Microsoft

Just a day after it was reported that Microsoft's Word could be pulled from store shelves due to a copyright snafu, there's now word that such measures could be prevented -- and that the initial decision may not be as catastrophic as we were led to ... believe. According to reports, Microsoft will almost surely be able to find an "easy technical work-around" to the injunction by a Texas federal judge earlier this week ordering the Redmond-based company to stop selling its popular Word software due to a copyright mix-up with Canadian firm i4i. Headlines "not really true" New York judge ... (view more)

Microsoft has some bad news for those who signed up for the Office Live Small Business service before February 2008. These people will now have to pay an additional fee to renew all web domains acquired through the service. This is not the first ... time that Microsoft has requested payment for domain renewals. In February 2008 the company started charging new customers $14.95 USD for each new web domain. Up until now, those who signed up for the Office Live Small Business service before February 2008 were exempt from paying any additional fee. In the Interest of Fairness... Now, all Office Live ... (view more)

Microsoft might just be readying a (very) early Christmas gift from 'ol Saint Nic. Rumors are that the Redmond-based company will soon announce a major price cut to its Xbox 360 Elite console, to a rather reasonable $299. The rumor is due to a ... catalog page posted on game blog Kotaku showing the 120 GB version of the console for just under $300. The ad belongs to Meijer, a popular Midwest grocery chain in the same market as Wal-Mart. According to reports, the Meijer catalog should ship around August 30, meaning that the Elite could be available for the low price shortly after the beginning of ... (view more)

Microsoft has been ordered to pay over $290 million for willfully infringing on a patent by Canadian firm I4i. The Redmond-based firm has also been told by a Texas judge to stop selling its Word program. The patent in question relates to the use of ... the XML programming language that makes files readable across different programs and allows the formatting of text. XML is an integral part of Microsoft's Word. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) XML Patent Filed by I4i in 1998 The $290 million fine and sales ban of Word are the result of Microsoft's use of Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) documents. Other word ... (view more)

It has been rumored for some time that netbooks, the slim-sized and under-powered notebooks sold for under $500, might not be able to handle Windows 7. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently dismissed that, and went on to discuss exactly how certain ... hardware restrictions define which version of Windows 7 a netbook can manage. Ballmer outlined the special edition of Windows 7 for low-powered processors and small screens at Microsoft's annual financial analyst day. Netbook owners will receive a version of Win7 called Starter, which will not be sold directly to any consumers or businesses. Instead ... (view more)

Microsoft has been accused of failing to do enough to prevent rogue pharmaceutical ads on the results page of its new search engine, Bing. But the claim comes in a report from a group with a clear commercial interest and uses language which gives a ... misleading impression. The authors of the report searched Bing for ten pharmaceutical products, covering a mix of drugs for sexually-related conditions and drugs with the potential to be abused. They then looked at the "sponsored search results" which appear on the right-hand side of the screen. According to the authors, 89.7% of the drug providers ... (view more)

Microsoft is refuting reports today that a recently discovered bug in Windows 7 could cripple the operating system's much-anticipated October 22 launch. According to the Redmond-based company, the bug is not widespread and can be contained. The ... issue in question is not security-based, meaning it won't likely cause your computer to be overrun by malicious hackers, but it could seriously affect system performance. According to a report from several sites released earlier this week, a process in Windows 7 could in certain conditions use up a computer's maximum available memory in order to ... (view more)

Microsoft's Windows 7 may turn out to be "the best Windows yet," but a new poll reveals that 60% of corporations have no plans to roll it out any time soon. Part of the problem can be blamed on Windows Vista, but in their defense Microsoft has been ... working hard to improve their image and regain their credibility and by appealing to customers by making it easier and cheaper to upgrade. Economic Meltdown May Affect Win7 Deployment For businesses, Windows 7's deployment is low on the list of priorities right now because of the downturn in the global economy. According to a poll conducted by ... (view more)

Late yesterday Microsoft revealed that it had made available Release Candidate software allowing Windows 7 users to operate a virtual edition of its still very popular Windows XP. The news is good for those of us still hesitant to make the upgrade ... to Windows 7. Although most of us won't know for sure how well 'XP Mode' will work until Windows 7 is released on October 22, many faithful XP users will be happy to hear that they can switch back in time if the Win7 interface isn't to their liking. CPU Virtualization Required Windows XP Mode Release Candidate is currently available for download ... (view more)

Microsoft announced a couple of weeks ago that some retail stores would be opening "right next door to Apple stores" this fall. At the time it wasn't clear if this was a deliberate strategy or merely a coincidence. That said, Microsoft has announced ... the locations for its first two retail stores: one will be located in The Shops at Mission Viejo, California and the other in Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona. The California location already has an Apple store, though with two floors and more than a million square feet of store space in the mall, the Microsoft outlet won't necessarily be a ... (view more)