Business

It's been a long time coming. Thanks to a recently leaked build of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), rumors circulating around the Internet suggest that the update's beta version could be available in the next month or two. It appears a few different ... builds have made their way online. The first, reviewed by tech blog GeekSmack, features a compile date of March 27th, suggesting that the build is fairly new and intended to show off how SP1 is looking at the moment. Windows 7 Service Pack 1: Highlights Critics have thus far marveled at a number of things: for one, SP1's installation speed. ... (view more)

Microsoft has released a revised beta edition of Windows High Performance Computer Server (HPC Server), in its effort to crack the supercomputing market. The new edition makes several changes which improve integration with Linux machines. ... Supercomputing is all about processing speed: the idea being to produce computers capable of performing as many calculations as possible. The types of employed tasks tend not to be technically complicated, but instead involve a great deal of detail. A typical example of supercomputing would be data modeling, in which a computer simulates future events where ... (view more)

Taiwan computer manufacturer Asus has announced it will release at least two tablet PCs in the next few months. They'll join a growing list of potential rivals to the much-hyped Apple iPad. Asus is better know for producing netbooks: indeed, it can ... be argued that its Eee PC, released in 2007, helped establish the market for the slimmed-down notebooks designed mainly for Internet browsing and light office tasks. Chairman Jonney Shih told Forbes that Asus is still committed to netbooks, but believes there is a gap in the market between netbooks and smartphones which can be filled by tablet- ... (view more)

Windows 7 launched on October 22, 2009 -- just over five months ago -- but has already gained substantial ground on Microsoft's previous operating system (OS), Windows Vista. According to a recent report from industry analysts Net Applications, ... Windows 7 now accounts for an impressive 10 per cent of the total OS market share. Windows Vista, which launched over three years ago now, is slowly but surely watching its share of the pie decline. (Source: rcpmag.com ) For the record, it took Vista over a year to hit the 10 per cent plateau. Windows 7 is expected to surpass Vista in total market ... (view more)

Even before many reviews of the iPad have been unveiled, die-hard Apple devotees have scooped up an estimated 700,000 units of the much-anticipated handheld device. According to a report by Gene Munster of tech analyst firm Piper Jaffray, it's ... estimated Apple sold between 600,000 and 700,000 of its iPad devices just this past Saturday, alone (including presales). The number more than doubles the senior analyst's earlier forecast that between 200,000 and 300,000 units would move out on that first day of availability. (Source: cnet.com ) iPad Beats iPhone Release Evidence of the iPad's ... (view more)

Microsoft's share of the web browser market has dropped since the release of the " browser choice " screen in Europe. But the decline is not significant enough to draw firm conclusions that the ballot is making a serious difference. The browser ... ballot is the result of a settlement between Microsoft and the European Union (EU) over antitrust concerns related to Internet Explorer's packaging in the Windows operating system. The screen has been appearing gradually since March 1, 2010 to all users in EU countries who have Internet Explorer (IE) set as their default browser. It prompts ... (view more)

Microsoft had a busy day in court this past Thursday. First, it unsuccessfully lobbied to have an injunction related to patented XML features in its Word software overturned. In another case, Microsoft filed suit against a video game hardware ... producer whose game controllers look similar to the original Xbox 360 model. Microsoft May be Mulling Supreme Court Appeal In regard to the XML lawsuit: Microsoft failed in a bid to have a full appeals court review last year's decision that found the software company in violation of a patent owned by tiny Toronto, Canada-based i4i's patent. The patent ... (view more)

Users of Microsoft's Windows Vista or Windows XP interested in taking the Redmond-based firm's new operating system (OS) Windows 7 for a trial now have until the end of 2010 to do so. As of yesterday, Microsoft extended the trial period to December ... 31st, 2010. Those interested in trying out Windows 7, which since its release in late October 2009 has racked up some pretty favorable reviews, can download the trial version of the OS any time between now and the end of December direct from Microsoft. Downloaders of the free demo will find a version of Windows 7 with the same features as Windows 7 ... (view more)

Microsoft has officially released a patch addressing a widely-reported critical zero-day flaw in its Internet Explorer browser. The patch addresses not just one or two critical issues, but ten in total, leading security experts to emphasize the ... importance in having all Internet Explorer users upgrade to Internet Explorer 8. Yesterday's emergency patch release is special for Microsoft, which typically reserves the second Tuesday of every month for its monthly updates. However, since a critical zero-day flaw in Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7 eluded the last Patch Tuesday release, Microsoft ... (view more)

After weeks of speculation, Microsoft has confirmed that it will release an emergency patch fix for a critical zero-day flaw in its Internet Explorer web browser. The patch, which applies to attacks targeting Internet Explorer (IE) 6 and IE7, will ... be released later today. Emergency patches are relatively rare for Microsoft, which typically only releases its fixes on the second Tuesday of every month. However, the March Patch Tuesday was a light affair , owing to the fact that the zero-day issue being addressed today had only recently been revealed. Windows XP and Vista Users Vulnerable It's ... (view more)