microsoft

The complaint that Facebook prioritizes its own revenue targets above user security is hardly new. However, there is something fresh about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent attempt to distract users by pointing a finger at other tech companies ... -- most notably Microsoft, Google and Yahoo -- accusing them of being far less privacy conscious than Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, the 27-year-old billionaire founder and CEO of Facebook, recently appeared on the Charlie Rose TV show to discuss his company's growth and, as usual, ongoing concerns with the way the site handles the personal information ... (view more)

Microsoft has published details of its next batch of security updates (known as Patch Tuesday), due to download to Windows machines automatically on Tuesday, November 8 via Windows Update. The only critical update in the batch affects newer rather ... than older editions of Windows. None of the security updates to be released next Tuesday are said to patch MS Word, which is currently being exploited by the Duqu virus (a major zero-day threat ). The entire update is a bit of a surprise, say critics, because it deals with just four groups of bugs -- a far cry from recent updates that have included ... (view more)

A new rumor making its way through the Internet's tubes suggests that we might actually see a commercial release for Windows 8, Microsoft's next operating system (OS), as early as next August. What's even more surprising is that Microsoft is said to ... have a Windows 9 release for late 2014. The rumor comes to us in the form of a leaked roadmap available through the minimalist tech blog "MS Nerd." The roadmap reveals Microsoft's tentative plans for future releases and, as usual, the greatest interest has been drawn to the company's popular operating systems. The roadmap shows a Windows ... (view more)

After much confusion, it appears that Microsoft has finally decided to kill its much-maligned digital music player, the Zune. The confusion comes after a series of announcements and website postings that the Zune would no longer be produced. Posts ... were later retracted, but the latest announcement appears to be final, as it comes from Brian Seitz, senior marketing manager for Microsoft. (Source: pcworld.com ) "We will no longer be producing Zune players," Microsoft noted in a recent statement. The firm added that its new focus in the digital music market would be on the Windows Phone line of ... (view more)

Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4 Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.1 makes it easier than ever to create great video games for Windows-based PCs, Xbox 360 consoles, and Zune digital media players. An An active premium XNA Creators Club subscription is ... required. http://www.microsoft.com Pale Moon 7.0.1 The Pale Moon project is a custom-built and optimized Firefox browser for Windows. http://www.palemoon.org This freeware software program is brought to you by MajorGeeks.com: The Original Spyware-Free Download Site, in partnership with Infopackets.com. Disclaimer: the above software description is provided ... (view more)

Microsoft says it is rethinking the way the Start Menu will work in Windows 8. It's partly a response to user behavior and partly a recognition that more people will be using touchscreen devices in the future. By default, the Start Menu appears on ... the left-hand side of the screen, either when the user clicks the Windows logo in the bottom left corner, or presses the dedicated Windows key on their keyboard. Fewer Users Use Start Menu, Says Microsoft The Start Menu menu serves several functions by listing recently used applications, commonly used applications, a complete list of all ... (view more)

Google's been the top search engine for a long, long time now and that means it rakes in the most cash when it comes to online advertising. Several years ago its main competition in this arena had been Microsoft, Yahoo and America Online (AOL), all ... of which had their own, relatively successful search engines to offer. But Yahoo and AOL have fallen on hard times of late, and in a bid to re-establish themselves both have turned to Microsoft for help. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), all three companies are nearing a deal that would see advertising shared across their websites. For ... (view more)

GMail Drive 1.0.18 Beta GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google Gmail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your Gmail account directly from inside Windows Explorer. GMail Drive literally adds a new ... drive to your computer under the My Computer folder. http://www.viksoe.dk Microsoft Process Explorer 15.05 Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded. The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it ... (view more)

According to a new report, Microsoft may be in negotiations with America's largest cable providers to help create a solid foundation for its upcoming Xbox TV service. Xbox TV was first unveiled back at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June ... of this year. While Microsoft didn't say much about the service at the time, it did announce plans to "partner with TV providers" in order to make the service truly appealing to Xbox 360 users. Microsoft also said that it intended to bring local channels as well as sports and various news networks to Xbox TV. (Source: slashgear.com ) On Demand, ... (view more)

It's likely to be months, if not more than a year, before Windows 8 goes on sale to the general public. But according to Microsoft, a preview copy of the system has already had more than 500,000 downloads. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been making ... several public appearances this week to coincide with the formal public unveiling of the new system at BUILD, Microsoft's conference for hardware and software developers. Ballmer said that although there's a lot of work to do, the core of the system is finished. He said one of the main goals was to make sure that Microsoft's other services -- such ... (view more)