Microsoft

A couple of improvements to Windows 7 features have emerged. File transfers from computer-to-computer should be easier, while Internet Explorer will give more detail about websites (especially ones that are suspect) in an attempt to increase online ... security and keep users safe online. Windows Easy Transfer: Distinct Profiles The first set of changes is to Windows Easy Transfer, an application designed to make it easier to select and organize the files you want to copy from one computer to another, particularly when switching to a new machine. Rather than presenting users with a list of all ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed that it will go forward with previous plans to cut a significant portion of its staff. The company has now terminated 5,000 employees since the beginning of the year. Back in January, Microsoft announced plans to shave off ... about seventeen per cent of its global workforce. It immediately slashed 1,400 jobs that month, and planned to spread the remaining 3,600 or so over the next 18 months. However, with the recent announcement Microsoft also revealed it had already reached the 5,000 mark -- far ahead of schedule. No Security for MS Workers "As we move forward, we will ... (view more)

By gradually migrating to a complete open source desktop and web applications, Gendarmerie Nationale, the French national police force with 105,000 employees, has saved millions of euros. The move cuts Microsoft out of the equation, helping the ... French national police force slash its IT costs by 70 percent. Most of the money saved was on proprietary software licenses, beginning in 2004. Previously, the acquired Gendarmerie Nationale acquired 12,000 to 15,000 licenses annually. Gendarmerie National's decision to adopt a strictly open-standards IT policy began in 2002 with the intention of ... (view more)

One of Microsoft's senior executives has fled his post as director of the company's European Xbox operations. Richard Teversham is headed for Apple's business on that continent, ending a decade-and-a-half of service at Microsoft. It's not yet ... confirmed what Teversham will be doing with Apple across the pond, but given the iPhone and iPod Touch's continuing involvement in gaming -- and the promise these games have to eventually challenge the likes of Sony's PSP and even Nintendo's DS -- it's a fairly safe bet that he'll play a significant role in improving interactive entertainment on the ... (view more)

Users of Microsoft's very popular Office 2007 software will be pleased to hear that a free update and download for the program, dubbed MS Office 2007 Service Pack 2, is available now, and promises to improve performance while adding several select ... new features. Unfortunately, there have been some reported issues preventing a full-blown ticker-tape parade. The main draw for users will undoubtedly be Microsoft's decision to add some support for non-Microsoft file formats. Once the download is complete, it will allow users to read and write Open Document Format files, documents used by the ... (view more)

According to reports, it looks like Windows 7 will be released October 23, 2009. That's a few months earlier than Microsoft had publicly committed to, and could mean extra sales for the holiday season. So far, Microsoft has only described its target ... of releasing the new system three years after Windows Vista, which would have been 23 January. But British laptop manufacturer Acer has told a tech website his firm will be selling a Windows 7 PC after October 23. Bobby Watkins told pocket-lint.com that Acer's new Z5600 model, specially designed for Windows 7, will be available with the system ... (view more)

According to reports, Microsoft has met the deadline set by the European Union for addressing antitrust concerns, including the bundling of its Internet Explorer browser with Windows. The European Union has thus far led the fight against what many ... feel are Microsoft's antitrust policies, the most concerning of which include the company's packaging of its ubiquitous Internet Explorer (IE) browser with its equally popular Windows operating systems. Some claim that the packaging practice "shields" IE against competition from Mozilla and other, smaller companies, and that Microsoft owes its power ... (view more)

Microsoft has again denied reports it is planning to launch its own phone despite rumors that suggest it's working on a music-based handset to rival the iPhone. The latest report, one of the most mainstream so far, comes from the Wall Street ... Journal. It says Microsoft has had discussions with Verizon about teaming up to launch a smartphone on the network. Such a phone wouldn't just be another handset running Windows Mobile, but would have enhanced multimedia capabilities and include the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft's take on Apple's App Store, due to launch later this year. ... (view more)

Critics complain social networking kills privacy , allowing friends and enemies alike to slowly and methodically 'creep' your personal details without you ever having to know. It would seem appropriate, then, that Microsoft's first major foray into ... social networking should be called "Vine," which both uses and attempts to improve upon Facebook and Twitter. Vine works by asking users to download its special dashboard-style application. Once that's installed, a user is prompted to sign into his or her Windows Live account, where they're presented with a map-like interface that provides news and ... (view more)

Apparently Microsoft has learned a few lessons from some of their many Windows Vista fiascos . In a move that appears aimed at backwards compatibility, some versions of Windows 7 will include a virtualized Windows XP mode. Dubbed Windows XP Mode, or ... XPM (formerly known as Virtual Windows XP or Virtual XP, VXP) will ship alongside the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) in May and then in its final version with Windows 7's own ultimate release. (Source: itwire.com ) Dramatic Changes in Compatibility XPM is the next generation Microsoft Virtual PC 7 product line, and according to Rafael Rivera and ... (view more)