microsoft

In an attempt to compete with Google and Zoho, Microsoft is reportedly giving away free software to early-state Web start-up companies as part of a recently launched worldwide program called BizSpark. BizSpark wants to help startups by providing ... production licenses and technical support for several Microsoft products. The licenses are free for the first three years. BizSpark gives Microsoft a way to promote the use of its software. ZocDoc, a New York-based company that offers an online service for booking doctor and dentist appoints, became an early member of the BizSpark program. ZocDoc ... (view more)

Despite Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's recent assertions that Windows Vista "is Microsoft's best-selling product ever," there are many indications to the contrary, that reveal just how irrelevant Windows Vista has become and how it has proven to be a ... major flop. (Source: microsoft.com and microsoft-watch.com ) Ballmer boasts that over 180 million copies of Windows Vista were sold in the first 18 months of its release. As infopackets has noted in the past, it's virtually impossible to get an accurate count on the number of Windows Vista units sold since many have been "downgraded" to ... (view more)

Microsoft testers will get their hands on the second major update to Vista next week. It's expected to get a public release in the first half of 2009, with the firm apparently anxious to have it out before Windows 7 hits stores. The update will be ... in the form of Vista Service Pack 2. A service pack is a collection of updates issued at one time to make the updating process simpler. It's not connected with the Windows Update system which concentrates purely on security issues. Microsoft had previously been keeping quiet about Service Pack 2's release schedule, but a posting on its blog for ... (view more)

You are walking along, listening to the sounds of nature when all of a sudden you feel a slight rub or a tap on your inner thigh coming from inside one of your pant pockets. Don't worry. You are probably not the victim of a pickpocket. It's only ... your mobile phone informing you of an incoming call. Microsoft Research is currently working on mobile phone settings that are a little more "hands on" than previous features used for identifying an incoming call. Among the traditional "silent" and "vibrate" modes will be two new additional methods of transmitting information: moving a small ball or ... (view more)

A new variation of a fake Microsoft security notification email is reportedly being circulated. Attackers appear to be taking advantage of Microsoft's Patch Tuesday to send legitimate looking emails claiming to be a security email from Microsoft ... with an executable file attached, which it claims is the latest security update. It encourages the recipient to run the attached executable so their computer will be safe. The email is different than previous versions as it claims to be signed by Steve Lipner, an actual Microsoft employee, and has what appears to be a PGP signature block attached to ... (view more)

Despite the short-lived Seinfeld commercials and the ongoing ad blitzes , customer demand for Windows XP over Windows Vista has again prompted Microsoft to extend the Windows XP lifeline . Microsoft stopped selling Windows XP on June 30 of this ... year, but Windows XP is still available at some retail outlets, including Amazon.com while supplies last. Larger PC manufacturers can't directly sell Windows XP anymore -- except on ultra-low-cost machines -- but they can sell Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Business machines with Windows XP discs in the box or they can do a 'factory downgrade ... (view more)

The U.S. House of Representatives shocked the world earlier this week when it rejected a proposed $700 billion bailout bill that could have saved Wall Street from what some worry-warts believe could be the next Great Depression. Now, a new critic is ... shaking its head at Congress: Microsoft. Few have been able to escape news of the bailout's rejection, with the media in just about every circle speculating that the result could be the kind of recession few have ever seen before. It has changed the dynamics of the current election for many; does either John McCain or Barack Obama have the ... (view more)

As if those Mac ads featuring the bumbling PC (acted magnificently by John Hodgman) weren't embarrassing enough, according to some reports PC-favorite Microsoft may be in fact advertising for Apple with its new "I'm a PC" campaign. Digital images ... posted to Microsoft's official website emblazoned with the "I'm a PC" ad appear to have been created not on PCs after all, but on Macs. At least, that's the word after scrupulous onlookers peered beyond the files' originating-software stamp. According to PC World, at least four of the images Microsoft recently posted on its PressPass site display " ... (view more)

For those of you who hated the Seinfeld Microsoft adverts -- and your responses tell us there are quite a few of you -- there's good news. The tales of Jerry and Bill are done for now, replaced by a relatively direct response to Apple's ... long-standing campaign, "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC." According to Microsoft, this was the plan all along: a spokesman says the two Gates and Seinfeld ads were simply a teaser and the firm hasn't cut the series short. That makes the ads -- short on either plot or message -- even more baffling, as well as making Seinfeld's $10 million payoff seem even more ... (view more)

Although Microsoft is trying to keep Windows 7 under wraps, around three-dozen screenshots have leaked on to the Internet. It appears the operating system has had some usability tweaks but doesn't have any fundamental changes. The shots appeared on ... the ThinkNext blog and almost certainly come from one of the people testing the software. Windows 7 is currently in its third (and likely) final 'in-progress' edition. The first beta edition (a complete version of the system ready for testing) is expected out before the end of the year. The biggest functional changes appear to be to the User ... (view more)