US businesses warm to Vista

Uptake of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system is starting to pick up among US businesses.

Just under half (48 percent) of US IT decision makers are using or evaluating Vista, according to a poll by IT services firm CDW.

This is CDW's third Windows Vista tracking poll since October 2006 and shows a 19 percentage-point increase in uptake since February 2007.

Vista migration is also increasing, with more than a third (35 percent) of those surveyed saying they are in the process of moving to Vista. In comparison, just 12 percent said this last February.

Thirteen percent of these migrations are complete and another third are due to be finished by May 2008.

CDW claimed this shows Microsoft's latest operating system is now seen as a more viable option in the mainstream business market.

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Of those still testing and migrating to Vista, almost half said its performance and key features are "above expectations" with the top-rated features being security, performance, productivity, search and updates.

Mark Gambill, CDW vice president, said the past year was one of "adaptations and learning for Microsoft, industry partners and adopters alike".

Gambill added that, since people have begun to understand the benefits of the operating system, there has been a "steady move towards adoption".

The CDW survey also found an increase in Microsoft Office 2007 adoption, with almost a quarter (24 percent) of businesses saying they'd made the move, compared to just six percent in the last survey.

The poll was conducted by Walker Information and covered 772 IT decision makers.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta Opens Up

Are you a Windows Vista user? If so, Microsoft has opened its beta release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) up for the public to download, following several months of private beta testing. You can download it now at Microsoft’s site.

As has been true of previous Service Packs for Windows, Vista SP1 is focused on fixing bugs, improving performance, and other under-the-hood enhancements. Installing the Service Packs as they are released has become a widespread practice, and Microsoft’s Service Packs for Windows XP have been notable for fixing many security problems in the operating system. However, it is worth noting that Vista SP1 is still pre-release software, and you will want to evaluate some issues pertaining to how you install it.

Note that if you are going to download and install Vista SP1, you can choose either of two ways to do so. You can install it using an Automatic Update process (listed as Method 1 at the link above), or to install it as fast as possible you can perform a manual installation using Windows Update (listed as Method 2). If you choose the Automatic Update process, your complete installation will actually take several days, because prerequisites for the Service Pack and the components themselves will be added incrementally, not in one download and install process.

Windows Vista is available in several versions. These are the supported versions for Vista SP1: Windows Vista; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition; and Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition.

If you want more enhancements for Windows Vista, you may want to download Tweak VI from TotalIdea software, which can automatically provide performance and efficiency improvements. Also, the Tweakguides Tweaking Companion for Windows Vista makes it easy to customize many aspects of the operating system.

Vistas work on Virtual Machines

John Kerry would be proud with the buzz Microsoft Vista has created - you don’t know whether to love it, or hate it. Whether to buy it or bury it . Our readers are so smart that only 10% of them are willing to take a chance on it.

Nevertheless, if you wish to install Windows Vista on your Intel powered Mac, you need to spend a lot more money that regular people. Folks at the Parallels, the company that makes an awesome virtualization software of the same name dug into the Microsoft End User License Agreement (EULA) and realized that …

“only certain versions of Vista – Business and Ultimate (and Enterprise for corporate customers) are eligible to be run in a virtual machine. The EULA says that Home Basic and Home Premium CANNOT be run in a virtual machine.”

Now Mac users are used to overpaying for everything, but Windows Vista too! Ultimate costs $399 and the Business Vista is only slightly cheaper at $299. Well, maybe Bill has finally realized that Mac users want top of the line stuff. But seriously, looks like Microsoft is leaving money on the table. For Mac users, well another reason not to think about Vista.

PS: this is true of Parallels Workstation for PC as well.

I Love It When The World Goes Crazy Breaking Windows Vista

This is crazy. There are already false claims circulating that Windows Vista has already been hacked; but until now, no one has earned the recognition and these hackers would remain as rumors.

News among different sources are reporting that hackers are working extra hard to gain recognition to be the first one to hack Windows Vista. Fame and financial gains could come to be the guy who put shame to the thousand of hours put on by thousands of engineers who have worked hard to make Windows Vista the most secure application Microsoft has ever launched.

Windows Live Messenger for Vista

The final version of Microsoft's new IM (instant message) client, which is optimized for Windows Vista, is now out.

