Microsoft

There's a rumor floating around that Microsoft may drop the "Windows" name altogether. But few are putting much stock in it. The claim comes from a story covering this week's Worldwide Partner Conference, at which a Microsoft representative said ... that while Windows 8 is being targeted to run on desktops, notebooks, netbooks and tablets alike, the system after that may be designed to run on all types of hardware, including smartphones and even the Xbox 360 video game console. The report claims that insider sources suggest there's more to the announcement: "Microsoft is seriously considering ... (view more)

It's not exactly been a well-kept secret, but Microsoft appears to have confirmed the next edition of its operating system (OS) will indeed be called Windows 8. The news comes as a date emerges for the first public beta of the system, as well as a ... way for users to take a look at its design right now. To date, Microsoft has not given an official name to the new system, often taking great care to avoid doing so. However, in a newly published promotional website for a hardware and software developer conference this September, the company specifically uses the term 'Windows 8', specifically in ... (view more)

Tomorrow is the second Tuesday of the month, which means it's Microsoft Patch Tuesday . This month's patches address 22 software vulnerabilities and are associated with four security updates that address flaws in Microsoft Windows and Visio 2003. ... Without applying the patches, PCs remain vulnerable to attacks. Only one of the security updates has been marked "critical." So far, this is the third-most number of fixes offered in a single month for 2011. The number of fixes this month (22) is behind 34 patches issued in June and the record-breaking 64 vulnerabilities addressed in April ... (view more)

Microsoft security experts are having their credentials called into question after sending out premature warnings to users urging them to protect themselves against a new form of covert malware. The Trojan was believed to be so indestructible that ... only a reinstallation of the entire Windows operating system would remove its presence. Microsoft first took notice of the Trojan (called Win32/Popureb.E.) sometime last week. After weighing its potential for harm, security officials reasoned that it contained a rootkit hiding beneath an infected machine's boot sector. Trojan Swaps Write Operation ... (view more)

Microsoft has released a software development kit (SDK) for its hands-free Xbox 360 peripheral, Kinect, on Windows. It means software developers of all kinds will be able to use the Xbox 360 motion control system on PC applications. Kinect was ... originally designed as Microsoft's answer to the Nintendo Wii games console, which became popular with family audiences by letting them use simple hand gestures rather than complex button combinations. Microsoft Kinect Uses Motion without Controller Unlike the Nintendo Wii, and a similar system developed by Sony called 'Move', Kinect did away with ... (view more)

Microsoft is reportedly planning to integrate Skype into the online edition of the Microsoft Office suite. But there's controversy over a Microsoft patent that would allow government officials the ability to monitor calls made by Skype users. ... Microsoft Office 365 Launches June 28, 2011 Office 365 officially launched this week. It works the same way as the traditional Office package but the software runs on Microsoft servers and is accessed via an Internet connection (this is an example of " cloud computing ", which uses the " centralized computing " model to share ... (view more)

According to a new rumor making its way through the industry, Microsoft will release its RTM (Release to Manufacturing) version of Windows 8 next spring -- April 2012, to be exact. That would correspond with another recent rumor which suggest that ... the full release of Windows 8 will be on store shelves come the fall or holiday of 2012 . The most recent report comes courtesy of Mary Jo Foley, a prominent tech blogger and Microsoft expert for ZDNet. According to Foley's source, who she says is a trusted one, Microsoft is on track to release to manufacturing all versions of Windows 8 by April ... (view more)

Mozilla last week launched the new Firefox version 5 web browser, but with it comes the news that Firefox 4 will be retired. The move to release Firefox 5 only a few months after version 4 (released in March this year) is a surprise to many users. ... The plan is to keep the open-source web browser current with new technologies; this follows with the 'rapid-release' business model, similarly used by Google Chrome and Apple. (Source: pcworld.com ) Firefox 5 is the first release as part of Mozilla's new rapid release plan. (Source: wikipedia.org ) Slow And Steady Versus Rapid Release While rapid ... (view more)

The idea of an "interactive advertisement" has long been associated with those online sidebars that ask users to answer an obvious trivia question or "shoot" a moving target. But Microsoft is now investing in an advertising protocol that would allow ... consumers to use voice and motion controls to make investigating advertisements pitched at them a truly interactive experience. NUAds Allow Users to Interact with TV Advertisements The new medium (called NUads) allows people to interact with their televisions and activate all of the virtual components an advertiser has to offer. NUads was ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled several changes to its online storage service, SkyDrive. It should mean very noticeable improvements to the speed at which it responds to commands. Share, Access up to 25GB of Free Online Storage SkyDrive offers users 25 GB of ... free online storage, meaning files can be accessed from any machine. Users can decide whether to make files publicly available, in which case the service can be used as a simpler alternative to running a website to host documents or media files, or to make them private and only accessible with a Windows Live log-in. There's some debate over ... (view more)