microsoft

Want to let everyone know what you think of your neighbor's barking dog or the latest episode of Lost? Microsoft has now made it easier for you to rant, this time in pretty colors. On Tuesday, August 1st, Microsoft launched its Windows Live Spaces: ... a revamped and updated version of its previous Spaces brand. The immensely popular MSN Space lets users showcase pictures of themselves, friends, pets, and pretty much anyone ever photographed/drawn. The new version upgrades these abilities, allowing users to present blogs, music lists, and, like, oh-so-many more photos. Although personalization ( ... (view more)

The next theatre of war for Google and Microsoft might be a realm previously and popularly unassociated with information technology: healthcare and medicine. Amidst rumors that Google is strongly considering the release of a Health search and/or ... service, Microsoft is apparently closing in on a constructive build of its Windows Live Healthcare. The exact message for the Redmond-based company is still unclear, as Microsoft executives, including corporate vice president of Health Solutions Peter Neupert, remain very hush when it comes to details. (Source: microsoft-watch.com ) For months, both ... (view more)

Oh, the irony. In the middle of an industry firestorm launched by Microsoft against software pirates, the tech world's most hardcore investigators have discovered that the Redmond-based company has been using cracked .wav files in its Windows Media ... Player. In its most recent operating system -- XP -- Microsoft is allegedly running hacked music files for its background sound. Microsoft has attracted intense scrutiny in recent weeks over the release of the Windows Genuine Advantage ( WGA ). WGA is Microsoft's pioneer program in the war against software piracy, as it rather forcefully "offers" ... (view more)

Last November, Microsoft faced intense criticism upon the release of its Xbox 360 console. Many die-hard Xbox "fanboys" -- gamers dedicated to Bill Gates' wares -- were unable to purchase the system due to massive production shortages. Those with ... their eye on the industry recognized a ridiculousness in Microsoft's pitiful attempt to attract Japanese gamers (who typically flock to Nintendo and Sony events) when the North American market was starving for more Xbox 360s. The end result? Millions in lost business on this side of the Pacific and thousands of 360s gathering dust in Japanese game ... (view more)

It seems Microsoft is nabbing software pirates the old fashioned way. Despite its much-publicized release of the anti-piracy program WGA ( Windows Genuine Advantage ), Microsoft has successfully nabbed 26 software pirates through "secret shopping." ... Secret shopping is the practice of sending a company representative -- dressed like the average citizen -- into retail businesses in the hopes of nabbing shoplifters, or in this case software pirates. Microsoft actually purchased random software and then tested its legitimacy. The Redmond-based company also used its "rat" phone line -- 1- ... (view more)

Now that Microsoft knows you want it, Office 2007 Beta 2 downloads are no longer a gratuity. Since its release two months ago, the extremely popular program has been downloaded a total of three million times, leading the Redmond-based company to ... start charging $1.50 USD, beginning August 2. According to Microsoft, the beta program -- 550 MB for the basic version, 2GB for the full suite -- and its explosive popularity have put a fantastic strain on the company's networks. Even Microsoft itself has been caught off guard by the intense downloading of the Office beta, stating that the 3 million ... (view more)

Microsoft Virtual Pc 2004 Virtual PC for Windows is a client based software virtualization application that allows you to simultaneously run multiple operating systems on a single PC. Each virtual machine emulates a complete hardware system -- from ... processor to network card -- in a self-contained, isolated software environment, enabling the simultaneous operation of otherwise incompatible systems. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx Peacefire Peacefire is a website that contains instructions for getting around blocking software, including an interesting program called ... (view more)

Stepping outside the bounds of its usual focus on security and operating systems, Microsoft has recently licensed touch-screen technology. Dubbed "Touchlight", the technology is one of twenty projects being offered to venture capitalists for ... development in cooperation with Microsoft. Signing on for Touchlight is EON Reality, who will use the technology for exhibitions, technical demonstrations, and training exercises. EON hopes to begin commercialization of the Touchlight and other similar projects before the year ends. (Source: microsoft-watch.com ) Touchlight: How It Works Microsoft's ... (view more)

As previously noted , Microsoft officially confirmed the existence of its own competitor to Apple's successful iPod portable music machine, Zune, after months of rumors and speculation. One of Microsoft's big features for Zune is reportedly the ... ability to download music and videos wirelessly. (Source: cnn.com ) That means you wouldn't first need to download the music to your PC, and then transfer it to your player. This gives Zune a true "on the go" feel. If the speculation proves accurate, the Zune player could detect what music is on other people's players nearby and automatically download ... (view more)

Even with massive revenues through a number of initiatives, the cost of meeting demand for the Xbox 360 console has left the Microsoft Home and Entertainment division with a posted operating loss of $414 million for Quarter 4, 2006. Similar losses ... were felt last year in anticipation of the 360 launch, but despite promises that a number of concepts would force a profit, such explosive revenue has yet to materialize. Luckily for Microsoft, its SQL server (the language used to retrieve and manipulate database materials) has exploded in recent months, making up for the growing pains of raising ... (view more)