Business

The Department of Justice has agreed to end its legal oversight of Microsoft. It follows a 10 year period during which the Redmond-based software company had to make itself open to examination by U.S. officials. Basis: Microsoft Unfairly Promotes ... Internet Explorer The Department of Justice has agreed to officially end the oversight on May 12, 2011. The case brings to a conclusion a process that began way back in 1998, when the department filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, accusing it of unfairly promoting its own Internet Explorer (IE) browser by including it in Windows at the expense of ... (view more)

A French security firm says it now knows how to hack its way into Google's Chrome browser. If the claim turns out to be true, it would represent a surprising weakness for a web browser considered by some to be the safest available. The hack report ... comes from France's Vupen, which says it was able to sidestep Chrome's defenses -- including the highly reputable sandbox design -- as well as Windows 7's built-in anti-exploit infrastructure. Report Stuns Security Experts The exploit is "one of the most sophisticated codes we have seen and created so far, as it bypasses all security features ... (view more)

Microsoft Security Essentials has put on a mediocre showing in a series of recent tests run by international examiners AV-Test.org. The results were deemed so poor that Microsoft actually placed 20th out of 22 antivirus products tested. MSE Strong ... at Detecting Known Variants Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 (MSE) started off the testing procedures relatively strong when required to uncover malware drawn from industry-agreed Wildlist selection, including malware variants such as the Koobface virus . In this test, Microsoft Security Essentials finished with an impressive detection rate of 100 ... (view more)

Microsoft and Research in Motion (RIM) have announced a partnership that will see the Redmond-based firm's Bing search engine used on the BlackBerry. It's a surprise move that some are speculating might indicate an even deeper relationship in the ... future between the two tech giants. The Bing announcement was made at the recent BlackBerry World trade show, when RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis shocked the crowd by introducing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Together, the two revealed that Bing will soon be found on both the BlackBerry (and its various iterations) and the newly-released RIM PlayBook ... (view more)

A new poll suggests that adoption of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system by IT (information technology) organizations is proceeding slower than expected. The survey found that just one in four companies reported having already moved to the ... operating system, while more than half said they'd not made any progress in doing so. The poll comes courtesy of Unisys Corp., a Pennsylvania-based provider of IT services and technologies. It conducted the survey of 133 firms two months ago, and found that 53 per cent of all respondents reported that they either "haven't started" moving to Windows 7 or ... (view more)

Microsoft has been accused of patent abuse by Barnes & Noble by allegedly preventing manufacturers from using Google's Android operating system (OS), a product which competes with the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. The accusation comes ... just over a month after Microsoft filed suit against Barnes & Noble company for allegedly infringing on a number of patents with its new Nook e-reader device. Microsoft Declares 5 Ways Nook Infringes on Patent Back in March, Microsoft accused Barnes ... (view more)

Google plans to launch its own deal-of-the-day service, one quite similar to that offered by Groupon. The search giant has officially launched a beta test of Google Offers, which is designed to give those who sign up for the service daily discounts ... at local restaurants, shops and other attractions. According to the Google Offers sign-up page, members can expect coupons for 50 per cent or more off regular price goods and services. Groupon Turns Down Google Offer Google Offers surfaces mere months after Groupon turned down an acquisition offer from Google. As of last November, various reports ... (view more)

Ron Markezich, the new Microsoft sales chief for enterprises and partners in the United States, recently told the media that he believes companies spend six times more than the original cost of Microsoft software in order to get it to operate ... properly. The controversial claim has lead many to believe that Markezich is downplaying the capabilities of the software his company provides. Said Markezich, "Every dollar you spend on software from Microsoft, you spend six dollars trying to get it to do anything." No doubt, this admission is quite surprising, especially considering that Markezich's ... (view more)

You either love Mac computers, or you hate them. You either adore those "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" commercials, or you loathe them. But what does all of that say about the people who like PCs, and those who prefer computers built by Apple? A new survey ... looks at just that question. The survey of just under 400,000 people was recently performed by social networking-style website Hunch, which asked people whether they used a PC or a Mac and then followed that query with a number of other questions. (Source: pcmag.com ) Mac Users Liberal, Educated, Urban Here's what the survey suggests: Mac users may ... (view more)

The Windows XP operating system is over a decade old, and Microsoft would love nothing more than to see all XP users world-wide upgrade to Windows 7 . To reinforce that message, the Redmond firm has recently released a desktop gadget that counts ... down the seconds to the day it will officially cease support for Windows XP once and for all. Microsoft Treats Windows XP as an Addiction It appears as if the software giant is casting XP users in the same light as those suffering from an addiction and in need of help. On the Microsoft download web site, the message reads as follows: "Looking to get ... (view more)