Microsoft is likely to soon announce a partnership deal with Nokia to help get its Office software onto Nokia mobile phones. The two sides aren’t talking details, but both have confirmed a press conference today and are expected to discuss on the lines of alliance.

The software-maker had earlier announced that its next version of Office will be compatible with browser, and had announced web-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. (However, Microsoft has yet to start publicly testing the browser-based versions. The final version of Office 2010 is due next year)

These programs will be able to run inside Safari and Firefox in addition to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. That means Office, for the first time, will run on Linux-based machines.
Although Nokia and Microsoft have long been rivals in the phone business, the two have struck deals at times. Nokia already has a license that allows its phones to connect to Exchange Servers using Microsoft’s ActiveSync protocol.

As BoomTown promised earlier today, here’s the first of many filings related to the Yahoo-Microsoft online search and advertising deal announced last week.

The 8-K filing was made with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Yahoo.

Some highlights, although most of them are not that new:

* No termination fee.

* There is a $50 million annual payment to Yahoo (YHOO) by Microsoft (MSFT) for three years, for unspecified “transition and implementation costs” beyond the agreement.

(Personally, I think it’s for extra Advil needed for the headaches engendered organizing this circus.)

* At least 400 Yahoo employees will be hired by Microsoft, which will also provide funds for retention packages to keep 150 more Yahoos motivated during the transition.

* The “Definitive Agreement” between the Silicon Valley company and the Redmond, Wash., software giant needs to be sketched out by October 27, 2009.

But why don’t you read all the niggling details yourself, including about Google (GOOG), below (I stripped away only minor SEC legalese and fill-in-the-blank details):

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

Binding Letter Agreement–General Terms

On July 29, 2009, Yahoo! Inc., a Delaware corporation (”Yahoo!”), and Microsoft Corporation, a Washington corporation (”Microsoft”), entered into a binding letter agreement (the “Letter Agreement”), pursuant to which the parties will negotiate and execute a Search and Advertising Services and Sales Agreement and a License Agreement (the “Definitive Agreements”), each reflecting and supplementing the provisions of such Definitive Agreements as set forth in annexes to the Letter Agreement, the material provisions of which are summarized below.

Negotiation and Execution of the Definitive Agreements

Pursuant to the terms of the Letter Agreement, the parties will negotiate and execute the Definitive Agreements as soon as practicable but in any event by October 27, 2009 (the “Negotiation Period”). If the Definitive Agreements are not executed during the Negotiation Period, the parties will submit any disputes regarding the final terms of the Definitive Agreements to an arbitration panel. The arbitration panel will render its decision based upon the terms of the Letter Agreement, the nature of the commercial relationship to be created thereunder, and the submissions and presentations of the parties at a hearing conducted by the arbitration panel. The arbitration panel will render a decision by choosing the final proposed contractual language of either Microsoft or Yahoo! without modification, subject to a final review process to resolve any potential inconsistencies. The decision of the arbitration panel will be binding on the parties, and the parties agree to execute Definitive Agreements as determined by the arbitration panel within three (3) days of the receipt of the arbitration panel’s final decision.

Regulatory Review

Microsoft and Yahoo! agree to use their respective best efforts to cooperate in connection with all necessary regulatory filings. In addition, as soon as practicable after July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! will make all filings required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 as amended (the “HSR Act”) and by any applicable foreign antitrust laws. Microsoft further agrees to use its best efforts to obtain any consents, clearances or approvals required under or in connection with the HSR Act or any other applicable antitrust law, including offering, negotiating or committing to any restrictions on the activities of Microsoft and its subsidiaries in search and paid search and contesting and defending any threatened or pending litigation, investigation or proceeding under applicable antitrust laws.

