microsoft

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)

The main challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser just keeps getting stronger. Just a few days ago, Mozilla revealed that its Firefox browser had surpassed the 1 billion downloads mark, with no intention of slowing down. Mozilla announced ... the impressive marker on July 31 with a celebratory Twitter feed. Mozilla has used the event to emphasize the viability of Firefox's challenge to market leader Internet Explorer (IE), which Microsoft has neatly packaged with each version of its ubiquitous Windows operating system software. Windows 7 Could Have Impact But time may be running out on ... (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)

It's only been a few days since the Microsoft-Yahoo search agreement was finalized and already the new tandem is being criticized. Concerns were raised over the fact that the companies billed their union as a "global" partnership. The fact is that ... both companies were founded (and are currently headquartered) in the United States. According to some experts, this is a minor snafu -- but the technicality does raise a valid concern. What happens to the international Yahoo search affiliates? Yahoo China not Included in Deal It has now been made clear that the Microsoft-Yahoo search ... (view more)

It's only been a few days since the Microsoft-Yahoo search agreement was finalized and already the new tandem is being criticized. Concerns were raised over the fact that the companies billed their union as a "global" partnership. The fact is that ... both companies were founded (and are currently headquartered) in the United States. According to some experts, this is a minor snafu -- but the technicality does raise a valid concern. What happens to the international Yahoo search affiliates? Yahoo China not Included in Deal It has now been made clear that the Microsoft-Yahoo search ... (view more)

In an effort to solve a number of early computational problems, Microsoft has now called upon the Internet community to help improve the accuracy of current and future Bing -generated search results. Microsoft is set to release a new online game ... called Page Hunt that is designed to illicit user interaction and responses. The information extracted from this game will provide query alterations for use in search refinement and identify other vital issues. (Source: yahoo.com ) Generate a Hit Word, Find the URL The game seems quite fun. A player is shown a random web page with only the URL missing ... (view more)

Microsoft recently revealed the release of 20,000 lines of Open Source Linux device driver code, including three device drivers to the Linux kernel community for inclusion in the Linux tree. The code will be available to the Linux community and ... customers alike to enhance the performance of the Linux operating system when it is virtualized on the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V operating system, including the R2 release. Hyper-V is a technology made by Microsoft which provides "cost savings ... [of] server hardware ... by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines ... (view more)

A new report from a popular tech blog suggests that Windows 7 will have an enormously beneficial impact on several industries, but perhaps none more than PC hardware manufacturers, including AMD, Nvidia, and especially processor titan Intel. ... According to a recent report from CNET News, Windows 7 "will be more than just a better interface." Instead, its very technical design will make chips from several popular hardware makers more efficient than current systems loaded with Windows XP or the much-maligned Vista. Opportunities to Optimize Windows 7 The greatest beneficiary of Microsoft's new ... (view more)

Microsoft has finally acquired long-time search engine rival Yahoo Inc in a 10 year search engine partnership. The deal, which has been in the works on-and-off for over a year has been finalized and made public earlier today. (Source: ... computerworld.com ) The announcement initially sent Yahoo stock down about 8 percent, while Microsoft stock saw a brief jump, opening at just a little over $23 a share. (Source: bizjournals.com ) Revenue Shared by Search Technologies The deal was almost thrown off the rails when Yahoo demanded a significant payment up front, but now company will instead receive ... (view more)

Microsoft is releasing two emergency patches this morning outside of its usual Patch Tuesday rotation. The Redmond-based company has determined that fix addresses issues that require immediate attention. Microsoft usually releases a Patch Tuesday ... fix about once a month addressing security vulnerabilities marked "critical" or "important," the latter being regarded as slightly less concerning. However, it rarely releases a patch outside of the monthly rotation unless something is truly wrong. Emergency Fix Targets Visual Studio, IE At this point, the company hasn't fully disclosed the problem, ... (view more)