February, 2010

Our big news this week was The Wall Street Journal’s story [WSJ subscription required] about a team of Microsoft employees who developed a terrific new way to take down “botnets,” some of the nastiest customers on the Internet. If you haven’t read it take a look, or watch the video on the Microsoft News Center . There was plenty of other stuff happening that you might have missed: Lending a helping hand: We all know the economy still is tough, and this week we took a step toward helping give...

On a recent visit to Tennessee, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer participated in a panel discussion (you can see part of the discussion in the video below and more of the discussion here ) hosted by the Nashville Health Care Council. Asked a question about how technology can make a difference in health, Ballmer said: “We look at the health care industry and say, ‘It’s not working.’ Yet more than most industries, it is all about information — getting the right information to the right person at the right...

Botnets - networks of compromised computers controlled by hackers known as “bot-herders” - have become a serious problem in cyberspace. Their proliferation has led some to worry that the botnet problem is unsolvable. Under the control of a hacker or group of hackers, botnets are often used to conduct various attacks ranging from denial of service attacks on websites, to spamming, click fraud, and distribution of new forms of malicious software. At Microsoft, we don’t accept the idea that botnets...

At Microsoft, we like to say healthcare is fundamentally a data issue – who has it, who has access to it, when do you utilize it and what can it tell you that you didn’t know 10 minutes ago. As a provider, you can’t make the right treatment decisions without the right information. By the same token, as a patient, you can’t learn how to stay healthy without the right information. Technology has the potential – when implemented correctly – to break down the health information silos that have existed...

We’re happy today to announce the global launch of Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 , available for purchase by schools and educational institutions around the world. We‘re seeing quite a bit of enthusiasm from our customers and partners around the world (you can watch some of them in the video below) for Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 , a new Windows product that increases access to affordable computing in educational scenarios like classrooms, labs and libraries by allowing multiple users to simultaneously...

Everyone wants to be smarter about how they use energy. One great way to do that is with Microsoft Hohm , our online tool that helps consumers save energy and save money. In response to many requests from our community, we’re excited to announce the launch of Hohm ZIP code pages for every ZIP code (postal code) in the country—all 42,000+ of them. Today, we’re delighted to report that visitors to Microsoft Hohm will see a new home page where we will display the energy cost breakdown for an average...

We’ve unveiled quite a few new products in recent months – Windows 7, Bing, and Natal to name a few. Monday, in Barcelona, we added another name to that list: Windows Phone 7 Series. At Mobile World Congress that day, Steve Ballmer , along with Andy Lees and Joe Belfiore gave reporters and others their first look at our new mobile phone operating system . And they had a lot to show. We see Windows Phone 7 Series as a major shift in smartphone operating systems. As Belfiore put it, “we kind of...

With the constantly growing and changing social Web, I get more and more excited each day about all the ways Microsoft leverages online properties to better engage with and listen to the technical community. The social web is fast changing the way we do business here at Microsoft. From online forums and blogs, to Facebook and Twitter, we draw on these sources to give us real-time insight into our customers’ needs. Still, there’s no substitute for face time. That’s why we’ve been meeting this week...

In December, the European Commission and Microsoft arrived at a resolution of a number of long-standing competition law issues. Microsoft made a legally binding commitment that PC manufacturers and users will continue to be able to install any browser on Windows, to make any browser the default browser, and to turn access to Internet Explorer on or off. In addition, Microsoft agreed to use Windows Update to provide a “web browser choice” screen to Windows users in Europe who are running Internet...

Today Microsoft and Yahoo! announced that both the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the European Commission have given regulatory clearance to the search agreement announced in July. Now that the deal has been cleared without restrictions, both companies will work with advertisers, publishers and developers on a customized plan designed to make the transition as efficient and seamless as possible. There is more information in the Press Release Posted by Dominic Carr Director, Microsoft News Center...

The National Science Foundation reports that women currently make up only 19.5 percent of engineering bachelor degree recipients and 11 percent of professional engineering positions in the United States. Those are unfortunate numbers. Not only do more and more of the world’s top jobs require science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) expertise. But few women enter engineering—a serious loss of a tremendous talent pool. We need to create more competent women engineers. Today is one step on that...

