Windows // Current

Windows 7 is secretly Windows 6.1? The confusion begins!

Microsoft has only just decided that the official name for Windows 7 is going to be “Windows 7″, and is already... more

unadopted
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What if the Matrix ran on Windows XP?

It would run really slow? Have a really bad Samuel L. Jackson impersonator?

Swiyyah
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The Matrix Runs on Windows

Take the red pill. Get the blue screen.

abbym0308
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Windows 7 si avvia più velocemente di Vista

Secondo dei test svolti nel mondo reale da Lifehacker, Windows 7 si avvia con tempi inferiori del 20% rispetto a Vista. Su una... more

sonounprecario
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Macs have more sex appeal

Professor Funk investigates whether your choice in brands might make you more attractive. Who will come out on top between the two... more

ProfessorFunk
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Stallman scomunica OLPC, il progetto per il portatile a basso costo per i paesi poveri

Richard Stallman, padre spirituale del movimento del software libero, anima e motore di Free Software Foundation, ha nuovamente... more

danito
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Windows 3.x only just reaches End of Life

I can't say it any better than the BBC: "An application has expectedly quit."

unadopted
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Netflix welcomes Mac users to 'Watch Instantly'

Netflix has expanded its "Watch Instantly" movie streaming player to include Macintosh-owning subscribers. The... more

Future_America
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aWEBa.com.ar | Iconificar Carpetas

Medio mundo sabe lo fácil que es hacer que nuestras carpetas tengan un estilo diferente. ¿Pero que pasa si queremos... more

aweba
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Microsoft to Issue Emergency Security Update Today

(Newser) – Microsoft has discovered a Windows security vulnerability dangerous enough that it's released an... more

heatX
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China netizens defiant towards Microsoft's anti-piracy measures

In their latest move to combat piracy in China, Microsoft launched a WGA pack update against pirated Windows XP users in China,... more

purplefox
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Microsoft Says Windows 7 Will Be Called 'Windows 7'

Not wishing to be outdone by Apple's eagerly-awaited announcement of their new MacBooks and MacBook Pros yesterday, Microsoft... more

purplefox
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Bad Things Happen to Unlicensed Windows Users

Companies that rely on unlicensed copies of Windows are more likely to experience system failures and lose customer data, Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday, citing a company-sponsored report.

According to the research, which was conducted by the Harrison Group Inc. but paid for by Microsoft, mid-sized firms -- those with more than 24 PCs and fewer than 500 -- were 43% more likely to have had a critical system failure lasting more then 24 hours if they used unlicensed Windows.

Those businesses were also 28% more likely to lose customer data and 73% more likely to lose their own data than firms exclusively using licensed copies of Microsoft's software.

The Harrison Group reached those conclusions after interviewing IT professionals and businesspeople at nearly 1,600 companies in the U.S., the U.K., China and Brazil. Of the companies included in the survey, Harrison Group labeled 690, or 43.7%, as using fully-licensed software; 890, or 56.3%, ran some unlicensed software.

Microsoft used the report to defend Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), its anti-piracy program that at times has come under fire from users.

In an entry to the company's WGA blog Tuesday, Alex Kochis, a Microsoft senior product manager, trumpeted the results. "Not surprisingly, companies that have more counterfeit software in their environment tend to have more IT related problems," Kochis said.

Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, agreed with Kochis, up to a point. "In principal, I kind of get the point that they're making," Cherry said. "If you're using non-genuine [Windows], there's a high likelihood that whoever put it on the media slipped other things into the code Actually, I would be surprised if there wasn't something slipped in. So I have no problems with that premise."

But Cherry remained cautious of the report. "I'm nervous about this because Microsoft paid for it," he said. "But who else, really, would study this?"

This is not the first time that Microsoft has linked unlicensed copies of Windows to negative side effects, including the potential of pirated copies containing malware, either by design or through an oversight on the part of the counterfeiter.

Even so, Microsoft has continued to tweak WGA. Last month, for example, it announced an update for Windows XP Professional users that will make the non-genuine nagging more prominent.Companies that rely on unlicensed copies of Windows are more likely to experience system failures and lose customer data,... more

toshiba
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1 month ago

New software turns PC into TiVo TV recorder

NEW YORK (AP) -- TiVo Inc. and Nero AG of Germany were set to announce Monday that they will be launching a package that turns a... more

GrandKnow2
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1 month ago

Microsoft unveils $40bn buy-back

Microsoft has unveiled plans to spend $40bn (£22bn) buying back its shares from investors, the biggest single buy-back plan... more

Manatee_man
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1 month ago

A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft

"Remember how AOL used to be cool, but then became the service used only by people who didn't know any better? Microsoft... more

SDLN
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1 month ago

Microsoft retires Seinfeld ad campaign

TV viewers can return to their favorite programs without fear of seeing Bill Gates shaking his tushie now that Microsoft Corp. has retired a bizarre two-week-old ad campaign featuring the software giant's chairman with comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
Bloggers and online media have suggested that the Redmond, Washington-based company yanked the Seinfeld ads after they were poorly received. The ads show Gates and Seinfeld trading banter at a mall shoe store and while living with a suburban family, trying to get in touch with regular people. Seinfeld asks Gates nonsensical questions about the future of computing, and Gates responds with "signs" that he's on the right track, including "adjusting his shorts," as Seinfeld called the awkward hip shake, and doing "the robot," a dance move.

However, a senior vice president in Microsoft's central marketing group, Mich Mathews, contended in an interview Thursday that it was always the plan to replace the Seinfeld-Gates ads with ones that focus on Windows.

"The notion that we're doing some quick thing to cancel (the Seinfeld ads) is actually preposterous," Mathews said. "Today was always the day. ... Media buying is something you have to do months in advance."

Mathews described the three Seinfeld spots as ice breakers with a limited shelf life, designed to grab people's attention in a tongue-in-cheek way without the pressure of having to talk about the product.
"We wanted to be sure that when we do come out with our major message, today, 'Life Without Walls,' more people would be paying attention than they would otherwise," Mathews said. "My goodness, did we do that."

The Windows-focused campaign attempts to turn Apple's "I'm a Mac" ads on their head. A new TV ad set to debut during "The Office" on NBC Thursday evening begins with a Microsoft engineer who looks like the PC character in Apple's ads saying "Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype." He's followed by a montage of real-life PC users, celebrities and Microsoft Windows engineers who all repeat the "I'm a PC" mantra.

Microsoft also has ads queued up for print, Web and public spaces that focus on the way Windows, Windows Mobile, Microsoft's Live services and its TV platform connect.

The $300 million campaign was designed by ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Microsoft said the company is "exploring options" with Seinfeld for new ads, but that no ads beyond the three that aired have been filmed so far.
TV viewers can return to their favorite programs without fear of seeing Bill Gates shaking his tushie now that Microsoft Corp. has... more