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Linspire Chairman Frustrated By Futility Of Desktop Linux, Rebuts Carmony
Michael Robertson says Microsoft's imposing lead in the desktop market means Linux should look to next-gen devices for growth.
Microsoft Hopes Office Subscription Plan Will Counter Free Software
Microsoft is counting on Equipt's convenience factor to help it fend off threats from Google, IBM, and others that are offering free desktop productivity suites.
Mac OS X Market Share Nears 8%
The global market share for Linux jumped in the past 10 months, while Microsoft's Windows lost a few points, says Net Applications.
Microsoft Launches Office Subscription Service
Microsoft is working with Circuit City to offer a consumer software subscription service that includes its Office, Windows Live OneCare, Messenger, and Photo Gallery applications and services.
Microsoft Unveils New Internet Explorer Security Features
Coming to IE8 is a set of cross-site scripting defenses to defeat hackers looking to steal cookies and browser history, logging keystrokes, stealing credentials, or just evading phishing filters.
Powerset Deal Latest Example Of Microsoft's 'Not Invented Here' Strategy
Microsoft is increasingly bypassing the work of its own R&D labs and turning to acquisitions to buy its way into the tech industry's hottest growth markets.
Orbitz Travel Sites Replace Expedia At MSN
The change, which Orbitz said could bring about 3.5 million visitors per month to Orbitz via MSN Travel, represents a blow to Expedia, which began life in 1995.
Customers More Satisfied With PC Call Centers
While the industry gets high marks for courteousness, that positive is undermined by low effectiveness in handling customer issues and poor communication, a report says.
Microsoft Buys Search Start-Up Powerset
Under Powerset's hood is decades-in-the-making natural-language processing technology the company licensed from the Palo Alto Research Center, formerly of Xerox.
Microsoft Revises Volume Licensing Agreements
The software vendor is continuing down a path that's cut the total number of licensing programs from more than 100 last year to 26.
Xbox 360 Price Cut Coming, Report Says
Microsoft is looking to maintain recent Xbox sales' momentum in the face of stiff competition from Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii unit.
Dell's 'Vista Bonus': It's Windows XP
Many computer users -- especially businesses -- have decided to forgo upgrading to Vista, citing its cost, resource requirements, and incompatibilities with older software.
Alliance Formed To Promote Macs On Corporate Networks
Parallels and others will publish best practices for OS X and Windows interoperability, addressing issues such as integrating Macs with Microsoft's Active Directory.
Yahoo Questions How Serious Microsoft Was On Deals
Microsoft retorts that Yahoo's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is "simply revisionist history."
Microsoft Internet Explorer Vulnerability Warning Issued
The flaw focuses on IE's inline frames, often used for serving ads, which typically come from a different domain than content that appears on the same Web page.
Windows XP Officially Retired By Microsoft
Microsoft will no longer make Windows XP available to large computer makers, such as Dell, Lenovo, or Hewlett-Packard, or to software retailers.
Microsoft Lays Out Protocol Patent Licensing Terms
Protocols for Office 2007, SharePoint 2007, and Exchange Server 2007 are out, but it's too early to tell what impact those releases will have on the company or its partners and competitors.
Microsoft's Ballmer In Firing Line As Gates Departs
The question is whether Ballmer, as a solo act, is up to leading Microsoft through its next set of hurdles.
Yahoo Investors Unsure If They Will Support Icahn
The billionaire investor is seeking to revive buyout talks between Yahoo and Microsoft.
VMware To Microsoft: 'Not That Much Has Changed'
Despite the hoopla about Microsoft's upcoming release, executive John Gilmartin says Hyper-V is six to seven years behind VMware's technology curve.
Yahoo Announces Major Reorganization, Leadership Changes
The move is Yahoo's latest attempt over the last 18 months to make changes to shore up its resources.
Yahoo Says Google Deal Doesn't Rule Out Microsoft Sale
Emphasizing that the agreement does not rule out a Microsoft takeover will likely add to speculation that talks between the two companies are quietly ongoing.
Windows Vista Won't Be Inside Intel
Intel will not be deploying the Windows Vista operating system internally for its 80,000 workers.
Dell Unveils Colorful Line Of Midlevel Notebooks
The Studio line notebooks are powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and come standard with a built-in Webcam, 802.11b/g wireless, and Windows Vista.
Microsoft To Buy Mobile Services Company MobiComp
Among MobiComp's customers are Vodafone, clothing company Esprit, and a number of mobile carriers including ones from Portugal and Saudi Arabia.
