Article Categories

Microsoft Hardware Approach Misguided?

Microsoft may know software all too well, but when it comes to making its own hardware and marrying the two, the company may have something to learn. Two articles came out this week suggesting, in effect, that the software giant’s approach may be leaving at least some of its customers in the cold.
Read Article →

Microsoft’s Stake in Dell: Beyond the PC

By now you’ve heard the news that venerable PC maker Dell is being taken private by its founder and CEO Michael Dell. Needless to say, he enlisted some help: private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. But Microsoft also put up a $2 billion stake. What will the software giant get out of the deal?
Read Article →

Windows 8 and the Question of Success

Is Windows 8 a success? The operating system has been available to the general public for only about three months, and some expect an up tick in sales of the operating system once Microsoft comes out with its beefier Surface tablet featuring Windows 8 Pro. Even so, some are saying the OS has not been successful.
Read Article →

Microsoft May Back Dell Buyout

With desktop PC sales sharply dropping off thanks to consumer enthusiasm for tablets and other portable computing devices, hardware maker Dell is trying to go private so it can steer a different course, without stockholders looking over its shoulders. This week, it seems to have gained an unlikely ally: Microsoft.
Read Article →

Microsoft ASP.NET SignalR RC 2 Now Available

If you develop on the ASP.NET web application framework, you know that Microsoft has big plans for this tool, as part of its push to get developers actively creating for Windows 8. SignalR, one of ASP.NET’s most prominently promised new features, just reached the “release candidate two” stage, and is available for download.
Read Article →

Use Best Practices Analyzer for MS SQL Server

If you’re configuring MS SQL Server, or have been running it for a while, you might run into some issues. Fortunately, there’s a tool you can use to make sure you’re using best practices before real problems crop up. It’s called the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA).
Read Article →

Microsoft’s Cloud: Safe Enough for Government?

The last thing Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to worry about is whether the technology his civil servants use improves their efficiency or gets in their way. This is probably why he’s migrating them to a cloud-based solution from Microsoft. Ironically, at the same time the media covered this deal, the software giant’s Windows Azure cloud started acting up. Read Article →

Microsoft Adding Six Stores to Retail Empire

Hoping to get a little more excitement out of the holiday season, Microsoft announced that it will be opening six new permanent retail stores next year in several locations in the United States. The new stores will bring the software giant’s total of full time retail stores in the US to 37. Read Article →

Release Candidate Unveiled for ASP.NET and Web Tools 2012.2

Late last week, Scott Hanselman, principal program manager lead in the Microsoft Developer division, announced the availability of the release candidate for ASP.NET and Web Tools 2012.2. The full-fledged update won’t happen until early next year, but users can download and play with the RC now. Read Article →

MS SQL Server to Receive In-Memory Technology

If you’ve been unhappy with how slowly MS SQL Server handles online transaction processing (OLTP), you can look forward to greater speed – eventually. Microsoft is testing out in-memory capabilities for SQL Server, and plans to add them to the next version of the relational database management system. Read Article →

Microsoft Opens Socl, Not Aimed at Facebook

If you’ve heard about all the closed beta testing of Microsoft’s new social network and wanted to know what the fuss was about, now is your chance. Socl, initially launched in May, is now open to just about everyone; all you need is a Facebook or Microsoft ID account to sign in. But be prepared to see something that looks like almost no other social network online. Read Article →

Windows 8 Outselling Windows 7 in Initial Release?

It doesn’t seem possible, with so many observers panning the latest iteration of Microsoft’s ubiquitous operating system. Still, Microsoft compared the sales figures for the first month after the release of Windows 8 and Windows 7, and the new operating system is outselling the old one during the same period. Numbers don’t lie. Or do they? Read Article →

Seven Reasons Businesses Should Not Upgrade to Windows 8

Last month, conservative Microsoft released Windows 8 and Windows RT; for them, these radical new operating systems represent a major break with the past. If you’ve used Apple’s iPad or Google’s Android, you’ll recognize the general style of the interface. And if you’re smart, at least for now, you won’t put it on your company’s computers. Read Article →

Windows 8: How Secure Is It?

Several antivirus companies have raised concerns about Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 8. The software giant claims that with Windows Defender, users will not need to worry about malware. But is this the truth? Read Article →

Gaming Tablet in Works at Microsoft?

If the Surface tablet surprised many when Microsoft revealed the prototype, the latest leaks from Redmond should raise many eyebrows. The software giant is apparently working on gaming-focused version of its tablet, to be dubbed the Xbox Surface. Read Article →

Microsoft Updates .NET Framework for Phone

The new releases from Microsoft just keep coming. In addition to the new Windows 8 operating system, Surface tablet, and Windows Phone 8 OS, the software giant unveiled updates to its .NET framework that should make it easier to write smartphone apps, as well as a Windows Phone SDK. Read Article →

Microsoft Launches Windows 8, RT, Surface Tablet

Amid great fanfare at Pier 57 in New York City, Microsoft launched its new Windows 8 operating system and Surface tablet. Attempting to make a clean break with its past, the software giant hopes that this latest offering will change the way we think about PCs. Read Article →

Ballmer Redefines Microsoft for Future

This month will see the release of Windows 8, the Surface tablet, and Windows Phone 8, as well as the opening of more than a score of Microsoft “pop-up” stores to promote the company’s products for the holidays. That’s a busy month for the software giant, but CEO Steve Ballmer still found time to reveal his company’s future direction. Read Article →

Windows 8: Paradigm Shift

When Microsoft released Windows 7, mobile computing hadn’t yet reached its current level of dominance – or form factor. That OS came on the scene while Apple’s original iPad was still six months away from release. Windows 8 meets the changes iPad brought to the way users compute with a shift almost as significant as the change from DOS to Windows.
Read Article →

Microsoft Releases Windows Server 2012

The biggest news in Microsoft-based server software isn’t the release of upgrades to MS SQL Server back in April; it’s this month’s release of Windows Server 2012. Described as “an operating system for the cloud,” Windows Server 2012 offers a scalable solution for businesses trying to fit modern ways of computing into their work environments.
Read Article →

Windows RT Secured Only By Microsoft

If you’re looking to purchase a Windows RT tablet, there are a few things you need to know. The first thing is that you can only purchase software for it from Microsoft’s online store. The second thing is that the software giant isn’t offering third-party antivirus solutions in this store.
Read Article →

Microsoft Unveils New Logo

It’s been 25 years since Microsoft adopted a new corporate logo. While it’s clearly a radical departure from the corporate logos the software giant embraced in the past, the new one will feel familiar to anyone who has used the company’s Windows operating system.
Read Article →

test

This tutorial covers how to use a MySQL database in conjunction with the DotNetNuke (DNN) content management system. Typically DotNetNuke relies on Microsoft SQL Server, but there are times when you may not wish to use the default database engine. Enter the DotConnect MySQL connector.
Read Article →

Windows Azure Active Directory: Should You Use It?

The Windows Azure Active Directory service is supposed to offer corporate customers just getting into the cloud the same kind of single sign-on identity management platform they’ve used for years with Windows Server. Does it measure up to what corporate users would expect?
Read Article →