LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Does Windows cost Microsoft opportunities?
Microsoft's decision to focus .NET on Windows is stifling innovation due to the specter of...

Mono brings .NET to Android
At Microsoft MIX, Mono will unveil the ability to port .NET applications to the Android op...

Going 'all in' on .NET as default runtime
Programmers for Windows Phone 7 will need to use Silverlight and XNA for development

Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter

Overdue Updates, Delays Marked Microsoft’s 2005


By Andy Patrizio
January 1, 2006 — 
“Punctual” is not a word normally used to describe Microsoft.

Products promised for 2004 finally were delivered in 2005, while other products promised for 2005 slipped into ’06. Visual Studio 2005 shipped on Nov. 7, along with SQL Server 2005, BizTalk Server 2006 and version 2.0 of the .NET Framework.

The SQL Server 2005 upgrade was long overdue, as Microsoft had let its RDBMS go five years and allowed Oracle and IBM to gain ground. But Microsoft did make up for the delay with a lot of features: CLR integration, stored procedures in .NET languages, XML, integration with BizTalk Server and Commerce Server, business intelligence capabilities and more.

Not making it to market in 2005 was the ambitious Visual Studio Team System, Microsoft’s entry into the life-cycle management world. Although Team System had been due late in the year, only portions of it shipped in 2005. The underlying Team Foundation Server slipped to early 2006.

RSS embraced
September saw Microsoft give RSS (Really Simple Syndication) a huge bear hug. The company promised to build support for the multiple versions of RSS into Vista, Internet Explorer 7 and Office 12. RSS is supported on an ever-increasing number of news Web sites, but by and large, the most popular RSS readers have been shareware/freeware. Microsoft has promised native RSS support in Outlook and Internet Explorer 7.

Microsoft also is offering a pair of extensions to RSS, which it will release under the Creative Commons license. One will extend RSS list capabilities to add ordering information to a stream, so an RSS feed could better handle things such as e-commerce purchases. The second is a means of sharing contact and calendaring information between information servers, such as Exchange and Notes.

Office 12, due around the same time as Vista (knock on wood), will include native XML, in theory opening Office data files to use in any application that can read XML.

Collaboration is getting a boost in Office 12 with support for telephony, shared note-taking, Web conferencing, instant messaging, and secure, federated access to public instant messaging networks, such as those of AOL and Yahoo. Microsoft also plans to offer servers for at least some of its applications, starting with Excel. The Excel server will manage documents and offer enterprise content management, as well as document life-cycle management, searching, security, business process and business intelligence.

Microsoft did deliver one product on time, and many consumers wondered if it was worth it. Xbox 360, the second-generation video-game console, hit stores in November, but it was a very rough launch, even by Microsoft standards. Supply was nowhere near demand, resulting in serious gouging on eBay.


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/29073
 

Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading



 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 3/15/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Google Code turns 5
Google Code Turns 5, and adds a Paxos Algorithm to make the system more stable and reliable.
03/17/2010 11:16 AM EST

Test your Visual Studio 2010 know-how
Microsoft is offering free beta certification exams for Visual Studio 2010.
03/17/2010 11:08 AM EST

Microsoft lifts the hood on IE9
Microsoft is previewing IE9.
03/16/2010 01:10 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
EclipseCon
3/22/2010 to 3/25/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
The Eclipse Foundation

DevConnections
4/12/2010 to 4/14/2010
Las Vegas
Penton Media

MySQL Conf. and Expo
4/12/2010 to 4/15/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
O'Reilly Media

High Performance Computing Linux Financial Markets
4/19/2010
New York City
Flagg Management

Informix User Conf.
4/25/2010 to 4/28/2010
Overland Park, Kans.
IIUG