Microsoft

Microsoft is associated with some of the biggest names in technology including Windows, Internet Explorer, Bing and Xbox. When it comes to their advertising department, however, far too many clients are associating Microsoft exclusively with the MSN ... portal. The correlation is said to occur so frequently, that it has become cause for major organizational changes to their advertising department, in an effort to highlight other marketing and media potential. Carolyn Everson, Microsoft's global ad sales leader, believes that positive changes will come with an investment in advertising creativity ... (view more)

Microsoft has refused to do future business with a company responsible for changing users' default web browser search without permission. The firm appears to have been one of the most prolific advertisers on Facebook. The company in question runs a ... website called make-my-baby.com, which includes a tool allowing users to simulate dressing a virtual baby. To use the tool, users had to install a plug-in for their browser. Unless users visited a link to a set of terms and conditions and read through the fine print, they wouldn't have been aware that the installation process also switched their ... (view more)

Ever since Microsoft released Kinect , its hands-free motion control system for the Xbox 360 console, enthusiasts have been trying desperately to use it on the Windows operating system (OS). Given their determination in the matter, it appears ... Microsoft has concluded that if you can't beat 'em, you may as well join 'em. The Kinect system uses what is effectively a robotically-mounted camera to identify humans and track their movements. This allows players to take part in games without the need for any controller: the player simply makes the appropriate movement for the game situation. Using ... (view more)

Just a week after Microsoft's cloud computing leader Bob Muglia announced he would soon be departing, another MS executive has revealed that he too will be leaving for greener pastures. Corporate Vice President of Windows Consumer Marketing Brad ... Brooks will soon be joining Juniper Networks. Not the First MS Exec to Jump to Juniper Juniper is an Internet Protocol products and services company with headquarters in sunny Sunnyvale, California. It's a growing firm that has acquired important Microsoft employees in the past, most notably former head of the Redmond-based company's Platforms and ... (view more)

A Russian Microsoft blog has revealed that the first Service Pack for Windows 7 may be on its way soon. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) will bundle all of the updates and improvements made to the operating system (OS) since its October 2009 release ... into a single download. Late last week, the headline "Released Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2" was found on the Microsoft TechNet blog "Russian Windows Virtualization Discussion". The blog promised more discussion of the Service Pack would follow in the coming days. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Release Date On Track News of a ... (view more)

Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates has always taken great pride in his philanthropic endeavors. While a great deal of funding has been provided to HIV and AIDS research over the years, it appears as if Microsoft will assume an even more ... active role in combating these and other fatal diseases. Microsoft's Altered Parasitic Organisms Back on July 9, 2009, Microsoft filed for a patent on "Adapting Parasites to Combat Disease" that laid out plans to unleash altered parasitic organisms inside human bodies. Knowledge of Microsoft's ambitions are only now surfacing and the imagery of ... (view more)

Microsoft is reportedly losing one of its most prominent and talented executives. Bob Muglia, who has been with the company nearly a quarter of a century, will be making his exit this coming summer. The news has generated much speculation from ... analysts, as the line of departing Microsoft execs grows longer. Cloud Computing Exec Looks to "New Opportunities" Muglia has been a part of Microsoft for 23 years. He's served a number of roles with the Redmond-based firm over that time, but in recent years has been a key part of Microsoft's shift toward cloud computing. It's not yet clear ... (view more)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's highly-anticipated address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011 was focused on one major theme: catching up in the tablet market. But he also took time to discuss other big products entering the new year, ... Microsoft Kinect for the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7. There's been a lot of talk in recent months about how Windows is going to fit into a very Apple-dominated tablet universe. Since its release last spring, the iPad has completely monopolized this market, with most Windows-based contenders, such as the ExoPC , are suffering from poor design and ... (view more)

Despite being available exclusively in beta form, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) has been downloaded more than 20 million times, Microsoft reports. It comes as one set of figures puts the browser behind Mozilla Firefox among European users for the very ... first time. Internet Explorer 9 Download Remains At Strong Pace It's tough to know exactly how many people have downloaded the IE9 beta, as the figure Microsoft gives may well include multiple downloads by the same user. But it's likely that the figure runs into many millions of people, which suggests that the audience goes beyond web developers ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed that a zero-day vulnerability exists in Windows XP, Vista, as well as Server 2003 and Server 2008. The bug, which first emerged in mid-December 2010, has evolved since the exploit was posted publicly. The bug was first ... discussed on December 15 at a security conference in South Korea. Since no one had yet exploited the vulnerability, there was not significant cause for concern. That's changed now that researcher Joshua Drake has released an exploit module via open-source penetration testing project, Metasploit. Exploit Opens Door to Total System Takeover Metasploit has ... (view more)