Microsoft will offer the upcoming Windows Server 2012 in four editions that will provide dramatically simplified licensing.
The software major also disclosed that it is retiring the Small Business Server Edition, a product that had been popular among small and midsize businesses and the solution providers that sell to them. The release candidate version of Windows Server 2012 has been available since May 31, but Microsoft has not revealed a target date for the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version that immediately precedes general availability. Like Windows 8, the next release of the desktop and tablet operating system, Windows Server 2012 is widely expected sometime this fall. Windows Server 2012 will be offered in Datacenter, Standard, Essentials and Foundation editions. Which editions customers choose will hinge on the size of their organizations and their requirements for virtualization and cloud computing, according to Microsoft. The Datacenter Edition is targeted at highly virtualized, private and hybrid cloud environments with unlimited virtual instances. It carries a $4,809 price tag under Microsoft's Open No Level licensing, excluding Windows Client Access Licenses (CALs). The Standard Edition is designed for lightly virtualized or non virtualized environments, offering the same Windows Server functionality as the Datacenter Edition but permitting only two virtual instances. That edition costs $882, not including CALs. Of most interest to the partners will be Windows Server 2012 Essentials Edition, which has a 25-user limit and no virtualization rights. Microsoft describes Essentials as an ideal cloud-connected first server with its simple interface and preconfigured connectivity to cloud-based services such as Office 365. The Essentials Edition, which has no virtualization rights, has a $425 price tag. Microsoft, in a FAQ accompanying the Windows Server 2012 editions and pricing lineup, said it is discontinuing Windows Small Business Server because more small businesses are turning to cloud computing for email, backup and other services, rather than running those applications on premise. The new lineup also eliminates the Enterprise, Home Windows Server, HPC and Web Server editions that round out the current Windows Server 2008 R2 product lineup. The new Foundation Edition, with a 15-user limit, is only available to OEMs. |
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Microsoft Details Four Windows Server 2012 Editions, Pricing
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Microsoft to fix Internet Explorer 9 in July 2012 Patch Tuesday
Microsoft will issue nine bulletins, three rated “critical,” addressing 16 flaws across its product line as part of its July 2012 Patch Tuesday. As part of the update, Microsoft could roll out a patch addressing the XML Core Services zero-day flaw, which surfaced last month.
In its advance notification issued today, the software giant said the “critical” bulletins affect Windows and Internet Explorer 9. In addition, it plans updates to repair coding errors in Office, SharePoint server and Visual Basic for Applications.
Active attacks targeting XML Core Services
The advance notification does not indicate whether XML Core Services would be affected by the July updates. Microsoft issued an advisory last month warning users of attacks targeting an XML Core Services zero-day flaw.
Microsoft XML Core Services processes and converts XML to HTML for display. Attacks can target the coding error through drive-by attacks or trick users through a phishing campaign. Once an attacker is successful they are granted the same user rights as the victim and can access systems while fully authenticated, Microsoft said.
The vulnerability affects all supported releases of Microsoft Windows, and all supported editions of Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007. The advisory includes aworkaround that can be used until the investigation is complete and a permanent patch is released.
Since the advisory, security experts say attacks targeting the flaw have increased. Graham Cluley outlined an attack using the flaw targeting the website of a European aeronautical parts supplier.
The bulletins are scheduled to be released July 10.
The advance notification does not indicate whether XML Core Services would be affected by the July updates. Microsoft issued an advisory last month warning users of attacks targeting an XML Core Services zero-day flaw.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Sony to launch smartwatch in India
Sony India has announced the launch of Sony smartwatch in India by the end of this month. The watch will feature an OLED colour display, which will come with different colour straps. Through your smartwatch you can read SMS, email, social networking updates from Twitter and Facebook. Moreover, the watch also provides you the facility of calendar reminder. The features of the phone synchronises with your Androidphone too. In addition to that, you can accept, reject and mute calls through Bluetooth headset.
