Microsoft began shipping this week IIS (Internet Information Services) Express 7.5, a free version of its IIS Web server optimized for developers. The company also unveiled an embedded database upgrade and an open source content management tool.

Making multiple moves in the Web development space, Microsoft is introducing this week both a website building tool for neophytes and the third major version of its MVC (Model View Controller) technology.

Microsoft began offering on Wednesday an early version of NuPack, an open source package manager for its .Net software development platform.

Two of Australia's prominent energy utilities have expanded existing relationships with IT outsourcing partners as they look to wring more value from their IT support arrangements.

OutSystems is offering a cloud-based version of its agile development platform for building Web applications.

A new version of Oracle's data grid software will allow Microsoft .NET applications to scale to the same large multi-server environments long enjoyed by Java enterprise applications, according to Oracle.

Microsoft has added .NET Framework 4 support to the Windows Azure software development kit, making it easier for developers to build web applications in the cloud.

Mozilla has now unblocked a Microsoft add-on thought to pose a danger due to a software vulnerability, but a second add-on remains blocked, the organization said on Sunday.