John Lister

Microsoft has identified a potential security risk in the Help function of Windows XP. But there is some controversy over the way the issue has come to light. This bug involves XP's Help and Support Center, and specifically a style of link which ... routes a browser to a help page built into Windows rather than a web page. Such links begin hcp:// rather than the more familiar http:// and are a way of making it easier to give online help and advice by allowing writers to include smooth links to Windows' own help pages. Whitelist Help Pages Spoofed Tavis Ormandy, an information security engineer ... (view more)

Microsoft has released security updates for 34 different problems, a monthly total that has only been matched once. Three sets of problems are ranked as critical, and several are so-called zero-day bugs. A zero-day bug is one in which the problem is ... not discovered by the software developer itself. This creates the risk that hackers will be able to get a head-start on finding a way to exploit the bug before the developer is able to produce a fix. The critical issues affect both Internet Explorer and Windows itself. Of the 10 security bulletins, these are the priority for installation and ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed that the first official version of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 will be released next month (July, 2010). It doesn't appear the pack will bring any major updates, but it could still drive up business sales. A service pack is ... a collection of all updates released for the software since its original launch. At one stage service packs were a way to get updates (via disc) to people on dial-up modems who didn't want to use the automatic update download service; today they are used more among people who prefer to carry out major updates in a single batch. Another benefit of ... (view more)

Microsoft has decided to remove its "Bing cashback" feature after a lack of interest among retailers. The scheme allowed users to search for products and then get a rebate for buying from a selected seller. The scheme originally launched as part of ... Microsoft's Live search engine, before being rebranded when Live merged with MSN to produce the new Bing site. The launch of Bing arguably made the cashback tool more useful for both Microsoft and customers, as Bing is based around providing results in a variety of categories depending on the subject of a search. For example, people ... (view more)

A new survey appears to confirm what most would suspect: people who discover security flaws make more money selling the details to criminals than to legitimate security companies. Research firm "Unsecurity" has carried out a survey of people who ... have discovered zero-day vulnerabilities and them sold them to security companies that then use the data to improve their products. Zero-day vulnerabilities occur when the original software manufacturer is unaware of a security risk in a software program. The name comes from the idea that once the manufacturer discovers the problem, there's ... (view more)

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer spoke at a news conference in New Delhi on Thursday and has guaranteed the much delayed Windows Phone 7 system will be released before the end of the year. Critics suggest, however, that beating the holiday shopping ... deadline will not provide much financial gain, but is more of a deadline to save face. (Source: informationweek.com ) Microsoft Management Shake-Up The comments do clear up some concerns over Microsoft's recent management shake-ups. As noted last week , Robbie Balch, who headed the entertainment and devices division, is leaving the company. Instead of ... (view more)

This week marked a historic, albeit merely symbolic moment in technology history. For the first time, Apple is worth more than Microsoft. The statistic in question is the market capitalization of the two companies, namely the current stock price ... multiplied by the number of shares. In theory it's the price you'd have to pay to take over the company -- though in reality, either the sellers or buyers controlling the deal would ultimately affect the takeover price. As of the end of trading on Wednesday, Apple's value was $222 billion, overtaking Microsoft's $219 billion. As well as taking the top ... (view more)

Microsoft has filed a lawsuit claiming an online software operator breached nine of its patents. The general reaction thus far is that the case has much to do about trying to deter a business competitor, rather than protecting genuine innovation. ... The case is against Salesforce.com, a company which offers customer management services: its slogan is that it is "the enterprise cloud-computing company", an idea borne out by its phone number, 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE. Most of Salesforce's products are based on marketing campaigns and tracking sales leads, putting it directly in competition with Microsoft ... (view more)

The next version of Sony's PSP (PlayStation Portable) may not appear until next year. But rumors also suggest it will have much more impressive specifications than originally assumed. One report says that the PSP 2 will be a quad-core system, ... compared with the single core of the original PSP. In effect, that will be like having four separate processors able to carry out four tasks simultaneously. A quad-core system is what you'd expect to see in high-end consumer computers and would be extremely powerful for a handheld machine. It would follow in the footsteps of the PlayStation 3 (PS3), ... (view more)

An independent software company is offering a program it says will smooth the process of upgrading from XP or Vista to Windows 7. But there are questions about whether or not it breaches Microsoft licensing conditions. The package, called Desktop ... Upgrade to Windows, comes from Parallels. The firm specializes in virtualization software, most notably a package allowing Mac users to run Windows, which can be particularly useful for those making the leap from a PC to a Mac. The software aims to deal with two major upgrading headaches: one is that, with the exception of moving from one edition of ... (view more)