microsoft

Discovering that the brand new laptop you've purchased has only a trial edition of Microsoft Word is a bummer. Discovering that Microsoft Works, the cookie-cutter full-version alternative, will feature advertisements in the future only compounds the ... frustration. Announced last Wednesday, Microsoft's new initiative to bombard poor Works users with ads will first run in a test program. There's no concrete date for the new and exciting Works SE 9, although Melissa Stern, a senior Microsoft product manager, says customers can expect to find it on new computers within the next few months. So, why ... (view more)

When Microsoft shipped Windows Vista, one new feature that was introduced was a firewall that monitored both inbound and outbound traffic. What Microsoft failed to mention about the firewall is the fact that monitoring outbound traffic is disabled ... by default. Microsoft claims it was disabled because administrators wanted more control over it. Even more interesting is the fact that you can't enable outbound filtering through the Windows Security Center in Windows Vista. The user is required to manually configure the firewall if you want to filter that outbound traffic. To do this in Windows ... (view more)

A recent survey of more than 250 CIOs, CSOs, IT managers and network administrators across Europe, Asia Pacific, and the U.S. conducted by PatchLink shows that fewer businesses are now planning a migration to Windows Vista than seven months ago. ... More businesses are saying they'll either stick with the Windows thay have, or they'll switch to Linux or Mac OS X. The poll also shows that corporations are afraid of zero-day vulnerabilities. Of the more than 250 businesses polled, 2% said they're already running Windows Vista. 9% said they plan to roll Vista in the next three months. 87% said they ... (view more)

A few months ago, Microsoft's attempt to multiply its presence on the web was planned through an acquisition of competitor Yahoo. That never panned out, but in its wake now arises what could be an ever more effective plot: partnership with Digg. For ... those who are unaware of Digg, it's a news aggregator where actual users vote on the most "diggable" articles on the web. Any Internet writer, including yours truly, knows a story's clicks can explode if just a few hundred Digg users recommend it to their peers. Thus, for both web publishers and readers, Digg is an enormously influential resource ... (view more)

After coming across the information from the "Does Windows Vista Send Information to the Government?" story , I decided to do a little research on Microsoft, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Security Agency (NSA). What I found was ... very interesting, and it raises some serious questions. It's not clear what software was being used by my source as I wrote that previous post. He may be using some sort of file sharing or peer 2 peer (p2p) program. He posted pictures of a log from the peerguardian 2 program, software that isn't listed as compatible with Windows Vista. Just because ... (view more)

According to Microsoft, the company has now leaped from 40 million sales of Windows Vista (reported a few months ago), to an even more impressive 60 million. For the record, that's a tally of 20 million units sold since mid-May, alone. Word of the ... jump came last Thursday, during Microsoft's annual meeting with financial analysts. The message was delivered by proud papa Kevin Turner, the company's COO. Turner's boasting is intended to steer the media away from reports that Vista is selling poorly, perhaps as a result of some stinging criticism. (Source: rcpmag.com ) It's also an important ... (view more)

At a time when Microsoft didn't need any more bad Windows Vista news, reports are beginning to surface about problems with the product activation system. For some users of the not-ready-for-prime-time operating system, updating some hardware drivers ... can cause the Software Protection Platform code in Windows Vista to require reactivation. No changes are made to the hardware itself, just the drivers. Software Protection Platform code in Windows Vista is part of the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). It's a program required by Microsoft as part of their fight against software piracy. It gets ... (view more)

A year after Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) was first introduced, it seems to finally be paying off. That's the case abroad, in the world's most populated nation. Chinese Microsoft customers there have steered authorities to a ... multi-billion dollar counterfeit ring and the arrest of 25 people. (Source: dailytech.com ) The Windows Genuine Advantage came under fire last year when it was revealed Microsoft's anti-piracy platform "phoned home" after being installed on a user's computer. Although the company had somewhat legitimate intentions in monitoring the growing number of ... (view more)

Microsoft has announced that it will be offering a subscription-based version of Office 2007 in South Africa. The announcement signifies an extension in Microsoft's current operations. The company has already been offering a pay-as-you-go option for ... Office 2003 in South Africa, as well as Mexico and Romania. (Source: betanews.com ) A three month subscription of Office 2007 will cost 199 rand, which equates to about $28.54 US. First time users are also given an additional three months free of charge. The subscriptions work in a way similar to Office trials; when the subscription expires, users ... (view more)

Microsoft became the most widely-used search engine last month, rising from their third spot in May and surpassing both Google and Yahoo (the long-standing most and second-most used search engines respectively). What was Microsoft's recipe for ... success? Playing a deceptive game of chicken! Microsoft's shares climbed to 13.2% in June, an increase of 3% compared to May's figures. Microsoft's recent success came at the expense of rival search engine providers Google and Yahoo. The shares of both companies fell 1% that same month. (Source: usatoday.com ) To induce the influx of users, Microsoft ... (view more)