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BI Platform

The SQL Server 2005 BI platform is described at www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/evaluate/dwsqlsy.mspx.

Information about BI and data warehousing capabilities in SQL Server is at www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/bi/default.asp.

The SQL Server 2005 SP2 download and further information are at www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/downloads/servicepacks/sp2.mspx.

BI Applications

The Excel 2007 client is described in the Feb. 2007 Research Report, "Office 2007 Client Evaluation and Migration."

SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 are outlined in the Apr. 2007 Research Report, "SharePoint Platform Matures, Expands Role."

The SharePoint Server home page is office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/default.aspx.

The PerformancePoint home page is www.microsoft.com/business/performancepoint/default.aspx.

Download a trial edition of PerformancePoint Server at www.microsoft.com/business/performancepoint/howtobuy/trial-software.aspx.

Xbox 360, the second generation of Microsoft's game console, is meant to usurp Sony's leadership position with a combination of high-definition games, new digital media functions, and opportunities to expand and customize the console. By releasing the console worldwide in 2005-at least six months before the successors to Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2) and Nintendo's GameCube-Microsoft could establish a market advantage and garner wide support from game developers and publishers. But unless the company can do a better job of keeping hardware costs under control in this generation, the price of any success will be steep.

Key Features: Expandability, Digital Media

Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360 on May 12, 2005, in a special broadcast on MTV, then followed up with demonstrations and briefings at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) the following week. The console, which will be released in North America in fall 2005 and in Europe and Japan by the end of the year, boasts many improvements over the current Xbox. The console itself is smaller, lighter, and sleeker; is designed to be used in either a horizontal or standing position; and will be customizable with detachable faceplates. Unlike the first Xbox, which incorporated off-the-shelf components found in many typical PCs available at the same time, Xbox 360 will be more powerful than contemporary top-of-the-line PCs and will be built around a three-core 3.2GHz PowerPC-based processor designed by Microsoft and IBM. (For more details about the console's hardware specifications, see the illustration "Xbox 360".)

A free resource kit helps SharePoint Server 2007 comply with the important U.S. Department of Defense 5015.2 (DOD 5015) standard for records-management applications. Developed with partner Applied Information Sciences (AIS), the toolkit's release comes eight months after a test certified that SharePoint met the requirements of the standard. Despite the wait, Microsoft recommends that customers work with one of a short list of trained partners to deploy the resource kit, which suggests that implementing a successful DOD 5015—compliant records-management solution with SharePoint is considerably more involved than installing a free add-on.

Records Management in SharePoint 2007

With the release of SharePoint Server 2007 in Nov. 2006, Microsoft's corporate portal platform gained features for records management, which focuses on the storage, retention, and destruction of corporate records for legal, regulatory, or strategic reasons. Among other capabilities, SharePoint Server 2007 helps records managers identify and tag an organization's records, create and manage record repositories, and configure the policies (such as retention periods) by which records are managed.

CRM Online, Microsoft's hosted customer relationship management (CRM) service, opened for general sign-up in Apr. 2008, making good on the company's promise to deliver the service in the second quarter of 2008. Previously called CRM Live, CRM Online has been running since the second half of 2007 with a set of trial customers. The service will initially target small and midsize organizations and could be the most significant challenge yet to hosted CRM market-leader Salesforce.com. However, not all CRM 4.0 features are available in CRM Online and the introduction of the service could change the game for ISVs and systems integrators.

What Is CRM Online?

CRM Online is a Microsoft-hosted CRM service that is based on Dynamics CRM 4.0, which shipped late in 2007. The service offers substantially the same set of features as Dynamics CRM 4.0 but could help customers get up and running faster and with a smaller initial investment than if they ran CRM 4.0 in-house.

As is true of CRM 4.0, workers can use a Web browser or a plug-in for the Outlook e-mail client to access CRM Online's three main functional areas:

• Native Python features will enable Excel users to leverage the Python language for data analysis, machine learning, and other tasks.
• The features are still in preview.

In Aug. 2023, Microsoft announced the preview of native Python features available in Excel. The new capability enables Excel users with Python expertise to use the extensive data analysis, graphics, statistics, and machine learning libraries available for the programming language.

