microsoft

It's now official: Windows Vista, Microsoft's over-hyped, underachieving operating system took top honors, winning the first-ever Fiasco Award announced in Barcelona, Spain. The Fiasco Awards consists of a group of people linked to the Information ... and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, which wants to reward the best non-successful projects in the area. (Source: itwire.com ) Out of 6,043 votes, 5,222 were garnered by Windows Vista, beating out other contenders including Google's Lively virtual world, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computer, and many others. (Source: sciam.com ) In 2005 ... (view more)

The Vista Capable lawsuit -- like the consumer and business market's dissatisfaction with Windows Vista -- refuses to go away. Shortly after a federal judge revoked the class-action status of the Vista Capable lawsuit, lawyers for the plaintiffs are ... now reportedly asking the judge to reconsider that decision. Originally, the class-action suit involved all parties who purchased Vista Capable PCs, but a recent court ruling narrowed it down to six individual plaintiffs. (Source: crn.com ) Plaintiffs Attempt To Recertify Class-Action Status Lawyers for the plaintiffs are attempting to recertify ... (view more)

Gay marriage is always going to be a heated debate. But what rights do gays have when it comes to their video game consoles? Microsoft was recently forced to change a policy that prevented gay gamers from stating their sexual orientation in their ... Xbox Live profiles. Xbox Live is Microsoft's popular online platform for its console, the Xbox 360. When anyone links their Xbox 360 to a cable or a broadband Internet connection, they're automatically prompted to fill out an online profile that can be seen by other gamers, including friends and foes alike. Although users aren't allowed to play ... (view more)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has called out to Yahoo, asking them to join his company in a fight against mutual foe Google. As recently reported, Microsoft decided not to compete with Apple on the smartphone battlefield, opting instead to praise the ... iPhone for its innovative features. Now it appears Ballmer is addressing another rival, Yahoo, in the hopes of bettering the Internet-search figures of both companies. Google is the current leader of the Internet-search market with 63% of all queries. Microsoft controls just under 10%, while Yahoo controls just over 20%. If the two corporations ... (view more)

Microsoft could lose more than $800 million dollars a year in the British market if the country's government sticks to plans to use more open source software. New guidelines say public services should avoid being locked into proprietary products. ... The changes don't mean Windows will be ditched overnight (as is happening in Vietnam ), but instead policy will be that open source software should be used wherever it presents a better value. This could include both Linux-based operating systems and open source applications such as the Microsoft Office-like Open Office. Larger organizations may also ... (view more)

Microsoft's newest lawsuit is the first on record to involve patent infringement based on usage of the Linux kernel -- proving that open source software is becoming the biggest fox in Microsoft's henhouse. Microsoft filed District Court charges and ... International Trade Commission charges Tuesday against in-car GPS navigation company TomTom Inc., claiming that TomTom is violating eight Microsoft patents. While Linux is not specifically mentioned as the focus of the charges, three out of eight alleged patent violations relate to TomTom's usage of the Linux kernel. (Source: zdnet.com ) The case ... (view more)

Windows 7 beta testers are disputing whether or not Microsoft's is taking notice of their feedback. The dispute follows a blog post by Steven Sinofsky, the man in charge of engineering Windows 7 . He notes that in one week in January Microsoft ... received data through Windows 7's automatic feedback system every 15 seconds. According to Sinofsky, it's impossible to keep everyone happy. That's partly because there are only so many changes Microsoft can make to the system and still finish it, and partly because in many cases testers often have opposing views about a feature. (Source: msdn.com ) Ina ... (view more)

Tweak Xplorer TweakXPlorer is a program that allows you to enhance the look of Windows Explorer. Some of TweakXPlorer's key features include the ability to give your folders an eye catching background, design thumbnails, and more! ... http://www.d-oneproduction.co.cc Microsoft Pro Photo Tools 2 Microsoft Pro Photo Tools 2 provides a set of tools for photographers hoping to perform various exciting tasks with their images, including RAW captures. The current version enables you to quickly "geotag" your photos, view and edit metadata, and more, leveraging the power of Windows and ... (view more)

Microsoft has warned users that yet another critical vulnerability has been found in its popular Office spreadsheet program Excel. The flaw could allow remote hackers to open and run malicious code on an unsuspecting user's computer through an ... infected spreadsheet file. The attack effects users of Microsoft Office Excel 2007 but also those using any of the older binary .XLS files. A user opening a file, probably through an email, will be asked to open a malicious spreadsheet. They'll then begin downloading at least two files onto their system, one valid, the other the malicious binary. Once ... (view more)

Microsoft has waved the white flag of surrender and will not compete with Apple by building a smartphone of their own. Many people felt that the time was right to release a new smartphone, especially since Microsoft could have capitalized on the ... iPhone's numerous shortcomings. However, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer feels that the iPhone is too popular right now. The combination of a struggling economy and the mentality that "everyone who wanted a smartphone now owns a smartphone" led to Microsoft's final decision. Ballmer says that the decision is the result of careful financial ... (view more)