Peter Galli

REDMOND, Wash.—PC users could see big breakthroughs in the years ahead as what is in the Microsoft Corp. pipeline is more exciting than anything the software giant has ever cooked up, Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates said at the annual financial analysts day here on Thursday. In a talk about innovation and how […]

PORTLAND, Ore.—The business case for adopting Linux over Microsofts Windows is an economic decision, but not one where the total cost of ownership is a fundamental issue, an executive from a business technology advisory group told a session at the OReilly Open Source Convention (Oscon) here Tuesday afternoon. In his talk, titled “Linux Versus Windows: […]

PORTLAND, Ore.—Improvements to the desktop will require a greater Internet focus that enhances communication and collaboration; the ability for users to access their data anywhere; and the option of software as a service, Havoc Pennington, the technical lead for desktop engineering at Red Hat Inc., said here Wednesday. In a session at the OReilly Open […]

PORTLAND, Ore.—In the new world into which the open-source community is moving, open and free software does not guarantee freedom, especially when applications depend on the network effects and data lock-in more than on software secrecy, said Tim OReilly, CEO and founder of OReilly Media, at the OReilly Open Source Convention here Wednesday. Giving the […]

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released the first service pack for Office 2003, which is largely a collection of security and bug fixes for the entire Microsoft Office System but also contains some new feature enhancements for Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 and Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003. Office Service Pack 1 (SP1), available for download here, also […]

Sun Microsystems Inc.s Java Enterprise System will support a number of new third-party operating systems and hardware platforms beginning in the first quarter of next year—including Microsoft Windows for x86-based hardware, including AMD Opteron systems, and the Unix-based HP-UX operating system on the PA-RISC architecture. The Java Enterprise System is currently available on Suns Solaris […]

Targeting emerging markets where demand for its technologies is growing the fastest, IBM this month combined several initiatives, including Linux, grid computing and virtualization, to form a high-growth business group called Strategic Growth Initiatives. “The opportunity here is that customers are asking for gridded Linux networks and virtualized servers that can run multiple operating systems,” […]

As Microsoft continues its experiment with open licensing, analysts and members of the community ask what technologies the companies will open source next and when. Industry watchers have speculated on these questions since Microsoft released its Windows Installer XML (WiX) and Windows template-library components under the CPL (Common Public License)—a bona fide open-source license—earlier this […]

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday reported a 15 percent rise in revenue to $9.29 billion for the last quarter of its fiscal year, which ended June 30, compared with the same quarter a year ago. But the company again failed to match the new record it posted in the last quarter of 2003, where quarterly revenue […]

Microsoft Corp. executives on Tuesday lauded the announcement of a cash-management plan that could return almost $75 billion in capital to its shareholders over the next four years, saying the move would benefit all of its stockholders, employees and customers. The Redmond, Wash., software company announced the plan Tuesday following its approval by the Microsoft […]

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced a plan to give shareholders as much as $75 billion in value over the next four years. The Redmond, Wash., software company announced a quarterly dividend of 8 cents per share, along with plans to buy back as much as $30 billion of the companys stock over the next four […]

Microsoft Corp. has expanded the Source Licensing Program under which its Most Valued Professionals get access to the source code for the Windows operating system. The Redmond, Wash., company said on Monday that all the MVPs within the Microsoft platforms community and living within the 27 eligible countries worldwide will now be able to access […]