microsoft

Not so long ago (April, in fact), Microsoft revealed it would be extending its support of the Windows XP operating system to ultra low-cost PCs (ULCPCs) for a year after the release of the next Windows (currently named Windows 7). Last week, ... Microsoft followed up that announcement with news it would be extending the same support to Nettops, or very, very cheap desktops. Microsoft's announcement at Computex marks another potential black eye for Windows Vista. It could, and perhaps should lead many analysts to speculate that Microsoft is growing increasingly prepared to quietly skip its latest ... (view more)

Microsoft recently released another whack of updates to its software, and many will want to take notice. Of the ten listed vulnerabilities within this June offering are three deemed "critical", another three considered "important" and one ... "moderate". The patch released Tuesday includes three major fixes, including: A vulnerability in Bluetooth Stack that could allow a hacker to make a remote code execution A Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer Like the Bluetooth issue, there's also a fix that patches holes in DirectX which could allow someone to make a remote code execution A ... (view more)

Microsoft has found yet another way of promoting its Live.com search engine: targeting those people who either mistype a page address or follow a duff link. It's thought that this happens between 2% and 10% of the time when people try to visit a ... page on a major website. Normally when that happens, you get what's known as a '404' page. That's a reference to the relevant Internet error code, which means that your computer was able to contact the relevant server, but couldn't get a response to your specific request. In most cases, you'll simply get a standard message -- depending on which ... (view more)

Adobe is taking on the likes of Microsoft and Google by making it easier to use its software online, meaning colleagues in different locations can create and work on documents together much more easily. The move coincides with the launch of Adobe ... Acrobat 9, the latest edition of their PDF software. That's a format that allows users to share documents (which can include images as well as text) without having to both use the same software. It's often used to reproduce hard-copy documents such as magazine pages. The biggest development with Acrobat 9 is that users can now include animations and ... (view more)

The Google-Microsoft-Yahoo search software love triangle seems to have finally settled down, but now it seems the players will be battling to hook up with hardware firms. Microsoft has just announced a deal with HP to make 'Live Search' the default ... search engine on the firm's computers. The agreement covers all machines sold in the US and Canada from next January on. The HP machines will now come with Live.com set as the home page on Internet Explorer, which will also include a toolbar with a Microsoft search box and links to HP's online services. Google did a similar deal with Dell, HP's ... (view more)

Officials in India, Brazil and South Africa have all filed official protests against an international decision backing Microsoft's controversial 'open' document format. Office Open XML (OOXML) is Microsoft's own invented format where documents (such ... as those created in word processors or spreadsheets) are designed to work on all computers regardless of what software is being used. The problem is that there's already an open format named OpenDocument which was created by an independent organisation. Critics say it's redundant to have a second open format -- by definition there only needs to be ... (view more)

At this week's All Things Digital conference, Bill Gates and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled plans for the new Windows 7, to be released next year. The program will not be a major departure from the previous operating system Vista, but will ... include some important improvements, as well as some innovative developments. As many techies and clients will agree, Vista has been the source of some controversy and may be one of Microsoft's bigger botch-ups. Ballmer has emphasized that Windows 7 will improve upon some of Vista's failings, like decreasing the "overzealous security controls" and ... (view more)

Some users of Windows Vista Media Center have been reportedly blocked from recording some NBC Universal TV shows, receiving error messages that read "restrictions set by the broadcaster and/or originator prohibit recording of this program" instead. ... One person prevented from recording the NBC shows is an IT director in Northern California who says this is indicative of why the current Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes are flawed. DRM schemes affect people who intend to legally consume content, with no intention of stealing the content. People intent on stealing content already have ways ... (view more)

As technology doesn't seem to be helping Microsoft in the search engine wars, the firm is resorting to a tactic that predates computing itself: bribery. Registered users of Live.com will be paid every time they visit a dedicated 'Live Search ... cashback' site, click on a search result to a participating website and then make a purchase. The amount they'll 'earn' will be a portion of the sale price set by the retailer and, once the user has racked up $5, they'll be paid through Paypal, online bank account, or check. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) In most cases, customers will earn money for every product ... (view more)

About a year and a half ago, Microsoft marked the one-year anniversary of its Xbox 360 launch with the release of one of its most anticipated games ever: Gears of War. The violent, action-packed story of barbaric foot soldiers fighting a futuristic ... war won gamers around the world over, and at a recent Microsoft Game Studios event many got the chance to see the next in the already beloved series. Also on showcase: Fable 2, the Role Playing Game (RPG) that gives gamers the chance to choose to be good or (very) bad in a fantasy world; a new Ninja Gaiden, the visually-astounding slasher; and Too ... (view more)