Peter Galli

Microsoft has released what it says should be the final test build of Windows Vista, which it is calling RC2. The software giant also notified Office 2007 testers on Oct. 6 that the product is set to be released to manufacturing in a few weeks. The Vista RC 2 release, Build 5744, is being made […]

The long and oft-delayed journey toward the release of Windows Vista entered the home stretch Oct. 6 when Microsoft released what is likely the final test build, Release Candidate 2. “Microsoft expects the RC2 build to be the last interim release before the product is released to manufacturing. As we stated from the beginning of […]

New servers running Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition now have the license rights to run an unlimited number of virtualized Windows Server instances. The change, which was effective Oct. 1, means that by licensing the server’s processors with Windows Server Datacenter Edition, users will be able to run Windows Server Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, […]

It seems Microsoft’s decision to introduce a new platform and technologies designed to reduce piracy and improve authentication in Windows Vista may come at a steep price: lack of enterprise adoption of Vista in 2007. Microsoft, on Oct. 4, announced a new software protection platform and accompanying technologies that it plans to incorporate in a […]

Microsoft has implemented a significant change in its licensing for Windows Server System products that are used in virtual machine environments. New servers licensed with Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition now have the license rights to run an unlimited number of virtualized Windows Server instances and can buy the product directly from Microsoft and […]

The new anti-piracy and validation tools that Microsoft plans to ship starting with Windows Vista and Longhorn Server will help ensure that there will be little corporate uptake of these operating systems in 2007, according to analysts. That is because when Windows Vista is released to manufacturing in the next month, it will include the […]

Microsoft is ratcheting up the anti-piracy and validation features in Windows Vista. Customers in a retail or volume environment will have to activate their product within 30 days, during which time the product will be fully functional, albeit with repeated reminders to activate. Failing that, the product moves to reduced functionality mode, but a key […]

Microsoft will unveil Oct. 4 a new software protection platform and accompanying technologies that it plans to incorporate into a variety of products, starting with Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn, in hopes of combating piracy. The new technologies will be included in all of Vista versions, and over time every Microsoft product will use […]

The Free Software Foundation is wading ever more deeply into the controversial waters of digital rights management, with members of its DefectiveByDesign.org campaign set to descend on flagship Apple stores in New York and London on Oct. 3 to protest the companys embrace of that technology. “As consumer frustration grows over the DRM technology imposed […]

CIO Insight has an interesting interview with Robert Scoble, the former Microsoft tech evangelist and blogger of note,in which he discusses what he learned inside the belly of the beast as well as the tools that are changing communications inside and outside the enterprise. Coming from a low-glamour background in trade publishing and conference organizing, […]