Business

With Windows Vista being available for several weeks now, some casual PC users are still hesitant to trade in their Windows XP (or in some cases, Windows '98) operating systems. The reason for failing to make the switch for many consumers is the ... cost of purchasing the new operating system and its believed proneness to bugs and hacking. Microsoft has addressed the latter concern by providing a revamped spyware package known as Microsoft OneCare. The company hopes that consumers will be more inclined to make the transition if they feel that the company is providing outlets for the safety of ... (view more)

In an attempt to help businesses adapt to Windows Vista, Microsoft has released free tools that will help companies migrate to the new operating system, including software that will allow older versions of Windows to run alongside Vista in a virtual ... environment. Microsoft is hoping the tools will make moving to Vista less painless for business customers, particularly those who depend on older versions of Windows. During a meeting with financial analysts, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called analysts sales estimates for Vista "overly aggressive" and tried to downplay expectations for OS sales. ... (view more)

Google will be taking its applications in a new direction soon: the company will begin charging business for the use of its set of apps, known as "Google Apps for Your Domain." The package includes G-mail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Page ... Creator, a start page, and will soon include Google Doc's word processing and spreadsheet applications. Google has said that they have been flooded with requests from business wanting to use these services -- and it hasn't just been small companies itching for Google Apps. Disney, Pixar, and the University of Arizona have also shown interest in ... (view more)

Now that Vista has been out for a few weeks now, the focus has shifted a bit from the operating system as a whole to other, new projects from Microsoft. One of the most notable new releases from the company is Office Outlook 2007, a program that ... promises to save the user oodles of time when navigating email and calendar screens. Reviews are starting to pour out on Office Outlook's recent edition, and we thought we'd discuss some of the highlights and lowlights here. Much like Vista, Microsoft has crafted Office Outlook 2007 to be as easy to navigate and edit as possible. If you need to place ... (view more)

The Microsoft Windows Vista hoopla has been fairly cool and collected in many circles, including the realm of home consumers. And yet, many aren't yet convinced the new operating system has anything they absolutely must install on their computers. ... The perception is that Vista lacks enough killer apps to win over PC owners like Windows 95, although industry predictions appear very confident this will change. In fact, Wall Street has been so aggressive in forecasting Vista's growth that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently pleaded that they scale back on the super sales prophecies. The problem ... (view more)

Hundreds of years ago, Shakespeare wrote that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But Microsoft recently discovered that names can in fact be very important, and has changed the name of Windows Live Mail to Windows Live Hotmail. The ... decision to modify the name of Microsoft's new AJAX-enabled webmail system was announced last Thursday in a Windows Live Spaces blog entry posted by Senior Product Manager Richard Sim. (Source: betanews.com ) Sim wrote that during beta testing of the new system, the company "found that many users were extremely loyal to the Hotmail brand and perceived ... (view more)

Just when you thought the cost of upgrading to Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, was expensive enough, the company announces it has raised the support fees for both XP and the new version of Office. The charge allotted for requesting help ... with either XP or Vista has been raised to $59, up a good chunk of change from the pre-Vista age of just $39. For now, there are fewer complainers. That's because those who have recently invested in Windows Vista are charged nothing for support calls during the first 90 days of ownership. However, after that period ends, all bets are off. (Source: ... (view more)

Microsoft Corp. warns that for three weeks in March and April, their calendar programs may be unable to function properly due to expected complications with the passing of new legislation regarding daylight-saving time (DST) changes. While Microsoft ... is already preparing consumers for the imminent defects during this three week period, they are not the only ones that will be faced with problems. In fact, all software that was programmed before 2005 is expected to experience some type of complication. (Source: topix.net ) The reason for this is due to the passing of a law in 2005 that stated ... (view more)

It hasn't been more than two weeks since Vista shipped, but already Microsoft is talking about its successor. Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of development with Microsoft's Windows Core Operating System Division, revealed that the next OS might ... ship in 2009. "You can think roughly two, two-and-a-half years is a reasonable time frame that our partners can depend on and can work with," Fathi said at a conference in San Francisco. "That's a good timeframe for refresh." (Source: hardocp.com ) Although Vista was shipped about two and a half years after Service Pack 2 for Windows XP was ... (view more)

Apple has some bad news if you've been planning on listening to your iTunes on Vista: it may not work. Apple issued an advisory on last Friday explaining that iTunes 7.0.2, when launched on Vista, has been giving users trouble. There have been ... problems with purchased music tracks playing, synching issues, and -- worse of all -- incidences where the iPod corrupts. (Source: betanews.com ) iPods have corrupted when users try to eject the device from a desktop port using the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature on Vista. To safely remove the device, it must be undocked using the "Eject iPod" control ... (view more)