November 13th, 2009

Microsoft admits its GPL violation; will reissue Windows 7 tool under open-source license

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 1:36 pm

Categories: Corporate strategy, Open source, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: GPL, Microsoft Corp., USB, Tool, Productivity, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Operating Systems, Software

Microsoft officials confirmed on November 13 — a few days after pulling a Windows 7 download tool that allegedly contained improperly-licensed open-souce code — that the company did, indeed violate the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Microsoft pulled the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from the Microsoft Store on November 10 after a report by “Within Windows” blogger Rafael Rivera that he had found what looked to be open-source code in the tool. Inclusion of open-source code isn’t a no-no, but Microsoft’s decision to put a restrictive, non-open-source license on the tool incorporating that code was. (The USB tool, which Microsoft made available on October 22, is designed to help netbook users upgrade from XP to Windows 7 in a more streamlined way.)

From a November 13 blog posting by Microsoft Open Source Community Manager Peter Galli:

“After looking at the code (within the USB tool) in question, we are now able to confirm this (inclusion of improperly licensed GPL v2 code) was indeed the case, although it was not intentional on our part. While we had contracted with a third party to create the tool, we share responsibility as we did not catch it as part of our code review process. We have furthermore conducted a review of other code provided through the  Microsoft Store and this was the only incident of this sort we could find.”

Galli said Microsoft plans to make the source code and binaries for the Microsoft tool available the week of November 16 under the terms of the General Public License v2 “and are also taking measures to apply what we have learned from this experience for future code reviews we perform.”

November 13th, 2009

Microsoft opens up Windows 7 to advertisers via downloadable themes

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:01 am

Categories: Advertising, Corporate strategy, Windows 7, Windows Live, Windows client, Zune

Tags: Brand, Theme, Microsoft Corp., Advertiser, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Branding, Operating Systems, Software, Marketing

The same way that it already allows advertisers to buy placement on various Microsoft sites and properties, Microsoft may allow them to extend their brands onto Windows 7.

The ads aren’t being foisted on Windows 7 users. Those who don’t want the branded themes don’t have to see them, as they’re opt in.

Microsoft announced on November 13 that it has begun test pilots with a handful of advertisers for ads on Windows 7. The two “theme experiences” they are offering are known as the “Windows Theme Experience” and the “Windows Personalization Gallery.” The trial is set to run through October 2010.

Advertisers participating in the pilot include Ducati, Infiniti, Porsche and Twentieth Century Fox, according to a Microsoft press release.

Via the Windows Theme Experience pilot, advertisers are going to be able to put their brand on Internet Explorer 8 add-ons; Windows 7 and Windows Vista gadgets; Windows 7 backgrounds and borders and Windows “audio elements.” Via the Windows Personalization Gallery pilot, advertisers will be able to push their brands “throughout the operation of their Windows 7-based PC including backgrounds, slide shows, borders and application audio elements.”

Users will have to download the branded themes and elements from Microsoft’s Windows Web site in order to add them to their PCs. Some of these branded themes and elements already are available for download, like the Ferrari theme, the Coca Cola “Happiness Factory” theme and the Porsche theme. They are available alongside of some of Microsoft’s own brand themes — such as the Gears of War theme, Bing screen shots theme and Zune characters theme.

“These new themes are intended for a brand’s most passionate fans and allow for a deeper engagement by letting consumers embed their favorite brand into their PC experience,” according to Microsoft.

I have to admit, I do like the Zune characters theme, but because I like the artwork in that theme pack, not because I want to tell the world that I’m a Zune fan. What about you? Are there branded themes you’d willing put on your PC — either ones already in the gallery or ones you’d like to see added to it?

November 12th, 2009

PDC 2009: Tune in for our live blogging frenzy next week

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:31 am

Categories: .Net Framework, Azure, Corporate strategy, Development tools, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Big Brains, Multicore/distributed computing, Office 2010/Office 14, PDC 2009, Red Dog, Research, Silverlight (wpf/e), Utility/cloud computing, Virtualization, Visual Studio 10 ("Hawaii"), Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server")

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Professional Developers Conference Keynote, Blogging, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2009 kicks off the week of November 16. Like we did last year, a handful of us Microsoft watchers will be live blogging the keynotes as a group.

