Business

It's only been a few days since the Microsoft-Yahoo search agreement was finalized and already the new tandem is being criticized. Concerns were raised over the fact that the companies billed their union as a "global" partnership. The fact is that ... both companies were founded (and are currently headquartered) in the United States. According to some experts, this is a minor snafu -- but the technicality does raise a valid concern. What happens to the international Yahoo search affiliates? Yahoo China not Included in Deal It has now been made clear that the Microsoft-Yahoo search ... (view more)

In an effort to solve a number of early computational problems, Microsoft has now called upon the Internet community to help improve the accuracy of current and future Bing -generated search results. Microsoft is set to release a new online game ... called Page Hunt that is designed to illicit user interaction and responses. The information extracted from this game will provide query alterations for use in search refinement and identify other vital issues. (Source: yahoo.com ) Generate a Hit Word, Find the URL The game seems quite fun. A player is shown a random web page with only the URL missing ... (view more)

Microsoft recently revealed the release of 20,000 lines of Open Source Linux device driver code, including three device drivers to the Linux kernel community for inclusion in the Linux tree. The code will be available to the Linux community and ... customers alike to enhance the performance of the Linux operating system when it is virtualized on the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V operating system, including the R2 release. Hyper-V is a technology made by Microsoft which provides "cost savings ... [of] server hardware ... by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines ... (view more)

Apple is trying to make it more attractive for iTunes shoppers to buy full albums rather than just single tracks. The plan involves giving customers additional electronic material to simulate the experience of owning a physical product, like a CD. ... Codenamed 'Cocktail,' Apple's scheme reportedly has the support of all four major record labels. It would mean album buyers not only received electronic copies of album covers, liner notes, lyrics lists and other printed material, but that there'd be some degree of interactivity -- for example, by having the track listing act as a menu. (Source: ... (view more)

A new report from a popular tech blog suggests that Windows 7 will have an enormously beneficial impact on several industries, but perhaps none more than PC hardware manufacturers, including AMD, Nvidia, and especially processor titan Intel. ... According to a recent report from CNET News, Windows 7 "will be more than just a better interface." Instead, its very technical design will make chips from several popular hardware makers more efficient than current systems loaded with Windows XP or the much-maligned Vista. Opportunities to Optimize Windows 7 The greatest beneficiary of Microsoft's new ... (view more)

Microsoft has finally acquired long-time search engine rival Yahoo Inc in a 10 year search engine partnership. The deal, which has been in the works on-and-off for over a year has been finalized and made public earlier today. (Source: ... computerworld.com ) The announcement initially sent Yahoo stock down about 8 percent, while Microsoft stock saw a brief jump, opening at just a little over $23 a share. (Source: bizjournals.com ) Revenue Shared by Search Technologies The deal was almost thrown off the rails when Yahoo demanded a significant payment up front, but now company will instead receive ... (view more)

Microsoft is releasing two emergency patches this morning outside of its usual Patch Tuesday rotation. The Redmond-based company has determined that fix addresses issues that require immediate attention. Microsoft usually releases a Patch Tuesday ... fix about once a month addressing security vulnerabilities marked "critical" or "important," the latter being regarded as slightly less concerning. However, it rarely releases a patch outside of the monthly rotation unless something is truly wrong. Emergency Fix Targets Visual Studio, IE At this point, the company hasn't fully disclosed the problem, ... (view more)

Microsoft and the European Union have agreed to a compromise to their ongoing disagreement over the default use of Internet Explorer in Windows. Buyers of Windows 7 on the continent will be offered a choice of browsers at start-up, though the ... changes may not be made in time for the system's release. The European Union has not officially made any final decision on whether Microsoft has breached any competition rules by including Internet Explorer -- and only Internet Explorer -- in Windows. That verdict does seem extremely likely and the only real question at this stage is what punishment ... (view more)

As hype builds for its upcoming Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft continues to face declining revenue in all five of its major markets. Just last week, the Redmond-based company reported miserable results for its fiscal fourth quarter. For the ... quarter ending June 30 Microsoft announced an incredible decline of 29 per cent from last year, with profits of $3.05 billion. The company's stock is also down to 34 cents per share, a decline of 26 per cent from the same period a year ago. Revenue dipped by 17 per cent to $13.1 billion. (Source: crn.com ) Decay Beyond Wall Street Predictions Not ... (view more)

Microsoft has a reputation for rarely admitting or accepting defeat in any market. But the company is now waving the white flag of surrender after admitting that they can no longer keep up with hackers when discovering file format bugs in time to ... stop them from exploitation. That doesn't mean that Microsoft is prepared to let online deviants have their way with software vulnerabilities . Instead, the company has decided to take a " sandbox " approach to Office documents in the next version of the application suite. The Sandbox Technique The sandbox technique will be a new addition to Office ... (view more)