Items tagged with Microsoft
Mapping and routing are two technologies that have become huge over the past few years, and they're only getting bigger. As more and more of the world becomes digitized for mobile consumption, companies are looking for more ways to interact with roads, geography, directions and reality of the live world itself. Google has already shown its...
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If Microsoft maintains a list of its least-popular ideas, initiatives, and software programs, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has to be near the top. Initially marketed as a voluntary tool when it launched in September of 2004, Microsoft announced just six months later that any user who wanted to access non-critical security updates for their...
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Internet Explorer 6 may have taken its own sweet time to die given that the browser's security flaws are the stuff of legend, but it appears that the 'Net as a whole is finally ready to move on. While IE6 still accounts for up to 20 percent of the browser market according to some metrics, its share drops dramatically...
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A few weeks back, Microsoft confirmed the existence of a 17-year-old bug in all 32-bit versions of Windows that could, under certain circumstances, be used to gain control of a system. The flaw's usefulness was limited, since anyone with administrative access to a system probably doesn't need a hack to gain control of...
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If you upgraded your old notebook to Windows 7, you may have seen a new message surrounding the battery life meter that never appeared in Vista or XP. Many users began to think that Win7 was incorrectly reporting that their battery needed replacing, and the noise got so loud that Microsoft had no choice but to...
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Microsoft's hardware division has really been on a roll lately, and the SideWinder X4 proves that the rolling won't be stopping anytime soon. Designed with hardcore gamers in mind (and probably in response to some of those other boards being released by Logitech and Razer), this unit's stand-out feature is the anti-ghosting technology that's...
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The economy as a whole helped to drag Microsoft's profits below where they would have liked them last year, but the company's first quarterly report in the new decade is quite different in nature. Put simply, Microsoft is beaming once more as it rakes in monumental profits, thanks in no small part to the highly...
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Microsoft has always taken a certain amount of flak over the fact that its XBox Live Marketplace (as well as the Zune and Games for Windows - Live stores) all use Microsoft Points as currency, but the recent actions of one unhappy customer have given the situation a new twist. Last week, Pennsylvania attorney...
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If you have been looking to free your mind of daily troubles and drift away into Xbox LIVE land, you should probably do it soon. Microsoft is sending out announcements ahead of time in order to let its loyal fanbase know that all Zune Marketplace services will be down for around a day or so, starting this evening...
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Windows 7 has been on the market for over a full quarter now, so it's about time for a check on how the OS is doing. According to figures from Net Applications, the system looks to be doing quite well. So well, in fact, that the growth rate is making Vista's old launch growth rate look mighty bad in comparison. A peek...
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The landscape of television is changing right in front of our eyes. Never before have we had so many content options and ways to consume that content, and it looks like the big media companies aren't shying away from the revolution.ESPN, which has already announced plans to introduce a 3D sports channel within the next year or so, could very...
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Oh, brother. You know things are bad when people start ditching your product over fears that it's slower and less secure than other free alternatives, but things are really bad when a government recommends to its citizens that consumers should ditch your product if they haven't already. It almost sounds too weird to...
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Microsoft made it clear with its "Laptop Hunters" ads, and consumers listened, as the global recession ground on: Windows PCs are cheaper than Macs. It's not as though the price differential wasn't known already, but Microsoft made sure we were reminded of what they like to call, the "Apple Tax." With that, Apple fell to the No. 5 spot in...
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A tweak for Windows 7 has been making the rounds of the Internet. It's been labeled the Windows 7 "God Mode," but unlike "God Mode" in a game, it's not so godly after all.The tweak is enabled by creating a new folder and naming it with a certain text string at the end. The string is {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}. The reason it's been...
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Mozilla won't be releasing new versions of Firefox as early as initially planned. The next version of Firefox (version 3.6) was planned to be released sometime this year. Now, this version won't be released until at least the first quarter of 2010. This pushes back other releases as well, including the major 4.0 release; Firefox 4.0 is now...
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Google threw a wrench in everyone's expectations when it announced that the Chrome OS wouldn't be widely available to install on just any machine. Unlike Windows 7, which can be installed on pretty much any x86-based machine, Chrome OS will be customized for a specific set of hardware components that Google deems fit. It's an interesting approach,...
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We definitely had to take a second look at our calendar, but it's not April 1st. In fact, it's nowhere near it. Microsoft--the giant that you would think could never be taken down--has just has its holiday thrown for a loop. Or, at least Microsoft's team of lawyers. If you'll remember back, Microsoft had heard from a judge that its immensely...
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Who knows if this whole "end of an ordeal" has anything to do with the current season, but it looks like the European Union is in the giving mood. Today, the EU announced that it would be dropping the pending charges against Microsoft regarding its decision to force Internet Explorer upon poor, lost European Windows 7...
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Windows XP has lived longer than anyone, including Microsoft, ever expected, but the software giant is preparing to EOL (end-of-life) the nearly decade-old operating system. On July 13, 2010, MS will cease to support XP SP2, although critical security updates will still be provided free of charge through April 8...
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When Microsoft earlier confirmed the Windows 7 Family Pack pricing, it made the comment that the Family Pack would be available "while supplies last." In the U.S, at least, those supplies are running out fast. The Windows 7 Family Pack is a 3-PC installation package of Windows 7 Home Premium. As confirmed by WindowsITPro, the $149 three-pack...
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Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft in 1975 with Bill Gates, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL). This is a recurrence of the disease; Allen previously fought and beat NHL after being diagnosed in 1983, the year he left Microsoft.Since leaving Microsoft, Paul Allen has purchased three pro sports teams: the NFL's...
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Windows 7 is picking up market share quickly (in IT terms). However, much of that is at the expense of Windows Vista, as XP users are seemingly staying put, according to a (very) recent InfoWorld survey. As tracked by InfoWorld's Windows Pulse service, Windows 7 already has more than 4 percent of the market, and that's after less than a month...
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