Stuart J. Johnston

The old phrase “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” almost applies to this rare alliance of Microsoft and the Linux Foundation, which issued a joint letter to the American Law Institute (ALI) last week regarding the institute’s draft “Principles of the Law of Software Contracts.” The joint letter was made public on Sunday. […]

As Windows 7’s commercial debut looms, one major IT research firm is recommending that if corporate IT shops aren’t already well along in deploying Windows Vista, they’d be better off going straight to Vista’s replacement — Windows 7. “Organizations with a Windows Vista project well underway should stay the course, but most others should target […]

With the final public test of Windows 7 well underway, and a promise on Monday that the “new” Windows will be on sale in time for the holidays, a Microsoft official went a little bit further this week. “If the telemetry we receive from the Windows 7 RC (“Release Candidate”) meets our expectations in terms […]

In a rare move, Microsoft issued private debt to the tune of $3.75 billion on Tuesday, rather than going to its own gold-lined coffers for cash. But for what? While the rumor mill sizzled with speculation that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) needs the money to make an offer for German firm SAP (NYSE: SAP), CEO Steve […]

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) just shipped in late March, so why is Microsoft already asking users for input on its replacement? The company has said it is trying to release updates to its venerable browser much more quickly than in the past. Meanwhile some long-time Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) watchers contributed their own feedback as to […]

Download Windows 7 release candidate. Microsoft is quietly gearing up for the last public test of Windows 7 before it goes to PC makers and software retailers. The question is, with so much pent up demand, will users be able to get a download to test? Put another way: Will Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) download servers […]

Microsoft took the covers off a new Website Thursday aimed at convincing IBM WebSphere customers to move their applications to Windows. Named WebSphereLovesWindows.com, the site purports to prove that users can knock down hardware costs by as much as two-thirds by simply adopting less-expensive Intel servers and, of course, Microsoft software. “Given the current economy, […]

With all the excitement surrounding the pending release of Windows 7, it’s easy to forget that Microsoft makes many products, most of which need to be updated from time to time. And while they may not grab the limelight, millions of users depend on these applications in the enterprise. For instance, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) confirmed […]

As Microsoft prepares to announce its third-quarter earnings on Thursday, it’s likely that net income will be down like last quarter, partly driven by the diminished profits the company gets from sales of Windows XP as a netbook operating system. That’s not likely to change soon, partly due to the increasing popularity of netbooks — […]

Microsoft Office will come in 32- and 64-bit editions, according to the company, which on Tuesday confirmed recent rumors surrounding the possibility of two versions. “Office 14 will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions,” a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) spokesperson told InternetNews.com in an e-mailed statement. The rumors originally surfaced last month, when Windows […]