The Python capabilities primarily target data analysts familiar with Python programming metaphors, such as data frames. In the accompanying screenshot, Python code places a range of Excel data (A1:B10) into a data frame, sorts it, deduplicates (aggregates), and calculates the average price (mean). A new Excel function, =py() calls the Python code. Conversely, a new Python function, xl(), enables Python to access spreadsheet data; for example, to apply the Python variable rate to the contents of the cell B5, the code would be rate=xl(B5)).

• Several options exist for running Oracle’s database and applications on Azure, but not all options support all Oracle offerings.
• A high-speed interconnect links Azure-based software and services with Oracle business applications and specialized database systems running on Oracle’s cloud.
• Customers can migrate from Oracle to a different Azure database service but need to consider trade-offs.

Microsoft and Oracle provide technologies and guidance for connecting to and deploying Oracle software on Azure. Customers need to consider the best approach based on factors such as performance, costs (of operation and migration), security, and regulatory compliance.

Overview

Oracle database technologies and business applications, including Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, and others, are popular choices for enterprises and are often business-critical systems of record. In addition, Oracle provides its own Linux distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which it recommends for its applications. Microsoft and Oracle provide solutions and guidance for running Oracle software in Azure or in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) with high-speed connections to Azure.

Changes to Windows 10 telemetry and documentation with version 1703 have addressed privacy concerns raised by the French and Swiss governments. The decisions suggest that companies adopting Windows 10 may be able to comply with current European Union (EU) privacy directives. However, more changes may be needed to address the EU's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which goes into effect in May 2018.

Windows 10 Version 1703 Telemetry

Telemetry information is used by Microsoft to improve its products and can affect how and when new versions (feature updates) and monthly quality updates are delivered to users' devices. Privacy-related changes in Windows 10 version 1703 include new descriptions for user-controllable privacy settings, an updated Microsoft Privacy Statement, and more disclosure about the levels of telemetry data collected. In version 1703, privacy configuration settings are grouped into categories such as Location or Speech Recognition, and next to each privacy setting is a new short description of the effect of each configuration setting. A link to more information is also provided. After installation, a user can change privacy settings from the Start menu by selecting Settings and Privacy and making changes in the Privacy dialog box.

The current versions (branded 2013) of the Office suite, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server, and related products were made available to volume licensing customers in Dec. 2012. The wave also included a major update to the Microsoft-hosted Office 365 services, which have continued to receive new features since the update. Most 2013 wave applications are supported on Windows Server 2012 R2 but require SP1 updates that were released in Feb. 2014. (See the illustration "Application Versions Supported on Recent Platforms".) New versions are likely in the fourth quarter of 2015, but much of Microsoft's development effort will be focused on the Office 365 line of hosted services.

Office 2003 and related products left Extended support Apr. 8, 2014. Bug fixes and other support for the 2003 versions of the products now require custom support contracts.

Office Clients

The Office suite, Microsoft's most widely used client application for business, enables document editing, data access and manipulation, e-mail, presentations, and collaboration. Office suites include combinations of the following applications:

The current versions (branded 2013) of the Office suite, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server, and related products were made available to volume licensing customers on Dec. 2012. The wave also included a major update to the Microsoft-hosted Office 365 services, which have continued to receive new features since the update. Most 2013 wave applications are supported on Windows Server 2012 R2 but require SP1 updates that were released in Feb. 2014. (See the illustration "Application Versions Supported on Recent Platforms".) New versions are likely in the third quarter of 2015, but much of Microsoft's development effort will be focused on the Office 365 line of hosted services.

Office 2003 and related products left Extended support Apr. 8, 2014. Bug fixes and other support for the 2003 versions of the products now require custom support contracts.

Office Clients

The Office suite, Microsoft's most widely used client application for business, enables document editing, data access and manipulation, e-mail, presentations, and collaboration. Office suites include combinations of the following applications:

The current versions (branded 2013) of the Office suite, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server, and related products were made available to volume licensing customers on Dec. 2012. The wave also included a major update to the Microsoft-hosted Office 365 services, which have continued to receive new features since the update. Most 2013 wave applications are supported on Windows Server 2012 R2 but require SP1 updates that were released in Feb. 2014. (See the illustration "Application Versions Supported on Recent Platforms".) New versions are likely in the first half of 2015, but much of Microsoft's development effort will be focused on the Office 365 line of hosted services.

Office 2003 and related products left Extended support Apr. 8, 2014. Bug fixes and other support for the 2003 versions of the products now require custom support contracts.