The PDC keynotes are slated for Tuesday November 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PT and Wednesday November 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. We’ll be using CoverItLive to blog, so the more of you who chime in and comment along with us, the merrier. Your group-blogging hosts (besides me) will be Ed Bott, Kip Kniskern, Paul Thurrott, Rafael Rivera, Tom Warren and Long Zheng

Come back here next week and watch along with us as Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie; Server and Tools President Bob Muglia; Kurt DelBene, Senior VP of Microsoft’s Office Business Productivity Group and more talk about what’s coming for developers in the next year. (I’ll post the CoverItLive viewer on my site during keynote viewing hours next week.)

There will be new info on Microsoft’s Azure cloud operating environment, .Net 4.0, Oslo, Office 2010, Silverlight, SQL Server and more. And more than a few of the “Big Brains” — Microsoft’s Technical Fellows — are on tap to present during the four-day confab.  I’ve already posted about some of what’s on tap (and not on tap) for PDC 2009 over the past few weeks. Expect lots more PDC news on my blog throughout the week next week.

Hope to see you (virtually) and/or live in Los Angeles next week!

November 10th, 2009

Did Microsoft Windows 7 download tool violate the GPL?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:30 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Linux, Open source, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: GPL, Microsoft Corp., Tool, Productivity, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft has pulled an update tool for Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store site after a report indicating that the tool incorporated open-source code in a way that violated the GNU General Public License.

Rafael Rivera of the “Within Windows” blog reported on November 6 that he had found something suspicious when mucking around int he code for the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. (That tool, which Microsoft made available on October 22, is designed to help netbook users upgrade from XP to Windows 7 in a more streamlined way.)

On November 9, Microsoft pulled the download tool from its site. A spokesperson sent me the following update:

“Microsoft is looking into this issue and is taking down the WUDT tool from the Microsoft Store site until its investigations are complete. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience.”

Rivera noted that the Microsoft tool may violate more than a few GPL terms and conditions. From his post:

“A simple search of some method names and properties, gleaned from Reflector’s output, revealed the source code was obviously lifted from the CodePlex-hosted (yikes) GPLv2-licensed ImageMaster project. (The author of the code was not contacted by Microsoft.)…

“Microsoft did not offer or provide source code for their modifications to ImageMaster nor their tool…. Second, Microsoft glued in some of their own licensing terms, further restricting your rights to the software (TermsOfUse.rtf).”

Microsoft has run afoul of the GPL licensing terms on a few occasions. Most recently, there were questions raised by some in the open-source community about Microsoft’s motives for making some of its drivers available for inclusion in the Linux source tree. (Microsoft officials maintained that the company didn’t release the source code because of potential legal issues; some in the open-source community begged to differ.)

Stay tuned for more on this, as Microsoft proceeds with its investigation….

November 10th, 2009

Study claims netbook users dissatisfied with Windows 7. Are you?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:07 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Windows 7 Starter, Netbook, Microsoft Windows 7, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Hardware, Mary Jo Foley

Another day, another Windows 7 study. The latest comes from Retrevo, a consumer electronics shopping site, which asserts that users aren’t keen on Windows 7 netbooks running Starter Edition.

In a blog post entitled “Is Microsoft Trying to Kill the Netbook Market?” Retrevo officials outline their findings, based on responses from 1,100 of its “users.” Among the claims are users aren’t aware of the limitations of Windows 7 Starter Edition (like no desktop personalization, no multimonitor support, no DVD playback). Retrevo said 54% of respondents would not be satisfied if their new Netbook only came with Windows 7 Starter Edition. XP Starter was a better choice, Retrovo’s respondents said.

While I do think Microsoft would like nothing better than for the netbook market to disappear, as it has put a serious dent in its Windows client margins, the rest of Retrovo’s findings seem off-base to me. (Example: Windows 7 netbooks running Starter will support the use of a DVD player via a USB port, contrary to Retrovo’s assertion that Microsoft killed that XP Starter feature.)

