This morning I saw Windows Vista's performance-adjusting feature in action, when the operating system switched the user interface from "Aero" glass to "Basic."

Unlike its predecessors, Windows Vista adjusts--and even turns off--some features based on the PC hardware or software. For example, Windows Vista will turn off the "Aero" user interface for computers with insufficient graphics accelerators. Today, I experienced this capability for the first time with a software application.

Testers are clamoring for Vista Beta 2, which Microsoft announced on Tuesday, but many of them have been unable to download the bits due to download-server overload.
 
"It'll be 10:00 tonight by the time I get Vista Beta 2 downloaded," one wanna-be tester said early Wednesday morning.

 

Is Microsoft gearing up for yet another acquisition?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the Redmondians are eyeing another ad-serving company.

 

Microsoft is encouraging developers to start to add now support for its fledgling 'Windows Media Photo' specification to devices and applications that read or write image files.
 
 SEATTLE – Not content to take on PDF and PostScript with Windows, Microsoft now also is setting its sights on going head-to-head with the JPEG imaging standard.

The first testers managing to download Windows Vista 2 bits are reporting in. They say it's not all smooth sailing, and are encountering everything from driver and app compatibility problems, to red-hot laptops.

SEATTLE – A day after Microsoft announced availability of Windows Vista Beta 2, the first testers are overcoming download bottlenecks and obtaining bits. While many are finding the latest build to be more stable and better performing, they also are still hitting driver and application compatibility issues, among other system problems.

Microsoft execs haven't said a whole lot about Longhorn Server as of late. But at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle on Tuesday, company officials shared more Longhorn Server specifics, and even talked a bit about future Windows Server releases, including the "Centro" mid-market server, Longhorn Server R2 and a possible Windows Server Branch product.

The Windows Live team is continuing to beat the developer drum.

Next week, the company is planning to launch a preview of its Windows Live Dev portal, aimed at Microsoft and third-party developers.

The invites are out. Microsoft is signing up testers for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack (SP) 2. Testing is slated to start this summer.

Microsoft is readying a new 'Windows Live Dev' portal aimed at coders interested in building on top of the Redmond software vendor's Windows Live interfaces. Microsoft will launch a preview of the site next week.

Microsoft is recruiting not only Windows Live beta testers, but developers, as well.

Microsoft is expected to release Beta 2 of Office 2007 to thousands, if not millions, of testers any time now. Microsoft employees began deploying internally the final Beta 2 code last week, according to various Microsoft bloggers.

If you're confused by all the Microsoft Live branding, get ready to be even more so. Yahoo introduced this week LiveSearch, -- one word, as opposed to Microsoft's Windows Live Search. Yahoo's LiveSearch is search with auto-complete built in, and an evolution of Instant Search (two words). Got that? Good.

Microsoft has trotted out a few Windows Live services that are aimed expressly at cell-phone and PDA users.

Now it seems the company is planning to make similar moves on the Office Live side of the house.

When Microsoft launches Windows Vista, the company is planning to tout its security advances as the No. 1 reason to buy.

But analysts with the Yankee Group are wondering aloud whether Vista's security features are off-the-mark.

As is well-documented by now, Microsoft's vaguely explained spending plans for fiscal 2007 raised some Wall Street analysts' hackles last week. This week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer attempted to calm company watchers further, by disclosing more info on what Microsoft is expecting to spend on MSN in the coming year.

Microsoft's got three security bulletins on tap for next week. Patches are coming for Windows and Exchange vulnerabilities, all of which are deemed critical. More details will be available on Tuesday, May 9.

While we still have yet to see an press acknowledgement, Microsoft has acquired Web analytics vendor DeepMetrix. DeepMetrix's technology goes head-to-head with Google Analytics, the Urchin technology that Google acquired in March 2005.

Microsoft is expected to show off its new advertising platform, expected in June, at next week's powwow, as well as share more Live Services tidbits. 

While Jay-Z is on the agenda for Microsoft's seventh annual MSN Strategic Account Summit next week, the real star of the conference will be MSN's adCenter.