Conditions to Commencement and Termination Prior to Commencement

The obligations of each party to commence performance of their obligations under the Definitive Agreements (the “Commencement Date”) are only subject to (a) termination or expiration of the HSR Act waiting period and receipt of certain required foreign antitrust approvals and (b) the accuracy of the party’s representations and warranties in the Letter Agreement as of the time immediately prior to the Commencement Date and performance by the other party of its obligations required to be performed by it in connection with the Letter Agreement and the Definitive Agreements at or prior to the Commencement Date, except where the failure of such representations and warranties to be true and accurate or the failure of such performance would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect with respect to such party.

Prior to the Commencement Date, the Letter Agreement and Definitive Agreements may be terminated only by (a) mutual consent, (b) if a breach renders a condition incapable of being satisfied by the Termination Date (as defined below), or (c) if the conditions to commencement have not been satisfied by July 29, 2010 (the “Termination Date”); provided that Yahoo!, in its sole discretion, has the right to extend the Termination Date by six (6) months if the required antitrust approvals have not yet been obtained.

Search and Advertising Services and Sales Agreement

Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, the parties have agreed to enter into a global Search and Advertising Services and Sales Agreement (“Search Agreement”), which will include, among other provisions, the terms summarized below.

General Services

For a period of ten (10) years beginning on the Commencement Date (the “Term”), Microsoft will be Yahoo!’s exclusive technology provider for algorithmic and paid search services and Microsoft will provide contextual advertising to Yahoo! on a non-exclusive basis. Yahoo! will be the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for Yahoo!’s and Microsoft’s premium search advertisers.

The services provided by Microsoft under the Search Agreement will be provided on all web sites, applications and other online digital properties owned or operated by or on behalf of (a) Yahoo!, Yahoo! subsidiaries and Yahoo! joint venture relationships, as well as on software applications developed or distributed by Yahoo! or Yahoo! subsidiaries that provide access to or enable algorithmic search services or paid search services (”Yahoo! Properties”) and (b) Yahoo! Syndication Partners (as defined below), as well as software applications developed or distributed by Yahoo!’s Syndication Partners that provide access to or enable algorithmic search services or paid search services from Yahoo! (”Syndication Properties”). “Syndication Partner” means a third party with whom Yahoo! has contracted to provide algorithmic search services or paid search services.

Subject to certain specified restrictions, Yahoo! will have full flexibility with respect to the user experience, content and look and feel on all of its web pages, and will also be entitled to use the paid search services and algorithmic search services for non-internet search queries with minimal restriction.

The scope of the services to be provided by Microsoft under the Search Agreement are limited to web sites, applications and other online digital properties designed for use and consumption on personal computers. In addition, Yahoo! may at its option elect to receive Microsoft’s mapping services and mobile search services. Yahoo! may implement each of the mapping services and the mobile search services on a non-exclusive or an exclusive basis. Yahoo! also has the option to work with Microsoft to implement the services on other platforms. If Yahoo! elects to receive services for other platforms, it must receive such services on an exclusive basis.

Revenue Share Payments and Other Payments

During the first five years of the Term, Yahoo! will be entitled to receive 88% of the net revenues generated from Microsoft’s services on Yahoo! Properties (the “Revenue Share Rate”). Yahoo! will also be entitled to receive its share (at the Revenue Share Rate) of the net revenues generated on Syndication Properties after the Syndication Partner’s share of net revenues is deducted. For new Syndication Properties during the Term, and for all Syndication Properties after the first five years of the Term, Yahoo! will receive its share (at the Revenue Share Rate) of the net revenues generated from Microsoft’s services on Syndication Properties after the Syndication Partner’s share of net revenues and certain Microsoft costs are deducted.

On the fifth anniversary of the Commencement Date, Microsoft will have the option to terminate Yahoo!’s sales exclusivity for premium search advertisers. If Microsoft exercises its option, the Revenue Share Rate will increase to 93% for the remainder of the Term, unless Yahoo! exercises its option to retain its sales exclusivity, in which case the Revenue Share Rate would be reduced to 83% for the remainder of the Term. If Microsoft does not exercise such option, the Revenue Share Rate will be 90% for the remainder of the Term.