One of the best thing with this smartwatch will be you don?t have to own a Sony branded phone to use it as it syncs with other Android phones as well. Since, the watch is Android based, hence you can port other android applications other that provided by sony. The syncing is done over Bluetooth 3.0.
The Sony smartwatch will cost Rs 6,299.
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Parallels update adds Windows 8 support
Microsoft's upcoming and controversial Windows 8 operating system is now supported in virtual machines using Parallels Desktop on your Mac.
If you have a Mac and are running Parallels Desktop to install and run various Windows installations within OS X, an update is available that will allow you to easily download and configure the new Windows 8 Release Preview on your system.
One of the highly anticipated software releases is Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system. The new OS is now in Release Preview mode and sports some radical changes to its interface, with the foremost being its radical departure from the classic desktop in favor of a new Metro interface to mirror its mobile offerings.
Unfortunately the changes Microsoft is implementing in its operating system are so radical that they have been described by many as a hurdle to the customer, with columnist John C. Dvorak writing a scathing review and describing the system as "an unmitigated disaster that could decidedly hurt the company and its future."
If this sounds intriguing at all, then you might wish to give it a try to at least see what all the fuss is about and determine for yourself whether you agree with Dvorak; however, as with any preview it may be best to give it a try in a more secure environment rather than directly installing it on your system (such as in Boot Camp). Therefore, if you have Parallels Desktop installed on your system, update it and install the Windows 8 preview in a new virtual machine. The update is a 306MB download that can be downloaded through the Parallels Desktop update service, or from the Parallels 7 downloads page.
With the software update installed, all you need to do to get the Windows 8 preview running is to create a new virtual machine in the program and select the Download Windows 8 option in the virtual machine wizard. From there just continue through the wizard's options as you would for any other operating system. Parallels sets the default parameters for the virtual machine to have 1GB RAM and a single CPU, but I recommend you increase this to 2GB and dual CPUs by customizing the virtual machine configuration.
The Windows 8 preview is about 3.3GB in size, so it will take from 1 to 4 hours to download and install, depending on your Internet connection.
While Windows 8 can be installed in prior builds of Parallels Desktop, the installations were unsupported and also required downloading and installing from the Microsoft Web site as would be done on any PC system. Though still experimental at this state, the specific Windows 8 support in Parallels Desktop should now make running the Windows 8 preview far smoother, more stable, and give it access to many of the features that Parallels desktop supports.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Smart phone avalanche buries computer industry
A person demonstrates an app for shopping on the smart phone in
San Francisco. File photo
The personal computer has dominated modern life for 25 years,
but the often bulky devices are increasingly giving way to smaller, lighter
smart phones and tablet computers.
The
whole sector is scrambling to survive the avalanche set off by Apple under its
late founder, Steve Jobs.
Technology
giant Hewlett-Packard, whose business is still built on personal computers and
printers, this week announced it would slash its payroll by 27,000 workers, or
8 per cent, by 2014 to eventually save at least 3 billion dollars a year.
Managers were admitting to Wall Street that HP’s future was as a smaller
company.
The
world’s largest PC manufacturer has so far failed to connect with consumer
demand for smart phones and tablets -- a new technology landscape of slender
mobile devices dominated by Silicon Valley’s Apple and South Korea’s Samsung.
A
world of mobile computing appears to have only a small space left for
Hewlett-Packard, as well as PC competitor Dell, which has suffered shrinking
sales recently. Both have failed to achieve the innovations to make a
successful transition.
As
early as 2010, when he launched the iPad, Jobs talked about the “post-PC
world.” Other manufacturers did not take his vision seriously, and they
continued to make their big desktop machines and laptops. One of their biggest
innovations was to make PCs in colours other than the old “computer grey.” In
time, Jobs was vindicated.
“Today,
Apple is reinventing the phone,” he said in 2007, as he launched the iPhone.
