techfest

REDMOND, Wash.--Aiming to build on the metaphor popularized by Wikipedia, a pair of Microsoft researchers have built Micropedia, an internal wiki cataloging every person and project within the company.

Microsoft researcher Steve Ickman said while the company's internal SharePoint site is great for some uses, there are some features that the Wikipedia engine has that are missing in Microsoft's product. One big thing is the engine's ability to archive. On the SharePoint site, typically only the current status of a project is shown.

"Once it's gone, it's gone," Ickman said of the … Read more

Microsoft's TechFest internal science fair wasn't just about social networking and telescopes.

The company also discussed new technology closer to its roots: an operating system kernel concept called "Singularity" intended as a showcase for some cutting-edge computer science.

The software isn't the next version of Windows or a reheated DOS. It's a prototype of an operating system intended for computer science research that Microsoft said demonstrates the possibilities for software that is more dependable and secure than contemporary OSes (yes, that includes Windows).

"Singularity is not the next Windows," Rick Rashid, senior … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft showed off two social-networking projects at TechFest on Tuesday that show that the company wants to do more in this area than just invest in Facebook.

One project, known as Salsa, aims to use one's corporate data to piece together their social network, or at least their network of co-workers. In its current form, the software is a plug-in to Outlook that shows social-networking information such as a photo and profile next to an incoming e-mail message. The program also pieces together a list of "friends" based on e-mail frequency and other data.

"… Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--One of the key things in Microsoft's new WorldWide Telescope software has nothing to do with space.

The software uses a new Microsoft "visual experience engine" to gather and stitch together images from multiple data sets as well as allow a variety of users to author their own guided tour. While space was a good area to try out the technology, principal researcher Curtis Wong notes that it's not the final frontier for the visual experience engine.

"It's a core one to start with," he said, but noted that the idea … Read more

Microsoft aimed to spice up its TechFest keynote event Tuesday by inviting actor and PBS science show host Alan Alda onstage to chat with executive Craig Mundie.

Though perhaps an odd pairing, it's not uncommon for Microsoft to have celebrities and executives mingle onstage at its events.

During the talk, Alda and Mundie talked about how computer science is moving into new areas such as biology. One topic they adressed was the notion that at some point drugs may be able to truly be tested on computer cell simulations rather than living beings.

Alda pressed Mundie on whether Microsoft … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft kicked off its annual TechFest internal science fair on Tuesday, touting a wide range of projects that span from new views of outer space to efforts much closer to home.

Among the projects being shown are several efforts in the area of search, where Microsoft has been counting on its research team to help the company better compete against Google.

Research chief Rick Rashid didn't mention Google by name, but did say that investing in basic research can help a company when technology shifts and as new rivals emerge.

"You don't know what's … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--When Microsoft releases its WorldWide Telescope this spring, the program will be a Windows-only download.

Much of the astronomical community, however, uses Macs and other Unix-based hardware. So, when principal developer Jonathan Fay shows off the program, he often uses a MacBook Pro. The telescope program itself, though, is running in Windows using the Mac's dual-boot Boot Camp software.

Other Mac users will have to use similar technology. The program can theoretically run using virtualization programs, such as VMware's Fusion or Parallels, but 3D applications often throw those programs for a loop.

Principal researcher Curtis Wong … Read more

Is flying through outer space from the comfort of your living room enough to make you cry?

It is for former Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble. A couple weeks back he said on his blog that a new Microsoft technology made him cry. He didn't give many details, citing a confidentiality agreement, but he provided enough there for folks to connect the dots.

My new boss, Dan Farber, correctly predicted that it was an updated version of the WorldWide Telescope program, a fact later confirmed by TechCrunch.

Microsoft researcher Curtis Wong showed an early version of the telescope software at … Read more