microsoft

Parents, take note: Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite holiday bundle doesn't pack all the cables you need to take advantage of the console's high-definition potential. That's a change Microsoft has made in hopes no one would notice, and it could lead to ... some disappointed faces on Christmas morning. This past weekend, I purchased Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite Holiday bundle -- you'll recognize it by the two games on the cover, Lego Batman and Pure. On the surface, it's a good deal; two free games and a console Microsoft promises is less likely to suffer from the dreaded "Red Rings of Death" issue that ... (view more)

Microsoft has apologized after a contractor appeared to copy code from a rival company to use in a microblogging service. But Plurk, the company claiming its material was stolen, says it is considering taking the matter to court. Juku, a ... Twitter-style blogging feature on Microsoft's MSN site in China, was taken down this week after the complaints. Plurk's staff had written that Juku's design had involved "blatant theft of code, design, and user interface elements." As Much as 80% of Code Stolen Not only did Plurk staff believe Juku's look and feel was remarkably similar to its own site, but ... (view more)

Microsoft is being sued by a small tech firm for using a part of its name, Bing! Information Design, as the moniker for its new search engine. Bing! Information Design says it's been using the name for almost ten years, far longer than the ... seven-month-old Bing search engine. St. Louis-based Bing! Information Design filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in its home city. The company claims that Microsoft's search engine violates its trademark on the word 'Bing'. Bing! Information Design says it has had rights to that name since 2000. Specifically, the suit alleges Microsoft is guilty of "trademark ... (view more)

Microsoft will ask all European users of Internet Explorer whether they want to try out a rival browser. It's an unexpected result in a long-running dispute with European Union officials. It came as no surprise when the firm announced today that it ... will include a "browser ballot" screen on all Windows PCs sold in Europe from January 2010, and on. The scheme, which Microsoft had proposed some months ago, will mean that during set-up users will see a list of leading browsers and have the option to install some or all of them, rather than simply getting Internet Explorer by default. Ball Screen ... (view more)

A new report suggests Microsoft has now pocketed a 6 per cent global market share for its new operating system (OS) Windows 7. That's good news for Microsoft, but it could spell big trouble for users in both the developed and developing world who ... don't make the upgrade from Windows XP. In a frightening new report earlier this week, Finland's most prominent security company F-Secure found that the global shift towards Windows 7 could open up a new gap between users of the new, more secure operating system and those stuck with the outdated and soon-to-be unsupported Windows XP. Shift to Win7 to ... (view more)

One of the best Windows 7 retail deals (aside from the $30 student package, of course) was Microsoft's special Windows 7 Family Pack promotion, which bundled three licenses for the new operating system (OS) for the discounted price of $150. Despite ... rumors that the Family Pack is now sold out across the U.S., reports suggest Microsoft's own stores might still have a few copies. Family Pack Sold Out on Microsoft Site A Microsoft spokesperson yesterday told the media that the Windows 7 Family Pack, which includes three licenses (and thus, can be installed on three different computers) had sold ... (view more)

Microsoft's next Patch Tuesday fix will solve a reported twelve security flaws, none more important than an Internet Explorer 8 vulnerability that the software company itself has marked "critical", its highest threat level. The next Patch Tuesday ... release is set for December 8, and the fixes it includes patch holes in several versions of Windows, including Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and finally Windows 7. Fixes are also due for Server 2003 and 2008. They'll cover a number of its most popular software packages, including Microsoft Office and its subsidiary programs Word, Work 8.5, and Project. ... (view more)

Since its November 10 security update, reports suggest Microsoft has received more complaints about the Black Screen of Death, than ever before. One security firm is claiming that the update has caused the issue, while Microsoft asserts that the ... problem is neither rampant nor is it the result of the November 10 patch. The dreaded "blacK Screen of Death", otherwise known as KSoD, occurs when a user starts their computer but receives only a black screen rather than their desktop. It means that somewhere during startup process the operating system failed to load properly. The problem is ... (view more)

WinToFlash WinToFlash will help pull over the contents of a Windows installation CD or DVD and prep the USB drive to become a bootable replacement for the optical drive. It can also do this with any Linux LiveCD. You don't have to worry about ... scratches on the disc or misplacing your original media discs once you transfer their contents to the flash drive. The optical drive is quickly becoming a thing of the past, especially in office environments, where media is shifting to the cloud technology. http://wintoflash.com 100 Free Microsoft Games Microsoft offers over 100 online games to play, ... (view more)

Thus far, sales of Windows 7 have been " fantastic ," and now there's also evidence it's boosting hardware sales -- which will undoubtedly increase this Black Friday with super holiday deals to be had. Manufacturers and retailers on both sides of ... the Atlantic are already crediting Windows 7 with helping move more computers this pre-holiday season. Manufacturer Acer says its recent sales are up 25 per cent on the same time last year -- all thanks to Microsoft's new operating system (OS). The firm, which is the second largest PC manufacturer in the world, says it predicted such an ... (view more)