Redmond Review


LightSwitch: The Answer to the Right Question

After nearly a full year in beta, Microsoft yesterday released Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011. Andrew Brust explains why LightSwitch defies categorization and is a lot more than just another framework-based tool for generating code.

Innovation in the Margins; Adaptation in the Spotlight

Andrew Brust on Microsoft's whistle-stop demo tour.

Redmond Unshackled

On Nov. 2, 2001, Microsoft and the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) reached a settlement in the antitrust action against Redmond. The terms of that decree expired in May.

Redmond, 'Start-up' Your Engines

Microsoft's needs to make its cutting-edge products and research more visible if it hopes to capture young organizations that today often align with the LAMP stack.

MVP Summit Highlights a Shared Future

As I write this, this year's MVP Summit just ended, and before it even started, I knew I'd write this month's column about it.

Microsoft, Windows Azure and Assisted Transitions

As with any big shift in technology, a lot is at stake for developers. No one wants to make significant investments of money, attention and free time on something that will be a mere flash in the pan -- or even a stable, yet niche, technology.

Tablet Toast or Slate Salvation?

Microsoft's current and former CEOs have opened the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) for years. But Android's popularity at the show should push Microsoft to do something innovative on the tablet front.

If You Love Your Developers, Set Them Free

Every once in a while, Microsoft toys with the idea of taking its dev tools cross-platform.

Whither BizTalk

BizTalk Server is a blockbuster product, but it's also a sleeper. Andrew Brust explains why BizTalk could be headed for big things in the cloud.

Protect What's Yours

Is Microsoft helping HTML5 and the Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP (LAMP) stack harm its own products and market position? Historically, Microsoft has struck a delicate balance in melding homegrown and external technologies into a cohesive stack and a winning strategy.

A Well-Grounded Cloud

In a Redmond Review column last year ("What's Old Is New Again," April 2009), I discussed a move by Microsoft to reform its then-named SQL Data Services (SDS).

Andrew Brust: Lauding LightSwitch

I've said it before: the Microsoft .NET Framework is too complex.

IE9 and HTML5: Deep Romance or Strange Bedfellows?

Microsoft knows HTML5 is coming, and Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) needs to implement it or face irrelevance.

SharePoint Is the New Access

When searching for a "forms over data" applications contender, SharePoint just might be your best bet.

Andrew Brust Explores Microsoft's Office Alternatives

Microsoft Office 2010, the new version of Redmond's flagship productivity suite, offers great value through important new features. But could they be doing better?

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