[The articles below were posted between October 27, 2003 and November 17, 2003 and appear in the December 2003 hardcopy edition of Update.]

Server Applications

New Generation of MBS Products Planned

A new generation of Microsoft Business Solutions products will emerge after Longhorn, representing a clean break from today's disparate product lines

Project Continues Migration From Desktop to Server

Project continues its transition from a stand-alone product to an enterprise project management tool, but deriving useful organization-wide information will require careful installation and configuration

Operating Systems

Longhorn Preview Focuses on Developers

A preview release of the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, shows significant changes are being made, suggesting it will take a substantial amount of time to develop, test, and release the OS

First Virtual PC Product Released

Microsoft's first Virtual PC product is designed to remove barriers to upgrading to the latest OS, but users may find it more useful in its traditional role

Rights Management Secures Office Content

A forthcoming Windows service called Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) will help organizations control the distribution and use of confidential data such as documents and e-mail messages

FrontPage Server, Windows Patches

Vulnerabilities in Windows and the FrontPage Server Extensions, reported in Microsoft's Nov. 2003 Windows Security Bulletin Summary, could be exploited by worms

Development Tools & Programs

WinFX: The .NET Framework Takes Center Stage

In announcing the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, Microsoft also announced WinFX--a new set of APIs based on the .NET Framework and designed to replace the aging Win32 APIs

Desktop Applications

Accelerators to Push Office

The Office Solution Accelerators will help partners and enterprise customers use Office 2003 client applications and servers to better automate business processes such as preparing sales proposals

Appliances & Emerging Networks

Smartphones Debut in North America

Microsoft's wireless phone strategy receives a major boost as the first two North American carriers sign on: AT&T Wireless now offers a Motorola Smartphone and Verizon Wireless a Samsung Smartphone

Voice Software for Portable Devices

Voice Command lets Pocket PC users perform certain tasks with voice commands without training the software or being restricted to a narrow set of commands

TV-Over-IP Technology Planned

Partners are being sought to help develop, test, and deploy a new solution to deliver TV programming and video-on-demand over IP networks

Sales & Support

Partner Program Gets Major Redesign

The biggest overhaul of Microsoft's partner program in 10 years brings all of the company's 750,000 partners under one roof

Source Code, Training for MVPs

Most Valued Professionals (MVPs) will get access to Windows source code and additional training materials in an expansion of the MVP program

Corporate News

Unearned Revenue Drops in Q1'04

In Q1'04, a larger-than-expected drop in unearned revenue was offset by strength in Microsoft's consumer businesses--particularly MSN, which had its first profitable quarter

Antitrust Fears Remain Despite Settlements

Settlements have been reached in six more class-action antitrust lawsuits, but with the EU conducting hearings and the DoJ settlement being closely scrutinized and appealed, antitrust remains a concern

Two New Members to Help Busy Board

Former AT&T Vice Chairman Charles Noski and BMW Chairman Helmut Panke increase the ratio of outsiders to insiders on Microsoft's board and help the board fulfill new duties

Ballmer Addresses Security

Security issues are getting more high-level attention at Microsoft; CEO Steve Ballmer has used recent speeches to review the issues, and outline the company's response