Mary Jo

During its quarterly earnings call with financial analysts on July 20, Microsoft maintained the party line that it is still planning to release Windows Vista to manufacturing before year-end 2006 and to launch it in January 2007. But what if Vista slips a quarter, asked one analyst. Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell told company […]

If you’ve seen the latest demos at Microsoft’s Center for Information Work or during some of the company’s more futuristic keynote addresses, you probably have seen a system that can turn a tabletop into a computer display and user interface. That technology may be closer than it originally appeared. Known as “PlayAnywhere,” the Microsoft-Research-developed “surface […]

For fiscal 2006, Microsoft’s revenues hit record levels, even if profits declined. Microsoft also announced on July 20 that it is planning to undertake an up-to $40 billion stock buyback program. Microsoft also reminded company watchers where it plans to spend its money in FY 2007: About $450 million on marketing and launch-related costs; $450 […]

For Microsoft historians who’ve kept tabs on Microsoft’s dealings with its PC and software partners during the past decade, the words “Microsoft” and “principle” make strange bedfellows. It was ten years ago this coming October that the U.S. Department of Justice filed its antitrust lawsuit of Microsoft, based on what the DOJ considered a breach […]

Early reviews of the new Windows Vista test build are trickling in. While there are definitely still problems, many testers say the new July build (No. 5472) shows solid progress. Testers note there are new icons and sounds, as well as the addition of the new Vista Basic theme in the Vista build. Driver quality […]

Google has registered more than 520 domain names, according to ProNet Advertising’s Neil Patel. (Whether all of these names actually belong to Google is up for debate.) Regardless, given the tit-for-tat nature of the Microsoft-Google relationship, it’s interesting to ponder which of the potential products represented by these names could be on Microsoft’s radar screen, […]

Microsoft has licensed its “Touchlight” touch-screen technology to EON Reality, a visual-content-management software vendor. With the deal, announced July 19, EON joins a handful of other companies that have signed deals to license Microsoft-Research-developed technologies under the auspices of Microsoft’s IP Ventures licensing unit. Current licensees include Ireland, the Finnish National Fund for Research and […]

From Microsoft Watch: Microsoft is continuing to line up licensees for the 20 Microsoft-Research-developed technologies that it made available starting a year ago, via its IP Ventures group. The latest licensee is EON Reality, which is planning to build atop Microsoft’s “Touchlight” touch-screen technology. EON is predicting that it will be able to field the […]

Even though the first version of Microsoft PowerShell (a k a “Monad”) still hasn’t gone gold, Microsoft already is working on the follow-on. “Aspen” is the codename for the next version of PowerShell and Microsoft Management Console, according to Windows PowerShell Architect Jeffrey Snover. Snover isn’t sharing (yet) what will be in Aspen or when […]

Microsoft announced on July 18 that it has purchased for an undisclosed sum Winternals Software, a privately held company that provides security, recovery and management tools for Windows. As part of the deal, Microsoft also gets the two Winternals founders, Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. Russinovich becomes a technical fellow (one of about 15 or […]