[windows2000] FW: WinInfo Daily UPDATE, January 9, 2003

From: Jim Kenzig <jimkenz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2003 14:22:24 -0500
This newsletter confirms the Server name change from Windows .Net server to
Windows 2003 Server.
JK

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********************

January 9, 2003--In this issue:

1. NEWS AND VIEWS
     - Microsoft Changes Windows .NET Server Name
     - CES 2003: Gates Opens Show with Smart-Living Message

1. ==== NEWS AND VIEWS ====
   (contributed by Paul Thurrott, thurrott@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)

* MICROSOFT CHANGES WINDOWS .NET SERVER NAME
   Several sources have now confirmed what was once an unconfirmed
rumor: Microsoft has decided to change the name of Windows .NET Server
2003 once again--this time to Windows Server 2003. The renaming is the
fourth name change this product has endured since it went by its beta
moniker of Whistler Server.

Microsoft originally planned to call the Windows 2002 Server product
Windows Server 2002, a name Group Vice President Jim Allchin allegedly
disliked. When Microsoft announced the name in early 2002, he said
that "the fat lady hasn't sung yet." Weeks later, Microsoft announced
the product's first name change--to Windows .NET Server. The idea was
that this product would be the first to incorporate Microsoft .NET as
a core component, so its name should reflect that fact.

In late 2002, the company changed the product name yet again--to
Windows .NET Server 2003. Microsoft told me at the time that adding
2003 to the name would help customers understand that this version was
a successor to Windows 2000 and that, yes, this name was the product's
final name. Then, earlier this week, I heard the first murmurs about
yet another name change. After checking with sources, I can confirm
that Microsoft will change the name again--to Windows Server 2003.

Microsoft hasn't yet briefed me about this name change. But apparently
the company has kept the name change quiet because it's trying to
downplay dropping the .NET moniker. Microsoft is still struggling to
get the .NET initiative off the ground, but dropping the .NET name
from its next Windows Server product apparently doesn't represent any
change in plans for that technology or its importance to the company.

* CES 2003: GATES OPENS SHOW WITH SMART-LIVING MESSAGE
   Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates opened
the 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last night with
a keynote address titled "Smart Living in the Digital Decade." The
talk highlighted the company's successes in digital media, video
gaming, and home networking while pointing to future technologies that
the company will release later this year and in the future. Gates did
his usual deadpan humor bits and presented a few humorous video clips,
one of which spoofed VH1's "Behind the Music" series. Industry
celebrities such as Marc Andreessen and John Sculley appeared in that
clip, as did actor Anthony Michael Hall, who portrayed Gates in a
made-for-TV movie called "Pirates of Silicon Valley." Gates quipped
that one of his New Year's resolutions was to ask USA Networks to make
a sequel.

"Smart living in the digital decade is possible because of advances in
three key areas coming together: devices, connectivity, and services,"
Gates said. "Advances in each category drive the other categories. A
lot of the big predictions we made about the digital decade are now
taking place, thanks to pervasive broadband, wireless networking in
the home, and devices with advanced smart screens, disks, and memory."

Gates then took attendees through the company's recent product
successes with the Tablet PC and the Media Center PC, both of which
require special Windows XP versions. "We sold 90 million copies of XP
in 2002," Gates said. "It was the strongest year ever for any version
of Windows." Gates also talked up Windows Media 9 Series, Windows
Movie Maker 2, and Plus! Digital Media Edition, which the company
released earlier this week. The first Windows Powered Smart Displays
hit retail stores the same day, he said.

Looking toward 2003, Gates discussed some of the smart devices we can
expect in the coming days, including new Pocket PC devices and Windows
Powered Smartphones; various Smart Displays; new Media Center PCs,
including laptop products from Alienware and Toshiba; and some
interesting noncomputer-type devices, such as an exercise machine and
sewing machine that feature Windows CE .NET, flat screens, and
Internet connectivity. An especially interesting device--Media2Go--is
a Microsoft prototype that various hardware partners will sell in late
2003. Essentially a portable media player with a 4" LCD screen,
Media2Go also includes a 20GB hard disk, which Microsoft says is large
enough for 175 hours of digital video, 8000 songs, or 35,000 photos.
I'll provide more details about this intriguing product after a Friday
briefing.

After Gates played against Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal on
Xbox Live, Gates hinted at an upcoming revision to Microsoft's
broadband networking products that will feature "better speeds and new
security and quality of service capabilities that will enable voice
and multimedia services over wireless." He also talked up other
wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and 3G.

Bringing all these advances together, Gates said, is a technology
initiative called Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT), which he
first discussed during his COMDEX 2002 keynote address 2 months ago.
SPOT will bring all the technologies Gates discussed together into
new, small form factors and reenvision common household items as
interconnected smart devices. And although the company has many plans,
including smart alarm clocks, refrigerators, and other devices, the
first deliverable product will be a smart wristwatch platform that
major watch makers such as Citizen and Fossil will support. I'll write
a separate article about the SPOT wristwatch and related technologies
such as smart magnets. These products feature small LCD screens, SPOT
silicon, and interconnectivity with services for weather, news,
sports, and related information through the new Microsoft Direct Band
networking scheme, which uses the FM band to send data. These products
will be available in late 2003.

********************

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Copyright 2003, Penton Media, Inc.

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[windows2000] FW: WinInfo Daily UPDATE, January 9, 2003

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