microsoft

Microsoft's Halo 3 is on a roll. Together, retailers Amazon, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and GameStop have so far exceeded over 1 million pre-orders for the game. This statistic can now be etched in the book of video game world records, seeing as how Halo 3 ... is now the fastest selling pre-ordered video game in history. The record is just what Microsoft needs right now. After Xbox 360 profits recently declined, Microsoft has high hopes that Halo 3 will revive the console's popularity. According to Microsoft's director of creative marketing, Chris Di Cesare, "Halo 3 will push video game entertainment ... (view more)

Apple has just released iWork 2008. New additions, such as a spreadsheet called "Numbers", are impressive but the real excitement is over iWork's ability to handle the Open XML file format. This particular format is native to Microsoft's Office 2007 ... application suite. Until now, no application has been more important for the long-term survival of Mac than Microsoft Office. However, Apple's new iWork may change this fact. Why is Microsoft no longer the only drug that can keep Mac healthy? Quick answer: the Redmond-based company contracted its own illness; Microsoft faced problems in ... (view more)

A lawsuit filed in April alleging that Microsoft misled consumers with labels on Windows XP machines touted as "Windows Vista Capable" will be allowed by a federal judge to proceed. The suit alleges many of the computers labelled by the ... Redmond-based company as "Windows Vista Capable" couldn't run some of the highly touted features of Vista. After listening to oral arguments in Seattle, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman denied Microsoft's motion to dismiss two of the law suits claims: allegations that Microsoft's marketing violated Washington state's Consumer Protection ... (view more)

Want a dirt-cheap version of Windows Vista? Move to China. Microsoft has posted an extremely low price for the new operating system in that country, with hopes of drastically improving sales. The Chinese will see a price reduction North Americans, ... for now, can only dream of. Vista Home Basic there will plummet from over 1,500 renminibi to just 499 renminibi ($66 USD). Home Premium will similarly drop, from 1,800 renminibi to 800 renminibi. That means Home Basic and Premium will drop 67% and 50%, respectively. For the record, China's Vista price is now less than a third of that charged to ... (view more)

If you're one of the many people who still own and play the original Xbox video game console, keep a close eye on the system's power supply cord. Recalled a few years ago, it has cost one infant his life. In February of 2005, Microsoft recalled the ... power cord for its Xbox, amidst fears that it could overheat and engulf a home in flames. Although the problem sounds similar to overheating issues with the newer Xbox 360, the latter's issues simply affect the console's ability to function, and pose no threat of combustion. Unfortunately for a Warsaw, Illinois couple, the original Xbox power cord ... (view more)

It seems we'll all be celebrating the one year anniversary of Windows Vista by the time Microsoft releases the Mac version of Office. It seems the Redmond-based company has decided to push back Mac Office 2008's release, now appropriately set for ... mid-January next year. It's already the second major delay for the software. Unfortunately, it seems as though the Mac edition of Office was nowhere near ready. According to development group General Manager Craig Eisler, "It was clear from our June and July quality checkpoints that no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't release our product in time ... (view more)

In one of the least surprising moves in recent gaming history, Microsoft has slashed the price of its popular Xbox 360 console. Given the growing affection for Nintendo's Wii, a much cheaper system, the announcement is hardly shocking. It has been ... rumored for months that Microsoft may lower the price of its Xbox 360, released in November of 2005, in order to stay competitive. (Source: seattletimes.com ) How cheap will it go? According to reports, the standard "Premium" edition of the console will drop from $399 US to just $350. The Premium version boasts a 20 GB hard drive, wireless ... (view more)

Discovering that the brand new laptop you've purchased has only a trial edition of Microsoft Word is a bummer. Discovering that Microsoft Works, the cookie-cutter full-version alternative, will feature advertisements in the future only compounds the ... frustration. Announced last Wednesday, Microsoft's new initiative to bombard poor Works users with ads will first run in a test program. There's no concrete date for the new and exciting Works SE 9, although Melissa Stern, a senior Microsoft product manager, says customers can expect to find it on new computers within the next few months. So, why ... (view more)

When Microsoft shipped Windows Vista, one new feature that was introduced was a firewall that monitored both inbound and outbound traffic. What Microsoft failed to mention about the firewall is the fact that monitoring outbound traffic is disabled ... by default. Microsoft claims it was disabled because administrators wanted more control over it. Even more interesting is the fact that you can't enable outbound filtering through the Windows Security Center in Windows Vista. The user is required to manually configure the firewall if you want to filter that outbound traffic. To do this in Windows ... (view more)

A recent survey of more than 250 CIOs, CSOs, IT managers and network administrators across Europe, Asia Pacific, and the U.S. conducted by PatchLink shows that fewer businesses are now planning a migration to Windows Vista than seven months ago. ... More businesses are saying they'll either stick with the Windows thay have, or they'll switch to Linux or Mac OS X. The poll also shows that corporations are afraid of zero-day vulnerabilities. Of the more than 250 businesses polled, 2% said they're already running Windows Vista. 9% said they plan to roll Vista in the next three months. 87% said they ... (view more)