Windows Live Messenger 8.1 offers enhancements that make it more compatible with Vista, which had its widespread consumer release earlier this week.

What's New

Updates in the IM client include new looks for emoticons, contacts and display photos that take advantage of Vista's new and improved user interface, Microsoft said.

Microsoft also added the ability to send an SMS (Short Message Service) to a phone number or add phone numbers for contacts by clicking on a cell-phone icon in the client's main window. Also new is the ability to send a personal message when users want to add a new contact to their contact list.

Windows Live Messenger 8.1 also includes a "roaming identity" feature that allows not only a person's display name to follow users any place they sign into, but also their display picture and personal message.

In addition to new features, the software's final version corrects a problem users were having with beta versions, according to a post on the Inside Windows Live Messenger blog, which is written by members of the team working on the product.

A user with an old version of Adobe Systems' Flash technology on Vista used to crash the Windows Live Messenger 8.1 beta client, wrote Nicole Steinbok, product manager for Windows Live Messenger. However, the final version of the software fixes that.

"I still highly recommend you update your Flash player if you haven't already," Steinbok wrote in the post. "But if not we have put in an extra safety measure [that] disable features that use Flash and provides you a way to upgrade to eliminate the Flash crash."

Windows Live Messenger also is available in eight new languages: Bulgarian, Estonian, Croatian, Latvian, Romanian, Serbian Latin, Thai and Ukrainian.

Yahoo Updating Messenger for Vista

Microsoft rival Yahoo also plans a release of its Yahoo Messenger IM client that is optimized for Vista. Yahoo previewed the IM client at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, and will put out a beta by June, with a version to follow in the third quarter of the year.

Thanks to Elizabeth Montalbano of IDG News Service for the info.

