.NET News Desk

HP Unveils Converged Infrastructure Solutions for Microsoft Environments

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:15:00 EST

HP today announced new integrations of the recently introduced HP Converged Infrastructure architecture for Microsoft applications, enabling customers to simplify the management of their computing environments while increasing efficiency. The proliferation of IT sprawl has created technology silos in data centers with maintenance and operations consuming approximately 70 percent of an organization’s technology budget.

Hard Drive Data Recovery Service- When Is It Necessary?

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST

You need not to opt for recovery service, if your hard drive is physically intact and working properly. If all the hard drive internals are working properly, you would be able to start your system and access data from it. However, the the internal components of your computer hard drive gets damaged, you can not retrieve data from it and you need to opt for data recovery services for easy and quick accessing of your valuable and mission critical data. Each file that you store on your computer hard drive is crucial from your business point of view. When you lose even a single file, you might feel lost. Particularly for the businesses, loss of valuable files might prove a real disaster. Although, the manufacturers might give you guarantee of the hardware, but when a problem occurs in your drive, you can not retrieve data from it. Manufacturers can only replace the damaged hard drive if it is in guarantee period, but could not help you to get your data back.

Canada & Australia Smile of Microsoft-Yahoo

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:15:00 EST

The Microsoft-Yahoo deal got approved by regulators in Canada and Australia. The Justice Department and the European Commission are reviewing the plan.

Mozilla Opens its Books

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:45:00 EST

Mozilla’s revenues – that’s the Mozilla Foundation and all subsidiaries – did $78.6 million last year, up 5%. As a gauge, its 2007 over 2006 was up 12%. Most of the money comes from Google of course though now it has its own browser, plus Yahoo, Amazon and eBay. Its deal with Google runs through 2011. Mozilla’s total assets at the end of last year were $116 million, up 17%. The IRS is still auditing Mozilla’s books from ’04-’07.

Corel To Go Private Again

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:45:00 EST

Corel, the Canadian company that acquired the once great WordPerfect and Quattro Pro from Novell intending to take on Microsoft, is going private again. Vector Capital, the private equity house that owns over 68% of the company is offering $4 a share cash, nearly a 28% premium, for the rest of it, having upped the offer from $3.50 to get management’s backing.

Windows 7 Selling

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:45:00 EST

Windows 7 has sold at an unprecedented rate in the few weeks it’s been out, double any previous version of the operating system according to what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the company’s annual stockholders meeting the other day. He was reportedly counting both boxed and OEM copies but did not offer any numbers. Windows 7 officially went on sale October 22.

Azure Gets its First Commercial ERP App

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:15:00 EST

While Microsoft is webifying bits and pieces of its client/server Dynamics ERP solution, it ain't gonna put any full-blown Dynamics ERP on Azure. Too much customization and integration to make a good candidate apparently. Enter Acumatica, a potentially competitive third-party ERP solution that compares itself to NetSuite except NetSuite is wholly SaaS and Acumatica, out only since June but one of the few programs already in production on the still-in-beta Azure, straddles both a client's on-premises site and the Microsoft cloud. The Acumatica software is the same in the cloud as it is on-premise and experimenting with in on site is supposed to make accounts more comfortable with the idea of using it in the cloud.

CSC Signs Record Cloud Deal with Royal Mail

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Britain's hidebound state-owned Royal Mail is getting a cloud. Yup, CSC is supposed to provide 30,000 of its employees with access to newfangled web-based services using Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), part of Microsoft Online Services. CSC will also provide first line helpdesk support. The new contract is described as an industry first: CSC is the first Microsoft service provider to win a cloud deal of this size.

Sun Releases New Update for Solaris 10 Operating System

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

Solaris 10 10/09 provides new features, fixes and hardware support in an easy-to-install manner, preserving full compatibility with over 11,000 third-party products and customer applications, including Oracle database and application software. With over two decades of Sun/Oracle collaboration, there are more Oracle database deployments on the SPARC/Solaris combination than any other OS and Sun is leading the way to bring high-performance solutions for the entire range of Oracle products. Solaris 10 10/09 also leverages the innovation and contributions of the OpenSolaris(TM) community, including investments by third-party companies such as Intel and AMD, to add more capabilities to Solaris 10's award-winning portfolio of enterprise features. This release also builds on Solaris' proven track record as a highly secure deployment platform, including enterprise-grade security features such as Solaris Trusted Extensions, and support for the built-in cryptographic acceleration features of Sun's UltraSPARC(R) CMT processors.

