Business

Apple is said to be prepared to make quick price cuts for its iPad tablet if sales don't take off as planned. The news comes as a survey claims the public has actually become less interested after hearing about the device, though the figures don't ... necessarily bear that claim out. It's perfectly normal practice for a new gadget to be sold at a high price at first and then reduced later on. That makes commercial sense as it means the firm gets the most revenue possible from so-called "early adopters" and then drops the price to capture the mass market. In this case, however, it appears the ... (view more)

A Microsoft blogger recently posted a description of Windows 7's successor, internally codenamed as Windows.Next, otherwise known as Windows 8. The post, however, appears to have been removed from Microsoft's Development Network (MSDN) website at ... the time of this writing. Rumor: Windows Kernel Overhauled The post claims that the "minimum that folks can take for granted is that the next version will be something completely different from what folks usually expect of Windows." It also says that the "themes that have been floated truly reflect what people have been looking for years ... (view more)

It's still a few days till Valentine's, but already Microsoft has provided its February security gift for Windows users. In yesterday's Patch Tuesday release, the Redmond-based software firm has unveiled fixes for 26 vulnerabilities, almost ... one-fifth of which are marked "critical". Critical Fixes for Windows, MS Office Suite The recent patches address flaws in Microsoft's Windows operating system and its Office software suite. Five of the vulnerabilities have been ear-marked "critical," Microsoft's highest threat rating, and another seven "important". One is considered "moderate". Across the ... (view more)

In what would be a major change of policy, Microsoft is rumored to be removing multitasking capabilities in the next edition of Windows Mobile. That means that it likely won't be possible, for example, to write an email while checking a webpage. ... It's expected the system will be demonstrated next week at the Mobile World Congress industry event, though it's likely to be a glimpse rather than a detailed presentation. The PPCGeeks site reports that multitasking won't be available, though it will be possible to put one application on pause while running another. (Source: ppcgeeks.com ) Change ... (view more)

Recently, Net applications released their January browser market share report and it appears that Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) version 8 now has a 22.37% usage share, making it the most-used browser on the planet. (Source: netmarketshare.com ) ... Another report by Microsoft's Windows Team Blog has confirmed similar results, stating that IE8 now has 25.6% market share across all operating systems (OS) on a worldwide-weighted usage share basis, making it the most popular browser of choice worldwide. (Source: windowsteamblog.com ) Either way, Internet Explorer 8 is clearly leading the pack. ... (view more)

Late last week, a number of Windows 7 users lit up Microsoft's TechNet forums with complaints that they were experiencing a dramatic decline in the battery lives of their laptop computers after upgrading from XP or Vista to Windows 7. In a recent ... statement, however, Microsoft denies the charge and has stressed that these issues are strictly hardware-related. Windows 7 Not Poisoning Batteries In some cases, un-tethered notebook PCs were going into hibernation or shutdown mode after an incredibly short period of time, leaving recent Windows 7 adopters wondering if the operating system (OS) was ... (view more)

Microsoft is warning that those who downloaded Windows 7 RC ( release candidate ) sometime between May and October of last year are facing bi-hourly shutdowns if they do not upgrade (or downgrade) their operating system. Microsoft offered its ... release candidate software for its then highly-anticipated Windows 7 operating system back in May 2009. It generated an unprecedented number of downloads, as users of Windows XP and Vista looked to the Redmond-based firm for something better. Windows 7 RC: to be Banned, No Updates Unfortunately for all those RC users, beginning February 15, 2010, ... (view more)

Interested in a free copy of Office 2010 but can't wait until summer to purchase the new software suite? It appears that Microsoft has let slip some interesting details about a forthcoming promotion aimed at potential Office 2010 customers this ... June. The promotion, which is rumored to be called the "Microsoft Office 2010 Technology Guarantee Program," will pertain to those customers who purchase a copy of Office 2007 (with or without a new PC) from an authorized retailer between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010, and who wish to upgrade to Office 2010 free of charge. Office 2010 ... (view more)

The CEO of a major computer vendor and information technology services firm has quit his job. That alone is a big deal, but the way he announced his resignation -- via social networking site Twitter -- has turned a few extra heads. Sun Microsystems' ... CEO Jonathan Schwartz announced his resignation on Twitter yesterday. "Today's my last day at Sun. I'll miss it," he Tweeted at 1:12am Thursday morning, says the New York Times. Schwartz followed that with an exceptionally brief synopsis of the reasoning behind his quitting, announcing, "Financial crisis, Stalled too many customers, CEO no more ... (view more)

Just a week after digital content distributor Steam announced nearly a quarter of its members had already made the switch to Windows 7 , Microsoft Corp. has revealed that its latest operating system is now the most-rapidly adopted OS in the history ... of PCs. Win7: 60 Million Licenses and Counting Microsoft released Windows 7 on October 22 of last year. Over the course of Microsoft's second quarter within the last fiscal year, the Redmond-based firm reported selling some 60 million Windows 7 licenses, making it the hottest OS in the history of personal computers. In a recent report, industry ... (view more)