The long-awaited software developer kit for the Surface tabletop computer will be made available to those attending Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference at the end of the month.

Microsoft made that pledge on its PDC Web site, as part of a listing for a session focused on writing Surface applications.

"Hear about the unique attributes of Microsoft Surface computing, dive into vision-based object recognition and core controls like ScatterView, and learn how the Surface SDK aligns with the multitouch developer roadmap for Windows 7," Microsoft said, in promoting the session. "Attendees will receive access to the Microsoft … Read more

Microsoft wants SQL Server to scale new heights, and it is hoping an add-on code-named Kilimanjaro will help.

Due out in the first half of 2010, Kilimanjaro improves SQL Server 2008 with a series of business intelligence enhancements to the database. Microsoft, stressed though, that Kilimanjaro is not the next version of SQL Server, which is due out two to three years after SQL Server 2008. SQL Server 2009 was released earlier this year.

"You should think about this as new capabilities, not a refresh or upgrade," said Microsoft Vice President Ted Kummert, who heads the SQL Server … Read more

With Microsoft having, at the very least a "hiring chill," we decided to check in with other big tech giants on their hiring plans.

It's a little hard to get a clear picture of what other companies are doing--in part because so many have already announced plans to cut jobs. Intel's workforce is down thousands from where it was a couple years ago. Hewlett-Packard has already said it plans to shave 24,000 jobs as part of its EDS purchase, while Dell and others have also been cutting back.

Yahoo, already under pressure from competitor Google … Read more

Microsoft on Friday said it is reviewing its hiring plans amid the economic uncertainty, but denied a report that it has instituted a companywide hiring freeze.

IDG News Service reported Friday that Microsoft had instituted a hiring freeze, citing a source who had seen a company memo. A source close to the company said that report is not correct, but said Microsoft did send out guidance this week that it plans to tighten up hiring amid signs of a weakening economy. The company still expects to add jobs overall, however.

CEO Steve Ballmer spoke last week of a certain "buoyancy" … Read more

Microsoft's Cashback program, which offers people discounts on products purchased through the company's Live search engine, is attracting visitors, research firm Hitwise said Friday.

"We see an interesting trend where the share of visits to the Cashback section of MSN Live is increasing," said research director Heather Dougherty on the company's blog. "Eleven weeks ago, MSN Cashback represented 3.75 percent of the traffic to Live.com and grew to 6.29 percent last week. This rise in Cashback's traffic underscores the interest in the program, which is likely to be getting a … Read more

Bowing to continued demand, Microsoft has again extended the life of Windows XP.

Although the largest PC makers can't sell XP anymore (except for ultra-low-cost machines), they can sell Vista Ultimate and Vista Business machines with XP discs in the box, or even Vista machines that are "factory downgraded" to Windows XP.

That option was supposed to go away early next year, as Microsoft was going to stop supplying Windows XP media after January 31. However, the company now says it will offer the discs through July 31, giving the option a six-month extension. (Update: PC makers … Read more

Updated 3:45 p.m. PDT, with additional Microsoft comment.

Microsoft has indicated for some time that it sees a Zune future in the cell phone arena, but the company has been hard to pin down on just what its plans there are.

There would seem to be two main scenarios--the rumored ZunePhone, or just making Zune software for Windows Mobile or other phone operating systems. A magazine interview with CEO Steve Ballmer suggests that Microsoft at least plans the latter approach.

Asked why the Zune is important to Microsoft, Ballmer told the magazine that it was about more than … Read more

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday promised it won't be long before the world gets to meet what he is calling "Windows Cloud"--something that acts like Windows but operates over the Internet.

"Just as we have an operating system for the PC, for the phone, and for the server, we need a new operating system that runs in the Internet," Ballmer said Thursday in a speech before France's CIGREF (Club Informatique des Grandes Entreprises Françaises). "I bet we'll call it Windows something. We're going to announce it in … Read more

Microsoft's effort to woo Internet searchers with financial incentives strikes one Wall Street analyst as a "desperate move" that will make little headway.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced SearchPerks, a frequent-flier-like program that gives searchers one "ticket" for every search they do via Microsoft's Live Search engine.

To Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal, though, SearchPerks is just another sign that Microsoft lacks a "Plan B" strategy to gain share against Google without buying Yahoo.

"Our preliminary reaction is that SearchPerks will likely result (in) a sub-standard outcome," Aggarwal wrote in a … Read more