Office Suite

The Office suite, Microsoft's most widely used client application for business, enables document editing, data access and manipulation, e-mail, presentations, and collaboration. Office suites include combinations of the following applications:

A new Azure feature, currently in preview, allows customers to easily install antimalware software on Windows virtual machines (VMs) created in Azure. Antimalware packages are offered from Microsoft, Symantec, and Trend Micro, and customers can use the Azure portal to choose which antimalware package they want. They can also add antimalware protection to existing VMs using a PowerShell command. The new feature will help protect Azure resources, which benefits both Azure customers and Microsoft. The preview of the Microsoft Antimalware is free. Using Symantec or Trend Micro packages, however, requires the customer to have subscriptions to those vendors' services.

Portal Provides Easy Antimalware Installation

Before installing the antimalware software, the Azure VM Agent must be installed on the VM. The VM Agent is a lightweight and unobtrusive process that users can optionally enable to run inside Windows and Linux VMs. The VM Agent can then be used to install and manage extensions, which are software modules that extend the functionality of a VM and help make common management scenarios easier. The antimalware packages are installed as Agent extensions on Windows VMs. (They are not available for Linux VMs.)

The current versions (branded 2013) of the Office suite, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server, and related products were made available to volume licensing customers on Dec. 2012. The wave also included a major update to the Microsoft-hosted Office 365 services, which have continued to receive new features since the update. Most 2013 wave applications are supported on Windows Server 2012 R2 but require SP1 updates that were released in Feb. 2014. (See the illustration "Application Versions Supported on Recent Platforms".)

Office 2003 and related products left Extended support Apr. 8, 2014. Bug fixes and other support for the 2003 versions of the products now require custom support contracts.

Office Suite

The Office suite, Microsoft's most widely used client application for business, enables document editing, data access and manipulation, e-mail, presentations, and collaboration. Office suites include combinations of the following applications:

• Word (document creation)

New MSN APIs will let developers incorporate MSN Internet Search results and Virtual Earth maps in their Web sites and applications and integrate simple applications into the MSN Messenger interface. The new offerings are free and are not intended to earn revenue from developers but rather to help MSN services reach a larger audience of end users and advertisers. The offerings also begin to address a long-term threat that Web-based companies such as Google will encourage developers to build consumer applications on top of their services rather than on Microsoft's software platforms.

MSN and the Platform Strategy

In the past, MSN has licensed some services to developers, including Alerts (for sending one-way text messages to MSN Messenger users), ClearLead (for managing sales leads), and Passport (for authenticating Web site visitors). None of these services ever attracted many developers, however, and MSN has largely abandoned the plan of charging developers to use its services-for example, ClearLead has been discontinued, and MSN no longer offers Passport to third-party sites.

Infrastructure Optimization (IO) is a Microsoft methodology for measuring the capabilities of an IT infrastructure's "maturity" and is used by Microsoft to identify gaps in its product lines and help customers assess their current IT capabilities, how they compare to others, and the most cost-effective improvements. Microsoft has used the model to identify important acquisitions, and it is particularly useful to the company's sales force in guiding conversations with customers. Although IO can offer important insights, customers and partners need to ensure that it accurately discerns gaps in their systems and does not overstate savings or neglect non-Microsoft solutions.

Maturity Models

The concept of maturity models was developed at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University, where a five-stage Capability Maturity Model (CMM), updated in 2002 to Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), was developed to describe the maturity of IT processes in an organization. The SEI has also developed tools that can be used to appraise IT systems and determine their maturity level.

Microsoft became the victim of corporate identity theft when VeriSign issued two "Microsoft Corporation" code-signing certificates to an individual who fraudulently claimed to represent Microsoft. In essence, someone outside of Microsoft now has two certificates, dated Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, 2001, that they can use to make it appear that a virus or other destructive software was created by Microsoft. The risk is that users, seeing the certificate, will believe that the destructive software has been tested and is supported by Microsoft, and run it.

To date, no malicious content associated with these certificates has been detected. Nonetheless, the incident means that no one should accept any software download with a Microsoft Corporation certificate without determining that the certificate is in fact valid.

Isolating the Hijacked Certificates

The worst threat is that somebody will use the hijacked certificates to make a virus or other malicious code pose as a useful ActiveX control or Office macro being distributed by Microsoft. A warning dialog box is displayed the first time any code signed with a certificate is invoked, but most users do not read such dialog boxes carefully; once they see the words Microsoft Corporation, they typically accept the code and run it without question.