Rackspace Offers Its First-Ever Showcase for Retailers

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

Rackspace Hosting announced a new service to assist its e-commerce customers this holiday season. The Rackspace Holiday Shopping Mall, a promotional area hosted on NoMoreServers.com will offer discounts and coupons to encourage holiday shopping and highlight the benefits of using e-commerce. Rackspace counts more than 2,000 e-commerce stores among its customers. The Rackspace Holiday Shopping Mall is the first of its kind for Rackspace Hosting. The website will feature offers from retailers who are also Rackspace customers, like Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss, and ULTA as well as firms like Bonobos, TeeFury, and ChristmasLightsEtc. A complete list of offers is available at http://nomoreservers.com/mall.

eBay Teams Up With Microsoft to Offer Daily Deals

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

Microsoft Corp. and eBay Inc. today announced they are partnering to offer eBay Daily Deals through a new Internet Explorer 8 Web Slice for the holidays. With most holiday shoppers looking to save money, Microsoft and eBay will present online Daily Deals through a new Windows Internet Explorer 8 Web Slice that will showcase popular products selling at deep discounts. Customers will receive continuing updates and detailed information about these Daily Deals for eBay, all within the Favorites Bar in Internet Explorer. 8.

Microsoft CFO Quits

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:15:00 EST

Microsoft’s CFO Chris Liddell, 51, a New Zealand import, is bored and wants a better job. So he’s “looking at a number of opportunities that will expand his career beyond being a CFO” – according to a statement out of Microsoft – and will be leaving at the end of the year. Microsoft’s replacing him with Peter Klein, 47, currently CFO of Microsoft’s $19 billion-a-year Business Division, responsible for Office.

There’s Good News & There’s Bad News: Gartner

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:15:00 EST

Gartner has updated its crystal ball - or gotten a new one - and now says that more PCs will ship this year than it expected because laptops, especially netbooks, are selling; it gives Windows 7 little to no credit. In September Gartner was projecting a 2% decline; now it says the number will be up 2.8% to 298.9 million units. It had to eat its words when it discovered that the third quarter was stronger than it allowed and that Q3's results "alone virtually guaranteed we would see positive growth this year" - suggesting that it missed the turn altogether.

How to Handle File Indexing Corruption in Microsoft Windows 7

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:45:00 EST

File Indexing is an allegedly useful feature of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It extracts critical information from files on hard disk and creates the “searchable keyword index” that Is used for making the file search more efficient. Using file indexing service, you can easily searching for a phrase, properly or word in a document, even without knowing name of the file that you want. In some situations, the indexing of file may get damaged and may access all your files inaccessible from Windows hard drive partition. In such cases, you need to opt for Windows Partition Recovery to get your valuable files recovered from affected Windows partition.

Windows Vista Service Pack Installation Fails with Error 0XC0190036

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:45:00 EST

Microsoft releases various Service Packs for its already existing Windows operating system versions. These include several patches and refinements over earlier version that help improving its performance and stability.

'Cannot Find the Path Specified' Error Accessing Clustered Volume

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:45:00 EST

Windows clustering gives a unique way to employ fail over support for demanding applications and services. With clustering, applications and data can be made available on different servers, which are linked together as clusters.

Unsuccessful Rollback Phase Cause Partition Loss in Microsoft Windows

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

Several users upgrade their operating systems from Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista. But in case if any error during the setup process, rollback phase is initiated. When you run the rollback phase, your system returns to previous installation of Microsoft Windows operating system

SAP & Microsoft Cut Anti-Oracle Pact

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:00 EST

Striking while Oracle is at sixes and sevens over Sun, SAP and Microsoft, two of its worst enemies, have cut an anti-Oracle accord. Microsoft will recommend SAP’s BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation application to its customers as its preferred solution, which should irritate Oracle as well as help SAP tickle its flagging sales.

Yahoo’s Wasting Away

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:15:00 EST

According to the latest figures from comScore, Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, was a breath away from claiming 10% of US searches in October, up a half-a-point over September while poor consumptive Yahoo at 18%, a new low, lost eight-tenths of a point. Yahoo used to be a plumper 20%-21%. Google like Microsoft was also up a half point. AOL’s got a shrinking 2.9% and it’s on the block with Microsoft considered the likely buyer.

AMD Tops Top500

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

The world’s most powerful supercomputer is Jaguar, the recently upgraded Cray XT5 rig at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, according to the new semi-annual Top500 list. Jaguar’s roughly 250,000 processors went from quad-core Opterons to six-core Istanbul Opterons and now delivers 2.3 petaflops of theoretical peak performance or 1.75 petaflops on the Linpack benchmark, dethroning IBM. Four of the top five machines are now AMD-based. This and Intel’s money too. My, my. It’s Cray’s first time in the top spot. HP’s got 210 of Top500 machines; IBM’s got 186. China’s got number five.

