MicroTechXP

Microsoft may be preparing to discontinue sales of Windows XP, but some OEMs have found a way to circumvent the software giant’s June 30 deadline.
In yet another sign of the market’s resistance to Windows Vista, Dell Computer, and Sony on Wednesday all confirmed plans to exercise the downgrade rights Microsoft offers with OEM versions of Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate in order to continue offering XP-equipped PCs to their customers.
Downgrade rights, which Microsoft also offers to volume licensing customers, give users the ability to roll back to the previous version of the product they’re using. Downgrade rights have existed since 2001 for Windows, but many Microsoft partners say they’ve been seeing a recent uptick in the number of customers exercising downgrade rights to roll Vista back to XP Professional.
View: The Full Article @ CRN

As expected and reported by Neowin last week, Microsoft, via Chris Keroack the Windows XP SP3 Release Manager for the Windows Serviceability team, has announced the release of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 to manufacturing.
Here’s the official word via a post to the TechNet XP Forum.
“Today we are happy to announce that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has released to manufacturing (RTM). Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and Enterprise customers.
We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web (i.e. you!) on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.
Thanks to everyone here who installed the public betas – you not only gave us detailed feedback but also helped each other out with timely troubleshooting. Through the beta program we found several important issues and were able to confirm some essential fixes. We couldn’t have done this without you.
We will still be monitoring this forum during the next few weeks in case you have more feedback about the release of Windows XP SP3.” [Neowin]
View: Microsoft TechNet XP Forum

Internal Microsoft videos just aren’t what they used to be with Utopian technologies and eye-candy special effects. This internal promotional video for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was  apparently ‘leaked‘ by an unflattered employee who bluntly called it “stupid”. For those who doubt it’s authenticity (and I don’t blame you), Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer makes a pretty short but lasting appearance. (via Channel9 forums and Neowin).
Click read more for the video..

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It seemed to work for Apple, so why not create a Microsoft store? According to Fudzilla, some of their Microsoft sources ‘confirmed that the company wants to reach out for the retail market presence’. By this, they mean they want to have many retail shops that sell only Microsoft products. The details of how far out this will extend (PCs? Windows Mobile Phones? Or purely Microsoft branded equipment and software?) are not yet available.
While yes, Apple did it first, and seem to have become rather successful in doing so (it’s hard to deny NOT wanting to walk into the Apple store when you pass it!), Microsoft seems to have finally noticed it. This should be nice on many levels for consumers, depending how far Microsoft takes it. If they can extend service and support like the Genius Bar at Apple stores, it might be the guiding hand customers have been looking for that have been put off by bad Windows Vista press. Or at least, help support people running Windows on Macs! [Fudzilla]

Windows 7 will provide a standardization on the different versions of libraries as its base API instead of managing multiple versions. The reason for the original problem was that certain applications relied on specific quirks exhibited by libraries that were not properly documented, and therefore fixes to these libraries would break the applications. This clean break will allow MS to focus on a leaner codebase, and will relegate backwards compatibility to a legacy environment similar to the way OS X has “Classic” to run applications from OS 9 and previous. However, this also has interesting implications on the antitrust situation:

This also allows Microsoft to neatly sidestep the DoJ and EU anti-trust rulings, as including the MSHTML library (Internet Explorer’s rendering engine) in the monolithic libraries would provide support for the old rendering functions of Explorer to legacy applications while still remaining hidden from the end-user, the primary complaint in the antitrust cases. [The Beta Guy]

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Friday indicated that Windows 7, the next major version of Windows, could come within the next year or so. In response to a question abo ut Windows Vista, Gates, speaking before the Inter-American Development Bank here, said: “Sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version.” Referring to Windows 7, the code name for the next full release of Windows client software, Gates said: “I’m super-enthused about what it will do in lots of ways.”
Unclear is whether Gates was referring to early testing of Windows 7 coming within the year, as opposed to a widespread release or debut. An early test geared toward developers would be conceivable. [news.com]