Microsoft will also pay Yahoo! a payment of $50 million annually during the first three (3) years of the Search Agreement. Yahoo! may use these payments to partially cover transition and implementation costs not otherwise covered under the Search Agreement.

Microsoft will provide in each country an 18-month guarantee for the gross revenue per search (the “RPS”) for Yahoo! Properties. The guarantee will be based on the RPS average for the trailing 12-month period prior to the initial implementation of paid search services in such country.

Termination Provisions

In addition to the termination rights described in the Letter Agreement above, the Search Agreement may only be terminated as follows (each, a “Termination Event”): (a) either party may terminate upon repeated material breaches of material provisions of the Search Agreement such that it is unlikely that the breaching party is willing or able to continue to perform its obligations under the Search Agreement without continuing to materially breach it; (b) Yahoo! may terminate if Microsoft attempts to exit the business of algorithmic search or search monetization, either by ceasing to offer the services or by selling or attempting to sell all or substantially all of either its algorithmic search services business or paid search services business to an unaffiliated third party; (c) Yahoo! may terminate the Search Agreement if the trailing 12-month average of the RPS in the United States (the “U.S. RPS”) of Yahoo! and Microsoft’s combined queries falls below a specified percentage of Google Inc.’s (”Google”) estimated RPS measured on a comparable basis or if the combined Yahoo! and Microsoft query market share in the United States falls below a specified percentage; (d) on the fifth anniversary of the Search Agreement, and any time thereafter, Yahoo! has the right to terminate the Search Agreement if the trailing 12-month average of Yahoo!’s U.S. RPS is less than a specified percentage of Google’s estimated RPS; or (e) subject to exceptions, either party may terminate if a law, regulation or order would have a significant, adverse impact on a primary aspect of such party’s intended benefit of the Search Agreement.

If a Termination Event occurs in the United States, the entire Search Agreement may be terminated. If a Termination Event does not occur in the United States a party’s termination right is limited to the specific country or countries in which the event occurs.

If Microsoft proposes or attempts to sell all or substantially all of either its algorithmic search services business or paid search services business to an unaffiliated third party, Yahoo! will have a right of first refusal and right of last offer to purchase such businesses.

Service Level Agreements

The Search Agreement will provide (a) for service parity under which applicable application programming interfaces (”Microsoft API”) will be made available to Yahoo! at full parity with that which is made available to Microsoft’s internal teams; (b) for ranking and content parity under which Microsoft will provide the same algorithmic and paid search results in the same order as would be provided in response to the same inputs on web sites that are owned or operated by or for Microsoft, its subsidiaries and its joint venture relationships (”Microsoft O&O Properties”) in a particular country, including any content that is included in Microsoft’s algorithmic index; (c) for prioritization parity, under which Yahoo! will have full visibility into Microsoft product roadmap and parity with Microsoft’s internal teams in the product update prioritization process; and (d) for advertising parity under which neither party will allow advertisers to designate paid listings from Microsoft’s paid search or encourage advertisers to designate paid listings from Microsoft’s contextual advertising services to be displayed exclusively on Microsoft’s or Yahoo!’s respective results web pages. Furthermore, Microsoft will not treat Yahoo! or Yahoo!’s Syndication Partners less favorably than Microsoft and Microsoft’s partners in connection with its delivery and operation of the services.

Microsoft will optimize the delivery of paid listings by evaluating performance across all Microsoft O&O Properties and the Yahoo! Properties. The paid listings provided by Microsoft for Yahoo! will be optimized at parity with Microsoft’s optimization for Microsoft O&O Properties. Yahoo! may further optimize based on its own desired implementation.

Yahoo! may, at its option, elect to have Microsoft deliver the algorithmic search services and paid search services through a search results page hosted by Microsoft (the “White Label Solution”) on a country by country basis (if the United States is also a White Label Solution country), instead of through the Microsoft API. The White Label Solution will be in all material respects the same as Microsoft’s search results pages. Yahoo! may substitute Yahoo! applications or services for Microsoft applications or services within the White Label Solution.