HP Enhancing Vista Experience with New Products

HP today announced Microsoft Windows Vista will be available across its consumer and business product portfolios beginning with the new operating system’s launch Jan. 30. To help ensure customers have the best experience available, HP also has enhanced its award-winning HP Total Care program with Vista-specific services and built-in support tools. The new products and services take advantage of Windows Vista to provide customers new and exciting ways to work, play and enjoy life. HP has worked closely with Microsoft to help ensure that all HP consumer PCs and more than 450 printing and imaging products are Vista-ready. In addition, a broad portfolio of HP products that are Vista Premium-ready is available for both consumers and business customers. “HP has collaborated closely with Microsoft for more than five years to deliver the industry’s broadest and most complete Windows Vista portfolio,” said Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer, HP. “We’ve devoted more than 150,000 hours of hardware and software testing and development to help ensure our customers are provided the easiest, safest and most satisfying technology experience yet.” HP engineers also have worked intensely to help business customers get the most from the built-in security and reliability advancements of Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft® Office system to ensure that the new offerings smoothly and simply support and integrate into existing business environments with all HP IT infrastructure products. “HP and Microsoft share a common vision to deliver PC experiences for our customers that are easier, safer, more entertaining and better connected than ever before,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer, Microsoft. “As a key Windows Vista development partner, HP has worked extensively with Microsoft to deliver a broad portfolio of innovative consumer and enterprise products and services that take full advantage of the breakthrough capabilities of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system.” HP further improves the Vista experience for consumers All HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario consumer desktops and notebooks are now available with Windows Vista. This includes the all-in-one HP TouchSmart PC and the convertible HP Pavilion tx1000 Entertainment Notebook recently introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (www.hp.com/go/CES2007). In addition, select HP desktop and notebook PCs have the option of Vista Home Premium, as well as an optional HP Pocket Media Drive to make the transition to a Vista-ready PC simpler. As part of HP’s comprehensive customer support offerings, Windows Vista-specific support is now available in North America through HP Total Care, the 24x7 service and support program that backs all HP PCs – in and out of warranty. Additionally, consumers using or upgrading to Windows Vista can receive one-on-one help from experienced, home-technology specialists via the SmartFriend by HP service. This service provides personalized assistance to help save time and frustration when transferring files, photos, system preferences and settings between PCs. For customers wanting extra help with Windows Vista, SmartFriend by HP tech specialists can even connect to their PCs over the Internet. The service is available in either 45-minute sessions for $69.99 or 75-minute sessions for $99.99. HP Total Care Advisor comes installed on new Windows Vista-based HP consumer desktop or notebook PCs. Through a single, interactive “cockpit,” it allows customers to easily find and navigate through key product information, such as serial numbers and warranty details, help and support information, and the status of storage space, connected peripherals and other key system components – all clearly delineated with large icons and simple explanations. To help ensure a PC is performing at its best, HP Total Care Advisor also features HP Update, a system health check that runs automatically to check battery performance, detect adware, malware or other important information, and download relevant software and driver updates along with troubleshooting tips. Beyond PC support, all current and future HP imaging and printing products will support Windows Vista, as do approximately 97 percent of HP’s imaging and printing products shipped over the past five years. Collectively, they will be supported via downloadable drivers on HP’s website in addition to the 280 HP print and scan drivers offered in the Windows Vista operating system. HP eases migration and deployment for business In order for business customers of all sizes to more effectively collaborate and improve productivity, HP supports and customizes Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 across its enterprise hardware, software and services offerings. This includes HP’s business computing portfolio, printing and imaging solutions for business, HP Services offerings, HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers and HP StorageWorks and HP Software products. HP is providing business customers the advanced security, reliability and improved ease of use delivered by Windows Vista by offering nearly all HP Compaq business notebook, desktop and workstation PCs in Windows Vista Premium Ready configurations. In fact, HP was the industry’s first computer manufacturer to receive a Windows Vista Premium logo (for the HP xw9400 Workstation) and also will have Windows Vista shipping on all four HP personal workstation platforms in all available languages in early February. HP also has received the Vista Premium certification for its HP LP3065 and HP LP1965 Flat Panel Monitors. All HP commercial LCD monitors are expected to be Vista-compliant by April 1. Many of the core printing architectures native to Microsoft operating systems were developed through a strong collaboration between HP and Microsoft. For instance, HP provided expertise in the development of Microsoft’s Unidrive printing architecture and provided input on the new XPS document format. HP also worked closely with the 2007 Microsoft Office engineering team to address the common challenges faced when using color in business documents. Improvements to 2007 Office include more color-rich applications that make it quick and easy to add color to business documents as well as improvements to the printing systems to increase customer satisfaction with the color output. Recognized by Microsoft as Worldwide Prime Integrator for its products and technologies, HP Services offers planning, design, implementation and support for Windows Vista and other new Microsoft technologies and has the ability to integrate them into heterogeneous IT environments. In particular, HP Services helps customers optimize existing Windows infrastructures to take advantage of the new capabilities of the Windows 64-bit platform and to exploit new applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 - HP.

Vista-Compatible Norton Solutions

Symantec has revealed that Norton Internet Security, Norton AntiVirus and Norton Confidential will be Vista-compatible in time for the public release of the Windows Vista Operating System for consumers. Users who purchased Norton Internet Security 2006 and 2007, Norton AntiVirus 2006 and 2007 and Norton Confidential designed for Windows XP operating system are eligible for a free Windows Vista compatibility upgrade, the company stated.

Additionally, the company announced that current subscribers of both Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus are eligible for a technology update. Leveraging technology from the WholeSecurity, acquisition, Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response (SONAR) will enhance malware detection and protect Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus users from today’s volatile and unpredictable online threat landscape, the company added.

According to the company, SONAR is behavioral detection technology that protects against malicious code before standard virus and spyware detection definitions have been created. Such emerging and unknown malicious code can strike in the form of Trojan Horses, worms, mass-mailing viruses, spyware or downloaders. While many products use only a limited set of heuristics, SONAR draws from a range of heterogeneous application behavior data which not only enhances detection but also minimises false positives. For consumers, the result is zero-hour protection from a vast threat spectrum without being bothered with confusing decision-based prompts. SONAR technology provides protection against emerging threats in a way that does not compromise the user experience or require additional system resources. When detections are made through SONAR, no user interaction is required.

Norton AntiVirus 2007 and Norton Internet Security 2007 for Windows Vista and Windows XP are currently available for purchase through the Symantec online store here.

Security flaw in Vista

After what seemed to be a lifetime, Windows Vista finally hit the consumer market. For many, this is the start of a new experience in Windows; but for some, is a race to find vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s new OS.