The Microsoft Tag platform lets organizations create simple graphical images that users can scan with mobile phones to trigger an action, such as launching a Web site. The platform will probably be most useful to advertisers and marketing organizations to create interactive campaigns and is similar to other two-dimensional code technology, such as QR Code, which is popular in Japan and used by Google.

Easy to Create

The Tag platform was introduced at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, began public beta-testing in Jan. 2009, and emerged from beta in May 2010.

An online service called the Tag Manager lets nontechnical users create special-purpose symbols in a variety of graphical formats (including GIF, JPEG, PDF, PNG, TIFF, and WMF) for print and online use, and assign a particular action to take place when users scan these images with a mobile phone camera. Actions include loading a Web page into the smartphone's browser, dialing a phone number, displaying a text message, and downloading a vCard with contact information. Organizations can create generic simple Tags in black and white or color, or custom Tags with graphical information, such as a corporate logo, overlaid on top of the simple Tag data. (For an example of a simple Tag, see the illustration "An Example Tag".)

A free edition of Office Accounting 2007, Microsoft's basic accounting package for small companies, targets the many small and home-based businesses that today use spreadsheets or paper to track finances. Office Accounting Express 2007, which will ship with several editions of the forthcoming Office 2007, could offer those businesses an attractive alternative to Intuit and Peachtree accounting products, none of which are available in free editions, and help get them on the Microsoft product track. However, Office Accounting Express's features are limited, and some customers could quickly outgrow it.

Basic Accounting, Support for Online Services

Office Accounting Express 2007 is a stripped-down edition of Office Accounting Professional 2007, the follow-up release to Small Business Accounting (SBA) 2006, which the company released in Sept. 2005. The Express product offers double-entry accounting with a simple, customizable interface, wizards for accessing common financial management functions, and integration with Office. While the Professional Edition targets established companies with up to 25 employees, the free Express Edition could appeal to smaller businesses, including start-ups and those operating without accounting software.

To remove a roadblock that could delay implementation of some 38 Web service standards and its Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) image format, Microsoft is making an Open Specification Promise (OSP), which essentially states that if third parties implement the covered standards and comply with minimal conditions, Microsoft will not assert any "necessary claims" over its patents related to those standards. The move will reduce the legal risk for developers who want to support the latest Web services or Microsoft virtualization technologies. However, the OSP still contains confusing legal terms, and it does not address several major barriers to the widespread acceptance and use of the covered standards.

Web Service Standards

The OSP deals primarily with the WS-* protocol specifications, which were co-developed by Microsoft and a handful of key partners, such as BEA, IBM, and VeriSign. (The names of these specifications tend to begin with the prefix WS-, so they have collectively come to be called WS-*, sometimes pronounced "WS-star.") The WS-* protocols are designed to support integration of applications and systems across OSs and middleware platforms by addressing problems currently solved by proprietary systems, including the following:

Liquid Audio has announced that it will add support for Windows Media Technologies (WMT) throughout its music distribution services. The small but influential company, which provides online services to record labels and music retailers, plans to offer encoding and distribution of music in Windows Media format; to deploy Windows Media Servers in its data centers; to incorporate Windows Media Digital Rights Management into its rights management services; and to support Windows Media format files in the next release of its client player. The partnership suggests that Microsoft’s release of WMT 4.0 has given it a lead over RealNetworks in a technology crucial to the future of music sales online: secure digital downloads.

Worldwide recorded music sales totaled US$38.7 billion in 1998, and a large slice of that market is expected to move online. Music producers, such as the big five record companies-BMG Entertainment, EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner (EMI and Warner have just proposed a merger)-can choose to digitize (encode) their music for online distribution in various download and streaming formats, including Microsoft’s Windows Media Audio (WMA), RealNetworks’s RealAudio, and Liquid Audio’s Liquid Tracks formats.

Microsoft staked a big claim in the interactive TV market and released more details about the Microsoft TV (MSTV) platform at the Cable 2000 conference in May. As a result of a flurry of deals announced at the show, Microsoft can now boast more than 14 million TV set-top boxes (STBs) committed to using the MSTV platform, in a market that is expected to reach 30 million installed interactive TV STBs by 2003. In the near term, interactive TV will enable new services for cable and satellite television customers, such as e-mail, Web surfing, and interaction with TV game shows. In the longer run, the MSTV platform will support a range of advanced communications services, such as residential telephone service and videoconferencing.

