Business

According to a new report from Microsoft, 1 in every 14 PC programs found on the web are laced with malware . The statistics come courtesy of the Redmond-based firm's Internet Explorer SmartScreen filter, which is designed to figure out a program's ... reputation before proceeding with a download. The SmartScreen filter first appeared in Internet Explorer 7 and continues to be developed with Internet Explorer 9. The latest edition of SmartScreen now checks the reputation of downloads. (Source: betanews.com ) "Using reputation helps protect users from newly released malware programs -- pretending ... (view more)

Apple iPad and iPhone owners are being targeted by a new scareware-like scheme this week, which uses a unique phishing strategy to frighten them into giving up their personal data. Fake Email Spoofs Apple App Users The scam is being reported by ... security company F-Secure, who say that hackers are using carefully designed emails to fool Apple fans. An email appears in a target's inbox from the "Apple AppStore," telling the recipient that their recent app order "has been successfully cancelled." Those users who don't want that to happen are asked to click on the link "order information" to find ... (view more)

In a recent article, analysts refuted claims that the Apple iPad had much to do with the recent PC sales slump . However, they did warn that computing tablets would become a much more significant threat within the next two years. Rather than wait ... for PC sales figures to dip even further, Intel has revealed their plan to bring PCs back to their innovative glory days. New Intel Laptops to be Thinner, Lighter, More Powerful Intel says that in the next few years, laptops will be thinner and lighter, and run all day on a single battery charge. Other options will allow for innovative touchscreen ... (view more)

Microsoft is gearing up to help university students get homework done while also getting their game on by offering a free Xbox 360 game console with the purchase of a $699 Windows 7 PC. It's a very good deal, indeed. In its recent announcement of ... the offer, Microsoft revealed that between May 22 and September 3, 2011, students with a .edu email address confirming their student status will be able to get an Xbox 360 if they buy a computer running Windows 7 priced at $699 or more through Microsoft.com, Dell.com, HP.com, or a number of brick and mortar retail locations like Best Buy. (Source: ... (view more)

In hindsight of the successful "Mac vs PC" TV commercials, Microsoft has launched a new "PC vs Mac" website. The Microsoft website is entitled 'Do The Math', and greets users with two images: one has an open MacBook Pro 17, while the other is an HP ... Pavilion DV7 -- adorned with a Hawaiian lei, accompanying surfboard and palm tree backdrop. Microsoft: Buy a PC, Take a Vacation The idea behind this latest scheme is to provide a 'side-by-side comparison' of two products (one of which happens to be a Microsoft-endorsed and reported price savings of $1,350), and that by buying a PC, ... (view more)

The man who co-founded Google believes that just one in five of the company's employees still use Windows. Sergey Brin also described Windows as a fundamentally flawed operating system. Brin was promoting Chromebooks, the first range of machines ... that will ship with Google's Chrome operating system built-in. The system works on the basis that the user is always online, and is effectively a glorified version of the Chrome web browser with built-in links to online applications such as Google Docs. The theory is that the majority of computer users spend most of their computing time using their ... (view more)

With the Apple iPad being touted as the "all-in-one" tablet computer, many would be inclined to think that its sudden global demand would account for a recent slump in PC sales. Industry analysts, however, believe that the decline is more closely ... linked to the success of Windows 7. In the aftermath of the 2010 holiday sales season, only 12 per cent of consumers admitted to purchasing an iPad in place of a standard PC (a slight dip from the 14 per cent who had initially picked up the tablet within the first six months of its availability). While the figures indicate that the release of ... (view more)

A recent report revealed that many businesses still have no plans to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, leaving their ailing PCs at higher risk for malware. That may change, however, with a new report suggesting that Windows 7 is five times less ... likely to be infected by malware than its predecessor. Windows 7 Five Times More Secure than XP The study comes from Microsoft's own Security Intelligence Report, which is released annually. The report not only revealed that Windows 7 is five times more secure against malware than a machine running Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), but it was also ... (view more)

Earlier this week Microsoft announced plans to buy up popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, Skype. The Redmond-based software giant agreed to pay $8.5 billion in the deal, which will bring all 170 million of Skype's users under ... Microsoft control. The deal marks the biggest acquisition in Microsoft's history. (Source: go.com ) "Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a recent statement. "Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, ... (view more)

Microsoft unveiled a modest Patch Tuesday collection of fixes for its software products this month. However, at least a few of the patches address security holes that experts say could be easily exploited. On Tuesday, Microsoft's series of May ... patches addressed just three bugs, only one of which is marked "critical," the company's highest security rating. The most serious patch is labeled MS11-035 and is intended to fix a vulnerability in the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS), a component in every edition of Windows Server. Critical Update Not Automatically Deployed The way in which ... (view more)