No, there is no plan to extend sales of other editions of Windows XP beyond June 30, 2008. We are very proud of the progress that we have made with Windows Vista over the last sixteen months. Since its launch, Windows Vista has become the fastest-selling operating system in Microsoft history, and more than 100 million Windows Vista licenses have been sold worldwide.
Last fall, our OEM partners asked us to extend sales of Windows XP to give their customers more time to transition to Windows Vista while we worked with other software vendors to expand application compatibility. Today, more than 2,500 applications have received the Windows Vista logo (a ten-fold increase since launch) and more than 78,000 devices and components are supported by drivers either in-box or on Windows Update. On NPD’s list of the top 100 consumer applications selling at retail, 98 are now compatible—and the latest versions of the top free downloads (Adobe Reader, Shockwave and iTunes) are all compatible.
Given this landscape and after consulting with our partners, apart from today’s announced extension of Windows XP Home for ULCPCs, we are maintaining the timelines we announced in September.
I should also note that there will also be no impact on our technical support plans—mainstream technical support will continue to be available until April 2009 and extended support will continue until April 2014. [Microsoft Presspass]

The fact that Microsoft has relaxed its antipiracy mechanism built into Windows Vista concomitantly with the release of Service Pack 1 failed to stop hackers from providing a crack for the latest version of Windows Genuine Advantage Validation. Various reports point out that Genuine Advantage Validation and Notifications versions 1.7.69.1 (1.7.0069.1) and 1.7.69.2 released in March 2008, following the March 18 availability of Windows Vista SP1 through Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center, have been cracked.
The workaround is designed to be integrated with pirated copies of Windows XP and Windows Vista in order to render useless the WGA Validation mechanism. According to the reports, applying the WGA crack will permit users of counterfeit versions of Windows to access and download items from Windows Update, Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update. The pirated operating systems with the cracked WGA will pass all validations on Microsoft’s websites and offer anything from updates to applications that are restricted to users of genuine operating systems only.
View: Full Article @ Softpedia

At CTIA Wireless 2008, Robbie Bach unveiled new features for an update to Windows Mobile, which includes enhanced features for socializing like threaded text messaging and features for simpler navigation. He also announced Microsoft’s plans to bring desktop-grade Web browsing experience to the Windows Mobile phone with an upcoming version of Internet Explorer Mobile.
Updates and new phones are expected to be available beginning in the second quarter of 2008. IE Mobile will be available to mobile phone partners in the third quarter of 2008 with the first Windows Mobile phones using the new version to be available by the end of 2008.
For Windows Mobile phones used in businesses, System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 is now available.
The Microsoft Mobile Services Plan (MMSP) was also announced today in partnership with AT&T, O2, Orange, TaTa Teleservices Ltd. and Verizon Wireless. The plan will help businesses with:
• Securing Windows Mobile phones with the same ease and flexibility as Windows-based PCs and providing access to information behind a company’s firewall.
• Helping businesses meet their mobile device management needs through mobile operators with the MMSP.
• Managing and securing phones with Exchange Server 2007 SP1 advanced mobile policies while enabling people to find, share, and use information no matter where they are
View: Microsoft Press Release

After Mac was hacked in 2 minutes at the CanSecWest Conference, it was now the time for Vista to get hacked on the 3rd day. Vista’s security was compromised through the popular 3rd party software, Adobe Flash. 
“The contest, which saw a MacBook Air get hacked on Thursday, relaxed the rules even further. On the first day of the contest, only the operating system could be targeted, but on the second day that was expanded to include standard applications. An undisclosed Safari flaw led to the MacBook Air’s downfall through the OS X operating system.”
The MacBook Air went first; a Fujitsu laptop running Vista was hacked on the last day of the contest; but it was Linux, running on a Sony Vaio, that remained undefeated as conference organizers ended a three-way computer hacking challenge Friday at the CanSecWest conference. [WinVistaClub via Neowin]