After Delays, Microsoft Releases Hyper-V Server Virtualization
By packaging Hyper-V with Windows Server, Microsoft hopes to reverse the head start competitors like VMware and Citrix have been able to gain.
Google, Microsoft Back Online Health Records Privacy Framework
The Markle Foundation rolled out a set of best practices backed by medical professionals, health insurers, consumer groups, healthcare providers, employer coalitions, and tech companies.
Mac Office 2008 Update Includes More Than A Dozen Fixes
Fixes included in the update cover all major components of the suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage.
Microsoft Pledges Windows XP Support Through 2014
Microsoft may have little choice but to support XP for an extended period since most of its business customers have not upgraded to Windows Vista.
Dell Extends Windows XP Sales 'By Popular Demand'
The computer maker will accept orders for PCs with the older Microsoft operating system until June 26.
Bill Gates Waxes Philanthropic At Microsoft 'Exit Interview'
The Microsoft chairman will retire from full-time duties this week, but expects to remain busy with his foundation's work.
Microsoft Deleted Windows Interoperability Documents, Feds Say
The court-mandated committee overseeing Microsoft's compliance with a federal antitrust settlement said the software company broke a pact when it removed some information.
Microsoft, AT&T, Covisint Partner On Health Data Exchange
The agreement lets consumers who use Microsoft's HealthVault share their health data with their doctors.
Yahoo's President Defends Google Search Deal
Susan Decker said Yahoo still aims to build up its position in search and views it as inseparable from bolstering growth in other online ad markets, such as graphical display.
Mac-Clone Maker Sets Sights On Apple Xserve
Two rack-mount products offered this week can apparently run Mac OS X Leopard Server as well as Windows Server 2003 and 2008, Ubuntu Server, and CentOS.
Microsoft Reissues Critical Security Fix For Windows XP
The original patch worked on Windows Vista, but failed to accomplish its task in Windows XP SP2 and SP3, the Microsoft Security Response Center said.
Yahoo Execs Exit Stage Left
Though it's easy to make Yahoo's failure with Microsoft or the company's partnership with Google a scapegoat for these departures, there are some who are just moving on.
Yahoo Investor Asks To Weigh In On Microsoft Offer
Microsoft abandoned a $47.5 billion offer to buy all of Yahoo last month, but more recently discussed a transaction to take a 16% stake in Yahoo and buy its search business.
Business Intelligence Software Growth Shows Dramatic Drop In U.S.
Gartner blames the drop in BI spending growth on a weak U.S. economy.
Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Nears Release
The former SoftGrid software streams an application from a server in an organization's data center to a local PC as pieces of the application are needed.
Microsoft Buys Television Ad Tech Company Navic
Microsoft said it has purchased privately held digital television advertising technology company Navic Networks.
Yahoo-Google Deal Faces Scrutiny Antitrust Experts Say
The two firms announced a deal last week that would allow Yahoo to place Google ads on its site and collect the revenue.
Dell To Charge A Fee For Pre-Installing XP On PCs
The computer maker says it will charge $20 to $50 to customers to participate in Microsoft's Vista-to-XP downgrade licensing program.
Firefox 3.0 Record Download Attempt Crashes Mozilla Servers
Mozilla hopes to successfully complete 5 million downloads of the Web browser in 24 hours and set a Guinness World Record.
Windows Vista Lags With Developers
While less than one in 10 developers polled in the spring by Evans Data analysts are building for Windows Vista, half of them are developing software for Windows XP.
Microsoft To Create Search Research Center In Europe
The company has not decided on a location for the new facility, but said it hopes to have it open in its fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.
EU Stumbles On Buying Microsoft Alternatives
The European Commission, a thorn in Microsoft's side for its antitrust campaigns against the software giant, is falling short in its own internal attempt to promote more competition in the technology sector.
Microsoft Unveils OS For Portable Navigation Devices
Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 includes technologies for connecting PNDs to online services, mobile phones, and Windows-based PCs.
Microsoft Co-Sponsors Census Of Corporate Open Source Use
The community outreach shouldn't be perceived as foreshadowing that Microsoft will soon open source much of its own software.
Microsoft Seeks Support Against Google-Yahoo Deal
Microsoft sought on Friday to enlist support for its opposition to a new advertising collaboration deal between Google and Yahoo, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Microsoft Loses Creative Force Behind Halo 3 Launch
Jeff Bell's departure has sparked a shakeup in the company's Xbox-related business groups.
