Skype absolves Microsoft from outage blame

Skype has clarified an earlier statement which appeared to blame Microsoft’s monthly patch for last week’s outage of the VoIP service. Skype had attributed the two-day crash of its service to a large number of Windows users logging on after rebooting their systems to install Microsoft’s monthly updates. The flood of log-on requests effectively launched a denial-of-service attack against Skype’s log-on service.

Owing to a lack of additional information, the justification seemed to blame Microsoft. On Tuesday, however, Skype posted a full admission that sought to clear the software giant.”We do not blame anyone but ourselves,” wrote Skype spokesman Villu Arak in a blog posting. “The Microsoft Update patches were merely a trigger for a series of events that led to the disruption of Skype, not the root cause of it. And Microsoft has been very helpful and supportive throughout.”

Microsoft plans unified communications as a service

Microsoft is working on a “service in the sky” for unified communications, an executive said Tuesday at the VoiceCon conference in San Francisco. The company’s current focus for the fast-growing trend of combining voice, video, text, and other forms of communication is Office Communications Server 2007, which Microsoft said it will unveil Oct. 16 at a San Francisco event featuring Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates. But at the same time, it is working on providing these capabilities as a service, said Warren Barkley, a principal group program manager at Microsoft. He mentioned the project in passing at the end of an early-morning panel session at VoiceCon. He didn’t give a timeline for availability.

Barkley cited the need to serve small businesses that increasingly are widely distributed. Unlike large enterprises, they generally lack the IT resources to set up and run a communications system that reaches employees around the world. Microsoft already offers a hosted collaboration platform, LiveMeeting, and is moving to offer applications such as CRM as services. One of the key benefits of unified communications is the ability to integrate voice and other communications into productivity applications, and Microsoft’s move could be aimed at a convergence of the two trends.

Windows Home Server, officially available August 27

If there’s one computing server product every enthusiast and home-user should be excited about, that would not be Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for Itanium-Based Systems, instead it should be Windows Home Server – codename “Q”. Last month, WHS was released to manufacturing aiming for distribution “in the next couple of months” and retail availability “this fall”. The official availability date is now most likely Monday, August 27th 2007.

On the Microsoft Support Lifecycle website, a listing for Windows Home Server states the general availability date as 8/27/2007, and mainstream support retirement date as 10/9/2012. This however does not suggest OEM products such as those from HP will ship then – still expected to come “fall” (September).

In this case, general availability most likely refers to the DVD package for system builders and other OEM channels. If you’re one of those people who want to build your own Home Server, then you should consider bugging your local computer shop for a copy from August 27. Alternatively start your own OEM business.

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.1 Released

WVHA is a scalable agent-less assessment tool that integrates information from multiple network sources and assists customers and partners to determine the readiness of their workstations and laptops for Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office. WVHA provides in-depth analysis of hardware, installed software and device compatibility and delivers specific and actionable upgrade recommendations for each PC discovered on the network for migration to Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office. This tool does not require any “agent” software to be installed or deployed on machines inventoried and thus simplifies setup and usage.

wvha21

What’s New in WVHA 2.1?
This new release incorporates feedback from many Microsoft partners, customers and field employees and includes new capabilities including:
# Faster discovery of large enterprises up to 25,000 workstations and servers

# Localized versions available in French, German, Japanese, Korean, LATAM Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese

# Inventory by network subnet (IP range scanning)

# SNMP discovery that gives customers and partners the ability discover non-Windows machines and network devices

Amazon leaks price, date of first Windows Home Server box

Details and prices of the first home server running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Home Server software were posted briefly on several online stores yesterday. Systems are scheduled to ship Sept. 15 at prices starting at $599.

According to listings on such e-tailing sites as Amazon.com, PCMall.com and onSale.com, Hewlett-Packard Co.’s MediaSmart Home Server will be sold in two models at prices of $599 and $749. The pair are identical with the exception of the amount of included storage: the $599 server contains 500GB, while the $759 unit offers 1TB.

Both servers will be powered by a 1.8-GHz Sempron processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and come bundled with HP’s Photo Webshare software, an add-on to Windows Home Server (WHS) that builds a photo-sharing Web site and serves it from the MediaSmart box. None of the for-sales listings spelled out the amount of memory in the servers, however.

ATI Driver Package Opens Vista to Flaw

In case you haven’t seen it, the ATI driver package can potentially open your Vista kernel up to a compromise. ATI and MS are working to rectify the issue.

In an interview, Ionescu confirmed his tool was exploiting a vulnerability in an ATI driver – atidsmxx.sys, version 3.0.502.0 – to patch the kernel to turn off certain checks for signed drivers. This meant that a malicious rootkit author could essentially piggyback on ATI’s legitimately signed driver to tamper with the Vista kernel.

Social-networking site Bebo to use Microsoft’s instant-messaging technology

SEATTLE – Social-networking site Bebo Inc. said Tuesday it will launch a Microsoft-powered instant-messaging program this fall.

The deal signals early, if niche, support for a Microsoft Corp. plan to build a business around letting other sites incorporate its Windows Live Web services.

The Bebo-branded IM will have limited compatibility with Microsoft’s own services, consistent with a tendency for social-networking sites to build “walled” communities with restrictions on who can contact whom and how elsewhere online. IM services also have tended to operate independently, although those walls have started to come down.

Bebo members will be able to click a link to start an IM session with any other Bebo member, even if neither has a Windows Live ID, the sign-on used for Hotmail and other Microsoft services.

They’ll also be able to exchange messages with Bebo friends who aren’t logged on, but who are using Microsoft’s regular Windows Live Messenger program.

However, Bebo users will not be able to send instant messages to Windows Live Messenger users who don’t have Bebo accounts, and Windows Live Messenger users won’t be able to see if their buddies are logged on to Bebo.

Bebo said it will provide a way for its users to get a Windows Live ID; Microsoft said it will not promote Bebo to its own users.

The social networking site also plans to incorporate Microsoft’s address book management tools. Specifics about how the new features will look
Advertisement
Click Here!
are still being worked out, Bebo said.

The two companies declined to discuss financial terms of the deal.

San Francisco-based Bebo trails News Corp.’s MySpace and Facebook in usage, but it is particularly strong in Europe, where the company plans to expand to six new countries including France and Germany, according to Joanna Shields, the company’s president of international business.

“The partnership, for us, gives us an opportunity to expand more rapidly into more European markets,” Shields said, saying Bebo could piggyback on what she calls Windows Live Messenger’s dominance in the region.

Shields also said the IM program will benefit Bebo members.

“Why have two windows open when you can do everything in one environment?” she said. The startup also lets its members connect using eBay Inc.’s Skype Internet calling, but requires them to download Skype software first.

So far, takers for Microsoft’s Web services platform include Match.com, a dating site owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, and MSNBC, a joint venture between Microsoft and General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal, but the software maker said it is seeking out more social-networking customers.

Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn said it makes sense to let the software maker do this high-tech heavy lifting for smaller startups, giving them more time to focus on other aspects of the business.

“Bebo’s not going to win against Facebook, LinkedIn and everybody else because they have a better contact-management solution,” he said.

Bebo may not be the top player in its field, but that isn’t the best measure of the strategy’s success, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research.

“What’s really important is how quickly there’s a follow-on,” he said. “It’s one of those things where, really, success breeds success.”