Beta, Beta, Beta

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:45:00 EST

Microsoft has put out public betas of Office 2010, the SharePoint-dependent Office Professional Plus 2010 with its browser-based, Google Docs-offsetting Office Web Apps for business (this time with editing in Word and OneNote), Visio 2010 and Project 2010, both Office extensions, Exchange Server 2010 and SharePoint 2010 as well as Office Mobile 2010 with its mobile apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010.

AIR 2, Flash Player 10.1 in Beta

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:45:00 EST

Adobe’s AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 for Windows, Mac and Linux have been sent out to beta. Flash Player 10.1, advertised as the first “consistent browser runtime release of the Open Screen Project that will enable uncompromised web browsing of expressive applications, content and high-definition videos across the desktop and devices,” supports x86-based notebooks and should turn up on smartphones and other Internet-connected widgetry next year. It should eat less battery power and deliver better video playback. AIR 2 has enhanced support for mass storage devices and native application processes.

Azure Goes Live Next Year

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST

Except for a few companies that are clearly teacher’s pet, nobody will be going into production on Windows Azure, the Microsoft cloud, until January 1. Until then it remains a technology preview, with tens of thousands of developers already using it according to Microsoft’s chief software architect Ray Ozzie.

How to Resolve “Invalid Data” Error in Microsoft Windows

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:15:00 EST

There are some Windows users who do not know about the slipstream. This is actually a fix, upgrade or enhancement to the operating system without creating new version to identify its changes. This is a quick and easy way to get specified updates. It is generally done for security updates and some hotfixes. But in some situations, after this operation, your system may start behaving strangely and may not start properly. This behavior renders all of your valuable files on the hard drive inaccessible and cause critical file loss situations. At this point, File Recovery solutions are required to get your missing, lost or inaccessible files back.

Chrome Netbooks a Year Off

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST

Google says it’s working with a bunch of unidentified “top OEMs” to create a Chrome notebook based on a Google hardware reference architecture that will hit market around this time next year in time for the holidays. It expects the widgets to change the basic computing model by transferring everything to the cloud. Google accepts that such a device won’t suit all use-cases but it should suit those, particularly youngsters, who spend most of their time on the web, to a “T.”

Data Recovery Post “System 32 Corrupt or Missing” Error Message in Windows XP

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST

System 32, a hidden file usually located in the C:\ drive, is the most vital part of your computer. The system 32 file is responsible for proper functioning of your system. This file is generally hidden to prevent any unintentional or accidental alterations by any user. Although the system 32 file is hidden, the possibilities of its corruption always exist. In such situations, your computer system becomes unbootable making the data stored in it inaccessible.

MindTouch Goes Cloud

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

MindTouch, the open source alternative to Microsoft SharePoint, today extended its popular enterprise collaboration platform to the cloud. The new offering makes it easy for business power users with no programming knowledge to mashup data from existing enterprise systems into real time charts, graphs, reports and tabular data. MindTouch Cloud allows companies to replicate the features and functionality of MindTouch 2009 Standard in seconds with the swipe of a credit card and without a call to their IT department.

Visual WebGui to Reveal Cloud Application Platform

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:15:00 EST

Gizmox, the developer of Visual WebGui, today announced that it will reveal its application platform atop Windows Azure and its development framework, VWG platforms offers a push-button .NET desktop legacy application migration path to Windows Azure. With VWG enterprises will be able to migrate to Windows Azure, by reusing their existing Windows software code on Windows Azure without re-write or re-engineering.

Chinese Court Orders Windows Off the Market

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

A court in China, where most software is pirated, has ordered Microsoft to stop selling the Chinese versions of its operating systems because they infringe on fonts owned by a Chinese company called Zhongyi Electronic. Microsoft says it has a license from Zhongyi and will appeal. Zhongyi says the license only applies to Windows 95.

Stop Error “0x0000C1F5” May Cause Partition Loss in Windows Vista

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:03:00 EST

Kernel is a critical component of a Windows NT-based operating system. It sits between Executive and HAL and offers multiprocessor synchronization, interrupt and thread scheduling and dispatching and execution dispatching and trap handling

Windows Azure Facebook SDK

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:30:00 EST

OK, OK … maybe not (just) for Windows Azure, but Microsoft just released a Facebook client library to help make it easier for everyone to create some interesting applications. Clarity Consulting Inc. developed the original Facebook Developer Toolkit for the Microsoft Visual Studio Express Team. They worked with Microsoft on an idea to keep the code [...] Related posts:

Project Riviera - Windows Azure Code Samples Project Riviera is a comprehensive code sample to demonstrate how...
I Have A Bad Feeling About Windows Azure After more than two “azure” months, with lots of new...
What Windows Azure means for corporate developers By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the newly unveiled Azure...