Data Provisions

Microsoft will provide Yahoo! all data it collects as a result of its implementation of the services on Yahoo! Properties and Syndication Properties and, subject to Yahoo!’s privacy policies and applicable law, Yahoo! may use such data without contractual restriction in connection with its businesses. Microsoft will also use commercially reasonable efforts to enable Yahoo! and its Syndication Partners to obtain any other data that Yahoo! currently collects with respect to its own algorithmic search services and paid search services. Microsoft may obtain and use the data it collects as a result of its implementation of the services (including any derivative information that results from this data) only for the purpose of operating and enhancing the services and not for other Microsoft products and services.

Transition and Implementation Plan

As promptly as practicable, Yahoo! and Microsoft will agree on a detailed transition and implementation plan and schedule for implementing Microsoft’s algorithmic search services and paid search services on all Yahoo! Properties and Syndication Properties. The transition and implementation plan will be for a period of no longer than 24 months from the Commencement Date, subject to an extension for up to three additional months if the end of the 24-month period ends during the fourth quarter of a calendar year. The parties intend that the transition and implementation plan will be either set forth in a separate transition services agreement or as part of the Search Agreement.

Following the Commencement Date, Microsoft will hire not less than 400 Yahoo! employees (the “Transferred Employees”) and will offer the Transferred Employees market competitive compensation packages. In addition, Yahoo! and Microsoft will mutually agree on a retention plan to be paid for by Microsoft to assist in retaining the Transferred Employees and an additional 150 Yahoo! employees to be mutually agreed upon between Microsoft and Yahoo! to assist with providing the transition services.

License Agreement

Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, the parties have agreed to enter into a License Agreement (the “License Agreement”), which will include, among other provisions, the terms summarized below.

Exclusive Technology License

During the Term (as defined in the summary of the Search Agreement above), Yahoo! will grant to Microsoft a worldwide license (the “Technology License”) under copyrights and trade secrets relating to specified Yahoo! algorithmic and paid search technology for Microsoft to use in connection with providing specified algorithmic search, paid search and contextual advertising services (the “Field of Use”). The Technology License will be exclusive (even as to Yahoo!) as to certain algorithmic search and paid search services in the Field of Use. Upon termination or expiration of the Search Agreement, the Technology License will remain in effect but will become non-exclusive.

Limited Non-Exclusive Patent Cross License

During the Term, Yahoo! will grant to Microsoft a worldwide, non-exclusive limited patent license solely for Microsoft to provide services in the Field of Use to Yahoo!; and Microsoft will grant to Yahoo! a worldwide, non-exclusive limited patent license for Yahoo! to use and implement the services provided by Microsoft, as contemplated by the Search Agreement (the “Limited Patent Cross License”). The Limited Patent Cross License terminates upon the termination of the Search Agreement.

Patent License Option

Microsoft will also have an option to obtain from Yahoo! a worldwide, non-exclusive license under Yahoo!’s patents for Microsoft to provide online services in the Field of Use both with Microsoft’s owned and operated websites and to third parties (”Patent License”). The option will expire upon the earlier of July 29, 2011 and the date six (6) months following the Commencement Date. Should Microsoft exercise its option to obtain the Patent License, Microsoft will pay for such Patent License at a specified discount from fair market value. Such Patent License will also terminate upon termination of the Search Agreement.

Yahoo! may terminate the Patent License if Microsoft files an infringement action against Yahoo!, Yahoo! subsidiaries or Yahoo! joint venture relationships. Termination of the Patent License does not affect Microsoft’s obligations under the Search Agreement.