The New Communications Marketplace

MSTV is entering a volatile market. Cable and satellite TV operators are confused about how they will integrate client/server computer systems into their existing broadcast infrastructure. The market is also uncertain about the revenue potential for interactive services among TV audiences, which are usually quite passive in their viewing habits. Despite the doubts and confusion, cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies are lining up alongside hardware and software vendors to stake a claim in the market, because they see it evolving from a TV-centric service into a lucrative market for delivery of a wide range of communications services.

MSN partner MessageCast has been acquired by Microsoft. MessageCast operates a service that uses the MSN Alerts text message service to keep users abreast of updates to Web logs ("blogs")-online journals that are usually written by one person and feature frequent text-only updates. The acquisition could help MSN capitalize on the growing interest in blogs and complements MSN's own blog hosting service, MSN Spaces.

Founded in 2004, MessageCast relies on MSN Alerts, which sends text messages to a user's IM client (MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger), e-mail account, or mobile device; messages are triggered by certain events, such as an update to a Web site or a stock reaching a certain price. In MessageCast's case, it uses MSN Alerts to keep users informed of updates to any Web site that uses Atom or Real Simple Syndication (RSS) 0.9 or later. (These syndication technologies provide XML feeds that alert other applications whenever a change has been made to a Web site.) Both technologies are most commonly used in blogging, which has become a popular online activity. Several large Web companies offer free hosted blogging services, such as MSN Spaces (launched in Dec. 2004), AOL Journals, Google Blogger, and Yahoo 360.

Following a jury verdict against Microsoft in its patent litigation with Eolas, Microsoft has begun previewing changes to Internet Explorer (IE) that, if implemented, will force many Web designers to alter their sites to avoid unpleasant user experiences. Microsoft is making available a test version of IE which it believes will sidestep Eolas’s patent and allow Web designers to see how their sites will work with the potential changes.

Focus on ActiveX Controls

The dispute centers on IE’s handling of ActiveX controls and Java applets. Eolas has claimed, and a jury agreed, that IE violates its patent because it provides a way for ActiveX controls and Java applets embedded on a Web page to automatically download additional data.

As Microsoft has interpreted the jury's decision, all ActiveX controls or Java applets are affected unless they meet one of two conditions:

• They do not reference any remote data
• They are created dynamically from script that is loaded from another location.

To respond to the verdict, Microsoft is proposing a change to IE: when the altered version of IE encounters a page containing an affected control, it will present the user with a dialog box before loading the external data. (See the illustration "User Prompt Interrupts Page".) In Microsoft’s opinion, this interruption means the process is no longer automatic and therefore not subject to Eolas’s patent.

This table shows major Microsoft-sponsored conferences scheduled through Mar. 30, 2004, and a selection of major industry conferences at which Microsoft and its partners are typically present.

Note that Microsoft's annual event for partners has been renamed Momentum and has been moved to New Orleans, USA. The event, which combines the Fusion partners' conference with the Great Plains Stampede conference for Microsoft Business Solutions resellers, had been planned for Toronto, Canada, but reportedly was moved due to concerns about outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Toronto.

A database of Microsoft-sponsored events is at www.microsoft.com/events.

This table shows major Microsoft-sponsored conferences scheduled through Nov. 30, 2003, and a selection of major industry conferences at which Microsoft and its partners are typically present.

Note that this year's Great Plains Stampede, the Microsoft Business Solutions Division event for partners, has been combined with Microsoft's Fusion event for all company partners. Fusion, originally scheduled for July, has been postponed until October.

A database of Microsoft-sponsored events is at www.microsoft.com/events.

Microsoft will work with the government of China to foster software development, education, research, and training in the world’s most populous country. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) commits Microsoft to contribute US$750 million, which will be disbursed by a joint Microsoft-Chinese government committee. The unusual investment reflects the difficulties of investing in China, but could help Microsoft build bridges with the Chinese government and deal with threats such as the growing use of open source software in China.

Terms of Deal Hazy

The deal is unusual in that the Chinese government has made no public commitments in return for the funds. However, government software purchases or giving Microsoft opportunities to purchase a stake in promising Chinese companies have not been ruled out.

