Microsoft

Microsoft has received more plenty of flak from its competitors and European investigative bodies over its inclusion of the Internet Explorer browser with each copy of Windows. Now it appears the Redmond-based company has decided to make things ... right, sort of, by not including IE in a 'special' version of Windows 7. According to reports, Microsoft will call the special version of its much-anticipated operating system Windows 7 E. This IE8-free edition of the OS is a reaction to antitrust investigations into Microsoft's traditional inclusion of Internet Explorer with its uber-popular operating ... (view more)

Three years after its release of Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft is again trying its hands at the antivirus market. Code-named "Morro," after Brazil's Morro de Sao Paolo beach, Microsoft's antivirus software is a free, comprehensive antivirus ... alternative that offers basic features, similar to the low-end consumer products sold by Symantec and McAfee. Microsoft: Biting the Hand that Feeds Analysts, however, are warning Microsoft to think twice about launching the software. This is because anti-virus companies like Symantec and McAfee already protect Windows PCs from malware and ... (view more)

The European Union (EU) is asking rival Internet browser manufacturers to suggest ways to prevent Microsoft acting unfairly in its promotion of Internet Explorer. The responses could help determine any punishment if the EU upholds a preliminary ... ruling that bundling the browser with Windows breaches competition rules. Officials have sent out a questionnaire, due to be returned by the end of this week, asking interested parties to comment on possible measures. The recipients aren't limited to those who've formally attached themselves to the case (such as Google and Mozilla, who are both ... (view more)

Big news was made yesterday when a leaked Best Buy memo revealed the retailer's plans to sell Microsoft's highly anticipated Windows 7 operating system as early as June, for as cheap as $49.99. Interesting enough, the same memo characterizes ... Microsoft's last OS, Windows Vista, as outdated. Yesterday it was announced, or unearthed, that Best Buy would make available for pre-release the Win7 Home Premium Upgrade and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade from June 26 until July 11. Each would cost $49.99 and $99.99, respectively, with shipments arriving after the October 22 release. "Less ... (view more)

Can't wait for Microsoft's Windows 7? Rumors are swirling that Best Buy may actually have a limited time early bird sale of the much-anticipated operating system. Last week we were amongst the first to report Microsoft's official release date for ... Windows 7: October 22. That's significantly earlier than most of our expectations; the bulk of insiders had for a long time speculated that home and small business users wouldn't get their hands on the OS until early next year. Best Buy Early Bird Now there's word that Best Buy might actually make Win 7 available for purchase as early as this very ... (view more)

With the Windows 7 release date vastly approaching, plenty of folks can't wait to get their hands dirty with all the latest tips time-saving tricks. In fact, The recent Win7 RC1 version of Windows 7 has revealed that Microsoft includes a couple of ... useful keyboard shortcuts. Windows Button: Key to Interesting Functions The source of the shortcuts lies in the "Windows" key. Pushing this key along with another one produces simple, yet time-saving and frustration-free functions that make the entire operating system experience more enjoyable. The combination of the Windows key + the Home key ... (view more)

Not ready to abandon Windows XP in favor of the much-maligned Vista? Neither are the Russians, whose government recently launched an investigation into Microsoft's decision to stop selling the popular operating system on new PCs there. Reports ... emerged yesterday stating that an official Russian anti-monopoly group had commenced an inquiry into Microsoft's controversial decision to cease the resale of Windows XP on new computers. The OS remains very popular in that country; most consumers there are against Microsoft's cutoff date of July 31, when it plans to prevent retailers from shipping XP ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed Windows 7 will get its official release on 22 October. It's also updated some of the details about the Starter edition which will appear on low-spec machines such as netbooks. The October release date had been widely expected ... since the head of Acer in the UK revealed one of his firm's new models would be on sale running Windows 7 on the 23rd -- one day out from the confirmed release date. October Release a Pre-Emptive Strike The release is three months before the earliest date Microsoft had previously hinted at (January 2010, three years after Vista's release). The ... (view more)

Microsoft has been making a lot of news lately about its dominance of the trendy netbook market. However, both Acer and RealNetworks have made splashes in recent days, announcing their intentions to use and develop for alternative netbook operating ... systems. Up to this point, Microsoft Windows XP has been the dominant OS for netbooks , the tiny 8.9" to 11.6" laptops with impressive web surfing speed but few hardware highlights. The majority of netbooks don't even have DVD drives, but given their sub-3 pound weight, miniscule width, and comparably cheap price tags, they've become awfully ... (view more)

This is turning out to be a big summer for Microsoft: lately the company has been both driving up excitement for Windows 7 and wowing gamers at E3 in Los Angeles, and now the Redmond-based firm has released a legitimate competitor for Google. But is ... new search engine "Bing" any good? The first thing a visitor to Bing.com will notice is the design. Even on a low-res netbook it's immediately clear that Microsoft wants to bring the allure of its 'Aero' Vista graphics to the search engine's main page. When I visited, Bing greeted me with a lush, blue mountain scene. Quite honestly, it is ... (view more)