Microsoft

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Microsoft Defends Silent Windows Updates

Calls download practice efficient, not shifty

(Newser) - Microsoft is reconsidering its updating practices after coming under fire for "silently"downloading a Windows patch—even for users who had opted for notifications. Microsoft defended itself, pointing out that the silent fixes affected the update software itself, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Skeptical opponents maintain similar situations in the...

Apple Takes a Bite Out of the Competition

iPod maker replaces Microsoft as industry bully, monopolist

(Newser) - Apple has replaced Microsoft as the tech industry’s “biggest bully,” according to PC World. The iPod dynamo has shed its rebel rep and assumed Microsoft’s former mantle as a monopolist, copycat, and bully. “Bundling,” a tactic Microsoft used to tie together Windows and Internet...

Panel Rejects Microsoft Standard Bid

As open document formats catch on, software giant meets resistance

(Newser) - Microsoft got a surprise smackdown from an international panel yesterday in its bid to have its open document format recognized as an international standard. The effort to certify Office Open XML met with resistance from 26% of the voting nations, and anything over 25% is a deal-breaker, the Times reports....

Apple Juiced About Big Surprise
Apple Juiced About Big Surprise
Sep 3, 2007 5:46 AM CDT

Apple Juiced About Big Surprise

Tech geeks believe Jobs will unveil new iPod this week

(Newser) - Apple this week invited tech geeks and reporters to a Wednesday event in San Francisco to unveil a secret something, and rumors are rampant about what it could be. The most popular theory is that Apple will revamp iTunes or launch a new version of its iPod—perhaps a video...

Prankster's 1st Computer Virus Turns 25

'Dumb little practical joke' led to $38 billion security industry

(Newser) - A prankster who wrote the first computer virus 25 years ago says only, “It was some dumb little practical joke.” Yet Richard Skrenta’s desire to infiltrate other Apple II’s with a poem (“It will get on all your disks; it will infiltrate your chips”)...

Apple, VW Steer Toward iCar
Apple, VW Steer Toward iCar
Aug 30, 2007 11:37 AM CDT

Apple, VW Steer Toward iCar

Car would appeal to young target groups, analysts say

(Newser) - Apple and Volkswagen are cruising toward a new partnership to develop a car loaded with gizmos from the digital maverick. Steve Jobs met with VW chief Martin Winterkorn in California this week to discuss plans for an “iCar,” the AP reports. Negotiations have just begun, but a VW...

Wii Are the Champions
Wii Are the Champions
Aug 24, 2007 3:29 AM CDT

Wii Are the Champions

Nintendo game console outsells Sony and Microsoft combined

(Newser) - Vdeo gamers were reaching for the Wii-mote in July after buying up an impressive 425,000 Nintendo Wii consoles—more than twice the sales of either X-Box 360 or Playstation 3.  It was a strong month for video games as a whole, with console sales more than doubling since...

Advertisers Will Soon Be Facebooking You, Too

Social-networking site to allow targeted ads based on user profiles

(Newser) - Facebook is at work on a way to sell ads based on information users and their friends post on the site, the Wall Street Journal reports. A basic version of the service could launch this fall, and the social-networking titan eventually might allow marketers to predict products and services users...

Skype Blames Crash on Windows
Skype Blames Crash on Windows
Aug 20, 2007 12:49 PM CDT

Skype Blames Crash on Windows

Millions of updates, reboots fried VOIP service, company says

(Newser) - Skype's mysterious failure last week was caused by a routine Windows update, the company says. Millions of users downloaded the new software, rebooted their computers, and tried to log into Skype at the same time, crashing the net phone service, PC World reports. It's still unclear why previous Windows updates...

MSFT Grabs AQNT for $6B
MSFT Grabs AQNT for $6B
Aug 13, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

MSFT Grabs AQNT for $6B

(Newser) - Microsoft completed the largest buyout in its history today, snatching up online advertising firm aQuantive for $6B. Microsoft closed the deal on Friday and will dole out $66.50 in cash for each share of the Seattle-based company, which will de-list from the Nasdaq after nearly doubling in value after...

