microsoft

In a move that could change the pecking order of the Internet search and advertising marketplace, Microsoft has made an unsolicited bid to purchase ailing Yahoo. In a letter sent to Yahoo's board of directors, Microsoft offered $44.6 billion in cash ... and stock for the troubled company; what's more, it has also been revealed that Microsoft explored an offer a year previous only to be rebuffed by Yahoo because of their confidence in the operational changes they were making at the time. (Source: cnn.com ) The last year, however, has been difficult for Yahoo. Their new ad delivery platform was ... (view more)

Microsoft has struck another blow in its advertising war with rivals Yahoo and Google. On Tuesday, the Redmond-based company announced it was becoming the exclusive third-party provider of contextual and paid search advertising for The Wall Street ... Journal's network of sites. (Source: microsoft.com ) The Wall Street Journal Online, Barrons.com, MarketWatch.com, AllThingsD.com and others will now become part of Microsoft's ever-expanding network; the agreement is expected to bring 20 million unique visitors per month in traffic to the ad platform. "The Wall Street Journal Digital Network is one ... (view more)

Microsoft posted notice to administrators that on February 12, 2008 Microsoft will release the Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability update to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) marked as an Update Rollup package -- and they ... included instructions on how to prevent it to ensure you end up with the version of Internet Explorer you want. Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 946202 describes the Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability Update that will upgrade machines running Internet Explorer 6 to Windows Internet Explorer 7 if you use WSUS to manage ... (view more)

Trying to sway public opinion about a flailing product, Microsoft has reportedly once again boasted about the security of Windows Vista, claiming that the operating system had 36 vulnerabilities in its first year compared to the 65 found in Windows ... XP during that same period. Analysts remain skeptical. "I think that it's fair to say that Windows Vista is proving to be the most secure version of Windows to date. Our investments in the SDL (Security Development Lifecycle) and our defense in depth approach to building Windows Vista seem to be paying off," wrote Austin Wilson in a recent ... (view more)

Dell and Microsoft have agreed to join forces. They're not about to take down a rival company, but instead help stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. Both have promised to donate up to $80 from the sale of three new computer models to help cover the ... cost of delivering medication from the western world. While seemingly a small donation considering the cost of a brand new computer, the $80 donated from each model would be enough to purchase up to six months of medical supplies in developing nations. (Source: iht.com ) Dell has agreed to provide the hardware in the partnership, coming out with two ... (view more)

Rumor has it the first service pack update for Windows Vista will be out on 15 February. A 'service pack' is a single download produced by Microsoft to fix many different problems and add general improvements to a version of its Windows operating ... system. Microsoft have so far only confirmed that the update will be out in the current quarter (by the end of March). It's thought Microsoft may be confident about releasing Service Pack 1 early because a test version, which users download at their discretion from the company website, has proven successful. The official service pack releases ... (view more)

Microsoft has warned that several older versions of Excel contain a bug that could be exploited by hackers. It affects both Windows and Macintosh users. The bug could make it possible to execute code remotely. That means a hacker would be able to ... gain some degree of access to a user's computer, with the potential to steal personal information. The problem affects versions of Excel (including the stand-alone viewer) dated up to and including 2004. However, if the user has downloaded Office Service Pack 3, the bug will have been removed. Those versions dated 2007 or 2008 do not have the bug. To ... (view more)

In the world of hardware, Microsoft is -- gasp! -- an underdog. It took a full generation for the company's Xbox project to sweep up a respectable segment of the video gaming population, a goal it has now achieved with its successor, the Xbox 360. ... In the world of digital music, the Redmond-based company still has a ways to go, but a major facelift is starting to turn heads. When it first launched over a year ago, many techies were underwhelmed by Microsoft's Zune music player. A drab rendition of Apple's iPod, its brown, black, and white visage paled in comparison to the much sleeker and more ... (view more)

Microsoft is currently experimenting with one of their first "technovations" of 2008 which, if successful, could forever change the way we go about our grocery shopping. The new device is a technologically advanced console that assists customers in ... finding various items on their shopping list. The consumer can also use their cart-mounted device to scan the products as they lift them off the shelves and place them into the cart. With the push of a button, the consumer can also pay for their groceries directly on the cart itself. (Source: yahoo.com ) These new "smart" carts have been one of ... (view more)

Regulators from the European Union (EU) have begun two investigations to find whether Microsoft is again constructing a tidy monopoly abroad. The first probe examines a complaint by the Norwegian firm Opera, rival Internet browser to Microsoft's ... Internet Explorer. Opera say it's illegal for Microsoft to include Internet Explorer free of charge with Windows, arguing that Microsoft should either include a range of browsers or none at all. A second investigation is currently peering into claims Microsoft didn't give other software firms enough information on how to make their programs compatible ... (view more)