Microsoft
Is real time search a moneymaker?
Microsoft and Google have been falling all over themselves trying to one-up each other in searching Twitter and Facebook. Aside from the pleasure of elbowing a rival, is there any money to be made? Monday’s New York Times business section looked at this question. The gist is that no one is sure. Neither Microsoft nor [...]
Windows 8
Yes, I know. Windows 7 hasn’t even been released to general use yet (tomorrow’s the big day). Nonetheless, there is already talk about Windows 8. In fact, there are whole Web sites about Windows 8. We don’t actually know anything about Windows 8 but that doesn’t keep people from talking about it. For example, there [...]
Windows is too expensive
Microsoft’s profit margins on Windows are the envy of the world but can it keep up the very high premium prices that it charges? With the hardware of a powerful PC costing as little as a few hundred dollars, how can Microsoft justify charging almost as much for the operating system? It’s not that these [...]
Forecast for Microsoft
This coming week marks the big day (October 22) for Microsoft when Windows 7 becomes available to the general public. Technology professionals have already had the new Windows for quite a while but this will be the first time that you can walk into a store and see a PC with Windows 7. Naturally the [...]
Your 10 minutes are up, another dollar please
That may be the type of message you’ll be seeing as you use software in the future. Microsoft has applied for a patent on timed software. InternetNews reports:
Microsoft has applied for a patent on a software licensing technology that could be used to bill users for the time they spend computing, just as if they [...]
The scorecard for Windows patches
Tuesday’s big load of monthly Windows updates was but the latest in a six-year series. Microsoft initiated a monthly schedule in October, 2003. According to Computerworld, there have been 400 security bulletins and 745 different vulnerabilities. 230 of the bulletins were about issues labeled “critical” by Microsoft.
Is Windows too unsafe for secure online transactions?
A growing number of technology professionals are saying that the Windows operating system is too unsafe for sensitive online transactions like banking. This is not just the same old tired refrain from Linux and Mac fanboys. These are respected professionals making a sober assessment of a rapidly growing problem. For example, Michael Horowitz, who writes [...]
Microsoft updates on an ISO file
Unless you back up your entire system regularly, you will be missing all the Microsoft updates if your PC crashes and you have to reinstall Windows. You can keep a backup copy of the updates each month (which few people do) or you can take advantage of a Microsoft site that has an ISO file [...]
Microsoft Works to be replaced
The venerable Microsoft Works has long been an option for those who did not need all the many features or the big price that came with Microsoft Office. Now Microsoft is abandoning Works and will be replacing it with a stripped-down version of Office 2010. The new edition will contain advertising and will be available [...]
Bing fading?
Two different Web analytics reports show that Bing usage dropped in September and Google gained. eWeek reports:
Microsoft Bing’s U.S. search fell from 9.49 percent of U.S. search share in August to 8.99 percent in September, according to figures from HitWise. Google recorded 71 percent of U.S. searches, up nearly 1 percent from 70.2 percent in [...]
Microsoft settles with EC?
The long-running antitrust fracas between Microsoft and the European Commision may be drawing to an end at last. InfoWorld reports:
Microsoft appears to have reached an agreement with the European Commission that concludes an antitrust battle that has lasted a decade, Europe’s top competition regulator said Wednesday.
A proposal the company offered in July to address charges [...]