EC Fines Microsoft $357 Million
by Alex Woodie

The European Commission today fined Microsoft $357.3 million for failing to comply with its landmark 2004 decision to share networking-related information about Windows. The figure is based on a fine of about $1.9 million per day from December 15 through June 20, and is less than the EC had threatened to impose on the software giant. Microsoft maintains it has strived to provide the required information, and says it will appeal the fine, which it says is too steep. READ MORE >

Microsoft Introduces CRM Live at Partner Confab
by Alex Woodie

"We're not going to be out-hustled by anybody," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said yesterday in introducing his company's latest software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering, Dynamics CRM Live, to thousands of business partners at the company's annual worldwide partner conference in Boston. Microsoft may be a little late for the start of the CRM SaaS game, but according to Ballmer, Microsoft and its partners will outplay an increasingly crowded field. READ MORE >

Patch Tuesday Takes Aim at 18 Exposures
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled seven patches fixing 18 security vulnerabilities in its software, including five that it deems critical. Included in yesterday's haul are fixes for eight problems in Excel, another five targeting Office, and two that fix problems in Active Server Pages (ASP). Microsoft says it is aware of active exploits for two of the vulnerabilities, but if past Patch Tuesdays are any guide, more exploits for these flaws are on the way. READ MORE >

Sun Fleshes Out Galaxy Opteron Server Line
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It has probably taken a lot longer than Sun Microsystems would have liked, but the company will finally take the wraps off the next iterations of its "Galaxy" class of Opteron-based servers. With the announcements yesterday at its Network Computing event in San Francisco, Sun will deliver a 16-core SMP server, a 10-blade server with an interesting architectural approach, and something that Sun is calling a data server.READ MORE >