Windows Server 2003 SP2 Released by Microsoft
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft yesterday announced the release of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2), an iterative release of the operating system that brings new enhancements in the area of security, networking, and database performance. The service pack, which Microsoft had originally planned to get out the door by the end of 2006, updates the full spectrum of X86-, X64-, and IA64-based Windows Server products, including Windows XP Professional and Compute Cluster Server. READ MORE >

Microsoft Unveils 'Duet'-Like Interface, New ERP Releases
by Alex Woodie

Buoyed by the Office-based "Duet" interface it co-developed and released last year with SAP, Microsoft is now giving its ERP customers the option of using Office 2007 as a front-end interface into back-end Dynamics applications, the company announced this week at its annual ERP conference. Microsoft also announced new versions of its Dynamics ERP applications, and unveiled a new implementation methodology intended to streamline ERP rollouts. READ MORE >

Intel Delivers Low-Power, Quad-Core Xeon Chips
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Consider it two for flinching. On Monday, chip maker Intel rounded out its quad-core "Clovertown" Xeon 5300 processor line with two low-powered variants that burn considerably less electricity and generate a lot less heat than the initial Clovertown chips that Intel launched last November. The news comes just as Advanced Micro Devices has warned Wall Street that it will not make its numbers for the first quarter, and it has to wait patiently to deliver its technically better but not yet finished "Barcelona" quad-core Opteron Rev F chips.READ MORE >

VoIP's Future Rosy, Microsoft Biz Chief Says
by Alex Woodie

While voice over IP (VoIP) is benefiting some businesses today, we haven't come close to tapping the technology's vast potential to improve how people collaborate, according to Jeff Raikes, the Microsoft Business Division president. In fact, VoIP will have such a colossal impact on communications that it will make standard telephones as obsolete as "that old typewriter that's gathering dust in the stockroom," Raikes said. READ MORE >