Business

Users thinking about upgrading to Windows Vista may end up spending more than they thought. Besides having to pay for faster hardware, users should expect to pay for Vista upgrades to a lot of their favorite software. (Source: computerworld.com ) ... Instead of releasing free patches to update existing versions, some major vendors such as Adobe Systems Inc., Symantec Corp. and Intuit Inc. are adding Vista compatibility only to new releases or future products that are still being developed. Most of these new versions will add more features along with Vista compatibility. Vendors argue that if ... (view more)

The details of an unusual agreement have been released to rest of the technological world, as industry analysts learned that networking equipment manufacturers, Cisco Systems, are in the final stages of acquiring technology from social networking ... minnows, Tribe.net. Cisco Systems specializes in producing networking equipment for telecommunication providers and other large corporations. Currently, 55,000 people are employed by Cisco. Tribe.net provides social networking services that have been continually rejected by consumers, in favor of other immensely popular social networking alternatives ... (view more)

If you've ever tried to do medical research on the Internet, you know what a time-consuming -- and often futile -- task it can be. A simple flu could be misdiagnosed as a life-threatening illness if you click on the wrong site or give in to your own ... paranoia. Well, Mr. Gates may have the solution for you. Microsoft has purchased Medstory.com -- a prominent medical search engine. (Source: yahoo.com ) Right now, the website is still in the beta testing stages. That obviously gives Microsoft the leeway and latitude to shape it into own vision -- whatever that may entail. Obviously, the company ... (view more)

The spread of big box retail giants Best Buy and Circuit City is now having an impact on more specialized stores. In a recent announcement, CompUSA admitted that it will be closing some 126 of its American stores, or about half of the chain's total. ... CompUSA has been providing U.S. homes and offices with the latest in processing technology since it was founded in 1984. Although CompUSA, Inc. is a subsidiary company, it is largely controlled by common shareholder Carlos Sim, the millionaire resident of Mexico. (Source: slashdot.com ) The mass closings are meant to infuse the company with some $ ... (view more)

Although critics have argued over the necessity of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, there's little doubt that it does improve upon the security and simple visual functions offered by XP. That's the primary reason behind hacker ... attempts to crack the software, with moderate success stories in the past few months. Now, it appears as though the most complete crack yet has been made available, one that can avert the problematic activation period. Previous hacks to Vista, while said to be useful, have been only partially complete. That's because they've been largely subject to ... (view more)

Microsoft Corp. has announced that they have fixed a glitch in their online advertising platform that has cost a number of individuals high and unnecessary amounts of money. Merchants complained that they had been charged hundreds, and in some ... cases, thousands of dollars due to Microsoft's error. In a statement on one of its online blogs, representatives at Microsoft recognized the defect and admitted that the glitch in their online adCenter service had pushed up their "cost per click" rates. (Source: seattlepi.nwsource.com ) The "cost per click" rates are essentially the fee that advertisers ... (view more)

Consumers purchasing some high end computers online Dell are having to make those purchases with Windows XP, due to issues with some peripherals that are incompatibile with Windows Vista. There is no indication that the problem is widespread, but ... some customers wanting to build their own computers from Dell may be forced to choose hardware that isn't ready to run on Microsoft Windows Vista. A Dell spokesperson confirmed last Friday that two of its high-end gaming machines won't run the latest version of Microsoft's latest operating system (OS) at all. "There are still some compatibility ... (view more)

Apple Inc. has announced that the launch of their newest venture, Apple TV, will be delayed until next month. Industry analysts remain confused about the wait, as Apple has apparently given no reason for their decision to hold off on the release of ... their new product. Apple TV is the company's latest gadget that allows for online video and other media content to be streamlined from computers to televisions. The product will be sold as a hardware component and should sit comfortably atop or beside a television set. In a brief statement given to media reporters, an Apple representative stated ... (view more)

If you're wondering how compatible a number of applications are with Vista, you'll be pleased to hear that Microsoft's latest operating system supports most notable entries. The company has recently released an official list, which includes 100 of ... Microsoft's own products. In addition, a number of surprises appear from direct competitors of the Washington state based company, like Google Toolbar. The list Microsoft has comprised is officially called its "Certified" applications. The titles that make the grade have been labeled "Certified for Windows Vista", in a somewhat similar manner to ... (view more)

Last week Microsoft released their newest version of the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool. WGA is designed to make sure the Microsoft software on your computer is properly licensed (legitimate, not counterfeit) and supported by Microsoft or one ... of their trusted partners. Certainly, Microsoft would like to believe that their WGA software is reliable and doesn't make mistakes. When they released the original WGA software, however, it mistakenly identified potentially pirated software on several legitimate users machines. In a case of deja vu, the the newest version of WGA is also causing a ... (view more)