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Windows Server 2012 pares back to four versions, looks to give small businesses more bang for the buck
Microsoft has been devoting most of its OS update attention this year to Windows 8, not its suit-wearing Windows Server 2012 counterpart. Some of the mystery has been cleared up through word of a greatly simplified server OS lineup. Just four versions of Windows Server will sit in IT backrooms versus the whopping 12 from Server 2008 R2, with an emphasis on making the feature slope a little gentler. The biggest improvement is the near-identical feature set of Windows Server 2012 Standard compared to its Datacenter equivalent: the only advantage of Datacenter is the jump to unlimited virtual machines, giving smaller businesses a way to save some cash. Foundation and Essentials will cover the basics for these outfits if just 15 or 25 very real machines need to hop onboard. The base prices of $425 to $4,809 per copy for all but the OEM-only Foundation still make it doubtful that we'll be loading Server 2012 on a PC tucked into a closet at home, but it's evident between this and the streamlined Windows 8 selection that Microsoft wants to avoid the flood of versions that confused buyers during the Windows Vista and 7 days.
Modern Warfare 3 on PS3 gets 'Sanctuary' and 'Foundation' maps this Thursday via COD Elite
PS3-based Call of Duty Elite members will have another "content drop" this Thursday, in shocking defiance of Sony's usual Tuesday download schedule.The maps "Sanctuary" and "Foundation," released just about a month ago on Xbox 360, will be available this week in Modern Warfare 3 for paying Elite-ists. "Sanctuary" is a monastery high above Greece, and "Foundation" is a former concrete factory in South Korea. Both are home to dudes who will fire guns at you, and at whom you will, in turn, fire guns.
League of Legends runs Make-A-Wish charity campaign
The Make-A-Wish foundation is a charity that helps make seriously ill children's dreams come true. Several months ago, Riot Games worked with the foundation to bring 17-year-old League of Legends fan and cancer sufferer Joe up to the studio where his favourite game is made. Riot was so inspired by Joe's visit that developers decided to give back to the Make-A-Wish in any way they could to make more children's dreams come true. Following on from the success of community donations to the Red Cross during Japan's earthquake and tsunami, this week Riot announced a new donation drive in support of the Make-A-Wish foundation. "From now, May 4, until 10:30 a.m. PT on May 18, 2012, Riot Games will donate 100 percent of the RP sale price for Joe's favorite champion, Jax, and his Jaximus skin to Make-A-Wish. To make it easier to help, we'll also be lowering the price of both the champion and skin by 50% during this period."
PSA: Modern Warfare 3 takes Sanctuary in Foundation on Xbox 360
Content drops 7 and 8 have deployed for Call of Duty Elite premium members on Xbox Live today. Multiplayer maps Sanctuary and Foundation are now available for download in Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox 360.Sanctuary (pictured above) takes place in Greece, throughout several different monasteries; Foundation is a map based in South Korea, inside a derelict factory. The two maps will be available to PS3 and PC players on some undisclosed future date.
MIT developing educational MMO funded by Gates Foundation
Is gaming the answer to the math- and science-related apathy plaguing American school kids? Some folks at MIT think so, and a new press blurb outlines how the institute is developing an MMO designed to further science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. "In contrast to the way that (STEM) is currently taught in secondary schools –- which often results in students becoming disengaged and disinterested in the subjects at an early age –- educational games like the one to be developed give students the chance to explore STEM topics in a way that deepens their knowledge while also developing 21st-century skills," the release says. The title is being developed in collaboration with Filament Games, and MIT's Eric Klopfer says that it will be a powerful educational tool. "This genre of games is uniquely suited to teaching the nature of science inquiry," he explains, "because they provide collaborative, self-directed learning situations. Players take on the roles of scientists, engineers and mathematicians to explore and explain a robust virtual world." The project is being financed by a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Make-a-wish game, Allied Star Police, out now on the App Store
You may remember the story of Owain Weinert, a 9 year-old diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who got invited to PopCap Games via the Make-a-wish foundation to help design and release a brand new iOS game. That title, eventually called Allied Star Police, is available now for free on the App Store. It's available through PopCap's experimental 4th and Battery studio, and I have to say -- it's pretty darn good. The game plays kind of like a more dynamic version of Plants vs. Zombies, where you summon various types of shooter ships to fly down lanes of attackers, eventually fighting their way over to blow up an enemy base. There are some good game design ideas here, too -- as you earn money for destroying enemy ships, you can slowly build up to more and more powerful weaponry, eventually leading an army of destroyers to take out your enemy. I like it a lot, and Plants vs. Zombies fans will probably enjoy it as well. Kudos to Owain on his work (and PopCap for their help, I'm sure), very nice job. Owain also gets the honor of helping PopCap release their very first game after the recent EA takeover, so congrats on that one, too. Once again, you can try it out for yourself: it's a universal app available for free.
Match your makeup to your guild colors: Win fifteen dollars in makeup from Geek Chic!
Let me be straight with this: raiding unfashionably isn't really raiding. You need to make sure that your eyeshadow and foundation aren't running down your face like a bad wax sculpture because if you don't, you're going to look like an idiot in the newspaper. Then, instead of the peasants saying, "Oh, wow, you looked so cool! Thank you for saving us!" you'll only hear, "Hey, ugly, you looked like a clown in that newspaper picture!" Luckily we've partnered up with the experts of raid makeup: Geek Chic Cosmetics. Deborah and Chantel won't let you walk into any lair without the right touch, and they're gratefully offering a coupon for fifteen dollars in makeup to one of our lucky readers. Interested in winning some makeup or learning more about Geek Chic? Head on after the break for all of the pertinent details.
Microsoft launches entry-level Foundation Server 2008
Microsoft has just announced the release of Windows Server 2008 Foundation. Codenamed Lima once upon a time, this release is being billed as a low cost alternative to Windows Small Business Server. Squarely aimed at the OEM set (Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and various Chinese software pirating syndicates have already have expressed interest), this licensing scheme limits the server to fifteen users (even as a member server on a Windows domain), doesn't include hypervisor, and does away with the need for Client Access Licenses (CALs). With today's announcement, Foundation is available in 40 countries in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish.[Via ZDNet]
Sneak preview of Leopard at WWDC
Are you dying for a sneak peek at Leopard, the next incarnation of OS X? If so, book a ticket for San Francisco in mid-August. Apple has announced, on its site and by email to customers, that it will offer a preview of OS X Leopard at WWDC 2006, scheduled for August 7-11.The Apple site briefly describes five WWDC session tracks -- Application Technologies, Development Tools, Graphics and Media, Information Technologies, and OS Foundations -- but doesn't provide details about specific sessions. If you're considering going, try to get your boss to pick up the registration fee, which is a stiff $1295-$3500 before June 23 and even more after that date. If you're a student, don't overlook Apple's Student Scholarship Program. We told you before -- but it's worth a reminder -- that applications for a free WWDC ticket through that program are due on April 28.
