Items tagged with icrosoft
Earlier we wrote about how Microsoft used a kind of blind taste test to get die-hard Windows XP users to try Vista --- and that they even liked it. They were told that they were trying a new OS, called Mojave. We also said that Microsoft hadn't figured out a marketing campaign, but it appears that's changed.Microsoft last week interviewed...
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Microsoft has disclosed some details regarding the next iteration of its gaming and graphics API, DirectX 11. Shacknews has the full scoop on what Microsoft has disclosed up to this point, which isn't much, but there is still plenty to ponder. For example, the initial DirectX features and specifications disclosed at this point include......
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It seems that the old saying, "truth is stranger than fiction", rings true yet again but depending on your perspective, Yahoo might actually be on to something. The recent offering from the Microsoft-Carl Icahn Dynamic Duo, that came in over the weekend, was tied up with less than a 24hr deadline ultimatum that was firmly underscored...
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Microsoft only has a few cash cows, but they're enormous cash cows. Their suite of Office programs isn't cheap, and many users just root around for old discs or pirated versions when they're loading up a new PC. Microsoft is trying out offering the software as a service (SaaS) for a $70 per year subscription price, along with a few goodies...
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Remember Albany, the beta version of Microsoft's subscription-based version of Office and Windows Live OneCare that launched in mid-April? Well, Albany is now Equipt, but you won't find it in the state of New York: for now, starting in mid-July, you'll find it only at Circuit City. In a press release on Wednesday, Microsoft announced the launch:...
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Since Microsoft recently announced it plans to release Windows 7 in 2010, speculation has begun that many businesses will simply skip Windows Vista. And now it appears Microsoft's BFF, Intel, is making that choice. Intel, the giant chip maker and longtime partner of Microsoft, has decided against upgrading the computers of its own 80,000...
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Buried in the letter which Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the Online Services & Windows Business group sent to Windows customers earlier this week, which re-affirmed that XP is pretty much gone after June 30th (with a few exceptions, more later), was a note that indicated that customers wanted a "more regular, predictable Windows...
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It's not over yet - not completely - but it might as well be. On Monday Microsoft sent out a letter to its customers dashing any hopes of a stay of execution for Windows XP.The letter (PDF) from Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the Online Services & Windows Business group, affirms that after June 30 Microsoft will suspend OEM distribution...
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Microsoft's security updates for June seem to be having a profound effect in the ongoing battle against crooks who steal passwords and usernames, then use their ill-gotten info to cash in the imaginary gold MMORPG players accumulate for real money. One password stealer, called Taterf, was detected on 700,000 computers in the first day after...
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Can't buy the company? Can't buy the search technology? Well, how about buying the talent? Wednesday Microsoft placed a full-page ad for "search jobs" in (gasp!) an honest-to-goodness hard copy paper, The San Jose Mercury-News. Despite the ubiquity of the San Francisco Chronicle, for Silicon Valley, the Merc is the paper."There are now very...
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Las Vegas's Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino becomes the second commercial location to sport Microsoft's Surface devices--table-top, multi-touch-input computers. The first commercial implementation of Surface was this last April in select AT&T stores. "Harrah's will deploy a suite of their own customized applications and be the first to...
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Microsoft has released a new DirectX redistributable package into the wild for virtually all versions of Windows, including Vista. This is a DX9.0c / DX10 update that's not going to show up on the Windows Update website, but it is an official release."This download provides the DirectX end-user multi-languaged redistributable that developers...
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In April Microsoft announced that Windows XP Home would be available for Netbooks and other ultra-low-cost laptops for one year after the release of the next version of Windows (currently known as Windows 7), or June 30th, 2010, whichever is later. On Tuesday at Computex Microsoft extended that same support to so-called Nettops, or ultra-low-cost...
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Microsoft is going multi-touch crazy. First it was the Microsoft Surface technology, which debuted last year at The Wall Street Journal's (WSJ) fifth edition of its All Things Digital Conference (D5). Next came multi-touch walls, which Bill Gates demonstrated only a few weeks ago at Microsoft's own CEO Summit. Fast forward to last night, and...
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Microsoft can't get any traction in the search engine world. Their Live Search utility is mired in single-digit user percentage, and their attempt to vault into a distant but respectable second place by purchasing Yahoo! was rebuffed. They're nothing if not tenacious over at Redmond, and they've got another idea to get you to search with them:...
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After Microsoft walked away from the table it seemed that a deal between the Redmond giant and Yahoo was not in the cards. Such an impression might not be 100% accurate:Microsoft Corp said on Sunday it has reached out to Yahoo Inc about an alternative deal that would not involve a full acquisition, in a move that could save the web pioneer...
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We've known for some time that Microsoft was working hard at getting Windows XP slimmed down and running on the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO-1. They've apparently succeeded as on Thursday Microsoft and the OLPC Foundation announced an agreement that will make Windows XP available on XO laptops.The availability of Windows, in addition...
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Not only does Microsoft envision turning tabletops into computers, now it wants to do the same with walls. Today at Microsoft’s 12th annual CEO Summit, held on Microsoft's Redmond, Washington campus, Bill Gates demonstrated a prototype of a new technology called TouchWall. TouchWall takes the concept of Microsoft's Surface--a horizontal, interactive,...
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In February, Robert Scoble wrote that Microsoft researchers showed him something that made him cry. At the time, he couldn't write about it, but it turned out to be this project, the Microsoft WorldWide Telescope.“The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe,”...
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A recent issue where MSN Messenger and Windows Live were blocking YouTube has now been resolved. Microsoft has laid the blame on an unnamed partner that is allegedly responsible for blocking unsafe content. Thankfully the situation has now been resolved and Microsoft is assuring users that there won’t be a repeat of such an issue:"Microsoft...
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YouTube may rule supreme in the melded world of online video and social networking, but Microsoft has a new trick up its sleeve that it hopes might steal some eyeballs away from the competition. Launching today in 20 countries and 12 languages is Microsoft's Messenger TV service, integrating online video directly into Microsoft's Live Messenger...
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A story in the New York Times had the blogosphere up in arms, but Microsoft indicates we shouldn't believe it. The Times said that Microsoft is working to implement an anti-piracy filter into its Zune media players, which would prevent playback of unauthorized videos.In fact, J. B. Perrette, the president of digital distribution for NBC Universal,...
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