Microsoft’s software factories

We talk to Microsoft’s Jack Greenfield about the future of Visual Studio At Microsoft s Architect Insight conference in Wales this month, Microsoft software architect Jack Greenfield tells us about a BMW factory which rarely makes the same car twice. It is an example of mass customization, handling millions of variations within an automated process. Could the same apply to software development? Continued

Column You have the weekend to respond It’s now (almost) too late to submit your comment on what should be done with the “digital dividend” - which is to say, if you think Sky should have a monopoly on High Definition TV, then you’ll be smiling. Continued

Weak phone sales blamed Motorola has warned that it expects to see a first quarter loss after a downturn in sales of its mobile phones. Continued

Cut off customers Illinoyed A long-planned area code change for Chicago has left BT customers in the UK unable to call the southern part of the Windy City. Continued