The Chinese government has said that the powerful State Development and Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China (SDPC) will "recommend the companies Microsoft will work with," which could imply that the funds will be used for joint ventures (of which Microsoft already has two in China) with Chinese companies. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the investment will, among other things, "further eGovernment initiatives." Specific recipients of the money include universities, business parks oriented toward software development (of which China has 11), and research organizations. Microsoft will also license some technology developed at its Beijing research laboratory to Chinese organizations.

Directions on Microsoft

New features for developers in SQL Server 2005 are outlined in "SQL Server Gets .NET, XML" on page 5 of the Jan. 2004 Update.

The first release of Reporting Services is described in "SQL Reporting Services Launches" on page 3 of the Mar. 2004 Update.

The Microsoft acquisition of ActiveViews is discussed in "Self-Service Reporting Technology Acquired" on page 21 of the June 2004 Update.

Reporting Services 2000 SP2 is described in "Web Improvements in Reporting Services SP2" on page 13 of the Apr. 2005 Update.

BizTalk 2004 architecture, terminology, and use scenarios are covered in "BizTalk Server Engine Reworked" on page 3 of the Apr. 2004 Update.

More information in SQL Server 2005 licensing is found in "New SQL Server Pricing, Products Announced" on page 11 of the Mar. 2005 Update.

Visual Studio Team System is described in "Visual Studio Team System Targets Multiple Roles" on page 20 of the Feb. 2005 Update and "VS 2005 Checks in New Source Control" on page 24 of the Feb. 2005 Update.

Windows Media Platform

Microsoft's Windows Media site is at www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia.

Windows Media codecs are described at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/codecs.aspx.

Licensing information for the Windows Media Platform is arranged by the type of licensee at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/licensing/. License fees and royalties are outlined at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/licensing/licensing.aspx.

A list of Windows Media SDKs, including detailed information about their function and intended audience and links to technical documentation, is at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/mp10/sdk.aspx.

Additional tools for Windows Media content creators can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/utilities.aspx.

For device manufacturers, a list of royalty-free components that support the Windows Media platform is at wmlicense.smdisp.net/ic_approved.

Information about porting Windows Media technologies to chip sets or other hardware platforms is at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/licensing/chipsoroperatingsystems.aspx.

Combined with a free add-on, the SharePoint Server 2007 corporate portal and enterprise content management platform has been certified to comply with an important U.S. Department of Defense standard for records-management applications. This certification closes a gap in SharePoint's records-management features and could attract the many U.S. government agencies and other organizations that adhere to the standard. The add-on was developed by Microsoft and partner Applied Information Sciences (AIS) and will be available to customers later in 2007. However, the company has not yet provided documentation or a precise ship date for the add-on.

Records Management in SharePoint 2007

With the release of SharePoint Server 2007 in Nov. 2006, Microsoft's corporate portal platform gained features for records management, which focuses on the storage, retention, and destruction of corporate records for legal, regulatory, or strategic reasons. A special SharePoint site, called the Records Center, provides tools and services to help organizations set up and customize record repositories and configure and automate many aspects of records-management processes. For example, records managers can use the Records Center to specify the types and properties of documents that will be managed as records, create the repositories that will store those records, and configure the policies (such as retention periods) by which records are managed.

Update Sept. 2025 – Lack of investment since 2023, other than a new Cassandra version, is a concern. Customers should tread carefully until Microsoft provides a solid statement about the service’s future.

Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra is a PaaS service that uses a native Cassandra deployment of current community editions of Apache Cassandra and supports Cassandra Query Language (CQL). Apache Cassandra is a NoSQL database product most often used for large database and data warehouse deployments that need high-speed aggregation, providing similar query, database integrity, and durability features of SQL Server.

Product: Managed Instance for Cassandra

Recent Updates and Near-Term Roadmap (2025–2026)

Apache Cassandra versions 3.11, 4.0, 4.1, and 5.0 are currently supported in the service. Version 3.11 was supposed to be retired in Dec. 2024; however, customers can still deploy in new clusters, which can help when migrating older on-premises deployment to the service.

• Microsoft’s Planetary Computer provides climate and other professionals with access to huge amounts of public-domain data.
• The Planetary Computer consists of free visual tools, APIs, and an optional Azure Kubernetes Service–based workbench, which could entail charges.

Microsoft’s Planetary Computer (PC) project provides applications with petabytes of environmental data. Data in the PC’s collection includes satellite imagery from Landsat, GOES, Sentinel, and others, wildlife images, maps of biodiversity, vegetation, fires, and weather, as well as reports and forecasts from governmental agencies, including the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the UK Met Office. The Planetary Computer could be useful for climate scientists tracking climate change, weather forecasters, and data scientists in agriculture, shipping, aviation, and logistics.

