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Vendors Beat Microsoft, Longhorn to the XAML Punch

Canadian software developer Mobiform this week beat Microsoft to market with advanced new graphics technology that Microsoft has planned for its upcoming "Longhorn" release of Windows. Microsoft created an XML dialect called Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) to simplify the development of user interfaces with the company's next release of Windows, codenamed "Longhorn." Proponents of XAML, a cornerstone of Microsoft's new "Avalon" graphics subsystem in Longhorn, are excited over the prowess of XAML's three-dimensional graphic design, among other advanced capabilities. But despite all of its promise, "Microsoft XAML has one big drawback," according to Mobiform. "It won't be available until late 2006."

Enter XAML Graphics Clone for Windows XP, which Mobiform launched this week. Mobiform says that its XAML Clone uses the same markup syntax that Microsoft will implement with Avalon and "has a good portion of the XAML features implemented." Mobiform is selling its Clone as a free .NET User Control that can be downloaded from its Web site. Other developers grabbing onto the pre-Longhorn XAML torch include Xamlon, which sells its Xamalon Pro 1.0 product for about $400. To be fair, Microsoft actually expects to make Avalon and another key Longhorn technology, called Indigo, available to older Windows releases before Longhorn becomes available. Now, if only somebody could do the same for Windows File System.

Microsoft to Push into Life Sciences with Upcoming Axapta Release

Microsoft is going deeper into the life sciences business. On Monday, the company's Microsoft Business Solutions group announced the upcoming release of Axapta 3.0 for Life Sciences, a preconfigured ERP suite designed for companies that conduct research and produce pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical devices. Microsoft says the new release of Axapta will focus on helping these companies simplify their regulatory compliance issues, such as the industry's Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines, as well as the Food and Drug Administration's CFR 21 Part 11 rule, requiring digital signatures and good audit trails in the computer systems used to manage the process of creating pharmaceuticals. Microsoft's go-to-market strategy for Axapta for Life Sciences relies heavily on the industry-specific expertise of its resellers and software vendors, such as Thy Data Center A/S of Denmark. To qualify Axapta for Life Sciences according to FDA requirements, and to certify partners' software development processes, Microsoft has engaged NNIT, a healthcare consultancy owned by the Novo Nordisk Group. Microsoft says this certification can help save customers the time and expense of engaging in a supplier audit of their own before they decide to purchase a solution. Axapta for Life Sciences will be available in the United States, the European Union, Canada, and Switzerland, and it is currently scheduled to ship by April 2005.

Microsoft Targets Midsized Retailers with New Bundles

Beer, wine, and liquor. Sporting goods and apparel. Gifts, hobbies, and other specialty items. Midsized retailers that sell these products are being offered a series of new hardware and software packages put together by Microsoft and its business partners. At the center of the new offerings is Retail Management System Version 1.2, the latest release of Microsoft Business Solutions' Windows-based merchandise management system for small and midsized retailers. This product is designed to help retailers manage their inventory, handle card transactions, run sales reports, and track their customers' purchasing habits. The RMS bundles for these specific retail niches include the RMS software, at least one point-of-sale (POS) device, receipt printers, a cash drawer, a barcode scanner, and magnetic stripe readers from a variety of vendors, and start at $2,999.

IBM to Launch New Express Products, Ad Campaign

Faster Itanium 2 Due Next Week

Intel will apparently get its promised kicker to the current Itanium 2 processors out the door next week. Earlier this summer, the word on the street was that Intel had hoped to get the new Itanium 2s to market by its Fall Intel Developer Forum show in early September. That didn't happen. But next week Intel will push out the faster "Madison" Itanium 2s, which will be something of a relief to Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Unisys, and a few other players that push the majority of Itanium iron.

Intel was widely expected to deliver its larger cache Itanium 2 processors, which had 9 MB of cache, a 33 percent increase in cache size over the current top-end Itanium 2s, at 1.7 GHz, 1.8 GHz, and 1.9 GHz clock speeds. The jump in clock speed from the current top-end 1.5 GHz/6 MB cache chip to the 1.9 GHz chip (a 27 percent increase) should allow the servers based on the new Itaniums to do about one third more work. However, it is unclear whether Intel will launch the faster clock speeds. A few weeks ago, HP and Oracle ran a three-tiered SAP sales and distribution benchmark test that used a 1.6 GHz/9 MB Madison chip. This could have been an early yield of the new chips, or it could be as far as Intel intends to push clock speeds for now. We'll know for sure next week.

IBM Launches Global Business Security Index

IBM has been compiling an IT security threat index for quite some time, based on hack attacks on its own systems and those that it has under management through its Global Services unit. According to the Global Business Security Index, attacks against utilities, telecommunications, and government agencies rocketed upward by 55 percent between July and August. Across all industries and geographies, IBM has monitored a 27 percent increase in such attacks. The index is based on data collected by the 2,700 security experts who work for Global Services and from half of a million systems and network devices that IBM has under its management. In the near future, IBM will offer the index and related services as a product; the company did not say what it would charge for such information or the related services.

IBM says that there were 997 attacks against its customers in September, a 27 percent increase over levels set in July and August. Worms such as Korgo and Sasser, which attack Microsoft's Windows platform, were the dominant tools used by hackers to gain access to networks. IBM sells intrusion-detection and vulnerability-testing services, through which the company says it has seen an incredible 100 million suspected or actual attacks against customers.

IDC Concurs with Offshoring Market Estimates

Analysts at IDC have put on their starry caps and pulled out their crystal balls to make their predictions about just how much money is going to be put into offshore outsourcing projects over the next few years, and the company's estimates sound similar to those of its competitors. IDC reckons that offshoring (by which IDC means moving IT work from North America or Western Europe to India, China, the Philippines, Central and Eastern Europe, and other areas) will have a five-year compound growth rate of 20 percent between 2003 and 2008, from $7 billion to $17 billion. The researchers say that, among U.S. companies, spending will center around applications, specifically custom application development, system integration as it relates to these home-grown applications, and managing these applications.