Whether you agree with Microsoft’s decision to continue to field lots of different Windows SKUs or not, I’d claim the company has been pretty clear for the past year that Windows 7 Starter was not going to be able to do everything. (Originally, it also was going to be crippled so it wouldn’t allow users to run more than three apps concurrently, but Microsoft removed that limitation earlier this year.)

Microsoft officials also have noted that PC makers can choose any version of Windows 7, including Ultimate, to preload on netbooks. Whether OEMs can cost-justify some of the pricier SKUs is another matter.

I’ve been shopping for a Windows 7 PC starting on October 22, the day they went on sale at retail. I’ve been impressed by the choice of Windows 7 netbooks I’ve found. Many come with Starter Edition; others I saw were preloaded with Windows Home Premium. Toshiba loaned me one of their Mini NB205-N330 netbooks running Windows 7 Starter. I’ve found it very responsive, portable and perfect for my basic daily  tasks (surfing the Web, posting to my blog, answering email, etc.).

Yes, I am a more educated consumer than many out there, so I know what a netbook running Starter will and won’t do. But two different salespeople at my local Best Buy were very clear with me about what Windows 7 starter netbooks would and wouldn’t do. I’m not implying that it’s been completely smooth sailing for PC users looking to move to Win7; Computerworld noted recently that some Dell and HP users who ordered upgrades to Windows 7 are having to wait considerably longer than they were led to believe for their upgrade disks.

I’d be curious what others in the market for Windows 7 PCs have found. Are retailers, PC makers, resellers savvy about the new PCs and upgrade deals out there? Are Windows 7 Starter netbooks good enough for you?

October 29th, 2009

Microsoft adds more choices for developers targeting its Azure cloud

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:05 am

Categories: .Net Framework, Azure, Code names, Corporate strategy, Database, Development tools, Open source, PDC 2009, Red Dog, Utility/cloud computing, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server")

Tags: Developer, Java, SDK, Microsoft Corp., Eclipse, Java Development Tools, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Development Tools, Software Development

Microsoft is getting its Azure ducks before it removes the beta tag from its cloud service in mid-November.

Update: The Azure team posted a bit of a roadmap update to their blog on October 29. The team noted that the Azure preview will remain open through the end of 2009. Microsoft plans to start charging for Azure usage/hosting as of February 1, 2010.

On October 28, the company announced plans for more development tools aimed at programmers who want to use PHP, Java and the Eclipse IDE to create and modify Web applications for Azure.

At the Eclipse Summit Europe, Microsoft announced a plug-in called the Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse which is targeted at PHP developers. The plug-in bundles together the already-announced Azure software-development kit (SDK) for PHP into the Eclipse PHP project.Soyatec is developing the new toolset, with funding and guidance from Microsoft.

The plug-in includes a Window Azure storage explorer so developers can browse data in Windows Azure tables, blobs or queues, according to Microsoft. A Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse is available for download now. The final “release to Web” of the toolkit is slated for November.

Microsoft also took the wraps off a new Windows Azure SDK for Java on Wednesday. The SDK is being developed by Soyatec in conjunction with Microsoft.  A CTP of the Soyatec SDK for Java is available for download; the final release-to-Web version is slated for November.

(Microsoft and another partner, Schakra, also are developing a Java SDK for Azure. This original SDK is targeting Azure .Net Services, while the new toolkit from Soyatek is targeting Windows Azure, the OS layer of Azure, which was codenamed Red Dog. Microsoft recently decided to pull workflow services out of the Azure .Net Services layer, so as to wait for the final .Net 4 release, slated for late March. A new CTP of the Schakra Java SDK is slated for November. There’s no word on when the final release will be done.)

In other Eclipse-related news, Microsoft and solution provider Tasktop Technologies announced they will be developing updates to the Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE) to take advantage of new features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Tasktop will contribute enhancements to the Eclipse IDE that will be available under the Eclipse Public License for early access the first quarter of 2010; general release is slated to happen as part of the Eclipse Helios release in June 2010. Microsoft is funding the project.