The Planetary Computer consists of the following components:

Planetary Computer Explorer (pictured). The Explorer is a free online portal that allows users to explore numerous datasets. Users can select the imagery source (in this case, Landsat satellite imagery), time frame, and color or filter (natural, infrared, moisture index, and others). When the “Explore results” button at lower left is clicked, Explorer generates a complete Python program, including map coordinates, to access the results programmatically using the STAC API (see next paragraph). The PC also supports QGIS, a popular open-source desktop tool.

• Azure Managed Instance for Cassandra provides quick deployment and scaling for native Apache Cassandra.
• The service supports distributed and hybrid deployments, connecting Azure nodes with on-premises and other clouds.
• It supports Cassandra Query Language and provides VM sizes to meet performance needs but restricts database sizes.

Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra is a PaaS cloud service that supports current community editions of Apache Cassandra in Azure datacenters. It provides access to Azure’s global reach, advanced security controls, and integration with other Azure offerings; however, it has control and database size limits that may limit its usefulness. Microsoft does not alter the underlying open-source product, which allows customers to move existing applications with minimal modification.

The service requires existing Cassandra expertise and will most likely interest customers who are:

• Wanting to use Azure’s global reach to deploy nodes in new geographic

The Dynamics customer relationship management (CRM) product team will focus more on marketing processes, social interactions, and customer service as it integrates recent acquisitions. In enterprise resource planning (ERP), the product team will continue to invest in Dynamics AX to challenge Oracle and SAP in large organizations while pursuing small and medium businesses with the Dynamics NAV, GP, and SL products. The roadmap for the Dynamics line, updated at the Mar. 2014 Dynamics Convergence conference, also shows the unit making cloud deployment a priority and rolling out focused mobile apps to address specific business processes on multiple device platforms.

Dynamics Addressing Cloud, Mobile, and Faster Releases

Recent releases and the roadmap show the Dynamics business unit adapting to major forces in IT (cloud, social, and mobile) in ways that also reflect Microsoft's overall devices and services direction. In the last year, hosted versions of all the Dynamics products have been released. Dynamics CRM Online is a true hosted application, while the other Dynamic products can be hosted in virtual machines (VMs) available through Windows Azure or other service providers. Except for Dynamics SL, they all include automated provisioning capabilities to assist with deploying a complete Dynamics environment into the hosted VMs.

An update to CRM Online, a Microsoft-hosted customer relationship management (CRM) service that opened for business in Apr. 2008, adds features for creating, managing, and tracking the success of Internet-based marketing campaigns. The update rounds out the service's marketing features, adding capabilities common to other hosted CRM solutions, including Microsoft's main rival in the space, Salesforce.com. However, the new features are available only to subscribers in the United States initially.

Adds Internet Marketing

CRM Online is based on Dynamics CRM 4.0, which shipped late in 2007. The service offers substantially the same set of features as Dynamics CRM 4.0—it provides Web-based features for managing customer-related activities, such as logging and tracking incidents; marketing and advertising activities; and sales processes, such as tracking quotes, orders, and invoices. CRM Online competes with similar services offered by Microsoft partners, such as Navisite, and competitors such as Salesforce.com, the leading vendor of hosted CRM.

RealNames and Network Solutions, a major investor in RealNames, have documented their Internet Keyword technology and have published an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) draft for a new protocol called the Common Name Resolution Protocol (CNRP).

How It Works

CNRP works similarly to the Internet name resolution service called Domain Name System (DNS). DNS is a distributed database service that automatically locates a specific machine or Web site on the Internet by a "friendly" name-such as www.microsoft.com-so that users don’t need to deal with obscure numeric Internet addresses like 207.46.130.45. DNS does this by looking up the friendly name in a table that maps these names to their assigned numeric Internet addresses, and then returns the numeric address to the user’s application.

CNRP works by mapping common names-also referred to as Internet Keywords-to specific URLs. A company must register an Internet Keyword with a CNRP provider. At the moment, there is only one such provider, RealNames. The Internet Keyword and its associated URL are entered into the CNRP provider’s database. When a keyword-which may also be a phrase such as "Honda Accord"-is entered into the address bar of a browser, CNRP connects to the CNRP database and asks for the associated URL. The URL, which in the above case would be http://www.honda2000.com/models/accord_sedan/index.html, is returned to the browser and the user is automatically taken directly to the Honda Accord home page.

