REDMOND, Wash. — July 2, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that it plans to make the next version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM available in the fall of 2013. Designed to redefine how businesses engage with their customers, the new version represents the approach Microsoft Dynamics is taking to developing and delivering business solutions that put people at the center.

Available both online as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Fall '13 and on-premises as Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, this major release will deliver more personal experiences to sales, marketing and customer care professionals. The new release gives people the ability to access their information on a variety of devices;* introduces a new user experience that is fast and fluid, enabling people to access information that is relevant to their jobs; and delivers richer contextual information that helps people have deeper insights into customers and their needs. Microsoft Dynamics CRM also offers enhanced social collaboration capabilities, so users can connect with the right people, and the right resources, at the right time.

“Customers don’t want to be sold to anymore. They are knowledgeable and are interacting with their social and professional networks to make their buying decisions. They expect businesses to help them make the most informed choice,” said Bob Stutz, corporate vice president, Microsoft Dynamics CRM. “Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps people connect with these customers in a way that is personal — giving them the information they need to choose the right solutions, engage to drive sales and nurture relationships to deliver amazing experiences.”

Matching, engaging and nurturing customers

Placing people at the core, by understanding how they work and what they need to accomplish in their jobs, the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM brings capabilities that help people.

Match customers with the products and services they need by doing the following:

• Offering a connection to MarketingPilot, Microsoft’s marketing automation solution, which lets businesses manage products, budgets and resources and executes and monitors marketing campaigns, helping deliver a consistent customer experience across social and digital channels. It also helps businesses understand the digital footprint of its customers and convert it to leads, which can then be passed seamlessly to the sales system.

• Delivering business process excellence, which lets users change business processes such as sales, service, etc., based on the needs of their customers and deliver an experience that matches their expectations.

Engage at the right level to enable richer interactions by doing the following:

• Implementing a new outcome-driven user interface based on industry-leading best practices, helping sales teams to easily move from lead to close faster than ever before. At the same time, it gives organizations the ability to be agile in the face of changing market conditions.

• Introducing new mobile client applications on iPad and Windows 8 tablets, giving users access to powerful functionality and analytics on the go. Shortly following the release of the new release of CRM, Microsoft plans to offer new touch-optimized mobile experiences for Windows Phone 8, iPhone and Android phones, extending user access to CRM information on their favorite devices.

Nurture enduring relationships to foster brand loyalty by doing the following:

• Providing capabilities for people to collaborate with each other and share customer knowledge through Yammer right within the CRM solution, enabling them to deliver amazing customer experiences.

• Connecting Lync and Skype seamlessly, enabling people to reach out to their customers and communities in real time, so they can be more informed and have more personal and lasting relationships.

As part of the Microsoft’s work to bring the capabilities of Netbreeze, its recently acquired social monitoring and analytics service, to customers, the company will also be offering a limited beta of the service available in fall 2013.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers and prospects can learn more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-vision.aspx. Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners can follow the launch at https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/solutions/CRM/CRMLaunchPage.htm. In addition, they can follow and engage with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM community @MSDynamicsCRM, http://www.twitter.com/msdynamicscrm.

About Microsoft Dynamics

At the heart of every successful business are the people who make things happen. Microsoft Dynamics designs modern business solutions that empower individuals with intuitive tools that allow them to do their best work. Our proactive, easy-to-use business applications adapt to the way people and systems work, enabling businesses to rapidly deploy and be forward-looking in an ever-changing world.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Devices include Windows 8 tablets and iPad Tablets with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013; Windows Phone 8, iPhone and Android phone shortly following the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Novosoft LLC, one of the leading providers of backup solutions for home and corporate users, has launched an add-on for their popular software Handy Backup. The new plug-in helps to back up PostgreSQL databases in a simple and convenient way.

"PostgreSQL is one of the fastest, most widely used, and reliable free database management systems. It satisfies the requirements of all kinds of consumers: it’s popular among individual programmers and is also used by large corporations. To meet market’s need of information safety, we have implemented advanced support for PostgreSQL backup in Handy Backup. Our new solution is one of the most reliable ways to perform PostgreSQL backup and, I hope, will be appreciated by users,” – said Aleksey Dolgushev, Head of Handy Backup Business Development Department.

PostgreSQL functionality is included in business editions of Handy Backup (Small Server and Network Server) and can be added to other versions through a purchase of a respective plug-in.

