Microsoft

Microsoft has cut the price of leasing software by as much as 25 percent.

Companies can sign up for discounts on SQL Server, SharePoint, and other Microsoft software, or two bundles of client-access licenses, according to notices posted on the Microsoft Incentives Web site.

One special promotion is "Simplify and Save," which offers savings of 15 percent for those who consolidate at least two existing license agreements into an Open Value agreement. Microsoft said the discount will run for the entire length of a three-year license deal.

Another offer is for between 15 percent and 25 percent off the price of the license and the Software Assurance costs of running Exchange Server, Office Communications Server, SQL Server, Office SharePoint Server, Visual Studio, Office Project, and other Microsoft software.

It is a condition of some Microsoft license agreements that companies take out schemes such as Microsoft Software Assurance in order to keep their software properly licensed, and therefore eligible for upgrades and promotions. Industry estimates suggest this situation can add as much as 100 British pounds a year per PC to the cost of running applications.

The cuts are similar to those that Microsoft has made on the cost of licensing specific products. The Microsoft Office Project Assurance Pack's price has been cut by 25 percent, and Microsoft Project Server 2007 has seen a similar price fall.

According to one analyst, when it comes to special offers, Microsoft does not tell enough people about them. "This is good news for users but Microsoft should be shouting about offers like this," said Tony Lock, analyst with Freeform Dynamics. "Software Assurance is not widely recognized and deals like this, which seems pretty much across the board of Microsoft software, should be better known."

Lock said that, while Microsoft has good market share, it is "not nearly as good as it could or should be, given offers like this."

Colin Barker of ZDNet UK reported from London.

Microsoft is investigating reports of a flaw that could allow someone to remotely execute code on a system running certain versions of SQL Server.

"Microsoft is aware that exploit code has been published on the Internet for the vulnerability addressed by this advisory," the company wrote in a security advisory published on Monday. "Our investigation of this exploit code has verified that it does not affect systems that have had the workarounds listed below applied. Currently, Microsoft is not aware of active attacks that use this exploit code or of customer impact at this time."

Affected systems are: Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000), Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (WMSDE), and Windows Internal Database (WYukon). Systems with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 are not affected, the advisory says.

Microsoft said that once it completes its investigation, it will "take the appropriate action to protect our customers," which could include issuing a security patch through a service pack, in the monthly security update, or via an out-of-cycle security update.

The vulnerability was disclosed December 4 by Bernhard Mueller of SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab.

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

Microsoft VP Ted Kummert, earlier this year as he made good on a pledge to dye his hair orange if the engineering team got SQL Server 2008 out by the company's revised deadline. He's holding the team's mock-up of what his hair might look like.

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 team. Microsoft has not said how Kilimanjaro will be sold. The goal of Kilimanjaro is to make it so more workers in a company can create business intelligence features like charts and so forth.

Microsoft, which is making the Kilimanjaro upgrade at a business intelligence conference in Redmond, Wash., also plans to show its efforts at integrating its Datallegro acquisition with Windows Server and SQL Server.

The Datallegro acquisition will allow SQL Server to go from databases that are in the tens of terabytes to ones in the hundreds of terabytes or even a petabyte of data, Kummert said. The first integrated product, known as "Project Madison," is due in the first half of 2010.

Although Microsoft is showing the demo at the BI conference, Kummert said the data warehouse itself, which consists of a 100 terabyte database with over a trillion rows of data, is running at Datallegro's offices in Aliso Viejo, Calif.

"Moving that much storage is a bit problematic," he said.

Microsoft said on Tuesday that it has finalized its purchase of data warehousing specialist Datallegro.

The company also detailed its plans for the technology, saying that the purchase will pave the way for Microsoft to create "a new solution based on Datallegro's technology that extends Microsoft SQL Server to scale into hundreds of terabytes of data."

Doing that, though will take some time. The final version of that product is slated for the first half of 2010, though Microsoft said it will begin giving customers and partners access to early "community technology preview" releases within the next 12 months.

Microsoft announced its plans to buy Datallegro in July. Last month, Datallegro and its CEO, Stuart Frost, were hit with a patent infringement suit. Microsoft declined to comment at the time, but Frost said in a blog posting that "after analyzing the claims, we feel strongly that they're completely without merit and intend to vigorously defend our position." Frost also said that Datallegro was considering asking the patent office to re-examine the patent in question.

Update: A Microsoft representative said Tuesday that Microsoft will not sell Datallegro's products to new customers while it works on the combined effort, but said it will support current customers and that Microsoft plans to "upgrade them to the next release that will be integrated with the SQL Server product line."

I asked Microsoft for more details on why it will take two years to do a combined product, and was told by a representative that "We are not providing additional details on the product roadmap at this time, we will be sharing more information at the BI Conference Oct. 6-8."

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it has finished work on SQL Server 2008, the latest version of its database software.

The software maker in a statement said it has reached the "release to manufacturing" stage, meaning that it has finalized the code for the software.

Although its release was delayed from its initial target, Microsoft said it was able to meet its goal of having a new version within 24 to 36 months from the release of SQL Server 2005.

SQL Server 2008 comes in a number of editions, ranging from the free SQL Server 2008 Express to SQL Server 2008 Enterprise. Other editions include standard, work group, developer, Web, and compact, which runs on both PCs and Windows Mobile devices.

Microsoft VP Ted Kummert, making good on a pledge to dye his hair orange if the engineering team got SQL Server 2008 out by the company's revised deadline. He's holding the team's mock-up of what his hair might look like.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Pricing is comparable to what Microsoft charged for the prior version, SQL Server 2005. One edition, the Web version, is new. Microsoft Vice President Ted Kummert said in a conference call that hosting customers had complained of not having a version that met their needs, in terms of features and pricing, and that the Web edition was an attempt to meet those needs.

"We nailed it, and that just feels so good," said Dan Jones, a member of the product's engineering team. "This is such a great day. The sun is shining in Redmond."

The release is important for Microsoft, as the database product has been a standout in the company's financial results for many quarters, helping the company gain ground against rivals.

Kummert declined to give a specific target in either units or dollars of what it hopes the release will mean, but he said the company hopes to continue the growth it has seen with the prior version of the database software.

"We expect SQL Server 2008 to continue the growth trajectory," Kummert said. "We are focused on winning with customers of all sizes."

The downside of having the announcement via teleconference was, there was no way to see Kummert's hair, which was dyed bright orange. Kummert had promised the that if the engineering team met its deadlines, he would sport the new 'do.