Evgeny Legerov, founder of the security firm Gleg Ltd. in Moscow has been finding security flaws in web browsers and operating systems for years. “To find a vulnerability, you have to do a lot of hard work,” said Evgeny.

He’s not doing it for a smile or renowned fame; he’s in it for the money. Evgeny claims doing the responsible thing just doesn’t pay the bills, “If you follow what they call responsible disclosure, in most cases all you receive is an ordinary thank you or sometimes nothing at all.”

Gleg Ltd. sells vulnerability research to customers around the world for a minimum of $10,000; but claims their is a huge black market for such data. One example discovered by the Japanese antivirus company, TredMicro, is a case where a hacker on a Romanian Web forum was offering a Vista vulnerability for $50,000. Evgeny says he receives offers like this all the time, and has to reject them despite the financial gain. The price is in direct proportion to the popularity of the software.

In a similar scenario this month, iDefense, a Virginia based subsidiary of the technology company VeriSign, will be offering $8,000 to the first six researchers who uncover holes in Vista, and an additional $4,000 for the code that can be used to take advantage of Vista’s ‘back doors.’

This is obviously a small percentage of what can be made on the black market; but if you want to keep things legal, $8,000 is a fair offer. iDefense, in turn, sells this information to government agencies and corporations to protect their systems.

Microsoft does not endorse such bounty programs, and would rather the research come to them first. Exploiting any Vista weakness to the public could result in hackers abusing the information before a patch can be issued to the public.

“With the underground trading of vulnerabilities, software makers are left playing catch-up to develop updates that will help protect customers,” said Mark Miller, director of the Microsoft Security Response Center.

Vista, not having an antivirus program or support for legacy antivirus software seems like a security flaw to me; but I won’t be up all night trying to hack Microsoft’s most secure operating system in history.

Windows Vista generate $10 billion

California’s IT industry is expected to experience a significant financial impact as a result of the launch of the Windows Vista™ operating system. According to a research study recently completed by IDC and commissioned by Microsoft Corp., within the first year of the Windows Vista shipment, California’s IT industry will begin seeing considerable increases in new jobs and revenue. The study’s findings indicate that Windows Vista will provide a foundation for the IT market, with more than 60 percent of total IT employment being related to Windows Vista. In addition, total Windows®-related employment in California is expected to jump by nearly 16,000 jobs.

Windows Vista, together with the 2007 Microsoft® Office system, was made available on Nov. 30 to Volume Licensing customers and will be broadly available on Jan. 30.

“Windows Vista will create additional revenues for Microsoft in California, but will also create even bigger economic ripples throughout the ecosystem that sells products and services in California that run on or work with it,” said John Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice president of IDC. “Windows Vista’s footprint in the state will be wide, as original equipment manufacturers sell PCs that run on it, software companies sell applications that run it, and services and distribution firms deliver, install, support and train on it. We expect that in the first year of Windows Vista shipments, this ecosystem will sell more than $10 billion of Windows Vista-related products and services in California.”

Microsoft partners — companies that sell hardware, write software, provide IT services or serve as IT distribution channels — will also feel the impact of Windows Vista because it will drive substantial revenue and growth for Microsoft-centric companies. According to the study, the release of Windows Vista will help strengthen the more than 30,000 California IT companies that will produce, sell or distribute products and services running on Windows Vista. The study also forecasts that each dollar of Windows Vista-related revenue earned by Microsoft in 2007 will generate more than $19 in revenue for the ecosystem beyond Microsoft.

“Microsoft is proud to bring products to market that help infuse economic growth here in California,” said Sandi Thomas, Southern California District general manager at Microsoft. “This launch is generating economic opportunities in California and across the nation by creating jobs, enabling organizational efficiencies and helping solve business challenges for our customers, partners and the IT industry as a whole.”

Microsoft’s ecosystem is making a sizable investment to prepare for and roll out Windows Vista worldwide, according to the IDC study. Between now and the end of 2007, IDC expects Microsoft partners to invest approximately $1.4 billion in Windows Vista-related products and services.

The complete California IDC study on the economic impact of Windows Vista is available at www.microsoft.com/presspass/itanalyst/default.mspx.

Early reviews of Microsoft's Vista: Worthy Upgrade with kinks

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In the span of five years, Microsoft Corp. promised its most advanced operating system ever and then yanked key features to meet deadlines that were missed anyway. Details of what would later be known as Windows Vista sounded suspiciously like Apple's Mac OS X.

