Microsoft continues to eat its own dog food to promote the adoption of its Silverlight technology.

The company is beta-testing a new version of its Microsoft Download Center Web site using the technology, a browser plug-in and development runtime for adding multimedia and high-definition video to Web-based applications.

A visit to the Microsoft Download Center on Tuesday opened a page inviting users to test the new site, which Microsoft said is being enhanced by Silverlight.

Full Article – http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/145564/microsoft_revamps_download_center_using_silverlight.html

Two of the single most begged for features for PowerShell, the devastatingly useful scripting tool now made an integral part of Windows Server 2008 and Exchange Server 2007, are being addressed in the Community Technology Preview for version 2.0.

As Microsoft now confirms, there will be a unique graphical front end for editing scripts and running commands and cmdlets (compiled PowerShell keywords). And yes, Virginia, there will be a newly supported remote link to servers running Server Core, the new minimal Windows installation introduced in WS2K8.

Full Article – http://www.betanews.com/article/Next_Windows_PowerShell_will_have_GUI_remote_management_support/1210112143

Yahoo is introducing new technology to its search engine which will warn users if they are about to click on a website that hosts viruses, spyware and spam.

SearchScan uses security firm McAfee’s SiteAdvisor technology to warn users about “potentially risky sites”.

The service, which is switched on by default, produces an on-screen alert.

Full Article – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7385285.stm

Yahoo is introducing new technology to its search engine which will warn users if they are about to click on a website that hosts viruses, spyware and spam.

SearchScan uses security firm McAfee’s SiteAdvisor technology to warn users about “potentially risky sites”.

The service, which is switched on by default, produces an on-screen alert.

Full Article – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7385285.stm

Laptop users may soon get longer battery life from their machines, with ZPower set to plug in its new silver-zinc batteries, which it claims last significantly longer than traditional lithium-ion batteries.

The batteries will be available in consumer and business laptops from major PC makers starting in August, according to Ross Dueber, the CEO of ZPower, although he declined to name any of the vendors on Thursday.

Full Article – http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20080501/tc_pcworld/145405;_ylt=AuHBEfBlc10UTqk1GK2DdxOSxLEF

When Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) rolled out Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to millions of users, people had king-sized anticipations about what SP1 would do for their systems. Sadly, for some people, that eagerness turned into an imperial-sized disgust at what SP1 did to their systems. Sometimes SP1 wouldn’t install correctly; sometimes it wasn’t installed at all; and sometimes it left their machines far worse off than before.

Full Article – http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207402843&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

Windows PowerShell is a command line interface shell and associated scripting language that integrates with .NET Framework. Version 1, which was released on November 14, 2006, is available for Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and comes as an optional feature for Windows Server 2008. Version 2, which is backwards compatible with version 1, has many changes to the scripting language and hosting API.

Full Article – http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/05/05/windows-powershell-v2-ctp-2

Windows PowerShell is a command line interface shell and associated scripting language that integrates with .NET Framework. Version 1, which was released on November 14, 2006, is available for Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and comes as an optional feature for Windows Server 2008. Version 2, which is backwards compatible with version 1, has many changes to the scripting language and hosting API.

Full Article – http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/05/05/windows-powershell-v2-ctp-2

In my previous post I discussed how I went about trying to determine the differences in processor functionality provided by Hyper-V’s Limit Processor Functionality (LPF) checkbox. You probably want to read through that in order to get the necessary background to understand this final instalment.

In this post I discuss how you can determine:

1. If your operating system is running on a hypervisor,
2. The processor feature differences presented for an operating system running directly on hardware versus a parent partition operating system on a hypervisor,
3. The processor feature differences presented for a child partition operating system running without LPF set versus one that does.

Full article – http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/natashamocke/archive/2008/05/03/The-Mystery-of-Hyper_2D00_V_2700_s-Limit-Processor-Functionality_3F00_-_2800_Part-2-_2D00_-Final_2900_.aspx

In my previous post I discussed how I went about trying to determine the differences in processor functionality provided by Hyper-V’s Limit Processor Functionality (LPF) checkbox. You probably want to read through that in order to get the necessary background to understand this final instalment.

In this post I discuss how you can determine:

1. If your operating system is running on a hypervisor,
2. The processor feature differences presented for an operating system running directly on hardware versus a parent partition operating system on a hypervisor,
3. The processor feature differences presented for a child partition operating system running without LPF set versus one that does.

Full article – http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/natashamocke/archive/2008/05/03/The-Mystery-of-Hyper_2D00_V_2700_s-Limit-Processor-Functionality_3F00_-_2800_Part-2-_2D00_-Final_2900_.aspx

LAS VEGAS — Microsoft Tuesday confirmed that its Hyper-V server virtualization technology is likely to ship up to a couple months ahead of the previously projected date.

The company has said all along that Hyper-V, which is currently in beta, would ship within 180 days of the release of Windows Server 2008.

Full Article – http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/042908-microsoft-hyper-v.html

Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc.

REDMOND, Wash., May 3, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).

“We continue to believe that our proposed acquisition made sense for Microsoft, Yahoo! and the market as a whole. Our goal in pursuing a combination with Yahoo! was to provide greater choice and innovation in the marketplace and create real value for our respective stockholders and employees,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft.

“Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5 billion, Yahoo! has not moved toward accepting our offer. After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo! do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal,” said Ballmer.

“We have a talented team in place and a compelling plan to grow our business through innovative new services and strategic transactions with other business partners. While Yahoo! would have accelerated our strategy, I am confident that we can continue to move forward toward our goals,” Ballmer said.

“We are investing heavily in new tools and Web experiences, we have dramatically improved our search performance and advertiser satisfaction, and we will continue to build our scale through organic growth and partnerships,” said Kevin Johnson, Microsoft president for platforms and services.

Below is the text of the letter from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang.

Full Article – http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/may08/05-03letter.mspx

We are pleased to announce Windows Live Messenger for Facebook. This new Facebook application allows you to easily contact your Facebook friends using Messenger! Try it out here.

Using the Windows Live Messenger for Facebook application you can:

• Expose your Messenger status to your Facebook friends
• Receive instant messages from friends that visit your Facebook profile page
• View your friends’ Messenger status on Facebook
• Send instant messages to your friends on Facebook that are using Messenger
• Easily add your Facebook friends to your Messenger contacts

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/messenger/archive/2008/05/01/messenger-on-facebook.aspx

REDMOND, Wash. — May 1, 2008Microsoft Corp. today introduced two new products to help photographers manage their digital photos in a new way using location data, a process known as geotagging. Geotagging is an exciting new way to organize your digital photos that was previously available only to those with technical expertise.

Microsoft Pro Photo Tools make geotagging available for all photographers and can be downloaded for free at the Microsoft Pro Photo Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/prophoto. Today, Microsoft also released Expression Media 2, a new version of its digital asset management software, which is part of the Expression family of products for creative professionals. Expression Media 2 is designed to help reduce the amount of time required by photographers to manage and organize large collections of photos and other digital media, and it includes geotagging functionality.

Full Article – http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/may08/05-01GeotaggingPR.mspx

Microsoft has released Expression version 2.

http://www.microsoft.com/expression/