[The articles below were posted between Sep. 26, 2005 and Oct. 17, 2005 and appear in the November 2005 hardcopy edition of Update.]

Windows & Mobile

Longhorn Becoming Compelling Vista?

Customers and partners need to start evaluating Windows Vista to understand how changes to the Windows client OS will impact their applications and deployment strategies

New Storage Management Features in Windows Server 2003 R2

Windows Server 2003 R2 will include two new tools that should help administrators better manage disk storage

Smart Card Management Tool Provider Alacris Acquired

The acquisition of digital certificate and smart-card management tools vendor Alacris fills a gap in the Windows public key infrastructure (PKI) solution

Sept. and Oct. 2005 Security Updates

Oct. 2005's 'Patch Tuesday' included three critical, four important, and two moderate patches for vulnerabilities in Windows and Exchange that customers will want to install as soon as possible

Server Platforms

Data Protection Manager Ships

Data Protection Manager, the first Microsoft server product for backing up servers to hard disk in near—real time is now shipping but has significant limitations

Development Tools & Programs

New Graphics Framework Built Around .NET, XML

The Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) brings high-end graphics to mainstream developers, but Microsoft must overcome IT skepticism that such graphics are necessary, or even desirable, in business applications

Workflow Strategy Takes Shape

The Windows Workflow Foundation will include a run-time engine, tools, and programming interfaces to simplify the creation of workflow-oriented Windows applications; however, Windows Workflow Foundation is a developer-only technology

InfoCard to Aid Online Log-On

Better security and user convenience are goals of InfoCard, a planned Windows user interface for log-on and data submission to online services

Business Applications & Services

Massachusetts Directive Bypasses Office XML

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has released new guidelines for state agencies that could exclude Microsoft Office from state desktops, starting in 2007

Project Green Details Trickle Out

Recent speeches by Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer demonstrated how future Microsoft Business Solutions releases will work with the next revision of Windows and reiterated previously disclosed Project Green themes

PDF Coming to Office 12

Office 12 will support Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), a move that will please customers but that carries risks for other Microsoft strategies

Excel 12 to Get Server

An Excel Services component in Office 12 will perform spreadsheet calculations on a server and distribute results to browser users, helping organizations ensure that users get a single, consistent version of Excel-based reports

Office 2003 SP2 Available

Office 2003 SP2 includes fixes for three critical security vulnerabilities and some new features, including an anti-phishing filter for Outlook

Mac Office Improves Exchange Support

An update of Office 2004 for the Mac offers improved Exchange support in Entourage along with a number of bug fixes for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Consumer Products & Services

MSN Opening Up to Developers

By opening more MSN services to third-party developers, MSN hopes to reach a larger audience of end users and advertisers

MSN, Yahoo to Link IM Systems

In spring 2006, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger will allow users to exchange instant messages and contact list information, reducing AOL's network advantage in the United States

HD DVD Gets Microsoft Backing

Windows Vista will natively support HD DVD, but support for Sony's competing Blu-ray specification will be left to OEMs and hardware makers

Sales & Support

Enterprise Group Tightens Customer Relationships

The Microsoft enterprise sales force is being reorganized to present one face to customers, to focus more strongly on vertical markets, and to better manage enterprise partners

Licensing Retooled for Server Software on Virtual Systems

Changes to licensing rules for virtual computing reduce costs, improve the flexibility of virtual servers, complement Visual Studio 2005, and help with Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initiative

New Certifications Connect to Products, Roles

A major overhaul of Microsoft's certification program distinguishes more clearly between technical skills and job capabilities and links technical credentials to Microsoft products and technologies

System Builders Sell Bare Licenses

Smaller OEMs can now sell OEM versions of Windows without associated hardware, and volume licensees can more easily ensure their systems are compliant

Marketing at Microsoft

Central, field, and product marketing organizations are shifting gears to help Microsoft expand into new markets and deal with longer periods between major product launches

Corporate News

Allchin's Retirement Sparks Reorganization

As president of the new Platform Products and Services Division, Kevin Johnson will oversee Windows, Server and Tools, and MSN; Jim Allchin is retiring after Windows Vista ships in late 2006

RealNetworks Settles, Eolas Patent Upheld

With the RealNetworks settlement, Microsoft removes its last nongovernmental antitrust opponent; a patent decision reopens the possibility of changes to IE that would force Web developers to redesign interactive pages