At
the time, it sounded like an exaggeration, but the cell phone with a
touch-sensitive screen set new standards for performance and appearance. Above
all, the iPhone redefined the industry, because for the first time it brought
to the fore not the device but the software it holds: the apps.
At
the start of 2010, Jobs dealt a definitive blow to the PC: he launched Apple’s
tablet computer, the iPad. With it, the company again achieved a resounding
success.
Over
the past quarter alone, 35 million iPhones have been sold, along with close to
12 million iPads. By comparison, based on the data of market research firm
Gartner, 89 million PCs were sold over the same period by all manufacturers put
together.
PC
firms tried to come up with their own tablets, well before Apple did. More than
10 years ago in Las Vegas, Microsoft founder Bill Gates presented his vision of
the digital table computer. The smartphone, too, is hardly Jobs’ invention.
However,
alternative devices were too expensive, inconvenient or just too ugly to become
bestsellers.
Now,
little is left for PC manufacturers to do but chase Apple and try not to miss
the train altogether. Some of them continue to focus, successfully, on the
traditional PC market, like the Chinese company Lenovo, whose boss Yang
Yuanqing likes to talk of a “PC-plus era.” A big fish like Hewlett-Packard,
however, can hardly change overnight. For years, the US giant worked on
perfecting its business of selling computers, complementing them with extras
like printers and offering services for such equipment. It was a perfect
long-term relationship with customers, or so HP managers thought.
HP
reached the top of the industry 10 years ago through the expensive purchase of
rival PC maker Compaq.
Change
within the sector, however, threw them off balance. Their hardware sales
dropped, their software business failed to grow fast enough, payment for
acquisitions like security service provider SonicWall was still pending.
Prospects
are good once the payroll is reduced, and share prices rose more than 3 per
cent Thursday.
While
Apple is surfing the mobile wave with the iPhone and iPad and setting trends in
the notebook computer market with the MacBook, Hewlett-Packard does not even
have smartphones and tablets on offer.
HP
bought the smart phone pioneer Palm in 2010, but the management opted to close
the company soon afterward, because it was uncompetitive.
Keywords: personal
computers, smart phones, iPhone, iPad
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Google revamps Google+ app for Android
Google has released an updated version of its Google+ app
for Android, days after its iOS app received a major facelift. The updated
version of Google+ for Android is said to be more visually appealing to users,
as the app features better layouts, new fonts and larger images.
Google in
a blog post said that the latest update is all about “polish and performance”.
With the change in overall layout and improved navigation, Google says it
aims to create a “simpler and more beautiful Google”.
Other major highlights of the update are ability to start
a hangout on the go, edit posts inline and new a stream that has trending
content shared across the social networking site.
Users can now start 281Hangouts directly
from their mobile device. To start, users need to tap “Hangout” in the
navigation ribbon (newly added) and add friends and tap “Start”. The update
also makes sharing content with Circles fellows easier. Users can use the new
stream that comes with full-width media and easily accessible +1 buttons. Users
can also edit posts inline, or download photos directly from Google+ to phone.
The update is available now from Google
Play (version 2.6).
Meanwhile, check out the selected screenshots from the
new Android app:
click to enlarge
Also read,
Google+ is better than Facebook
100 million Google+ users, but how many are active?
Social media growth in India is slowing down, says Gartner
Monday, 21 May 2012
Microsoft's new technology for speech,hearing impaired
Hyderabad: Microsoft India employees have developed a
technology that would help for hearing and speech impaired people to
communicate with others.
The employees have also developed a device for the blind
that helps them navigate their way to destination safely through objects in an
indoor space.
A team of employees of the company, led by Bangaru
Venkatesh, said 'Kinect Bridge' technology, developed for hearing and speech
impaired people, will recognise simple finger or spelling as input and convert
the symbol into text or speech.
The technology was developed using Kinect device that
detects objects without touching. It is used by Microsoft for gaming .