Assignment and Transfer

Microsoft may not assign the License Agreement without Yahoo!’s permission. Assignment or transfer of the licensed technology will be subject to the licenses. Neither party is prevented or restricted from licensing, selling or otherwise disposing of any of its patent assets, and Microsoft’s option to obtain the Patent License will not apply to any patents sold or otherwise disposed of by Yahoo! prior to the exercise of the option.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

YAHOO! INC. (Registrant)
By: /s/ Michael J. Callahan
Name: Michael J. Callahan
Title: Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Date: August 4, 2009

source: allthingsd

Microsoft has launched Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 for mid-market companies. It provides capabilities, including smart search, security-enhanced payment processing, and a SDK. This platform is designed to boost employee productivity and provide data for business solutions.

The software includes a number of features designed to take advantage of current IT trends, including optimization for touch-screens and the ability to create custom buttons.

Dynamics CRM also facilitates Microsoft’s public sector on-demand solutions for government and education. The company has also introduced several features for its Dynamics CRM suite that allow the enterprise to pull data from social networks, including Twitter and centralize sales management across multiple channel partners through a common Website and integrate it with Web portals

Microsoft will pay Yahoo $50 million a year for three years and hire at least 400 Yahoo employees, as part of the companies’ recent search agreement, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Yahoo-Microsoft deal will make Microsoft’s Bing search engine power Yahoo’s search site, while Yahoo will sell premium search ad services for both companies. Yahoo’s form 8-K, which appeared online Tuesday, reveals a few additional details about the agreement that Yahoo and Microsoft had announced last week.

According to regulatory filing by Yahoo, the share of revenue that Microsoft pays to run search ads on Yahoo’s network of sites will increase from 88 percent to 90 percent in the second five years of the partnership.

The agreement also mentions that five years into the ten-year agreement, Microsoft can opt out of the exclusive engagement for Yahoo’s ad sales services. Yahoo and Microsoft have estimated that implementing the deal will take two years, and in case they fail to implement the deal by July 29, 2010 the companies can terminate it by mutual consent. Yahoo can also decide to use Microsoft’s mapping and mobile search services.

Microsoft is pulling the plug on its personal finance management tool Money Plus. The move comes as a range of similar tools available from banks, brokerage firms, and websites have made Money Plus redundant.

Microsoft had already stopped annual updates to Money in 2008, it will now stop selling the product post June 30, 2009. The software giant said all purchased Money products must be activated prior to January 31, 2011.

The Money Plus portfolio consists of Microsoft Money Essentials, Microsoft Money Plus Deluxe, Microsoft Money Plus Premium, and Microsoft Money Plus Home & Business. Current Money Plus users can continue using the product (except for Money Essentials) though online services will no longer be available.

Microsoft however said its MSN Money website will continue to function as before, with enhancements and new features planned for the coming months.

For Money Plus users:

Additional information can be found at the Microsoft Money Plus FAQ site

Microsoft has acquired certain assets of Rosetta Biosoftware, a company that builds gene analyzing software. Products from Rosetta will be incorporated into Microsoft Amalga Life Sciences platform.

Rosetta is a business unit of Rosetta Inpharmatics,a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck & Co. The deal allows Microsoft to incorporate genetic, genomic, metabolomic and proteomics data management software into the Microsoft Amalga Life Sciences platform for enhanced translational research capabilities. In addition, Microsoft will establish a strategic relationship with Merck to enhance the Amalga Life Sciences platform to meet emerging pharmaceutical research needs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will become a customer of the Microsoft Amalga Life Sciences 2009 platform and also will provide strategic input to Microsoft on the direction and evolution of new solutions incorporating Rosetta Biosoftware technologies.

Introduced in April 2009, Microsoft Amalga Life Sciences is a new software platform for data analysis during clinical trials. The platform automates the management and analysis of massive, heterogeneous research data.

The deal is expected to close at the end of June 2009, and the new Amalga Life Sciences platform incorporating Rosetta Biosoftware technologies is slated to be available in early 2010.

Until the deal is closed, Rosetta Biosoftware will continue to operate as a business unit of Rosetta Inpharmatics.