While Microsoft continues to put more of its Azure pieces in place prior to its PDC launch, its foremost competitor, Amazon.com, is continuing to roll out more elements of its own cloud computing environment that are squarely targeted at Microsoft. Earlier this week, Amazon announced the Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) beta. As cloud-computing maven Roger Jennings explained in a blog post, Amazon is now delivering pre-configured MySQL 5.1 instances with up to 68 GB of memory and 26 ECUs (8 virtual cores with 3.25 ECUs each) servicing up to 1 TB of data storage

October 28th, 2009

Microsoft's Windows 7 challenge: Selling Live services (without being sued)

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:57 am

Categories: Advertising, Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Live, Windows client

Tags: Antitrust, Microsoft Windows Live, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Corporate Law, Operating Systems, Software, Business Operations, Mary Jo Foley

I was wondering how aggressively — or not — Microsoft would market Windows Live services once it began selling Windows 7.

The answer seems to be somewhat aggressively. But is that tepid enough to keep the Softies out of antitrust hot water?

For more than a year now, Microsoft has been pulling certain features out of Windows and making them available as free “rich” services. The suite of these services is known as Windows Live Essentials (WLE) and includes Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Live Writer, Messenger and Mail.

Although Microsoft officials take care to avoid saying that removing features and offering them separately might be motivated in any way by the threat of antitrust suits, I’d think this would be one (big) definite upside for the WLE strategy/approach. The downside (for Microsoft) around this decoupling is that the company needs to find ways to get users to understand that these functions are available for free download, or, in some cases, preloaded by PC makers on new machines.

I asked Microsoft officials how they intended to let consumers know about the existence of Windows Live Essentials (WLE), a bundle of several Windows Live services meant to complement Windows 7, and received via e-mail this list of “ways we are educating consumers about the offering”:

• The most recent version of Windows Live Essentials (WLE) can be downloaded from download.live.com
• Most large OEMS will ship WLE on Windows 7 PCs.  For example, we have already announced that Dell will ship WLE on its machines, and we expect to announce other specific partners in the coming months.
• Windows.com and Microsoft.com both include information on WLE and where to go to download it
• Windows 7 users can find a link to download (download.live.com) WLE within the Control Panel.  An easy way to find this link is who search to type Windows Live Essentials into the Start Menu search bar
• We offer WLE as an Optional Update through the Microsoft Update program
• Customers who are enrolled in Windows Update will receive automatic upgrades to any WLE applications they have installed on their PC
• WLE is highlighted in the Getting Started experience within Windows for new PC purchasers

One way Microsoft also is getting the word out, which company officials didn’t mention, is by featuring WLE on new “Signature” PCs that are sold through Microsoft’s own Store.

As Todd Bishop over at TechFlash noted recently, the Windows 7 PCs that Microsoft is highlighting on the Microsoft online store come with a number of Microsoft software and service offerings — including WLE — preloaded. (The Signature PCs also include Microsoft Security Essentials, Silverlight, Bing 3D Maps, Zune 4.0, plus a few select third-party wares, like Adobe Flash and Reader.) Signature PCs include systems from Sony, HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and other vendors.

I’m surprised we haven’t seen Microsoft push WLE more than through some rather vague mentions by Microsoft spokesperson of the year, the now-five-year-old Kylie. But maybe the specter of looming antitrust busters is keeping the Softies from going all-out with a splashy WLE campaign.

Do you think any of the ways Microsoft is promoting WLE — including the new Signature PCs –might leave open loopholes for Microsoft’s competitors to run screaming to the authorities?

October 27th, 2009

Microsoft makes final version of Windows compatibility toolset available

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 12:28 pm

Categories: App Compatibility, Corporate strategy, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server"), Windows Server 2008/ Windows Server Longhorn, Windows client, Windows server

Tags: Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

In September, Microsoft unveiled a beta of a toolset that was designed to improve compatibility between Vista and Windows 7 (as well as Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2). The Redmondians made available on October 27 the final version of that tool, known as the Platform Update for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista.