'Hand gestures will be recognised by the device and will be
converted as text or voice. This is useful for visually impaired people also.
They can just speak to the computer and it will be converted into text.
'This is the first step. Commercialising will be taken up by
Microsoft. This is an application developed by them (employees). They can put
it up for 'moonlighting'. Microsoft has no liability on these applications,
'Using a real-time scanning, the person is directed whether
he should move further or not. A built-up voice will give suggestions to the
person based on the distance between the blind person and object,' Rishabh
Varma, an associate of Microsoft India who along with three of his colleagues
developed Kinectacles application, said.
The intention is to help visually impaired to navigate on
their own indoors without the help of other people. It has one normal VGA
camera and one depth camera, he added…..
Thank You
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Oracle unveils new financial service applications
The new applications are
offered on Oracle’s Financial Crime and Compliance Management platform
Oracle Financial Services
has introduced its Financial Services Currency Transaction Reporting and
Financial Services Currency Transaction Reporting Analytics.
The new solution helps
banks to consolidate and streamline cash transaction processing, and generate
and file electronic CTR reports using a single, enterprise-wide platform.
The new solution also
helps banks get 360-degree view of all daily cash activities ensuring
compliance and improve reporting efficiency.
New we applications are
offered on Oracle's Financial Crime and Compliance Management platform.
They also will enable
banks to assess cash activity, monitor CTR metrics, and productivity, as well
as determine historical trends to prevent future compliance issues.
The new financial service
applications also support quicker reporting for electronic and internal
reporting across the enterprise.
The Oracle Financial
Services Currency Transaction Reporting will enable banks to automatically and
accurately consolidate the entire CTR process from teller entry through
automated aggregation and generation of CTRs, to logging of monetary
instruments for record-keeping and managing exemptions, through generation and
filing of required e-file reports.
Sunday, 13 May 2012
Nokia looking to drive Lumia interest with 'new' app dev deals
Nokia
is attempting to lure more app developers to its new Lumia smartphone platform,
by locking them into semi-'exclusive' Windows Phone deals.
The
company has been in a partnership with Microsoft, who develops the Windows
Phone operating system, to attempt to reduce Google Android and Apple's iOS
devices' dominance over the smartphone market.
While
users of Windows Phone compatible devices have access to 80,000 apps through
Windows Live Marketplace, Nokia is looking to pull some exclusive deals to tie
some higher profile apps to its Nokia devices only.
The
Lumia series will now have these exclusives (note: amongst Windows Phone users
only; not Android or Apple users - whom already have access to these titles):
-
The PGA Tour app - exclusive to Nokia Lumia for 12 months from launch
- ESPN - exclusive to Nokia Lumia until May 2013
- Groupon - Exclusive to Nokia Lumia for 6 months from launch
- AOL Entertainment Hub - exclusive to Nokia Lumia for 6 months
- Tripdots - Exclusive to Windows Phone customers for 3 months from launch
- Angry Birds Space - Rovio has also promised to release all future titles on
Nokia 'as soon as possible'.
Nokia also announced (non-exclusive)
support for EA and EA Sports' series of sports games, Paypal, and a promise
from Rovio that, after its Windows Phone release of Angry Birds Space, all
future games will be ported ASAP. Time and Newsweek will also be creating news
apps for the platform, as will Box. All of these apps are available on
competing platforms.
The problem is, these apps are mostly bringing
Windows Phone 7/Nokia's devices up to speed with the competition - they aren't
game changers or
"Nokia
has achieved much in a short space of time when it comes to key brands and
partners creating apps for Nokia Lumia customers. We believe developers are now
moving away from simply porting, to create new innovative and high-design apps
that fully leverage the Windows Phone Metro UI and features such as live tiles.
With new and exclusive apps launching on a regular basis, and Nokia Lumia
rapidly expanding into new markets, Nokia and Microsoft are demonstrating
meaningful differentiation for consumers, developers, operators and
retailers," said Crawford Del Prete, EVP, Chief Research Officer, IDC.
