In the News

Microsoft Corp. announced the creation of a Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) Linux on Azure certification. Created in conjunction with the Linux Foundation, the non-profit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, this certification represents one more important step in broadening the technology integration between Microsoft and the open source community.

Microsoft Research is the 1,000-strong arm of the company that deals with The Future. Its job is, essentially, to focus more on what comes next than what comes now. The facility, which has been in operation for over 25 years, was created by Bill Gates to help create “a new Golden Age of technological advancement,” according to Peter Lee, Microsoft Research’s corporate vice president. Like every year, Microsoft’s Researchers have set out predictions for the coming year too. Check out the 16 predictions they are making.

Microsoft and TechnologyOne have forged an agreement that will see Office 365 integrated into TechnologyOne’s enterprise content management (ECM) solution. TechnologyOne Executive Chairman, Adrian Di Marco, said it was a great initiative for both organisations, emphasising the importance of the research and development organisations working together to deliver a Cloud first, mobile first world.

With long-term plans to create a viable and profitable business out of the booming start-up sector in India, Microsoft Ventures plans to incubate 500 start-ups in the next five years. According to Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice-president of Microsoft’s Developer experience and Evangelism, Microsoft Ventures India helps around 20 start-ups in a year. “If you add three partner accelerators we work with, the per-year number goes up. We get applications from 1,000 start-ups in India alone every year,” he said.

Microsoft Ventures in India on Wednesday announced partnerships with Citi India, Kyron and Patni Healthcare to provide start-ups direct costumer, market and investment access under its #CoInnovate programme at the Think Next 2015 forum. The #CoInnovate programme of the Microsoft Ventures in India connects mature start-ups with corporates — that get access to innovative solutions for their business needs while providing greater market access for the start-ups.

The Xbox One has come a long way from its launch back in 2013. it’s been a hell of a roller coaster ride- and it’s all been worth it, too. The Xbox One today is a great console, with a neat interface, the best online service, and some amazing exclusive titles too. Speaking to Team Xbox, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg reflected on the journey so far, as well as what remains yet to come.

In October, Microsoft did something it’s never done before, it generated more revenue selling its Surface line of PC/tablet hybrids to online consumers than Apple made selling iPads, according to data from 1010data. For the month, Microsoft took 45% of online purchases of tablets by revenue compared to Apple at 17%. (1010data gathers anonymous data from millions of online shoppers in the US.)

Microsoft released the latest version of its System Center Configuration Manager to the world, giving system administrators new tools to manage fleets of devices across their organizations. The release gives users a bunch of new features, including new ways to deploy Windows 10. That’s particularly important, as more companies look into rolling out Microsoft’s new operating system. It’s also key for Microsoft, since the company wants more and more companies to adopt Windows 10 in the coming year.

SkypeShield, an innovative enterprise solution that secures Skype for Business (Lync) access and authentication while connecting devices (mobiles and desktops) to the corporate network, has developed a new application firewall solution for securing guest and anonymous requests when entering corporate networks.

Microsoft has announced availability details of the Lumia 550 smartphone. The budget 4G smartphone from Microsoft went on sale in select markets in Europe on Monday. The company further confirmed that the handset will be available to buy in other markets in the coming weeks. Priced at $139 (roughly Rs. 9,100) before local taxes and subsidies, the Microsoft Lumia 550 is the company’s cheapest smartphone running Windows 10 Mobile out-of-the-box.