DevSource: Microsoft Microsoft Architecture

CSC announces an agreement with Microsoft where the systems integrator will resell the software giant's cloud-based online services.

Microsoft's strategy of cutting prices and offering free upgrades for Windows 7 could be part of a larger strategy to build momentum and impel a strong holiday buying season. However, with free upgrades to Windows 7 limited to 25 PCs per company, some smaller businesses could experience difficulties in updating hardware purchased before the operating system’s Oct. 22 rollout.

Microsoft plans to roll out two new data centers in Chicago and Dublin in July, both of which will meet environmental sustainability standards, preparing for increased demand for cloud-based services such as Azure and Bing. Microsoft evidently anticipates an uptick in demand once Azure, its cloud-based services platform, rolls out to users later in 2009.

A call to arms for Microsoft Windows Mobile developers. NEWS ANALYSIS: Apple and its App Store for the iPhone is the leader in the mobile space with more apps that are just plain better. Is it possible for its competitors, including Microsoft, to catch up?

A study commissioned by Microsoft and carried out by Harris Interactive on how the recession is affecting the way IT professionals invest in their businesses' infrastructure finds that, while the economy has forced substantial cost-cutting, investment in areas such as virtualization and cloud computing will increase.

Microsoft's Admira application, which allows users to monitor and target television ads to specific audiences, will be used by NBC Universal to focus its broadcast and cable advertising. After a test run in the Los Angeles market, NBC Universal will use Admira for select ad inventory starting in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Microsoft's Zune HD portable media player will feature the Nvidia "Tegra" chip, the manufacturer's competitive answer in the mobile space to Intel's Atom processor. The next generation of the Zune will include an HD radio receiver, touchscreen QWERTY keyboard, and Wi-Fi connection - all features designed to help the device increase its market share.

As it approaches the release of version 3 of its Expression Studio suite of design tools, Microsoft has announced that one former part of the suite will no longer ship with the upcoming version.

Microsoft and Novell are now realizing the fruits of their joint relationship to pursue interoperability between their respective computing solutions.

Microsoft joins with the American Medical Association to allow physician access to patients' online Microsoft HealthVault records, which contain self-reported medical history. Microsoft has previously entered into HealthVault partnerships with medical institutions such as the Mayo Clinic.

Microsoft's Bing Travel search destination aims to help consumers make smart travel decisions through a variety of innovative tools and features. According to a report by StatCounter, Microsoft's Bing search engine has overtaken Yahoo as the No. 2 search engine in the United States and worldwide.

In its first-ever keynote at a JavaOne conference, Microsoft pledged its support for continuing to foster interoperability between the Java and .NET developer worlds.

News Analysis: What's in a name? Microsoft has named its enhanced search engine Bing and it fits just fine. But what more does the company have in store? The goal of the new search engine is ultimately to help users make better decisions.

Microsoft has set July 10 as the date for a launch event for Version 3 of its Silverlight Rich Internet application (RIA) technology and Version 3 of the company's Expression design tools.

Microsoft launched its new search engine, Bing, a few days earlier than expected. The search engine is designed to give users a more granular experience, allowing them to not only hunt for general information, but also conduct specialized searches for travel and shopping. Microsoft hopes that Bing will allow it to claim more market share in the competitive search-engine arena, which is dominated by Google.

Microsoft announces it will launch Windows 7, its latest operating system, on Oct. 22. Microsoft needs a successful operating system to eliminate bad memories of Windows Vista and to help mend its bottom line, which has been ravaged by the global recession. Rumors abound that Windows 7 will also be ported onto mininotebooks, aka netbooks.

Microsoft has announced plans to extend the video service of its Zune music player to Xbox LIVE internationally this fall. In addition, Microsoft confirmed that the next generation of the Zune portable media player, Zune HD, will be available this fall.

Microsoft announces the formation of the Social Enterprise Alliance, a strategic collaboration between Microsoft and two of its Gold Certified Partners--Telligent Systems and SpeakTech--to deliver an integrated social networking solution for customers in the manufacturing and consumer goods sectors.

Microsoft demonstrated the touch capabilities of its Windows 7 operating system and introduced a new suite of multi-touch applications at the Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference on May 27.

Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft announce at the Interop Las Vegas conference a four-year strategic global initiative to deliver an end-to-end unified communications and collaboration solution.