney, MSN Launch ISP: A Disney-sponsored version of MSN continues an alliance between Microsoft and the media giant
bCentral Adds Services, Content: bCentral's latest changes feature content and services provided by partners, rather than created in-house
Source Code, Stronger Authentication Support Passport: Microsoft wants to popularize Passport as a platform for authentication; revealing the source code for Passport Manager and strengthening its authentication are two small steps on this path

Appliances & Emerging Networks

Xbox Gears up for Holidays: Xbox Live launches, but Microsoft expects new titles and discounts to drive the bulk of console sales this holiday season; meanwhile, the head of Xbox in Japan has stepped down
Smartphones Arrive as Sendo Departs: Cellular carrier Orange SA launches the first Windows Smartphone in the U.K. just as Sendo, an early pioneer, drops out weeks before shipping its own model
Tablet PC Launches: The Tablet PC will initially be marketed to 'corridor warriors' and workers in certain vertical industries
Cautious Support for Bluetooth in Windows: An update to Windows and new wireless keyboard and mouse signal increased Microsoft support of Bluetooth, which the company hopes will simplify PC use and offer low-cost wireless networking
Media Center PC Launches: To better compete with digital video recording products such as TiVo and Sony's Vaio PCs, Media Center PCs will have less stringent copy-protection rules than originally planned

Sales and Support

Partner Compensation Introduced for Open License Sales: Partners and resellers can earn referral fees in a new program that offers annuity licensing to small and medium-size businesses
Knowledge Base Renumbered: The Knowledge Base will get a new numbering scheme to make it easier for customers to access the same documents regardless of their preferred language



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