As part of a company-wide shift toward cloud computing, Microsoft is cutting hundreds of jobs worldwide with plans to create new cloud-focused positions down the road, according to various reports. Read the rest here: Microsoft cuts jobs as part of core shift to cloud computing  Read More →

A newly formed gang of rogue security researchers calling itself MSRC (Microsoft-Spurned Researcher Collective) has announced it will publicize any Windows vulnerabilities it finds, rather than reporting them privately to Microsoft for the company to patch. Read more from the original source: Security researchers wage war on Microsoft  Read More →

An anonymous group of security researchers last week published information about an unpatched Windows bug, saying that they were disclosing the vulnerability because of the way Microsoft treated a colleague. The flaw in Windows Vista and Server 2008 could be used by attackers to gain unauthorized access to a PC or cause it to crash. Read the original post: Angry researchers disclose Windows zero-day... 

Last week, dormant Windows watchers sprang to life in a huge wave, like fireflies switching on in the Atchafalaya Swamp. See the original post: What do we really know about Windows 8?  Read More →

I’m often asked how many enterprise admins — the most privileged users on a Windows network — a company should have. The answer is straightforward enough: the bare minimum. Doling out that type of power willy-nilly is a great way to expose your systems to attacks. In fact, the No. 1 way to minimize overall security risk is to minimize the number of enterprise admins you have and... 

The world is coming to an end! Or at least you’d think so by news reports across otherwise respectable news sites warning of the dangers that companies face when Microsoft ends its extended support program for Windows XP Service Pack 2 on July 13. “Red alert” is what today’s Computerworld headline screams , and that story is one of many in the same vein that have been popping... 

Is the era of desktop software over? With the general release of Office 2010 this week, Microsoft seems to be sending a mixed message. On the one hand, Office 2010 is the slickest, most feature-rich version of the suite to date. That’s a clear challenge to Google, which offers a simpler, Web-based alternative to Office in the form of Google Docs. Read the rest here: Microsoft Office Web Apps:... 

Barring an unforeseen patch in the next four weeks, users running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) have seen their last security update for Internet Explorer . See the rest here: Windows XP SP2 users face end of IE patches  Read More →

Windows 7 and Mac OS X each have a new, fundamental flaw that will be presented at the Hack in the Box conference in Amsterdam in July. These security holes are so close to the core operating systems that fixing them may be very hard. Windows 7 has an issue in the 64-bit edition of the operating system. Original post: Windows 7 and Mac OS X both hit by fundamental flaws  Read More →

It’s that time of year again. TechEd 2010 is being held this week in New Orleans, and Microsoft has used it to give IT a preview of where its enterprise platforms are heading in the near term. For those of you not at the conference with me, here’s what you should know. View post: Microsoft’s server road map: Top 5 developments coming soon  Read More →