Microsoft loses another ad executive    
May 13, 2008
Source: Google

Microsoft confirmed on Monday that the general manager of its in-game 
advertising unit is leaving to become chief operating officer at The Knot, a wedding-related Web site. 

Carol Koh Evans, a former investment banker, worked at The Knot before joining Microsoft several years ago. At Microsoft, she worked in corporate development before taking over the Massive unit, following its 2006 acquisition by Microsoft. 

Evans is the latest departure from Microsoft's advertising ranks. In March, MSN ad sales executive Joanne Bradford announced she was leaving for a post at Spot Runner. 

Also slated to depart the company is Steven Berkowitz, the former Ask.com CEO who had served as senior vice president for Microsoft's online efforts. 

Microsoft might have had an abundance of executives with advertising backgrounds had its deal to buy Yahoo not fallen through. However, with the company now focused on internal efforts to boost the business, it will be interesting to see if the company tries to bring in some outsiders to boost its now thinner ad ranks.

Microsoft software gives free tours of space 
May 13 , 2008 
SOURCE: TNN

Any Star Trek fan knows that space travel is not always easy, but Microsoft Corporation wants to make traveling the "final frontier" as simple as turning on your computer. 

The world's largest software maker launched a free software application called WorldWide Telescope on Monday that allows everyone from space novices to astronomy professors to easily explore galaxies, star systems and distant planets. 

The WorldWide Telescope stitches together 12 terabytes -- the data equivalent of 2.6 billion pages of text -- of pictures from sources including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory 
Center and the Spitzer Space Telescope. 

The experience is similar to playing a video game, allowing users to zoom in and out of galaxies that are thousands of light years away. It allows seamless viewing of far-away star systems and rarely-seen 
space dust in breathtaking clarity. 

A test version of the software is available for download at. Microsoft archrival Google Inc also has its eyes to the skies. Google Sky started as an extension of space data and images into Google Earth before eventually unveiling a version that can be used through a Web browser. Google's version is also free. 

Microsoft said it will release the WorldWide Telescope free of charge as a tribute to Jim Gray, a Microsoft researcher who went missing off the coast of California while sailing last year. Gray worked on projects with astronomers to organize the vast amounts of data and images being pulled from satellites. 

Microsoft expects the technology used in the WorldWide Telescope to help the company in future software applications, but the goal for this program is to spark the interest of children to want to learn more about space and possibly pursue careers in science and engineering. 

"My idea of success is if WorldWide Telescope changes how people see the universe and for a generation of kids to have a degree of knowledge about space that they are just not getting now," said 
Curtis Wong, manager of Microsoft's Next Media Research Group. 

"Contextualizing astronomy is missing right now. You see all of these Hubble images and they're amazing, but you have no idea about how big they are, how far away it is." The software allows users to develop their own guided tours of the universe to share with others or take part a guided tour created by astronomy experts. 

Microsoft to finally throw XP out of Windows on June 30  
May 13, 2008 
SOURCE: REUTERS

If you are planning to buy a computer with Microsoft’s Operating System (OS) XP, brace up to shift to Vista. Microsoft XP will go off the market from June 30. Buyers may gripe about the additional investments in new hardware for the Vista OS, but not much choice for them. Vista will come pre-installed with their branded machines. Ditto for enterprises, and they will have to spend time and money in training employees on the new software. 

About a year back, Microsoft announced that Windows XP would be going off the market from January, 2008. XP was later given an extension to June 30. That deadline is approaching and Microsoft insists that there won’t be any more extensions. 

Microsoft India Windows Client Business Group director Prasanna Meduri told ET, “XP will seize to exist. Though there is a policy for specific segments, XP won’t be available for OEMs and general 
retailers from June 30. For system builders (assembled market), there’s an extension of six months. And for new market segments like low-cost PCs (priced below Rs 20,000) XP will be available till June 30, 
2010.’’ 

Basically what this means is, if you plan to buy a low-cost computer, you can get XP (the hardware won’t be robust enough to run Vista’s various features) till 2010 and if you buy an unbranded machine you get XP till January 31, 2009. But if you buy a branded computer that costs more than Rs 20,000, you will have no choice but to take Vista. Interestingly, the low-cost PC for which Microsoft has extended XP availability till 2010 comprises less than 5% of the market. 

Says Gartner principal research analyst Diptarup Chakraborti, “Enterprise adoption of Vista has been low as cost of migration is an issue. Also, there has been a perception problem with Vista. For full impact of Vista, you need 2 GB RAM. However, cost per MB of RAM has come down and Vista offtake will increase across enterprise and consumer segments.’’ According to hardware body Mait, the installed base of computers was 25 million as of March 2008, and last year 7.25 million computers were sold. 

Says Mait executive director Vinnie Mehta, “The market is growing at about 15% a year. Lot of people now prefer laptops while the market potential for low cost PCs is very low.’’ 

From June 30, Microsoft will stop selling XP but for the existing market `mainstream’ support will be available till 2009 and extended support till 2014. Microsoft claims that there are already about two million Vista users including enterprises and individual buyers. Says Meduri, “There’s more Vista momentum in India than anywhere else.’’ Citing examples he adds that Infosys Technologies has migrated 4,500 desktops to Vista, TCS has 3,000, Centre for Railways Information Systems (IT arm of Indian Railways) has 1,500 Vista desktops, Madhya Pradesh Water Restructuring Project has 700, L&T has 2,500 Vista desktops besides NIIT, Kraheja Corp and a few others. 

Zenith Computers MD Raj Saraf says that while cost of components has come down, taking care of the hardware related issues with Vista, training users on the new OS will make enterprise adoption slow. 
However, Vista’s enhanced features could make the pain of migration worth it.