Microsoft Renews FCC Fight Over TV 'White Space'

New access to Web opens in 2009

(Newser) - Regulators won't OK Microsoft's plan to give consumers access to the Internet through unused TV airwaves, but the firm isn't taking no for an answer. The FCC has already nixed a protoype that caused static on existing broadcasts, but Microsoft says it now has a version that works, and a...

Search Engines Improve Privacy Policies

Sites, government still have some work to do, study finds

(Newser) - Search engines are beginning to take user privacy more seriously, but stronger federal privacy legislation is still necessary, a new study says. In the online marketplace, privacy policies have become competitive factors, with sites one-upping each other to make surfers feel that they're safe and have control over their personal...

Judge Declines to Dismiss Vista Lawsuit

Consumers may press case that 'Vista Capable' label was deceptive

(Newser) - A federal judge has denied Microsoft's motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging its "Vista Capable" campaign misled consumers, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Although PCs bearing "Vista Capable" stickers run the new OS, many can handle only the bare-bones Vista Home Basic system, which lacks highly touted features included...

Microsoft Drops Price of Xbox 360
Microsoft
Drops Price
of Xbox 360
Aug 7, 2007 8:55 AM CDT

Microsoft Drops Price of Xbox 360

Trims $50 in wake of Sony's cuts to PlayStation3

(Newser) - Microsoft is shaving $50 off the price of Xbox 360 video game consoles in the US, just a month after Sony dropped the price of its PlayStation3 by $100. Both have faced unusually strong competition from Nintendo’s hot Wii, Reuters reports, and want to boost preholiday sales. Premiering in...

Gates Plans to Log Off as Scheduled
Gates Plans to Log Off as Scheduled
Jul 30, 2007 8:03 AM CDT

Gates Plans to Log Off as Scheduled

Despite most volatile market ever, Microsoft chairman will bow out

(Newser) - Bill Gates says that, despite a surge in competition from all sides of the market, his phased exit from Microsoft has been bug-free so far. His two-year transition period halfway done, the chairman and former CEO says that his handpicked successors have been successfully picking up the slack. But doubters...

10 Free Ways to Make Your Windows Computer Safer

These utilities can help put your mind at ease

(Newser) - The tech wizards at ZDNet offer their picks for security-conscious PC users on a budget:
  1. Secunia Personal Software Inspector (psi.secunia.com)
  2. OpenDNS (www.opendns.com)
  3. Active Virus Shield (www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?)
  4. Haute Secure (www.hautesecure.com)
  5. GMER anti-rootkit (www.gmer.net/index.php)

Online Maps Give Personal View of World

User-generated custom atlases are becoming guides to everything

(Newser) - Taking a page from Wikipedia, Internet users are harnessing the collective knowledge of millions and applying it to maps. On the rapidly growing "GeoWeb," surfers create custom atlases using mapping technology by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others. The user-generated maps can highlight anything from stores to previously unavailable...

Vista Proves Profitable, Problematic

Microsoft's new OS leaving many users nostalgic for XP

(Newser) - Microsoft has reported quarterly revenues of $13.4 billion, crediting strong sales of its new Vista operating system, which offers new networking and security features as well as an overhauled interface. But many users are still reluctant to switch after tepid reviews and anecdotal complaints, instead seeking out the 6-year-old...

Xbox Guru Quits Microsoft
Xbox Guru
Quits Microsoft
Jul 18, 2007 6:16 PM CDT

Xbox Guru Quits Microsoft

Redmond claims charismatic exec's departure unrelated to warranty woes

(Newser) - Microsoft's former entertainment honcho Peter Moore has decamped, the company confirmed today, after a four-year tenure highlighted by the release of the wildly popular Xbox 360. The announcement comes two weeks after Microsoft answered persistent Xbox hardware defects with a massively expensive warranty extension.

Dow Breaks 14K, Briefly
Dow Breaks 14K, Briefly
Jul 17, 2007 3:56 PM CDT

Dow Breaks 14K, Briefly

Strong earnings, weak inflation boost markets

(Newser) - The Dow shattered the 14,000 mark for the first time in its history today, floating 22 points above the milestone but dipping just before the bell to close at 13,971.55—still a 20.57-point gain. A projection of relatively docile inflation, combined with continued encouraging earnings reports...

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