It
is worth noting that these apps are not necessarily available on Nokia's
Symbian operating system, which the company continues to support - potentially
confusing customers. It has just announced a gimmicky 41MP cameraphone, the Pureview
808, which runs the Belle OS.Thursday, 10 May 2012
Google agrees with Mozilla's Windows RT browser concerns
Mozilla says only a crippled version of Firefox could run on Windows for ARM chips, effectively restricting user choice to IE10, and now the maker of Chrome says it's worried, too.
Google has joined Mozilla in its
attempt to push Microsoft to permit full-fledged browsers other than Internet
Explorer on Windows RT, its operating system geared for devices
running ARM processors
.
Mozilla objects to Microsoft decisions that, it says,
prevent it from bringing a competitive version ofFirefox to
Windows RT. Other browsers don't get access to the same operating system
abilities that IE10 gets, recalling browser battles from earlier years that
ultimately triggered government antitrust actions in the United States and
Europe
We share the concerns Mozilla has raised regarding the Windows 8
environment restricting user choice and innovation. We've always welcomed
innovation in the browser space across all platforms and strongly believe that
having great competitors makes us all work harder. In the end, consumers and
developers benefit the most from robust competition.
Mozilla spokesman Asa Dotzler puts it this way:
First, Microsoft has a browser that runs in Classic mode
on Windows ARM. They are not allowing us that same access to run our browser on
Classic. Second, Microsoft has a browser that runs in Metro mode on Windows ARM
that has access to rich APIs that they are denying to third-party Metro
browsers on Windows ARM. So, we are denied the ability to deliver any browser
on Classic, and we are denied the ability to build a competitive browser on
Metro.
"They're trying to make a new
version of their operating system which denies their users choice, competition,
and innovation," Anderson told CNET. "Making IE the only browser on
that platform is a complete return to the digital dark ages when there was only
one browser on the Windows platform."
Google permits other browsers on Android, and Mozilla
Firefox and Opera Mobile are among the browsers available. Opera Mini is
available on iOS devices, too, but it lacks its own browser engine. Instead, it
relies on Opera's servers to render Web pages then transmit a boiled-down
version to a person's phone.
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Saturday, 5 May 2012
4G Technology
Fourth
Generation (4G) mobiles
4G also called as Fourth-Generation
Communications System, is a term used to describe the next step in wireless
communications. A 4G system can provide a comprehensive IP solution where
voice, data and streamed multimedia can be provided to users on an
"Anytime, Anywhere" basis. The data transfer rates are also much
higher than previous generations.
The main objectives of 4G
are:
1)4G will be a fully
IP-based integrated system.
2)This will be capable of
providing 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s speeds both indoors and outdoors.
3)It can provide premium
quality and high security.
4)4G offer all types of
services at an affordable cost.
4G is developed to provide
high quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set by forthcoming
applications such as wireless broadband access, Multimedia Messaging, Video
Chat, Mobile TV, High definition TV content, DVB, minimal service like voice
and data, and other streaming services.
4G technology allow
high-quality smooth video transmission. It will enable fast downloading of
full-length songs or music pieces in real time.
4G also called as Fourth-Generation Communications System, is a term used to describe the next step in wireless communications. A 4G system can provide a comprehensive IP solution where voice, data and streamed multimedia can be provided to users on an "Anytime, Anywhere" basis. The data transfer rates are also much higher than previous generations.
The main objectives of 4G are:
1)4G will be a fully IP-based integrated system.
2)This will be capable of providing 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s speeds both indoors and outdoors.
3)It can provide premium quality and high security.
4)4G offer all types of services at an affordable cost.
4G is developed to provide high quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set by forthcoming applications such as wireless broadband access, Multimedia Messaging, Video Chat, Mobile TV, High definition TV content, DVB, minimal service like voice and data, and other streaming services.
