microsoft

I wonder if Microsoft knew all of the roadblocks it would run into when it decided to pursue the "Live" moniker? Recently, Microsoft came under some heat from emailers frustrated at the company's decision to change "Windows Live Mail" to "Windows ... Live Hotmail." The name game drama has not stopped for Microsoft, which has recently been slapped with a lawsuit claiming trademark infringement on the name "Office Live." A company called Office Live filed the lawsuit last Friday, asking courts to grant an injunction against Microsoft using the name for its online office and web application suite. ( ... (view more)

Last week Microsoft released their newest version of the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool. WGA is designed to make sure the Microsoft software on your computer is properly licensed (legitimate, not counterfeit) and supported by Microsoft or one ... of their trusted partners. Certainly, Microsoft would like to believe that their WGA software is reliable and doesn't make mistakes. When they released the original WGA software, however, it mistakenly identified potentially pirated software on several legitimate users machines. In a case of deja vu, the the newest version of WGA is also causing a ... (view more)

Microsoft has been embroiled in legal troubles countless times in the past. Last year they were on the butt-end of a class-action lawsuit filed after a collective of consumers became enraged with the company's invasive Windows Genuine Advantage ... (WGA). Eventually, the company toned down its piracy policy, relegating WGA to second tier news. However, Microsoft is again on the wrong end of court proceedings, with a federal jury finding that it owes $1.5 billion for MP3 patent infringement. Alcatel-Lucent, a global communications giant with interests in everything from broadband to VOIP to ... (view more)

With Windows Vista being available for several weeks now, some casual PC users are still hesitant to trade in their Windows XP (or in some cases, Windows '98) operating systems. The reason for failing to make the switch for many consumers is the ... cost of purchasing the new operating system and its believed proneness to bugs and hacking. Microsoft has addressed the latter concern by providing a revamped spyware package known as Microsoft OneCare. The company hopes that consumers will be more inclined to make the transition if they feel that the company is providing outlets for the safety of ... (view more)

Now that Vista has been out for a few weeks now, the focus has shifted a bit from the operating system as a whole to other, new projects from Microsoft. One of the most notable new releases from the company is Office Outlook 2007, a program that ... promises to save the user oodles of time when navigating email and calendar screens. Reviews are starting to pour out on Office Outlook's recent edition, and we thought we'd discuss some of the highlights and lowlights here. Much like Vista, Microsoft has crafted Office Outlook 2007 to be as easy to navigate and edit as possible. If you need to place ... (view more)

The Microsoft Windows Vista hoopla has been fairly cool and collected in many circles, including the realm of home consumers. And yet, many aren't yet convinced the new operating system has anything they absolutely must install on their computers. ... The perception is that Vista lacks enough killer apps to win over PC owners like Windows 95, although industry predictions appear very confident this will change. In fact, Wall Street has been so aggressive in forecasting Vista's growth that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently pleaded that they scale back on the super sales prophecies. The problem ... (view more)

Oops! It looks like Microsoft has once again scrambled to update a recently discovered vulnerability in their Malware Protection Engine, used by the Windows Defender security programs. A security bulletin (MS07-010) has been issued by Microsoft (MS) ... for users of it's highly touted Windows Defender security program that affects 8 MS products. The security bulletin, rated "critical" details how a remote code execution vulnerability in the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine because of the way it parses Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Product and version numbers affected: Windows Live ... (view more)

Just when you thought the cost of upgrading to Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, was expensive enough, the company announces it has raised the support fees for both XP and the new version of Office. The charge allotted for requesting help ... with either XP or Vista has been raised to $59, up a good chunk of change from the pre-Vista age of just $39. For now, there are fewer complainers. That's because those who have recently invested in Windows Vista are charged nothing for support calls during the first 90 days of ownership. However, after that period ends, all bets are off. (Source: ... (view more)

Windows Powershell From Microsoft. Using a new admin-focused scripting language, more than 130 standard command line tools, and consistent syntax and utilities, Windows PowerShell allows IT Professionals to more easily control system administration ... and accelerate automation. Windows PowerShell is easy to adopt, learn, and use, because it works with your existing IT infrastructure and existing script investments, and because it runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server "Longhorn". Exchange Server 2007, System Center Operations Manager 2007, System ... (view more)

Microsoft Corp. warns that for three weeks in March and April, their calendar programs may be unable to function properly due to expected complications with the passing of new legislation regarding daylight-saving time (DST) changes. While Microsoft ... is already preparing consumers for the imminent defects during this three week period, they are not the only ones that will be faced with problems. In fact, all software that was programmed before 2005 is expected to experience some type of complication. (Source: topix.net ) The reason for this is due to the passing of a law in 2005 that stated ... (view more)