Microsoft

David Einhorn's scathing criticism of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made headlines in recent days when it was suggested that Ballmer was responsible for driving Microsoft stock into the ground. Now, another sign that Microsoft's CEO may be in trouble ... has emerged: it seems his own employees are losing confidence in him. The findings come to us from Glassdoor.com, a business analysis site that tracks vital statistics on big-name U.S. companies, including Intel, IBM and Boeing. In 2008, Glassdoor.com began asking employees from many of these major firms to anonymously rate their CEOs. It seems ... (view more)

A recent poll conducted by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows that public satisfaction with Microsoft software continues to rise, large due to the success of the Windows 7 operating system (OS). Microsoft scored a record high 79 ... points in the latest poll figures, marking the culmination of steady increases in each of the last three years. The three-point increase (representing a 7 per cent gain) helped Microsoft attain its highest level since ACSI first began asking Americans for feedback concerning the quality of their computer software nearly five years ago. (Source: idg. ... (view more)

David Einhorn, President of hedge fund Greenlight Capital, has publicly encouraged Microsoft to fire CEO Steve Ballmer, going so far as to criticize the big-name exec for what Einhorn believes has been a "Charlie Brown" management style. The ... comments were made about Microsoft's Steve Ballmer at this month's Ira Sohn Research Conference, held to raise money towards combating childhood diseases. Einhorn has made headlines of late for offering $200 million for a minority stake in baseball's New York Mets. Although the setting wasn't quite where one might expect to hear a tirade about Microsoft ... (view more)

An Italian security researcher has found a new security flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser that could allow hackers to steal login information and passwords. The threat comes in the form of a 'cookiejacking' scheme (related to session ... hijacking ), which allows hackers to review website history and then use that to enter protected domains. Rosario Valotta recently demonstrated his cookingjacking findings at security conferences in Switzerland and Amsterdam. He acknowledged that exploiting the flaw isn't particularly easy, requiring a hacker to convince an online user to drag and ... (view more)

Microsoft is working on a covert overhaul of Windows Live SkyDrive, their popular file hosting service that allows users to upload documents and access them from a web browser. The new SkyDrive will be featured as part of the Windows Live Wave 5 set ... of services. Included in the proposed changes is an HTML5 version of its image viewer alongside a refreshed interface to view documents and files uploaded to the free service. (Source: frostapps.com ) HTML5 Ensures Cross-Platform Support The reason that the Windows team is relying a little more on HTML5 is to ensure cross-platform support for ... (view more)

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)

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)

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)