Firefox 3 Release Planned For Tuesday
Users of the Web browser will try to set a Guinness Book record for the most downloads in a single day.
Congressman Wants Foreign Models Off Tech Visas
Currently, foreign models who want to work in the United States require H-1B visas, which are normally used by computer programmers and other high-tech workers.
Microsoft Says Internet Explorer 8 Will Be More IT Friendly
The software vendor will add a number of features to Internet Explorer 8 for IT departments beyond those already offered in IE7.
VMware Dives Into Specialized, Desktop App Virtualization
In ThinApp 4, Application Link and Application Synch let customers run multiple versions of any application on any Windows operating system.
Enterprise 2.0: Wachovia Turns To Wikis, Blogs To Support Growth
To connect its 100,000-plus employees, the financial services company is rolling out a slew of new collaboration tools anchored by Microsoft's SharePoint Server.
Microsoft Says Windows Server 2008 Cuts Power Consumption By 10%
Microsoft estimates that enterprise-class Windows Server 2008 running with 20 active clients would save about $30 annually in power costs compared with the 2003 version.
Microsoft Patch Tuesday Brings Seven Fixes
The DirectX and IE vulnerabilities are noteworthy because they could be exploited using proven methods of social engineering, security researchers point out.
Microsoft Touts Virtualization At TechEd Conference
Microsoft expects big growth in server virtualization, application virtualization, presentation virtualization, and desktop virtualization.
Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente Test Health Data Transfers
The HMO is inviting its 156,000 employees to participate in the health care data transfer test with an eye to opening it up to more participants.
Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente Launch E-Health Record Pilot
The program will test the exchange of patient health data from Kaiser Permanente's My Health Manager e-health record system to Microsoft's HealthVault platform.
Apple iPhone Clone Not In Microsoft's Plans
Microsoft says it has no plans to produce a phone-enabled version of its Zune mobile music player.
Virtual Machine Manager Levels Load For Colorado Agency
Instead of spending $250,000 on new Fibre Channel disks, state officials used Akorri's BalancePoint to realign the way logical storage units were using shelves to spread the I/O load.
Microsoft Plans Seven Security Fixes Next Week
The "important" flaws affect Windows Internet Name Service, Active Directory, and Pragmatic General Multicast.
Microsoft Looks To Improve Windows Mobile Music
Looking to take on the iPhone, a Microsoft exec said mobile music will be a huge business opportunity.
Windows XP To Windows 7 A Risky Path, Microsoft Warns
Customers that don't deploy Windows Vista are missing out on proven benefits such as better security, productivity, search, mobility, and manageability, says a Microsoft executive.
Icahn Would Hand Yahoo Search To Google If No Microsoft Deal
Corporate raider Carl Icahn also plans to replace Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang if he takes control of the company's board.
Best Smartphone Platforms For Business
A smartphone's OS drives its productivity-enhancing powers. Here's a guide to choosing among Windows Mobile, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia S60, and Google Android.
Icahn Says Yahoo CEO, Board Sabotaged Microsoft Acquisition Bid
The billionaire financier claims the "poison pill" severance package for Yahoo employees was deceitful and killed off talks between the two tech companies.
Microsoft Details Oslo Modeling Vision
The heterogeneous SOA software for Visual Studio will have tools called Architecture Explorer and Architecture Layer Diagram for visualizing application logic in current code.
Businesses Use Microsoft Robotics, But Not For Robots
Companies like MySpace and Tyco are using elements of the developer studio's Concurrency and Coordination Runtime to manage business processes and intranet services.
HTC Hopes Smartphone Will Touch Business Users
HTC's Touch Pro features a five-row sliding QWERTY keyboard, a touch screen, 3G support, and integrated Wi-Fi and GPS.
Microsoft's Ballmer Touts Vista-To-XP Downgrade Program
The licensing policy for Windows Vista lets customers downgrade it to Windows XP, Ballmer notes.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer To Step Down Within 10 Years
The head of the world's largest software maker says he will retire in nine or 10 years when his last kid goes away to college.
Gamers Like In-Game Ads, Claims Microsoft
For example, among the gamers who remembered Adidas ads placed by Massive in 2K Sports' "Major League Baseball 2K7," 73% said the ads enhanced the realism of the game.