The Platform Update — which is a set of runtime libraries — includes the Windows Ribbon and Animation Manager Library; DirectX updates for hardware acceleration; DirectCompute for hardware-accelerated parallel computing support; the XPS printing library; the Windows Automation API; and the Windows Portable Devices Platform, which standardizes data transfers across apps and portable devices.

Microsoft officials said the primary target for the Platform Update (on the client side, at least) are developers doing “games and multimedia applications that take advantage of the new features in DirectX 11, and a lot of mobile phones that wirelessly sync with music applications like Rhapsody using MTP over Bluetooth,” in the words of a corporate spokesperson.

Microsoft is planning to make the Platform Update to all Windows Vista customers over Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), System center Configuration Manager and “other third-party desktop management tools” so that developers who use the Platform libraries in building their products “can feel confident knowing it is broadly deployed.”

Here are the pertinent informational links on what was released today:

Platform Update for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista

Remote Desktop Connection 7.0 client update

Windows Management Framework Core

October 24th, 2009

Selected testers get new build of Microsoft Security Essentials

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:38 am

Categories: Anti-piracy, Code names, Corporate strategy, Security, Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Tester, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows 7, Operating Systems, Security, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft has made available for download on October 24 by a select group of testers the first build of its next release of the free Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) anti-malware product.

The new test build, No. 1.0.1676.0, is available via the Microsoft Connect site by those contacted by the company. The MSE team sent invitations for the “ongoing” beta of MSE to a subset of the Windows 7 test group earlier this month, telling those notified that they would hear back by November 1 as to whether or not they’d be getting the new test bits.

One tester who downloaded the build today told me the only difference he noticed was the new build number. Ars Technica is reporting that there are test versions available for Windows XP 32-bit (8.62MB), Windows Vista/7 32-bit (4.29MB), and Windows Vista/7 64-bit (4.72MB). Ars said that every installer grew by 0.01MB with this new build.

Here’s a copy of the e-mail message the MSE team is sending to some testers today (which one tester shared with me):

From: Microsoft Security Essentials Beta
Date: 2009/10/24
Subject: Microsoft Security Essentials Ongoing Beta Invitation
To: xxxx

The Microsoft Security Essentials Ongoing Beta Program needs you!

Interested in joining the fight against viruses, spyware, and other PC health dangers? Help improve Microsoft® Security Essentials, Microsoft’s new antimalware solution for consumers, by becoming an Ongoing Beta program tester. As part of the Microsoft Security Essentials Ongoing Beta program, you will have the opportunity to explore new builds before the public sees them, submit bugs, and give feedback. Your feedback helps Microsoftto make its software and services the best that they can.

If you are interested, please click on the link below, sign-in with Live ID/password and install the Ongoing Beta build.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE Microsoft Security Essentials Ongoing Beta Program

Best Regards,

Microsoft Security Essentials Team

Microsoft made available for download at the end of September the final version 1 of MSE. MSE (codenamed “Morro”) is the replacement for Windows Live OneCare and a superset of Windows Defender. Microsoft officials have said it will work on Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Microsoft is targeting MSE at customers who are unwilling and unable to pay for security software. Company officials have said they believed it was worth offering customers a free product to help thwart security breaches on unprotected Windows PCs that potentially could be used to infect other users’ systems.

I recently asked some of my Twitter followers and blog readers what they’d like to see in the next version of MSE. Here are a few of their responses:

PhilltheChill: “v2 of MSE should have integration within Outlook and Windows Live Mail - The icing on the cake”

nvyseal: “knock down that spike in MsMpEng.exe. http://bit.ly/VXvyr”

mgeddes: “It doesn’t show a history of scans (that I can find anyway). It would be nice to know if it did a full scan last week for instance. I have them scheduled but I don’t really have proof they ran. Maybe it puts something in the event viewer (haven’t looked), but easy and up front is better. Also, move towards business support like WSUS. (management, AD & workgroup support, reporting etc). The non-free versions from other companies always leave a lot to be desired.”

Other new feature requests for the MSE team?