Perceiving an opening created by controversial new Microsoft licensing policies, competitors are touting their own software licensing plans as less expensive and easier to understand. These competitors might convince a few customers to look at alternatives to Microsoft by keeping the focus on the company's new Licensing 6.0 plans after a transition that Microsoft admits was rocky. The flap could benefit customers if Microsoft tries to regain control of the story by sweetening its licensing programs or including other benefits, such as product support, that aren’t currently linked to product licensing and upgrade rights.

Licensing Changes Spur Search for Alternatives

The move to Licensing 6.0, which cancelled many upgrade discounts and went through a changing series of deadlines, irked some customers. For example, 40% of the respondents of a recent survey by the Yankee Group say that the new licensing plans have made them consider alternatives to Microsoft, such as Linux or the Macintosh.

In conjunction with the release of its 2012 Annual Report to shareholders, released Oct. 2012, Microsoft signaled a shift in business direction as well as the loss of a key board member.

Devices and services a bigger focus. While pledging to continue to work "with a vast ecosystem of partners" to provide customers with choices for traditional desktop and laptop computers, as well as tablets and phones, CEO Steve Ballmer reiterated in a letter accompanying the Annual Report that Microsoft will now "build specific devices for specific purposes," such as the Xbox gaming and entertainment platform and the recently announced Microsoft Surface Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets. And these devices, whether from partners or Microsoft, will "focus relentlessly on delivering delightful, seamless experiences across hardware, software and services." In the future, these services, which will include products such as Office or Microsoft Dynamics, will be available on-premises, from the cloud, or a combination of both. Ballmer's letter to employees, partners, and shareholders is part of Microsoft's 2012 Annual Report, which is at www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar12/index.html.

The Microsoft ADO.NET provider for Oracle will be deprecated in the upcoming .NET Framework 4, which means that Microsoft advises against it for new development and could remove it in subsequent versions. The provider is a component of the .NET Framework that enables applications to access Oracle databases. Application developers will be able to replace Microsoft's deprecated provider with options from third parties, but this will entail some costs and complicate solution deployment. The move also raises questions about how Microsoft will support Oracle in its business intelligence products.

Impact Delayed, Third Parties Needed

Microsoft's ADO.NET provider for Oracle (System.Data.OracleClient) will be marked as deprecated in the .NET Framework 4, which means that developers will see warnings when building applications that use the provider. More important, deprecation implies that Microsoft will limit future work on its provider to bug fixes, and that the provider will probably not be available in the .NET Framework version to follow version 4, some two to three years away. However, Microsoft will continue to support the provider with the .NET Framework 4, even for new application development, which means that paid support will be available for at least 10 years after the .NET Framework 4 ships (probably in mid-2010). Consequently, the immediate impact on developers will be limited.

BI Platform

The SQL Server 2005 BI platform is described at www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/evaluate/dwsqlsy.mspx.

Information about BI and data warehousing capabilities in SQL Server is at www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/bi/default.asp.

The SQL Server 2005 SP2 download and further information are at www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/downloads/servicepacks/sp2.mspx.

BI Applications

The Excel 2007 client is described in the Feb. 2007 Research Report, "Office 2007 Client Evaluation and Migration."

SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 are outlined in the Apr. 2007 Research Report, "SharePoint Platform Matures, Expands Role."

The SharePoint Server home page is office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/default.aspx.

The PerformancePoint Server home page is office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX101550371033.aspx.

The PerformancePoint Server Community Technical Preview is available (registration required) at connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?siteid=181.

As competing application platforms, Microsoft's .NET Framework and Sun's Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) framework are strikingly similar in their intentions and architecture, but completely different in their underlying implementations. At this time, it appears that neither .NET nor J2EE will easily dominate, which means nearly anybody developing software will at some point have to choose between the two alternatives.

Similar Missions

The .NET Framework and J2EE were created with similar goals in mind:

Enhancing developer productivity by providing developers with preexisting components that eliminate the need to write low-level routines, along with a programming model that makes it easy to reuse code components created by others.

Increasing reliability by eliminating some of the more error-prone constructs of development languages like C (such as indirect pointers) and by using programming models that force all points of interaction between code components to be clearly defined, which isolates the impact of mistakes and makes errors easier to track.