Yet Vista, which finally appears on store shelves and new PCs next Tuesday, manages to largely overcome its long, tortured prelude. Though it duplicates some of the feel and functions of the Mac software, Vista includes its own improvements that take security, reliability and usability to new heights on the PC.

Vista is by far the most robust and visually appealing version of Windows yet. It's similar enough to its predecessor, Windows XP, to make the switch easy, but different enough to make the price almost bearable.

That's not to suggest Vista's perfect or even as polished as Mac OS X. In more than a month of testing on multiple PCs, I've run into a number of rough patches. Then again, I was able to run my systems longer between restarts, experienced fewer crashes and generally found it more informative than its predecessor.

Overall, it's a worthy upgrade, though one that most users will probably want to delay until the kinks are worked out.

Be forewarned: The hardware requirements for the best features are high.

Though a low-end version is offered (Home Basic Edition, $199, or $99 if the user is upgrading from XP), it lacks the high-end graphics and multimedia functions.

Most consumers will likely want the Home Premium Edition ($239, $159) that includes the visuals and entertainment tools and requires a heftier PC (with at least a 1 gigahertz processor and 1 gigabyte of memory).

The visuals, for obvious reasons, are the most noticeable improvement, though the software doesn't hesitate to downgrade the experience if your PC is too weak. Programs appear in semi-see-through frames that pop open and close with an animated swoosh. Icons can be instantly resized with a slider (yes, like pictures stored in Apple Inc.'s iPhoto).

The flourishes aren't just eye candy. They also help get the job done, particularly if you're a multitasker.

In previous Windows versions, minimized programs were something like a mystery meat: You knew they were there but it wasn't easy to find anything. In Vista, live mini-previews of each window pop open when the cursor is moved along the task bar.

Switching between programs using the Alt-Tab key combination is easier, as the live previews appear there, too. A new combination -- Tab-Windows keys -- flips through all your programs like a 3-D stack of playing cards.

The start menu -- which has wisely lost the word "Start" -- also has been renovated. It now sports a search box that returns results instantly as you type. No more dancing dogs or grinding hard drives.

In fact, the improved search -- which had been available for Windows XP users through add-on programs -- is fully integrated throughout Vista (much like the latest version of Mac OS X, released in April 2005). Windows that display the contents of hard drive folders, for instance, all have a search box that can filter whatever is inside.

Search results also can be saved into folders that get populated by future files that meet the original search criteria, though the feature isn't easy to find.

By default, the right side of the screen is filled with small programs known as gadgets, displaying headlines, weather, microprocessor loads, memory utilization -- whatever. (The idea isn't new: Mac OS X has "Widgets," and other companies have offered similar lightweight application layers for years.)

The default gadgets in Vista look great but aren't terribly useful. The Really Simple Syndication gadget, which pulls headlines from news sites and blogs, only displays four items at a time.

Hundreds of additional gadgets are available from Microsoft's Web site. Some maintain the slick Vista visuals. Others don't seem to try.

Vista also includes considerable security improvements, including a firewall that blocks network traffic in both directions and an anti-spyware program. You still need to get your own anti-virus software.

Vista adopts "user authentication," which prompts you before the installation of anything that might muck up the system. Oddly -- and unlike Mac OS X and Linux -- it doesn't require a username or password. The prompt, which darkens and deactivates everything in the background, also is jarring and decidedly un-Vista-like.

Vista also has tools for monitoring and controlling your kids' computer and Internet usage, as well as new "features" that Hollywood can use to control what you do with its movies. If you ever update to HD DVD or Blu-ray, for instance, the quality of those crisp videos may be downgraded.

There are finer controls to adjust for power consumption and excellent notification and monitoring tools to figure out how the system is operating and what has gone wrong. Like a judge at a diving competition, Vista will rate a computer's performance -- though it doesn't explain the scale very well.

Vista sports new multimedia capabilities as well, including a photo management program with basic picture-editing capabilities. It's improved upon XP's moviemaking software. And it supports DVD burning.

The premium editions also include Windows Media Center -- a shell that makes playing music and video easy, even with a remote control. The program, previously part of a special version of XP, adds some of Vista's visual pizazz to a package that bundles a digital video recorder for capturing live standard and high-definition TV.

