InformationWeek Windows News

Microsoft Set To Launch WorldWide Telescope, Gates Says

Fri, 9 May 2008 12:39:00 EDT

With the launch of WorldWide Telescope, Microsoft will extend its battle for Internet dominance with Google to the cosmos.

Windows Vista More Vulnerable To Malware Than Windows 2000

Thu, 8 May 2008 19:20:49 EDT

Vista let 639 threats per thousand computers through, compared with 586 for Windows 2000, 478 for Windows 2003, and 1,021 for Windows XP, security vendor PC Tools said.

Microsoft Disbands Board Slate For Yahoo

Thu, 8 May 2008 19:15:30 EDT

Microsoft withdrew its $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo last weekend after the two sides failed to agree on price.

Windows XP SP3 Sows Havoc, Users Complain

Thu, 8 May 2008 11:58:00 EDT

The problems with XP SP3 range from spontaneous reboots to outright system crashes.

Microsoft's Windows Vista Spin Merits Second Look

Thu, 8 May 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Vista uptake is unquestionably on the rise, but a variety of factors need to be considered with looking at the numbers, says Gartner.

Yahoo Behind Them, Microsoft Sends Out Feelers To Facebook

Wed, 7 May 2008 18:49:48 EDT

In October, Microsoft took a $240 million stake in Facebook, which valued the start-up at $15 billion.

Microsoft To Move On Without Yahoo, Gates Says

Wed, 7 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Despite firm statements by Microsoft's top two leaders that it's no longer interested in acquiring Yahoo, some investors appear confident that a deal will still happen.

MainSoft Integrates Microsoft SharePoint With IBM Lotus Notes

Wed, 7 May 2008 16:05:00 EDT

The software allows for drag and drop of documents, spreadsheets and presentations hosted on a SharePoint site from a sidebar into e-mails, calendar appointments and task lists.

Windows XP SP3 Now Available For Public Download

Wed, 7 May 2008 14:59:00 EDT

The service pack contains all the updates issued since SP2 was released in 2004, as well as new elements, including several borrowed from Vista.

Microsoft Gets More Social With Zune Update

Tue, 6 May 2008 15:49:00 EDT

Users of the portable media player can now download friends' nine most recently played songs, as well as nine tunes flagged as favorites.

HTC Tries To Cut Apple With Touch Diamond Smartphone

Tue, 6 May 2008 15:44:00 EDT

The device, which runs on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, includes a 2.8-inch VGA touch screen and supports carriers' 3G broadband-like networks.

Yahoo Shares Up On Hope Of Talks, Google Deal

Tue, 6 May 2008 14:30:41 EDT

Yahoo investors latched on to hopes the company would resume talks with Microsoft or soon forge a deal with Google, sending shares up 6 percent Tuesday.

Microsoft's Zune Store Adds South Park, Other TV Shows

Tue, 6 May 2008 12:55:00 EDT

With the new offerings, the Zune online store's inventory now includes 3.5 million song tracks, 4,800 music videos, 3,500 audio and video podcasts, and 800 TV shows.

Microsoft: 'We've Moved On' From Yahoo

Tue, 6 May 2008 12:14:00 EDT

"Yahoo would have been an accelerator, but we've moved on and now we're focused on how fast we can grow organically," Windows Live general manager Brian Hall said.

Xobni Makes Outlook Searchable And Social

Tue, 6 May 2008 09:00:00 EDT

Xobni makes Outlook social by scanning your e-mail to find connections between e-mail senders and recipients.

Windows Vista SP1 Disaster Recovery Guide

Tue, 6 May 2008 04:00:00 EDT

Vista's SP1 was expected to solve a lot of problems; instead, it caused even more trouble. Here are fixes to some top complaints, from a Windows Update that won't update to endless reboot loops.

Pummeled In The Stock Market, Yahoo's Yang Looks Ahead

Mon, 5 May 2008 19:10:00 EDT

Yahoo co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo wanted $37 per share because they believed that Microsoft's offer undervalued their company.

Ballmer: Microsoft's Web Strategy Doesn't Stop With Yahoo

Mon, 5 May 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Microsoft will continue to improve search relevance, build out its own advertising platform, invest in engineering for the Web, and pursue partnerships around the world.

With Microsoft Out, All Eyes On Yahoo CEO Yang

Mon, 5 May 2008 14:01:00 EDT

Just two days after Microsoft pulled out of merger talks, Yahoo's stock dropped more than 15%, erasing roughly $6.5 billion in market value.

Linux Shootout: 7 Desktop Distros Compared

Mon, 5 May 2008 04:00:00 EDT

We tested openSUSE, Ubuntu 8.04, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva Linux One, Fedora, SimplyMEPIS, and CentOS 5.1. All performed well, and each had at least one truly outstanding feature.

Microsoft Yanks Yahoo Bid

Sat, 3 May 2008 21:14:00 EDT

"After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo! do not make sense for us," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in withdrawing the $44.6 Billion bid.

Microsoft Uses Open Source Project To Extend Management To Linux

Sat, 3 May 2008 00:01:20 EDT

Bid to increase its enterprise systems management coverage hinges on OpenPegasus.

Microsoft Simplifies Game Development With Popfly Game Creator

Fri, 2 May 2008 18:30:00 EDT

The mashup can be used to create any kind of two-dimensional game like the original Super Mario, Frogger, or Asteroids.

