Business

Microsoft has announced that 2012 will be its last appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. But the reason remains hotly disputed. The Consumer Electronic Show is one of the biggest events in the global tech calendar, often ... used to unveil new technologies, such as the video cassette recorder, the Nintendo Entertainment System, HDTV, and Blu-ray players. Microsoft first showed the Xbox console at CES in 2001, and in 2008 Bill Gates announced his retirement. For the past 14 years, Microsoft has delivered a keynote address on the first night of the multi-day show, ... (view more)

Apple has pulled a new application from its popular App Store after a United States senator complained terrorists could outfox law enforcement by using it to make fake identification cards. However, the removal has met with criticism from many ... users. "License" was originally released by DriversEd.com, to let Apple users take pictures of themselves and place their photo on a driver's license template. The point never was to help terrorists (or teens hoping to get their hands on alcohol) create fake IDs, but simply to help Apple users get creative with photos of themselves and their friends. ( ... (view more)

A federal jury has failed to reach a verdict in the $1 billion case of Novell versus Microsoft. Novel has charged that Microsoft falsely encouraged it to develop WordPerfect, a legacy word processing program, then reneged on its assurances. The ... Utah-based company originally filed suit in 2004. The case has not only dragged on for seven years -- it also brought Bill Gates to the witness stand for two days of testimony. Microsoft Wanted More Market Share Novell claims in the suit that Microsoft tricked Novell into committing vital resources to development of the software it never really wanted ... (view more)

Picking a password that is both memorable and resistant to cracking is a difficult task. It seems easy to forget a random series of letters and numbers, and it's just as easy to guess (or 'crack') memorable passwords, such as your birthplace, your ... dog's name, or your favorite ball club. So it's helpful that Microsoft is expanding password management in Windows 8 by introducing "picture-based account unlocking," which allows PC users to draw circles, lines, and dots in place of text passwords. Drawing Passwords Hard to Guess Microsoft suggests that accessing an account via a ... (view more)

Millions of users now running outdated versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) web browser will soon be forced by Microsoft to use newer versions of its proprietary browser. Older versions of Internet Explorer -- especially IE6, which was the ... default Internet Explorer that was bundled with Windows XP -- are extremely vulnerable to serious security threats and should not be used. Users who accept automatic updates of Windows, including its monthly security patches, will find their copy of Internet Explorer updated to a newer edition. Windows Vista or Windows 7 users will receive the ... (view more)

Microsoft has reassigned the man responsible for its mobile phone division during the past three years. Whether it's a snub for poor performance or a major change in the way the company serves desktop and mobile markets remains open to debate. Andy ... Lees, who was President of the Windows Phone division and oversaw all the company's work in the smartphone market has now been reassigned to work directly with Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer. His replacement, Terry Myerson, had been in charge of the division's engineering. Lees retains the title "President," while Myerson remains a corporate vice- ... (view more)

Microsoft has fixed a major vulnerability exploited by the nasty Duqu Worm with its most recent Patch Tuesday series of security updates, which started rolling out yesterday. The total number of patches fix 17 vulnerabilities in Windows. (Source: ... eweek.com ) Unfortunately, the company still hasn't issued a fix for a serious browser flaw ominously known as BEAST (Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS). The BEAST exploit was first discovered in September of this year and was responsible for cracking Paypal encrypted browser cookies. (Source: theregister.co.uk ) Of the 17 vulnerabilities noted, ... (view more)

Windows 8 is said to include a new 'app store', where users can browse and install software for their PCs and mobile devices through Microsoft. The news is welcomed by many, as the apps will be under strict regulations. Microsoft, however, will ... retain the ability to delete or remove software programs ("apps") that it deems necessary. The ability to remotely delete software on whim, critics say, gives too much power to Microsoft. Microsoft Offers "Try Before You Buy" Software developers using Microsoft's new app store will be able to offer trial copies of their software ... (view more)

A leading tech analyst firm has predicted Windows 8 will fail to make a splash among ordinary consumers. The reasoning is that the most prominent new feature in Windows 8 is unlikely to be interesting enough to entice users to upgrade. The ... unflattering prediction comes from IDC, which has published a list of 10 predictions for 2012. The comments are only a matter of opinion and are thus largely speculative, however, they carry considerable weight with financial investors. Metro Interface Not Attractive To Most Users Writing about the new edition of Microsoft's operating system, IDC didn't say ... (view more)

Windows 8 will apparently be much simpler to install and does not require faster hardware specifications than Windows 7, allowing some XP machines to run the new operating system (OS). The changes center around allowing most people to simply ... download Windows 8, unlike previous upgrades that involved great complexity. For example, a user might have to download and run an Upgrade Advisor tool; save files and settings; run the set-up and installation; and finally reinstall all applications and settings. A process like this might involve 60 or so separate screens, many of them repetitive. Windows ... (view more)