microsoft

Being fair minded while discussing Microsoft is difficult for me considering all the illegal activities their management has engaged in, and have been convicted for, in both U.S. and International Courts over the years. But, I do try hard to be as ... open-minded as I possibly can when talking about their software. With that in mind, I wanted to talk to you about Vista and all the hype that has been blowing around in the wind. It is confusing, conflicting, and in some cases, just too hard to believe! Let me begin. On one hand, you hear Microsoft touting the virtues of Vista as the Best OS since ... (view more)

Microsoft has reportedly made its most pricey acquisition since 2002. The Redmond-based company purchased Tellme Networks, and although the price remains undisclosed, it is estimated to be upwards of $800 million. (Source: theregister.co.uk ) Tellme ... Networks is a voice recognition company and has made a name for itself by becoming a leader in recognizing and responding to voice inquiries on the telephone. Tellme currently powers over 40% of all directory assistance calls in the US. (Source: arstechnica.com ) Meanwhile, Microsoft has been experimenting with voice recognition capabilities for ... (view more)

Microsoft has recently released its updated Visual Studio 2005 Studio Pack 1 (SP1), a revised edition that promises to allow developers to get the most out of future Windows applications. It steps up the initial developments launched with the first ... version of Visual Studio 2005 SP1, in December. The key components in the December version of Visual Studio included .Net Framework 3.0, which is made up of the Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Workflow, Windows Communication Foundation, and Windows CardSpace. Each of these features have been made exclusively to help developers construct ... (view more)

Recently, Microsoft publicly attacked rival company Google Inc., criticizing them in regards to their carefree approach when dealing with copyright issues. Microsoft's harsh comments came shortly after Google signaled their intent to move into new ... media markets in an effort to further expand their corporate influence. Microsoft argued that Google's latest venture would come at the expense of those who hold copyrights on many books, videos and software. In a statement addressed to several media correspondents, Microsoft representative Thomas Rubin went so far as to imply that Google is acting ... (view more)

After several attempts to make iTunes compatible with Windows Vista, Apple is still discovering defects and incompatibility issues. The iTunes software is a crucial component when synching music to be downloaded onto iPod portable players. Even ... though Apple recently released iTunes 7.1, the company urges customers not to install the product on Vista-ready computers until all the incompatibility issues are resolved. (Source: denverpost.com ) Apple has since removed warnings from their website in favor of a cautionary notice that acknowledges some glitches with the program -- which includes ... (view more)

Last week we reported how the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a moratorium on users migrating to Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7 and Office 2007 citing no compelling reasons to upgrade at this time. ... Federal Computer Week is reporting that more Federal Agencies are delaying the migration to Windows Vista. The Interior Department, including the Army and the Transportation Department are developing implementation policies and say they need to complete their testing of Vista before switching over from older working systems already in place. A draft ... (view more)

Amid all the rumors and hype over Microsoft's Vista, it seems there are a fairly large number of instances where Microsoft is being shown the door. Here in the U.S., we have read that the Department of Transportation ( for certain states ), the ... Federal Aviation Administration , and others are dumping Microsoft for Linux. It's strange, however, to note that the action taken by those organizations seems to have triggered reactions in the European Union! It has been reported that the French Government has decided to install Linux on the PCs used by the 577 deputies and their assistants, ... (view more)

Users thinking about upgrading to Windows Vista may end up spending more than they thought. Besides having to pay for faster hardware, users should expect to pay for Vista upgrades to a lot of their favorite software. (Source: computerworld.com ) ... Instead of releasing free patches to update existing versions, some major vendors such as Adobe Systems Inc., Symantec Corp. and Intuit Inc. are adding Vista compatibility only to new releases or future products that are still being developed. Most of these new versions will add more features along with Vista compatibility. Vendors argue that if ... (view more)

If you've ever tried to do medical research on the Internet, you know what a time-consuming -- and often futile -- task it can be. A simple flu could be misdiagnosed as a life-threatening illness if you click on the wrong site or give in to your own ... paranoia. Well, Mr. Gates may have the solution for you. Microsoft has purchased Medstory.com -- a prominent medical search engine. (Source: yahoo.com ) Right now, the website is still in the beta testing stages. That obviously gives Microsoft the leeway and latitude to shape it into own vision -- whatever that may entail. Obviously, the company ... (view more)

Recently, Information week obtained a memo citing concerns over cost and compatibility issues by the federal U.S. Department Of Transportation (DOT) in January 2007, prohibiting thousands of federal workers from upgrading to Windows Vista, Internet ... Explorer 7 (IE7) and Office 2007. The DOT's Chief Information Officer (CIO) placed an "indefinite moratorium" on the upgrades since "there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade." "Microsoft Vista, Office 2007, and ... (view more)