San Francisco: Can the tight US economy help Microsoft beat back the cavalry charge of its much smaller, but much cooler, competitor Apple?

The software giant from Seattle seems to sense a whiff of opportunity in the air, bombarding the trendy maker of Macs, iPhones and iPods in ads and executive comments for being too expensive in these penny-pinching times.

The latest salvo comes in the form of widely screened TV ads, which show what Microsoft says are real life computer users shopping for new machines.

In one ad a bubbly, red-haired, 20-something named Lauren goes looking for a 17-inch laptop with a $1,000 budget. She walks out of the Apple store empty handed, proclaiming that she’s obviously “not cool enough to be a Mac person”, since the appropriate machine there would cost $2,000.

But Lauren finds several dream machines at a PC retailer, where she squeals with delight as she pays $699 for her new laptop and pockets $300 in change.

The ad ends with the tagline, “I’m Lauren, and I’m a PC”, an unabashed reference to Apple’s famous ads where an uber-cool actor portrays an Apple computer while a super nerd plays a hapless PC.

Even before the latest ads, signs were emerging that Apple’s exclusive cachet and relatively higher prices were hurting it in the market.

Unit sales for Apple computers were down 16 percent in February while the overall computer market increased by 10 percent, according to a research report by Morgan Stanley. Revenues at the iconic Silicon Valley company were down 22 percent compared to an 11 percent decline for the overall market.

Media experts are divided on whether Microsoft’s new campaign can blow a hole in Apple’s mythical status, especially as the company’s worldwide success with its iPhone and iPod products continues to draw customers into the Apple firmament.

“I don’t know what took Microsoft so long,” advertising executive Josh Barsch told E Commerce Times. “The biggest chink in Apple’s armour has always been its price tag.

“In flush times, the young and hip can afford to shell out more for a trendy machine. When they no longer have jobs and can’t pay their rent, it’s a different story.”

That message is reinforced by other Microsoft ads that feature kids performing all kinds of multimedia wizardry on their PCs.

But some say that Microsoft’s ads will ultimately backfire because they bring Apple into every purchase consideration. When users compare features, they could well find that the elegance, functionality and integrated software that are part of the Apple package are worth the extra money.

Recent Mac convert Greg Willis says he has no regrets about the switch. “Everything works smoothly right out of the box because it all comes from the same company,” he said. “I’m glad I paid the extra money. I got a quantum leap in quality.”

Others are not so sure that the extra expense is worthwhile. They argue that with less money to spend, they can forego the luxury of the Apple experience to save a few bucks. One of them is Jay Siegel, who has owned Macs for 25 years but recently bought a Windows PC as his main work computer.

“I’m getting my work done, using Windows. Surfing the Internet, using a web browser and a graphics programme all work on this computer,” noted the self-described Apple fan on Examiner.com.

“It may not be elegant or refined but it’s getting the job done for me. And it cost so much less. I’m sorry Apple, I just couldn’t justify those extra dollars right now. When the economy recovers and I have a bit more cash to spare I’m going to run, not walk, to buy another Mac.”

Microsoft today released its first-annual Microsoft SMB Insight report, a study designed to look at the challenges and technology priorities facing small businesses. The study surveyed more than 600 of its Small Business Specialists in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France and Brazil.

The Specialists surveyed, all local VARS serving small-to-midsized businesses, identified the issues driving small businesses to invest in technology as declining revenue, competition from larger concerns and the overall economy. In the face of these challenges, according to the survey, companies are concentrating on reducing operating costs, improving employee productivity or acquiring and retaining customers.

Further, the report identified the top technology priorities for SMBs for the coming year: virtualization, IT consolidation, business intelligence, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and support for remote workers. Here’s how the numbers played out:

• Fifty percent of the Specialists surveyed chose virtualization or IT consolidation through a small or midsize server as the technology most likely to reduce operating costs.
• Study participants expect a 20 percent increase this year in the number of small and midsize businesses using SaaS.
• More than 50 percent of those surveyed considered Customer Relationship Management (CRM), virtualization, or IT consolidation as the best investment for maximizing business growth in a down economy.
• Nearly 40 percent expect an increased interest in business intelligence and identified it as a critical tool for helping to improve customer experience and increasing loyalty.
• More than half the study participants anticipate an increase in the number of remote workers, and nearly 60 percent expect that will also lead to bigger role and more responsibilities for those individuals working remotely.