How long does it take to give a PC running Windows XP this facelift and, arguably, heart and brain transplant? Surprisingly little, at least on a high-end PC with 2 gigabytes of memory. The anesthesia takes considerably longer to wear off.

My installation took about an hour. After the software checked for updates, prompted me for a serial number and asked me to agree to the Windows user license, the installer ran without any need for input -- a great improvement over previous Windows versions.

Problems arose when the PC came back to life. The beautiful visuals and inviting "Welcome Center" were covered up by error and warning messages detailing a number of incompatibilities.

There was no sound. A program that I use to synch data with a flash-memory drive wouldn't work. The Internet-phone software Skype couldn't find audio input or output. And I was told the control center for my ATI Radeon X1600 Pro graphics card "might" have an issue. There was no warning from Microsoft's compatibility program that I ran before upgrading.

Most of the problems were fixed by visiting each vendor's Web site and downloading updated software, although I still couldn't use my Hewlett-Packard Co. LaserJet 1020 printer or my company's software for virtual private networking.

In fairness, software companies have a few more days to get their acts together before Vista's consumer launch (businesses have been able to buy it for two months). But what have they been doing all these years?

The success of the operating system, however, won't ride on how well old programs and peripherals will work but on the new capabilities that are enabled. For laptops, it may hinge on auxiliary displays that notify users of new e-mail when the machine is closed. For gaming rigs, it may be how well the games tap into Vista's graphics capabilities.

That's because given all its bells and whistles, Vista is still just an operating system -- a blank canvas, albeit one with a very pretty and elaborate frame.


By Matthew Fordahl, AP Technology Editor

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Microsoft Profit Expected to Fall in Pre-Vista Lull

SEATTLE—Microsoft Corp. is expected to post its second decline in net profit in the last three quarters this week in the lull before a profit boost from new Windows and Office software debuting this month.

Investors will be on the lookout for signs of higher expectations for the year based on the software upgrades or signs of improvement from the company's Internet division.

The world's largest software maker will debut Windows Vista—the first major upgrade to its flagship computer operating system in more than five years—and Office 2007 to consumers on January 30.

The two products account for more than half of revenue and most of Microsoft's profit, and analysts expect Windows Vista and Office 2007 to boost the company's sales in the coming quarters.

But the company has said it will defer $1.5 billion in revenue and accompanying profit to the March-ending quarter from the December-ended fiscal second quarter reporting on Thursday, due to how it accounts for upgrade coupons for those products.

Another strong quarter from Microsoft's server software business, better-than-expected sales of the Xbox 360 game console and healthy demand for the "Gears of War" video game will not likely be enough to make up the revenue shortfall from the deferral, which will not affect the company's full-year outlook.

Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates forecast a profit of 24 cents a share on revenue of $12.08 billion for the December quarter. A year earlier, Microsoft reported profit of 34 cents a share on sales of $11.84 billion.

"Investors have been waiting several years for this, when Windows Vista and Office 2007 is about to be released," said Toan Tran, analyst at Morningstar. "That should help to drive sales and profits for the next couple of years."

The latest version of Windows, the software that runs on more than 90 percent of the world's computers, got a make-over

and Microsoft says it is more secure and better equipped to handle digital media than its predecessor, Windows XP.

The upgrade to Office, Microsoft's suite of productivity software, also has a new look with a ribbon strip at the top of the window that replaces the menu and toolbars to make it easier for users to find functions and commands.

Investors have pushed Microsoft shares up more 35 percent since June, due in part to optimism that Vista and Office 2007, along with other new products like Exchange Server 2007, will ignite a new growth phase at the $44 billion software giant.

"It's going to be a gradual uptick," said Kim Caughey, an analyst at Fort Pitt Capital, which manages more than $1 billion, including shares of Microsoft.

"We don't expect anything out of this quarter and not so much next quarter, but by the end of Microsoft's fiscal year (in June), it should be reporting some meaningful numbers."

Some analysts are looking for any signs of improvement from Microsoft's Internet division, which continues to lose market share in Web search to Google Inc.

Microsoft's online services group saw revenue fall for the last four quarters and posted a loss in the past three quarters while it shifted to a new Internet advertising platform and overhauled the company's Web properties.