The program lets users back up PostgreSQL tables located on both local and remote computers without stopping them due to the Hot Backup technology.

The plug-in presents the smart scheduler that allows setting up program only once to run backup and restore tasks automatically on a minute to monthly basis. The software can be launched as Windows service and will perform backups on time even if a user is not logged on.

Handy Backup provides assured protection for backups: all copies can be saved with advanced encryption and can be protected by password.

PostgreSQL backups could be saved to hard drives, local and remote servers including FTP/SFTP/FTPS servers, WebDav storage, and popular cloud storages such as Amazon S3, Google Drive and others. All copies could be saved with ZIP-compression to minimize required storing space.

Handy Backup is claimed to be one of the market’s most effective solutions for PostgreSQL backup with a broad range of useful features.

More information about Handy Backup can be found on the official website: http://handybackup.net

From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: Monday, July 1, 2013
To: Microsoft – All Employees
Subject: Don Mattrick’s Next Chapter

Zynga announced today that Don Mattrick would be its new CEO, effective July 8. This is a great opportunity for Don, and I wish him success. Don’s directs will report to me and will continue to drive the day-to-day business as a team, particularly focused on shipping Xbox One this holiday.

Since joining IEB more than six years ago, Don and his team have accomplished much. Xbox Live members grew from 6 million to 48 million. Xbox 360 became the No. 1 selling console in North America the past two years. We introduced Kinect and have sold more than 24 million sensors. We released fantastic games, and, most importantly, we expanded Xbox to go beyond great gaming to deliver all the entertainment people want — sports, music, movies, live television and much more.

In the past month, the IEB team showed for the first time here on our Redmond campus, and again at E3, how we are going to continue to transform entertainment with Xbox One. I am incredibly proud of the work and vision culminating in Xbox One.

I’m particularly excited about how Xbox pushes forward our devices and services transformation by bringing together the best of Microsoft. The consoles are incredible all-in-one devices with built-in services that consumers love, including Bing, Xbox Live, Internet Explorer, SkyDrive and Skype. And, just as important, Xbox Games, Xbox Video, Xbox Music and SmartGlass light up Windows PCs, tablets and phones.

Thank you, Don, for setting us on a path to completely redefine the entertainment industry. The strong leadership team at IEB and their teams are well positioned to deliver the next-generation entertainment console, as well as transformative entertainment experiences, long into the future.

Steve

REDMOND, W ash. — July 1, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the initial phase of its business-channel expansion plans for the Surface family of PCs, along with AppsForSurface — a new Surface application-development program for independent software vendors (ISVs).

As part of its measured and phased approach to the growth of the Surface business, Microsoft announced the Microsoft Devices Program, which allows customers to purchase Surface and commercial services through authorized resellers. The two-tier program establishes Ingram Micro Inc., SYNNEX Corp. and Tech Data Corp. as inaugural device-authorized distributors to sell Surface to a newly designated group of device-authorized commercial resellers. Today, these resellers include CDW, CompuCom Systems Inc., En Pointe Technologies, Insight Enterprises Inc., PC Connection Inc., PCM Inc., SHI International Corp., Softchoice, Softmart and Zones Inc. In addition to offering Microsoft’s extended warranty and accidental damage, resellers bring a variety of value-added services to the Surface family such as asset tagging, custom imaging, kitting, onsite service and support, device recycling. and data protection. During the next few months, Microsoft will work to authorize commercial distributors and resellers in more countries.

AppsForSurface, a new ISV program that provides devices and funding for Surface-specific business applications, addresses the growing demand for Surface enterprise applications. Current program participants include Airstrip, Citrix, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Sage.

In June, Microsoft announced a one-time offer for Surface RT starting at $199 for qualifying educational institutes running until the end of August in 26 countries, valid for all K–12 schools and universities purchasing direct from Microsoft. In the coming days, Microsoft will expand this offer into the commercial channel starting with Authorized Surface Resellers in the United States. Microsoft has a long tradition of delivering high-quality solutions for education, and this offer is intended to get Surface in the hands of even more educators and students.

More information is available here. B-roll footage is available here.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

The information contained in this press release relates to a prerelease software product that may be substantially modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the software product when first commercially released. The press release is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the press release or the information contained in it.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.