These technologies, along with the support of local VARS, will allow small business owners to address their goals, said Eduardo Rosini, corporate vice president, Microsoft Worldwide Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners Group.

“Virtualization is cost-effective because it lets small business owners expand the capabilities of their existing servers, while business intelligence and CRM can help them to better attract, retain and service customers,” he said.

He added that SaaS applications such as CRM and document sharing give small businesses better ways to exchange data with customers and employees.

The study highlighted the growing trend in remote workers, which gives small companies a lot of flexibility. “Not all companies have the infrastructure to allow it,” said Rosini. “The study showed that Small Business Specialists are seeing a high demand for SharePoint, Windows servers, MS Office, Windows Mobile and SaaS applications, too…technologies that let you access your data no matter where you’re located.”

Rosini noted that two-thirds of all small businesses do not have an IT staff which, he said, makes the local VAR’s role in planning and implementing technology for small businesses absolutely critical.

“Different scenarios require different solutions. Local VARs can customize an IT environment so that it works technically and financially,” said Rosini. “Small business owners are reaching out more and more to re-engineer their IT efforts and actively working with local VARs to figure out what they need and how to do it better.”

The latest version of Internet Explorer IE 8, will be available for download, starting 9.30 p.m (IST) tonight, said the software giant. The software biggie said IE8 will feature faster navigation (through Accelerators), enhanced security and privacy, Visual Search & Web Slices.

Accelerators speed up online tasks like search, email, social networking etc. within the active web page; Web Slices appear in the browser s Favorites bar and provide access to updated information from their most visited websites, without physically going there; and Visual Search provides image-based search results

In India, Microsoft has partnered with the 12 most visited websites, across consumer interest genres, including bharatmatrimony.com, economictimes.com, games2win.com, in.com, indiatimes.com, naukri.com, msnindia.com, rediff.com, sify.com, timesofindia.com, webdunia.com and zapak.com to make web browsing with Internet Explorer more fun. Globally, 15 of the top 20 worldwide sites have partnered with Microsoft to deliver this level of functionality to customers.

Some other features include:

* InPrivate Browsing

Provides consumers the choice of going private on the internet, and ensuring that browsing history and related data is not retained locally on the PC they are using

* Compatibility View

IE8 provides people with an easy way to fix display problems such as out-of-place menus, images and text with a Compatibility View button that displays those pages as they were designed to be viewed

* Crash recovery

In Internet Explorer 8, if a tab does crash, it is automatically restored and reloaded, and any information the user may have already entered on the page (such as when writing an e-mail or filling out a form) is restored

IE 8 can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/ie8, starting 9.30 p.m tonight. A RC1 is however available for download before that.

Feb 12, 2009 at 3:55pm ET by Vanessa Fox

The web is full of duplicate content. Search engines try to index and display the original or “canonical” version. Searchers only want to see one version in results. And site owners worry that if search engines find multiple versions of a page, their link credit will be diluted and they’ll lose ranking.

Today, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (links are to their separate announcements) have united to offer a way to reduce duplicate content clutter and make things easier for everyone. Webmasters rejoice! Worried about duplicate content on your site? Want to know what “canonical” means? Read on for more details.

Multiple URLs, one page

Duplicate content comes in different forms, but a major scenario is multiple URLs that point to the same page. This can come up for lots of reasons. An ecommerce site might allow various sort orders for a page (by lowest price, highest rated…), the marketing department might want tracking codes added to URLs for analytics. You could end up with 100 pages, but 10 URLs for each page. Suddenly search engines have to sort  through 1,000 URLs.