Windows Azure Cloud Computing Platform Launched

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:15:00 EST

Company details strategy and road map for developers to move, enhance and transform applications for the cloud. Microsoft today announced the availability of the Windows Azure platform at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC). In his opening keynote address, Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, described Windows Azure and SQL Azure as core elements of the company's cloud services strategy. The company also announced a set of new Windows Azure features, Windows Server capabilities, and marketplace offerings that will make it easier for developers to build profitable businesses from their Microsoft-based solutions.

SugarCRM on Windows Azure Cloud Computing Platform

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:45:00 EST

SugarCRM today announced that it will offer its CRM applications on Windows Azure to enable its customers and value-added resellers to benefit from the real-time scalability, high availability and on-demand infrastructure of Microsoft Corp.’s cloud platform for web applications and services. “With Windows Azure, Microsoft has built a true cloud computing platform going well beyond the simple hosted infrastructure that most service providers offer today,” said Larry Augustin, CEO of SugarCRM. “Windows Azure enables SugarCRM value-added resellers to create and deploy unique solutions for customers around the globe. This new service is another key component of the Sugar Open Cloud, the SugarCRM cloud strategy for delivering simple, affordable CRM anywhere based on customer need. Sugar on Windows Azure combines the most user-friendly CRM application on the market with a highly available, scalable and secure cloud computing platform.”

Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) Release Candidate Is Out

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:45:00 EST

I'm not sure how all this managed to slip by me, but apparently last Friday the Windows Identity Foundation Release Candidate was unleashed on the world. Now keep in mind that this is not the ADFS v2 server, this is the foundational plumbing on which ADFS v2 will run. Good news, though, is that if you're like me and you're using WIF to build your own STS websites, then the RC will suit you just fine and you don't have to wait for the ADFS v2.

Anyway, if you'd like to get your hands on some WIF action, click here for the download link.

It doesn't appear as though there are a lot of changes in the framework itself, though I think there are some possible breaking namespace changes but, I'm still downloading it so I don't know at this point. Also, you might want to pick up the Identity Training Kit. It has been revised and there's a new installer for the samples that works on Windows 7 that actually works and installs the SSL certs properly. Previous versions of the ID kit required lots of manual futzing around to get things to work properly with UAC and permissions and the whole "Internet Zone" download issue.

Enjoy!

ERP Software Running on Windows Azure Cloud

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Acumatica, a provider of web-based accounting, ERP, and CRM software, today announced availability of its SaaS solution which runs on Windows Azure and includes the Acumatica software subscription, the operating environment, backups, upgrades, a service level agreement, and automatic updates. The SaaS solution allows mid-sized businesses to purchase customized ERP software and services without installing and maintaining software or investing in hardware.

Microsoft Co-Founder Has Cancer Again

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:45:00 EST

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, 56, one of the richest men in the world, is suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to his sister Jody Allen, the CEO of Vulcan Inc, his private asset management company. Allen left Microsoft in 1983 to undergo radiation treatment and bone marrow transplant for Hodgkin's disease and, although successful, he never returned to Microsoft.

The Planet Joins Microsoft WebsiteSpark Program

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST

The Planet today announced its membership in the Microsoft WebsiteSpark program. Through this partnership, The Planet provides small Web development and design firms with free Microsoft licenses for the latest versions of Windows Server and SQL Server, key tools for building and designing rich Web sites. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, The Planet offers the program to qualified companies through its status as an official Network Partner and Hosting Provider.

Bamboo Solutions Adds Microsoft Office Project Integration

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:13:00 EST

Bamboo Solutions has released the latest version of Project Management Central (“PM Central”). The newly enhanced SharePoint Project Management application includes robust resource management capabilities and bi-directional synch with Microsoft Office Project. PM Central enables project managers to design and manage project schedules with Microsoft Project, but publish and share this data with team members in SharePoint. PM Central synchronizes and maintains critical project data such as tasks and dependencies between the two applications. Simple yet powerful Resource Management tools in the new product further enhance user’s ability to manage projects across the organization.

Code Challenge Issued to Experienced Developers

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

In the first code challenge of its kind, Visual WebGui is offering a $10,000 and giving away prizes valued at thousands of dollars in their call to developers to be the first to submit a Webmail application written by another framework with fewer lines of code. Developers can register for the Code Challenge on-line from anywhere in the world, but special prizes will be distributed to those who sign up at Visual WebGui’s booth 316 at PDC or booth V5 Tech-Ed.

Zend Teams with Varien

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

Zend has gotten Varien, apparently a hot e-commerce platform, to ship the free Community Edition of Zend Server, the PHP web application server with the free Community Edition of its open source Magento e-commerce software. Varien, in turn, will contribute a number of native e-commerce features such as payment gateways and shipping calculation modules to the open source PHP framework, Zend Framework, which is an integrated part of Zend Server.