Items tagged with Microsoft
As we move more and more toward "all things Google," it might surprise people to learn that Google's Gmail was, until recently, mired in 4th place among email vendors. That's where it was until new comScore estimates for July 2009. Yes, despite the way Gmail and Google Docs, and Google Reader, and the rest all work together, it's only now...
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Well, well--turns out those pricing leaks from Amazon the other day were legitimate, and now Microsoft has stepped in to confirm what most of the tech-savvy world already knew. The company's next-generation Zune, and arguably the iPod's most serious competition to date, will begin to ship to US customers on September...
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Microsoft unveiled a number of significant upgrades to its Xbox 360 platform with the latest Xbox LIVE Update. While the update is available today, a few of the new features won’t be available until tomorrow, August 13th. Here’s a quick look at what you can look forward to with the update. Games on Demand Starting tomorrow, you’ll be able...
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Judge Leonard Davis, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, ruled Tuesday that Microsoft can no longer sell Microsoft Word in the United States due to patent infringement. One can imagine Bill Gates having to pick himself off the floor after reading that ruling. Indeed, the ubiquitous software that you probably use every...
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Microsoft promised a federal judge it would stop designating Internet Explorer 8 as the default browser on express installations by today.This was part of its antitrust settlement compliance report, in response to an accusation in May by Mozilla and Opera that the software giant was changing users' default browsers back to IE8 when they used...
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In its annual 10-K filing dated July 30, Microsoft noted that its "Client" (OS sales) business segment faces competition from "variants of Unix, [which] are supplied by competitors such as Apple, Canonical, and Red Hat...The Linux operating system...has gained some acceptance, especially in emerging markets, as...
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Microsoft, obviously noting the sheer number of apps being written for the iPhone (and not Windows Mobile) has decided to take action, and try to convince developers that the "more mobile platforms, the better." It's written a case study on how to port from the iPhone to Windows Mobile 6.5. Now, Windows Mobile 6.5 has been seen by many as...
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With Windows 7 released to manufacturing, Microsoft has but one thing to do during the run-up to the operating system's October 22nd launch date: produce Win7-centric accessories. The firm is starting that today with the introduction of the Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000, a keyboard and mouse combo that sports a slick...
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Google is virtually synonymous with search. So much so in fact that the company has little need to advertise. Not all sales pitches are quite as easy as selling Google ads, however. Getting businesses to buy Google’s online suite of office applications is taking a bit more work. To help spread the word about its online suite of office applications,...
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According to a recent blog post from Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc, Windows 7 will include a tool that will allow users to upgrade from a basic version of the OS to one of the more feature-rich versions at that touch of a button. Even though most people buy the edition of Windows that best meets their needs when they...
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We won’t be hearing the term Windows Mobile much longer. At an event to show off upcoming Christmas goodies, Microsoft let it slip that the devices will soon be known as Windows Phone. Reports indicate that the Windows Phone branding will be applied to Windows Mobile 6.1, the upcoming 6.5 version, and to Windows Mobile 7, which is expected...
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Microsoft's latest operating system is still several months away from store shelves, but a team of Chinese hackers has reportedly found a workaround for the latest iteration of WGA. The hack is similar to cracks we saw with Vista, and uses an OEM BIOS to trick the OS into believing it doesn't need to activate. Microsoft is less than thrilled...
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Investors have had a couple days to digest the strategic partnership Microsoft and Yahoo jointly announced this week, and they aren't exactly pouring money into Yahoo's coffers. The company's stock price (Ticker: YHOO) has fallen nearly 20 percent over the past five days, from its July 27 price of $17.31 to...
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Microsoft and Yahoo have had an on-again / off-again relationship for years, often whipsawing from one extreme to another. This time, however, it's official, agreed upon, and public. The two companies have signed an agreement aimed at improving their competitive position against Google. Yahoo executives characterized the deal as providing...
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Is there such a thing as being too popular? Having too many friends? If you're Bill Gates, we guess the answer is "yes." The famed Microsoft co-founder has recently admitted to giving up Facebook after "too many" people wanted to befriend him. Of course, we find it kind of silly that Mr. Gates expected anything other than an onslaught of friend...
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At the Worldwide Partner Conference in mid-July, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner noted that the Laptop Hunters ads are working, saying that Apple demanded Microsoft pull the ads because it (Apple) had lowered its prices:And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal...
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Pro-choice advocates and IE haters alike have been pushing to get Microsoft's own Internet browser exempted from instances of Windows for years now. Many argue that it's a violation of anti-trust principles, suggesting that there's really no choice of browser when you buy a copy of Windows. Never mind that Apple does the same thing with its...
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We'll still never know if that supposed Windows 7 build from around a week ago was actually the one Microsoft planned on shipping out to OEMs, but either way, those rumors have been put to rest by the software giant today. Exactly three months before Windows 7 is expected to hit store shelves and be snapped up by--well, at least a few groups...
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Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed a Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack, as well as the date the first people can get their hands on the RTM build. As far as the Family Pack goes, Microsoft confirmed there will be a Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack option, but did not confirm the pricing. The pack will allow users to install Windows 7 on up...
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HP announced today that it has purchased data storage company IBrix in a bid to expand its cloud computing capabilities. The two companies have been partners for several years, and HP believes the acquisition "further solidifies the company’s leadership in the emerging market of scale-out and high-performance computing storage, cloud storage,...
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We knew earlier that Microsoft and Yahoo! were talking again, and now reports indicate that a deal is all but done. On the other hand, the companies have been oh-so-close to a deal before, and until the pen is placed to the paper, the deal can still fall apart. The deal would be what has been hinted at for months: a search advertising deal,...
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughed off the very idea of Google doing an operating system, much less it being any sort of challenge to Microsoft's love-it-or-hate-it Windows franchise. Being rather coy, Ballmer called Chrome "Interesting." In full: "I will be respectful, who knows what this thing is? To me, the Chrome OS thing is highly interesting....
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