Microsoft Poised To Detail Next Moves On Yahoo

Fri, 2 May 2008 09:03:30 EDT

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday that walking away from a deal with Yahoo remained one of "three big options" the company is weighing and to expect an announcement shortly.

Microsoft's Board Fails To Decide On Yahoo

Thu, 1 May 2008 09:00:18 EDT

Microsoft's board met Wednesday to discuss its stand-off with Yahoo over its $41.8 billion takeover bid, but failed to reach a decision on what to do next, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

First Hyper-V Support Emerges From Desktop Virtualization Supplier

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:20:00 EDT

Provision Networks is the first vendor to make Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor the focus of its desktop virtualization efforts.

Microsoft Cuts Xbox Prices In Four Asian Markets

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:52:17 EDT

The reductions will take effect this week in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Interop: Microsoft Sees 200,000 Protocol Downloads

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:29:00 EDT

Senior VP Bob Muglia says Microsoft products will feature "open connections" that will allow outside developers to more easily write programs that interact with its own.

Microsoft Again Delays Windows XP SP3 Release

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Microsoft is holding up the software update's release, this time after finding a compatibility issue with an electronic checkout system for retailers.

Microsoft Uses Open Source To Extend Systems Management To Linux

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Microsoft is extending its management software to Linux and Unix by integrating some of the open source OpenPegasus project's code into System Center Operations Manager.

Microsoft Finalizes $1.2 Billion Fast Search Purchase

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:14:00 EDT

Former Fast CEO John Markus Lervik will lead the enterprise search effort, which will include bolstering Microsoft's Office SharePoint Server.

Microsoft Blames Poor Coding Practices For Massive SQL Injection Attack

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:20:00 EDT

U.S. CERT recommends disabling JavaScript and ActiveX because of attacks that have compromised legitimate Web sites using Microsoft IIS Web Server and Microsoft SQL Server.

Interop: Microsoft Goes Green With Efficient Code, Employee Bus Line

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:29:00 EDT

Microsoft plans to work more closely with independent software developers to help them build applications that don't draw CPU cycles unnecessarily.

Wall St. Analysts See Microsoft Bid Going Hostile

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:31:53 EDT

An overwhelming majority of Wall Street analysts see Microsoft preparing shortly to launch a hostile bid for Yahoo at its current price of $31 per share in cash and stock, a Reuters poll found.

Microsoft's Live Mesh: Web Fabric With Loose Threads

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:01:10 EDT

Ambitious plan to weave PCs, devices, and cloud computing is still in the early stages.

Startup Of The Week: Napera Brings NAC To Small And Medium Enterprises

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The company's switches communicate with Microsoft NAP agents to keep unhealthy machines off the network.

Google Optimistic Regulators Won't Bar Yahoo Ad Partnership

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:11:00 EDT

The U.S. Justice Department is questioning the companies about potential competitive issues raised by a two-week test of Google's system for selling ads alongside Yahoo's.

In Database Market, Oracle Gets Bigger, Others Hang On

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:06:00 EDT

Microsoft was the only member of the big three to grow at a rate under the market average, 11.2%, for revenue of $3.4 billion and an 18.3% market share, IDC said.

Microsoft Windows Sales Plunge 24% Amid Rising Competition

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:07:00 EDT

Microsoft posted revenue from all desktop versions of Windows of $4 billion for the three months ended March 31, compared with $5.3 billion during the same period a year earlier.

Lenovo To Make Windows XP Available Until 2009

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:45:00 EDT

Hewlett-Packard will also provide Windows XP to business customers that want to downgrade from Windows Vista after June 30.

Think Tanks Propose National Innovation Foundation

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:00:00 EDT

Such a foundation would serve as a catalyst between industry and university researchers and seek to expand regional innovation through state governments.

Interop Preview: Tech Industry Gets Ready To Rumble

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:00:00 EDT

The nation's leading business technology event, Interop, gains added breadth this year as it is co-located with Software 2008, an event aimed at software developers, users, and industry executives.

Microsoft Results Disappoint, Presses Yahoo Attack

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:56:57 EDT

Weak quarterly sales of Windows software drove shares down but did not deter Microsoft from its $44 billion unsolicited bid of Yahoo.

Microsoft Hyper-V To Flaunt Advanced Virtualization Features

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:58:00 EDT

The beta version of Hyper-V is already operative, and customers may download the more advanced Hyper-V Release Candidate 1 before its addition to Windows Server 2008.

Windows Vista SP1 Now An Automatic Download

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:35:00 EDT

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been released in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese versions, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft Flexible On Windows XP End Date, Ballmer Says

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:42:00 EDT

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the company could extend the shelf life for Windows XP based on customer input.

Dell To Ship Windows XP Computers Until 2010

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:14:00 EDT

The nation's second-largest PC maker plans to let business customers skip Vista and go directly to Windows 7.

Web 2.0: Tellme Adds Voice-To-Visual Service To BlackBerry

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:08:00 EDT

The software is initially downloadable for BlackBerry phones and is scheduled to roll out on future Helio devices.

Web 2.0: Microsoft's Live Mesh Aims For Simplicity

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:00:00 EDT

The company will use open standards like Atom, JSON, POX, RSS, HTTP, REST, and FeedSync to allow for the "it just works experience."

Microsoft Continues Its Work On Oslo -- SOA for Windows

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:30:00 EDT

Microsoft has shown it can take a third-part app built with Java and move it over to .Net without changing any Java code.