THE UK MD OF MICROSOFT wooed the collective pack of IT hacks today by announcing the introduction of SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008.

Mr Gordon Frazer didn't talk much - actually not at all - about Microsoft SA, but described the unsung heroes of the modern world, which he reckons are " keeping the trains running".

"The people oftentimes we don't see in the back office... are the heroes of the modern world making the next generation of businesses," he said.

"IT matters even more and more, securing assets, and reducing costs," he said.

Frazer claimed Windows Server 2008 has improvements by reducing patches by about 60 per cent, and in power savings. SQL Server builds on performance and security. He claimed that there were record performance and benchmarks, for example using SAP, resulting in lower costs per transaction.

Frazer reckons he's got some happy customers, including ITV, Easyjet, and John Lewis. They reckon Windows 2008 will do the trick for them.

Amidst lavish use of the words solution, one "moving forward", Frazer even threw a paradigm or two into the "Dynamic IT" sauce.

We are threatened with CEO Steve Ballmer shouting at us via satellite at 5PM US time. Our eardrums won't be able to stand it. µ