This can be a problem for a couple of reasons.

• Less of the site may get crawled. Search engine crawlers use a limited amount of bandwidth on each site (based on numerous factors). If the crawler only is able to crawl 100 pages of your site in a single visit, you want it to be 100 unique pages, not 10 pages 10 times each.
• Each page may not get full link credit. If a page has 10 URLs that point to it, then other sites can link to it 10 different ways. One link to each URL dilutes the value  the page could have if all 10 links pointed to a single URL.

Using the new canonical tag

Specify the canonical version using a tag in the head section of the page as follows:

<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish“/>

That’s it!

• You can only use the tag on pages within a single site (subdomains and subfolders are fine).
• You can use relative or absolute links, but the search engines recommend absolute links.

This tag will operate in a similar way to a 301 redirect for all URLs that display the page with this tag.

• Links to all URLs will be consolidated to the one specified as canonical.
• Search engines will consider this URL a “strong hint” as to the one to crawl and index.

Canonical URL best practices

The search engines use this as a hint, not as a directive, (Google calls it a “suggestion that we honor strongly”) but are more likely to use  it if the URLs use best practices, such as:

• The  content rendered for each URL is very similar or exact
• The canonical URL is the shortest version
• The URL uses easy to understand parameter patterns (such as using ? and %)

Can this be abused by spammers? They might try, but Matt Cutts of Google told me that the same safeguards that prevent abuse by other methods (such as redirects) are in place here as well, and that Google  reserves the right to take action on sites that are using the tag to manipulate search engines and violate search engine guidelines.

For instance, this tag will only work with very similar or identical content, so you can’t use it to send all of the link value from the less important pages of your site to the more important ones.

If tags conflict (such as pages point to each other as canonical, the URL specified as canonical redirects to a non-canonical version, or the page specified as canonical doesn’t exist), search engines will sort things out just as they do now, and will determine which URL they think is the best canonical version.

The tag in action

This tag will most often be useful in the case of multiple URLs pointing at the same page, but might also be used when multiple versions of a page exist. For instance, wikia.com is using the tag for previous revisions of a page. Both http://watchmen.wikia.com/index.php?title=Comedian%27s_badge&diff=4901&oldid=4819 and http://watchmen.wikia.com/index.php?title=Comedian%27s_badge&diff=5401&oldid=4901reference the latest version of the article (http://watchmen.wikia.com/wiki/Comedian%27s_badge) as the canonical.

The search engines stress that it’s still important to build good URL structure and also note that if you aren’t able to implement this tag, they’ll still keep the processes they have now to determine the canonical. For instance, at SMX West on Tuesday, Maile Ohye of Google explained how Google can detect patterns in URLs if they use standard parameters. For instance, with these URLs:

• http://www.example.com/buffy?cat=spike
• http://www.example.com/buffy?cat=spike&sort=evil
• http://www.example.com/buffy?cat=spike&sort=good

Maile explained that Google can detect (particularly when looking at patterns across the site) that the sort parameter may order the page differently, but that the URLs with the sort parameter display the same  content as the shorter URL (http://www.example.com/buffy?cat=spike).

While it’s rare for the search engines to join forces, this isn’t the first time they’ve come together on a standard. In November 2006, they came together to support sitemaps.org. And in June 2008 they announced a standard set of robots.txt directives. Matt Cutts of Google and Nathan Buggia of Microsoft told me that they want to help reduce the clutter on the web, and make things easier for searchers as well as site owners.

This new tag won’t completely solve duplicate issues on the web, but it should help make things quite a bit easier particuarly for ecommerce sites, who likely need all the help they can get in the current economic conditions. Site owners have been asking for help with these issues for a really long time so this should be a greatly welcomed addition.

Postscript by Barry Schwartz:

The search engines will be talking about this news at the Ask the Search Engines panel at SMX West. We will be blogging this panel live at the Search Engine Roundtable.