October 23rd, 2009

Windows and Office cash cows take a hit in Microsoft's first quarter

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:17 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Gaming, OEMs, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client, Xbox, Xbox Live

Tags: Revenue, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Corp., EDD, Microsoft Windows, Operational Accounting, Microsoft Windows 7, Operating Systems, Software, Finance

A day after Microsoft launched Windows 7, its first quarter 2010 results are in. And both Windows and Office — Microsoft’s biggest cash cows — took a hit.

For the quarter, which ended on September 30, Microsoft’s net income was down 18 percent, to $3.57 billion, and revenues down 14 percent, to $12.92 billion — both compared to the first quarter earnings for fiscal 2009.

Because Microsoft beat analysts’ expectations for earnings-per-share and Microsoft has continued to prove it can cut costs, the company’s stock price was up this morning. And because of strong pre-orders for Windows 7 (which didn’t go on sale at retail until October 22, which is during Microsoft’s next quarter), Microsoft’s press release is highlighting “the strong consumer demand for Windows,” even though the Windows division’s revenues were down to $3.98 $2.62 billion from $4.28 billion from the comparable quarter a year ago.

Microsoft said the first quarter of 2010 was the biggest quarter for Windows sales ever. But the numbers aren’t reflecting that fact, primarily because of $1.5 billion worth of deferrals from programs it offered PC makers to convince customers to keep buying Vista PCs prior to the launch of Windows 7. Company officials also attributed the lower Windows earnings to more sales of netbooks and a decline in premium editions of Windows sold to business customers. Here’s what the company wrote in its 10-Q report, released on October 23:

“Windows Division revenue decreased primarily as a result of the deferral of approximately $1.5 billion of revenue related to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option and sales of Windows 7 to OEMs and retailers before general availability in the second quarter of fiscal year 2010. Including revenue and units associated with the Windows 7 Deferral, OEM revenue decreased $207 million or 6%, while OEM license units increased 6%. The decline in OEM revenue reflected the 8 percentage point decrease in the OEM premium mix to 63%, primarily driven by growth of licenses related to sales of netbook PCs, a decline in premium editions sold to business customers, and changes in geographic mix. Based on our estimates, total worldwide PC shipments from all sources grew approximately 0% to 2% through growth in both emerging and developed markets.”

Things weren’t quite as bad for the Microsoft Business Division, which sells Office and Microsoft’s Dynamics ERP/CRM products. But sales were still down, even though the Office 2010 release is still quite a number of months away. (It is expected to ship in mid-2010.) The company attributed the revenue decrease to a decline in licenses sold for Office 2007 and to a shift to lower-priced products among consumers. The particulars, again, from the 10Q:

“MBD revenue decreased reflecting decreased consumer and business revenue, and included an unfavorable impact from foreign currency exchange rates of $88 million or two percentage points. Consumer revenue decreased $390 million or 34%, primarily as a result of pricing promotions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 that drove increased licensing in that period, a shift to lower-priced products, and a decline in licensing the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Business revenue decreased $161 million or 4%, primarily reflecting a decline in licensing the 2007 Microsoft Office system to transactional business customers and a 6% decrease in Microsoft Dynamics revenue, offset in part by growth in multi-year volume licensing agreement revenue. The growth in multi-year volume licensing agreement revenue primarily reflects recognition of deferred revenue from previously signed agreements.”

Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division’s revenues were flat for the quarter. EDD is responsible for Xbox, PC games, Zunes, keyboards/mice and other hardware, and Windows Mobile sales. EDD revenue was flat, with growth in Xbox 360 and games offsetting decreased revenue from other parts of the business. From the 10Q:

“Non-gaming revenue decreased $98 million or 14%, primarily reflecting decreased sales of PC hardware products, Zune digital music and entertainment devices and services, and embedded device platforms. Foreign currency exchange rates accounted for a $35 million or two percentage point decrease in revenue.”

Microsoft’s online services unit continued to lose money, and the Server division’s revenues were relatively flat for the quarter.

This quarter reflects changes by Microsoft in its reporting structure, with Windows Live now part of the Windows client unit, and mobile services moved to Entertainment and Devices.