Windows XP To Live On Aboard Cheap Desktops, Microsoft Says
The move would allow system vendors to preload the Home edition of Windows XP on nettops through June 2010, or about one year after Windows 7 becomes available.
Bill Gates Gives Last Big Speech Before Leaving Full-Time Microsoft Role
"It's the first time I've really changed my career since I was 17 years old," Gates told a crowd of software developers at Microsoft's TechEd conference.
Microsoft Readies Silverlight, Oslo, IBM Partnership At TechEd
Bill Gates will also speak to software developers in one of his final public addresses before he moves next month to a part-time role with the company.
Thousands Remember Missing Microsoft Database Pioneer Jim Gray
Gray disappeared on his sailboat, "Tenacious," and despite an intensive search, no trace of his boat was ever found.
Asus Expands Eee PC Mini-Notebook Line
The Eee PC 901 reportedly has an 8.9-inch screen, a 1.6-GHz Atom microprocessor, 1 GB of memory, and a 20-GB solid-state drive for Linux builds and a 12-GB SSD in machines running Windows.
Microsoft Strikes Search Deal With HP
HP will install a Microsoft Live Search toolbar on all its consumer PCs starting in January.
Microsoft Releases Dynamics AX 2009
The upgrade includes role-based business intelligence tools that Microsoft will extend to its other ERP offerings in future releases.
Internet Explorer 8 Could Break Web Pages, Microsoft Warns
Among other things, IE8 promises default compatibility with Web standards such as CCS 2.1 and HTML 5.
Windows 7 Testing Must Start ASAP, Microsoft Warns Hardware Makers
Hardware makers that don't comply with the edict won't qualify for Microsoft's Windows Logo certified compatibility program for Windows 7 or Windows Vista.
Microsoft Warns Of Security Vulnerability Arising From Apple's Safari
Unless the default Safari download location is changed, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by tricking a user into visiting a maliciously crafted Web site, Microsoft said.
Microsoft Office Standard Challenged By India, Brazil, South Africa
Members of a Brazilian technical committee said the process that led to OOXML's ratification was flawed, in part because not all participants were given enough time to make their views heard.
No Answers Found In Search For Microsoft's Jim Gray
Searches on and below the water have not solved the disappearance of the noted computer researcher and experienced sailor.
Mozilla Aims For Firefox 3.0 Download Record
Given that there's no established Guinness World Record for software downloads, Mozilla is destined for the record book no matter what happens.
Yahoo CEO Yang: Microsoft Not Interested In Merger
Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang says his company and Microsoft are exploring possible partnerships.
Microsoft Unveils Multi-Touch Technology For Windows 7
Multi-touch capabilities are expected to be part of the next Windows operating system when it is released in late 2009 or early 2010.
Windows Mobile In Line For 50% Growth, Microsoft Says
Microsoft cites "increased market demand for phone-enabled devices and Windows Embedded operating systems" for the expected spike.
How To Tame Microsoft Windows Vista's UAC
Are all those Windows Vista User Account Control warnings driving you nuts? Here are seven ways to make Vista's UAC less intrusive, while keeping legitimate security threats at bay.
Microsoft Responds To GameStop Dropping Zune Sales
The software giant remains optimistic in the face of the latest obstacle to adoption of its portable media player.
Windows Home Server Bug Fix Available In Beta
Microsoft hopes to have a final version of Windows Home Server, Power Pack 1, available in early June, but cautions that testing may delay the launch.
Yahoo Delays Annual Meeting, Urges 'No' Vote On Icahn Slate
Yahoo delayed its annual meeting to gain more time to develop business alternatives that don't involve Microsoft to present to shareholders.
Legg Mason Urges Microsoft-Yahoo Merger
Legg Mason funds manager Bill Miller says Microsoft should revive talks to acquire the Internet portal.
Europe Eyes Microsoft's ODF Pledge
European trustbusters want to see if Microsoft's vow to support the OpenDocument Format in its Office products will loosen the software maker's stranglehold on the desktop applications market.
Red Hat, Novell Suse Linux Get Upgrades
Both Red Hat and Novell says the upgrades cover things like virtualization, management, hardware support, and security.
Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 To Add ODF, PDF Support
Despite its recent ISO approval, however, Microsoft will not support the standardized version of its own Open XML format until the release of Office 14.
Trade Commission Says Alcatel-Lucent Didn't Violate Microsoft Patents
Microsoft had claimed that Alcatel-Lucent products stepped on its patents for unified communications tools.
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