Back in November 2009, we introduced the Outlook Social Connector and announced our first partnership with LinkedIn . The Outlook Social Connector is a set of new features that bring together communications history, contact information, and professional and social networking information into the Outlook experience. Most importantly, it brings all of your friends, family and colleagues into one place, making it easier than ever to stay in touch with the people you care about. Today we’re expanding...

Yesterday was a great day for Windows Phones as we revealed Windows Phone 7 Series . It has been a busy few months for the Windows Phone team. Windows Mobile 6.5 represents a significant part of the portfolio family that is Windows Phones, and with over 50 phones on the market in last four months, we offer people the freedom to choose from among the widest selection of form factors and price points. We have teamed up with our partners to deliver some great new phones, facilitated a growing app...

As you know, today we introduced Windows Phone 7 Series at Mobile World Congress. If you’ve arrived here looking for more information, you’re in luck – we’re pulling together a variety of resources to help you: Windows Phone on the Microsoft News Center Press Release An interview with Andy Lees , senior vice president of Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business A video that goes behind the scenes of the Windows Phone 7 Series design The Windows Phone 7 Series web site Windows...

This week began with a big sports event – the Super Bowl , of course – and ends with the start of another: The Winter Games , held not far from us in Vancouver and the neighboring resort of Whistler. It will be fun to see some familiar places and faces on TV. We can’t guarantee the weather, but we’re doing what we can to make sure that people can follow the games, regardless of their location . If you aren't planning to follow the Games, or can multi-task, here are some other things from this...

The opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Games take place this evening. Even for those of us that live just down the road in Seattle and who often spend weekends in Whistler, the chances are most people won’t be there in person. Microsoft is working hard to help you stay connected to the Games and here is just a sample of the ways you can follow the action: On the Web in High-Def : MSN has teamed up with NBC Universal to help create NBCOlympics.com on MSN , a great online experience for fans across...

Tonight sees the opening ceremony for the Winter Games in Vancouver . Like the rest of the country our Microsoft Canada team is excited the Games are coming to our home, and we’ll be cheering on our Canadian athletes for the next two weeks. I’m lucky enough to be in Vancouver for the Games, and was at the last Winter Games in Turin (don’t ask about the Canadian men’s hockey team!). I’ve seen some changes even in four short years. The Winter Games are steeped in tradition, but technology has helped...

Some of the most interesting people around are gathering this week in in Long Beach, Calif., for TED2010 . The presentations and discussions at TED are often wide-ranging, sometimes controversial, and always fascinating. As you might expect, quite a few Microsoft people attend TED either as presenters or as participants. One of those presenting today was Blaise Aguera y Arcas, our Bing Maps architect. Blaise showed how the Bing team is bringing Flickr photos, live video, and even a view of the...

It’s Friday afternoon again, and time to wrap up some of the interesting things that happened this week that you might not have seen. It is Super Bowl weekend here in the US and so it only seems fair to start with something sports related. Jordan Brand taps Microsoft technologies : The Jordan Brand turns 25 this year, and Microsoft technologies are helping with the celebration in partnership with Wirestone . First up is a social mosaic called Mosaic 23/25 .The Mosaic uses Silverlight 3 and Deep...

Former Microsoft employee Dick Brass has an op-ed in the NYT arguing that our better days are behind us, (“clumsy, uncompetitive innovator” . . . ouch!) and using examples from his tenure to make the point that the company can no longer compete or innovate. Obviously, we disagree. :) But his piece does represent a good opportunity to touch briefly on how we think about innovation. At the highest level, we think about innovation in relation to its ability to have a positive impact in the world...

How will we make decisions in the future? Bruno Aziza, Worldwide Lead Strategist for Microsoft’s Business Intelligence group culled the wisdom of the crowd to help him peer into the future. A little less than a month ago, I asked people via multiple networks and forums what they thought business intelligence would look like in 2020. I received some great predictions and I’ll be talking about them this week at the Gartner Business Intelligence Summit 2010 in London. Some folks were cautious...

Today marks a significant milestone. We are announcing the general availability of Windows Azure and SQL Azure in 21 countries . Starting today customers and partners across the globe will be able to launch their Windows Azure and SQL Azure production applications and services with the support of the full Service Level Agreements (SLAs). We’re hearing great feedback from those who are developing and deploying applications and services across the Windows Azure platform. Since January 2010, thousands...