Business

Thus far, sales of Windows 7 have been " fantastic ," and now there's also evidence it's boosting hardware sales -- which will undoubtedly increase this Black Friday with super holiday deals to be had. Manufacturers and retailers on both sides of ... the Atlantic are already crediting Windows 7 with helping move more computers this pre-holiday season. Manufacturer Acer says its recent sales are up 25 per cent on the same time last year -- all thanks to Microsoft's new operating system (OS). The firm, which is the second largest PC manufacturer in the world, says it predicted such an ... (view more)

According to a a recent study, Windows 7 is already being used on more computers than Mac OS. In fact, Windows 7's usage outperforms all versions of Apple's system put together. According to Net Applications, 5.14% of online users were running ... Windows 7 last Sunday, compared with Apple's average of 5% for the week as a whole. However, Windows 7 only averaged 4.15% for the week, which is a fairer comparison. Figures for Sunday alone aren't available for Mac OS yet. (Source: tomshardware.com ) It's possible Apple's figures for the Sunday will turn out to be higher than its weekly average as, ... (view more)

For the past few months, Samir Meghani has been the proverbial "thorn in the side" of Microsoft. First, the co-founder of price comparison search engine Bountii.com posted ways in which users could exploit the Bing cashback rewards program . Now, ... Meghani is claiming that this same promotion is responsible for making some products appear more expensive on the web than their actual retail price. Bing 'Negative Cashback' Rewards Acccording to Meghani, Bing has a hidden feature that he refers to as 'negative cashback'. It is his belief that the program, and more specifically, vendors associated ... (view more)

Another Thanksgiving is upon us, and that means so too is another round of dog-eat-dog Black Friday mayhem. And as usual, there are plenty of rumors circulating about which companies will offer the biggest and best deals. Let's get things started ... with high-end hardware maker, Apple. Maybe it's just me, but it seems Black Friday is now a bigger deal than Thanksgiving, a holiday as old as Puritans. But as the first major bargain day in the long lead-up to Christmas Eve, Black Friday means a green weekend for most retailers. Rumor: iPods Slashed 30% Kicking things off this year is Apple, which ... (view more)

Microsoft's CEO says Windows 7 is selling twice as fast as any of its predecessors. However, he was careful not to sound too arrogant, noting that even the tiniest fraction of market share lost to rivals is important to the Redmond-based software ... firm. Steve Ballmer last week spoke at Microsoft's annual meeting in Washington state, broadcast live on the Internet. He said Windows 7 had already sold twice as many units as any previous Microsoft operating system (OS) in the same period, calling the sales a "fantastic start". (Source: csmonitor.com ) Ballmer didn't give sales numbers or revenue ... (view more)

When Intel was recently asked about their plans for future development, the world's largest semiconductor chipmaker retorted with a rather unusual answer. According to Intel, by the year 2020, people will no longer need a keyboard or mouse to ... control a computer. Rather, users will able to surf the Internet and open files using nothing more than their brain . Intel researchers are currently finding new ways to read human brain activity to be used in the manipulation of computers, television sets and cell phones. If the research proves to be successful, many brain waves could soon be harnessed ... (view more)

Is Microsoft already looking beyond Windows 7 to Windows 8? Well, it can't hurt to be prepared. In a recent presentation at the Los Angeles Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky revealed two interesting slides that CNET ... News believes confirms the next major release from the Redmond-based firm is pegged for 2012. There's great value for Microsoft in being up front with its home and business customers. For one, being prepared keeps stock value high. Second, it keeps consumer confidence at a peak, and although the initial knee-jerk reaction might be to wonder if news of ... (view more)

If you run over your computer with a monster truck, stick dynamite in the USB slot or attach it to a Slinky and roll it down the stairway, you can reasonably expect to lose any warranty or cover care you have on it. But now there's another rash ... activity that can leave you out of pocket if a fault develops: smoking. The Consumerist website, run by the same group behind Consumer Reports magazine, says two readers have found Apple refused to fix computers because they were smokers. Both had purchased the extended warranty Applecare package. In one case, the problems with the machine were blamed ... (view more)

Google appears on the verge of releasing software capable of starting up a PC as fast as a television set. The speedy start up software is said to be linked with the Google Chrome operating system designed for computers that perform the bulk of ... their workload over the Internet. According to Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management for Google's Chrome OS, netbooks running the Chrome OS will be able to start in less than 7 seconds. (Source: reuters.com ) Imitating the TV Experience The idea is to mirror that of the television set experience. "From the time you press boot you want it ... (view more)

Although the next version of Microsoft's very popular Office software isn't set to ship until the new year, the Redmond-based firm recently unveiled a public beta allowing interested users to try new editions of PowerPoint, FrontPage, Word and more. ... Microsoft revealed the beta at the PDC developer event going on right now in Los Angeles. The beta is currently available and can be installed and run alongside older versions of Office, allowing the user to take a closer look at what's new for 2010. (Source: pcworld.com ) So, what new features can we expect in Microsoft Office 2010? First of all ... (view more)