September 15, 1999--Bill Gates Address at DevDays '99

Read what Bill Gates, Jeff Price, and Art Ford had to say during the kickoff for DevDays '99. These are interesting times indeed!

September 13, 1999--Microsoft Launches Windows DNA 2000

Well folks, the wraps are coming off the pretty package we have been talking about, and this launch of Windows DNA 2000 just prior to DevDays '99 on September 15th in 32 cities, will debut more of Microsoft's massive DNA strategy, as well as specific new technologies that are part of the Windows DNA 2000 family of solutions. It is just going to get better and more exciting and sophisticated from here. The official press announcement is in Microsoft's Press Pass Area.

You should consider reading Steve Ballmer's "Developing Web Applications" Press Briefing and the other part of the breifing from Paul Maritz, Group Vice-President for Development at Microsoft.

There is a major thrust toward supporting the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), so be sure to visit the new XML Developer Center to learn more about this very hot emerging technology. Take an advance look at the new server farm integration system, AppCenter Server, set to appear in the second quarter of 2000.

Then, take some time to become familiar with the BizTalk Framework. This is where the rubber meets the road with XML. You'll definitely be seeing more and more transition to XML from Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)--the language of eCommerce--in the future.

If that is not enough, then here are a couple more jewels for the crown. Shiloh, which is version 8.0 of SQL server, should roll-out of beta about mid-2000. It will will add native XML support and integrated data-mining capabilities, and will take full advantage of Windows 2000 for even greater scalability and availability. Then Babylon, the new XML Transaction Integrator, which is SNA Server 5.0, should roll-out of beta about the same time. It will provide bidirectional network, data, and application integration with a variety of legacy hosts.

These are indeed interesting times. Shiloh will give us a portal into the world of knowledge discovery in databases, with built-in capabilities for data warehousing, OnLine Analytical Processing (OLAP), and data mining.

August 23, 1999--Barry Cox and Associates Announces New DNA Web Site

Today marked the launch of the second version of this site hosted courtesy of AngelFire. In the months ahead, it is planned that the site will migrate to an ASP server and be presented in different flavors to support the technologies favored by our visitors. This site exists to serve you and if you found it through a search engine and didn't get the information you came looking for, please let us know and we will see about presenting it here for you.

May 25, 1999--Microsoft Senior Vice President Bob Muglia

At the TechEd '99 Conference in Dallas, Bob Muglia introduced new technologies, Platinum, Tahoe, and Grizzly. Platinum is the next upgrade to Exchange Server 5.5 and in addition to providing a new centralized WebStore, it makes Exchange use the Active Directory in Windows 2000 for its storage. How does that help? It makes the e-mail system programmable. As far as a program is concerned, it can treat Active Directory and Exchange data as just another file system. That will have a lot of ramifications. Messages that come via e-mail, for example, can be automatically processed, transformed, and routed.

Along those lines, Grizzly will provide new tools in the Microsoft Office Developer's Edition to design groupware processes for Internet and SQL applications, allowing workgroups and teams to track and collaborate business data relevant to a workgroup. Tahoe will provide a way to crawl over large intranet and search make it easy to dig stuff out whether it is in Lotus Notes, a SQL Server database, documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and so on. All this will integrate snuggly with Microsoft Office 2000 to empower the Knowledge Worker of the 21st century. This is yet another variation of Windows DNA. Pretty cool, eh?

February 23, 1999--Microsoft President Steve Ballmer

Here is a press release introducing Windows DNA For Manufacturing, but the article is called Understanding the Windows DNA Architecture. It's part of the recommended reading for Microsoft Certified Solution Developers, and it is good background for anyone else with an interest in Windows DNA.

December 3, 1997--Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates

During the Bank Administration Institute's Retail Delivery '97 Conference, Bill Gates announced a Windows DNA extension called Windows DNA FS (DNA for Financial Services). This initial extension addressed the problem of how to integrate fragmented data and transactions in retail banking operations. DNA FS was immediately supported by a whole slew of Microsoft Solutions Developers focused on the banking sector.

Later, on January 20, 1998, at the Financial Markets Summit, Bill Gates announced another DNA FS expansion, this time for the securities industry. This too was immediately supported by leading software vendors. Then, on May 18, 1998, Microsoft announced an expansion of DNA FS for the insurance industry. This announcement was made to attendees of the Agency Company Organization for Research and Development's (ACORDs) Annual Technology Conference. The announcement was greeted with suport by major insurance industry companies and software providers.

Updated September 16, 1999--We update often so please check back for new information.