4G technology allow high-quality smooth video transmission. It will enable fast downloading of full-length songs or music pieces in real time.
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Forget Windows: Midori is coming
WINDOWS is a name that has ruled the whole computer world since its
first launch in November 1985. Since then it is like a trademark ofMicrosoft Corporation.
With many advanced versions of Windows available today such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, it is the most used operating system in the world. In 2010, Microsoft is going to launch WINDOWS 2007, but now here is time to experience a yet another technology of operating systems.
Yes, MICROSOFT is working on a new generation of operating systems called Cloud-Based Operating System and rumors are there that MIDORI will be their first such operating system, which will replace Windows fully from computer map.
With many advanced versions of Windows available today such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, it is the most used operating system in the world. In 2010, Microsoft is going to launch WINDOWS 2007, but now here is time to experience a yet another technology of operating systems.
Yes, MICROSOFT is working on a new generation of operating systems called Cloud-Based Operating System and rumors are there that MIDORI will be their first such operating system, which will replace Windows fully from computer map.
WHAT'S
THE DIFFERENCE
MIDORI is an offshoot of Microsoft Research's Singularity operating system. In this the tools and libraries are completely managed code. MIDORI is designed to run directly on native hardware (x86, x64 and ARM), will be hosted on the Windows Hyper-V hypervisor, or even be hosted by a Windows process.
MIDORI can be also seen as MICROSOFT'S answer those competitors who are applying "Virtualization" as a mean to solving issues within contemporary computing.
The main idea behind MIDORI is to develop a lightweight portable OS which can be mated easily to lots of various applications.
IMPORTANCE OF MIDORI
For knowing the importance of MIDORI you have to think about, how an operating system is loaded on a computer. Actually operating system is loaded onto a hard disk physically located on that machine. In this way, the operating system is tied very tightly to that hardware. As Windows is dependent on hardware, it might face opposition from contemporary ways of working because people are extremely mobile in using different devices in order get diverse information.
Due to this trend installing different applications on a single computer may led to different compatibility issues whenever the machine require updating. The new operating system will solve these problems by the concept of Virtualizing. This will solve problems such as widespread security vulnerabilities, unexpected interactions among different applications, failures caused by errant extensions, plug-ins, and drivers and many more.
ERIC RUDDER, Senior Vice President, Technical Strategy
The importance of this project for MICROSOFT can be understood by the fact that company choose Eric Rudder , former head of Microsoft's server and tools business and a key member of Chairman Bill Gates' faction of the company,
MIDORI is an offshoot of Microsoft Research's Singularity operating system. In this the tools and libraries are completely managed code. MIDORI is designed to run directly on native hardware (x86, x64 and ARM), will be hosted on the Windows Hyper-V hypervisor, or even be hosted by a Windows process.
MIDORI can be also seen as MICROSOFT'S answer those competitors who are applying "Virtualization" as a mean to solving issues within contemporary computing.
The main idea behind MIDORI is to develop a lightweight portable OS which can be mated easily to lots of various applications.
IMPORTANCE OF MIDORI
For knowing the importance of MIDORI you have to think about, how an operating system is loaded on a computer. Actually operating system is loaded onto a hard disk physically located on that machine. In this way, the operating system is tied very tightly to that hardware. As Windows is dependent on hardware, it might face opposition from contemporary ways of working because people are extremely mobile in using different devices in order get diverse information.
Due to this trend installing different applications on a single computer may led to different compatibility issues whenever the machine require updating. The new operating system will solve these problems by the concept of Virtualizing. This will solve problems such as widespread security vulnerabilities, unexpected interactions among different applications, failures caused by errant extensions, plug-ins, and drivers and many more.
ERIC RUDDER, Senior Vice President, Technical Strategy
The importance of this project for MICROSOFT can be understood by the fact that company choose Eric Rudder , former head of Microsoft's server and tools business and a key member of Chairman Bill Gates' faction of the company,
Thank You
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