Microsoft Extends Olive Branch with a Velvet Fist
Any student of history will tell you that it's never a wise idea to attack multiple enemies at once. And given the fact that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is well-versed in Napoleonic history, this may account for all the olive branches being extended to so many rivals lately as Microsoft gears up to battle Google and Sony. Microsoft has even gone so far as to say it may indemnify any of its customers that are also Red Hat customers should it wind up suing Red Hat over intellectual property. Nevertheless, there are others such as Samba crying foul over what may just amount to a gentler form of saber rattling from Microsoft. And of course, you just might want to also check out what the new editor of Microsoft Watch has to say about just how sincere Microsoft may or may not be.

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Vista Gets High Security Marks from Beta Users
A small number of beta users of Vista report that Vista is living up to their security expectations but also say that some features are complicated to use. In general, vendors need to not only concentrate on making security easier to use but also on making it a whole lot less expensive. In the meantime, there's a new security blog hosted by eWEEK security reporter Ryan Naraine that warns about the MS06-070 patch that deserves some immediate attention. Meanwhile, as public service the SANS Institute has ranked the top 20 security threats while Microsoft has sued a company that is apparently distributing sypware via celebrity-themed screen savers that have icons like Jessica Simpson on them. Is nothing sacred, or is this some kind of fiendish plot to get everybody to upgrade to a more secure Vista environment? Meanwhile, if you really want to get inside the mind of a hacker, check out this interview.

IT Pros Complain of Lack of Support from the Boss
Not that this is a big surprise that IT professionals find that their companies are less than willing to invest in keeping their skills up to date. But now we're finding that in spite of an expanding economy there might be even fewer IT people in the work force. Outsourcing may have something to do it with, but then again maybe a tighter supply in work force might lead to higher raises for the people who remain.

Microsoft Lays Out Ambitions for Software-as-a-Service
Microsoft this week was out drumming up support for Office Live by promising to create a platform that small businesses could leverage to create an online presence, while in Barcelona company executives talked about their plans to expand the company's emerging managed service offering into messaging and collaboration. Meanwhile, if you're trying to figure out what to do and not do with Microsoft Office on Vista, here's some advice from Peter Coffee.

Motorola Aspires to Become New Monarch of Mobile
The communications giant reached out to gobble up Good Technology, a competitor to Research In Motion, then turned around to pick up Netopia in the same week that it signed an alliance with Sprint Nextel. All of that comes on the heels of Motorola acquiring Symbol Technologies to solidify its position in the emerging RFID market.

RFID Gets Mixed Reviews in Latest Study
Everybody is more than convinced that RFID is next coming thing, but nobody seems to know exactly when that might actually be given all the mixed results.

Rackable Appliance Aims to Smooth Out Storage I/O Problems
The purveyor of alternative data center technologies makes a push into storage with a new approach to clustered storage. Of course, this is just one of several alternative data center technologies that are starting to get people's attention in an era of low utilization rates and rising power costs. Speaking of storage, a special report on storage in the midmarket finds that storage products are becoming easier to manage and deploy.

SOA Success: Five Actions CIOs Say You Should Take
Capturing the benefits of embracing SOA can be elusive, but check out tips from five CIOs that are well down the path.