Gates announces new Windows update tool
Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Tuesday detailed his company's plan for computer management software and announced a long-awaited Windows update tool.
During a keynote speech at the company's IT Forum conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, Gates outlined Microsoft's ambitious effort to trim the cost of managing corporate data centers, called the Dynamic Systems Initiative.
IT Forum, Microsoft's largest conference in Europe, is expected to draw roughly 4,000 IT professionals.
Microsoft also announced systems management-related product updates, including the first public test release of an automatic Windows update service.
Microsoft's DSI is a multiyear plan to wring greater productivity out of systems operators, who oversee company networks. With better management tools, administrators can handle more tasks, such as updating server patches, more quickly.
Improved systems administration has become a high priority for Microsoft's business software division. Company executives point out that the majority of information technology budgets are dedicated to running existing systems, rather than creating new business applications.
