Enterprise software

New Microsoft Office to embrace Windows 8 touch-screen tablets

A demo of PowerPoint by Kirk Koenigsbauer, a corporate vice president for Microsoft Office, showed how Windows 8 tablet users can employ taps, swipes, and other gestures to create presentations. Users can also draw on their presentations via a stylus.

A demo of the new version of Outlook also revealed how to go through their e-mail messages and quickly go through their in-boxes by tapping on messages. A new Quick Actions tab lets people move, delete, flag, or forward messages as well. Finally, a feature in Outlook called Peek offers an interactive look at People, Calendar, and Tasks.

Microsoft announces new version of Office

Microsoft has pulled back the curtains on the latest version of its Office suite.

At a press conference today, CEO Steve Ballmer announced the new version, noting that a preview edition of the cloud-based Office 365 edition will be available for people to try out today.

Ballmer called this "the most ambitious version of Office we've ever done." Touting the cloud-based Office 365, the CEO also said that this is a version that lets users simply click start and being running.

Office 15 launched as a technical preview this past January, available for testing to only a … Read more

Microsoft takes steps to drown Google Apps before it's too late

Microsoft might be a little more scared of Google Apps for Business than it's publicly letting on, according to a new report.

The software giant has, over the last several months, made several moves to stop enterprise customers from adopting Google Apps, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported on those decisions today. Microsoft has cut pricing on its cloud-based alternative, Office 365, as well as increased commissions it pays to resellers to make the prospect of switching to Google's service less palatable.

According to the Journal, Microsoft has established a "Google Compete" team designed … Read more

Worldwide IT spending to edge past $3.6 trillion this year

Organizations around the world will collectively spend more than $3.6 trillion on IT products and services, Gartner said today.

That sounds like a healthy chunk of change, but it marks only a 3 percent increase from last year when spending totaled around $3.5 trillion. Still, Gartner's latest forecast is a bit more optimistic than the 2.5 percent rise it projected last quarter.

"While the challenges facing global economic growth persist -- the eurozone crisis, weaker U.S. recovery, a slowdown in China -- the outlook has at least stabilized," Richard Gordon, a research vice … Read more

At least three Kindle Fire 2 tablets, one with 4G, on the way

The Kindle Fire 2 will see the Google's Nexus 7 tablet and then raise it, according to an analyst.

Amazon will bring out at least three new Kindle Fire models, according to Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch.

Shim gets his information from sources in the "supply chain" -- a collection of companies that manufacture components and assemble products. … Read more

Microsoft reveals versions, licensing for Windows Server

There will be four versions of Windows Server 2012, Microsoft officials revealed on July 5, two of which will be licensed to customers on a per-processor basis.The four SKUs are Foundation (available to OEMs only); Essentials; Standard and Datacenter. The Essentials SKU is for small/mid-size businesses and is limited to 25 users. The Standard and Datacenter SKUs round out the line-up. The former Windows Server Enterprise SKU is gone from the set of offered options.Here's Microsoft's new SKU/licensing chart for the four editions of Windows Server 2012:

"There were about a dozen SKUs … Read more

Android points the way for small tablets

So, a small, inexpensive Apple tablet-like device could/maybe/possibly be in the works. If true, this may be a market better suited to Android.

NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim told me yesterday that he thinks a small Apple tablet is being planned. (And mainstream reports followed suit. )

Is this really all that likely? Just a cheaper, smaller iPad? That's not a Jobsian approach given the way he felt about a smaller tablet device (and the way Cook has dissed "limited function" tablets in the past).

Granted, Jobs isn't running the show there anymore but I … Read more

Dell ponies up $2.4B to buy Quest Software

In a push to become a software player, Dell won a bidding war for Quest Software as it aims to bolster its data center software. The final price tag: $28 a share, or $2.4 billion.

Dell had been rumored as a buyer for Quest software for months. Quest received a $23 a share bid from Insight Venture Management and Vector Capital in March and then a "strategic buyer" pushed the price up to $27.50. Dell ultimately sealed the deal for $28 a share.

Quest's software manages databases and backs up data. Dell has been focused … Read more

Google launches alleged Amazon Web Services killer

Google launched Compute Engine Infrastructure as a Service in a bid to offer cloud infrastructure much like Amazon Web Services. However, the effort, which is in a "limited preview," lacks the depth and options provided by Amazon.

In a nutshell, Google is allowing users to spin up virtual machines. Coupled with Google's App Engine, Google Apps, and Drive the company is building out its cloud stack.

Google's promise is that it'll provide all the access to its computing power to companies.

The idea of a cloud stack isn't exactly original. Amazon has focused on … Read more

Asana looks to cut down the noise in your in-box

Task-management company Asana has unveiled a new way for its users to handle the e-mail overload in their in-box.

Dubbed Inbox, the feature is designed for the companies that are currently using Asana's task-management tool. With Inbox, team members can stay up-to-date on the latest events related to a particular task or project and avoid dealing with unnecessary e-mail threads, according to Asana.

At the center of that plan is a pane that provides "the entire history and up-to-date status of the work [a message is] about," in each message sent between team members. In addition, the … Read more