Microsoft

A lot of things have been written about Windows Vista...some good, some bad. As with everything else, Vista has its good and bad points. Some have even compared Vista to the Ford Edsel, and to Windows Millenium (ME) at its worst. Now Vista has sunk ... to a new catastrophic low...it's now being referred to as the second Titanic, which if you'll recall, sank on its maiden voyage. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes made the comparison in an article published on Earthweb.com. He also writes for zdnet.com. "An operating system (OS) isn't a stand-alone item" he writes. "For an operating system to be successful it ... (view more)

Microsoft has reportedly begun showing U.S. automakers Tellme, an alternative software for in-car navigation and assistance currently being offered exclusively by General Motor Corp.'s OnStar communications service. The technology was obtained by ... Microsoft in May, when the company acquired Tellme Networks Inc., a phone software company. Microsoft recently displayed the voice-recognition software, which allows mobile phone users to receive spoken data from a database, at an auto industry conference. Please, 'Tellme': How does it work? The Tellme service would connect through a Bluetooth- ... (view more)

Two American powerhouses are looking to improve the national health care system in the United States, surprising when you consider the two "powerhouses" are not political, but technological. By combining more effective Internet search tools, the ... vast resources of the web, and a host of online personal health records, Google and Microsoft are finding new ways of helping the average U.S. citizen make better choices concerning their medical care and personal health habits. (Source: nytimes.com ) Industry analysts are not completely confident that either company will make significant steps ... (view more)

A new study by Forrester Research shows that businesses that had been thinking of making a quick move to Microsoft Windows Vista seem to be doing an about-face and delaying deployment. In a report issued this week, Forrester analyst Benjamin Gray ... said "IT managers are finding themselves pulling back their initial Windows Vista deployment plans." Forrester did note that it's not like most businesses are really going to skip over Vista. "For the vast majority of businesses, Windows Vista is a matter of when and how, not if. This is thanks in large part to Microsoft's dominance in the corporate ... (view more)

Microsoft has revamped Hotmail once again, this time providing more storage and a slew of new features. Free accounts will now have a 5 GB storage limit, a large increase from the previous 2 GB limit. Paid subscribers will see their storage limits ... upped from 4 GB to 10 GB. (Source: betanews.com ) The added storage puts Hotmail ahead of Google, which offers 2.8 GB of storage, but still behind Yahoo's unlimited storage. (Source: windowsitpro.com ) Additional features include vacation replies and the ability to disable the 'Today' screen. Further, Microsoft responded to consumer comments and ... (view more)

Apple has just released iWork 2008. New additions, such as a spreadsheet called "Numbers", are impressive but the real excitement is over iWork's ability to handle the Open XML file format. This particular format is native to Microsoft's Office 2007 ... application suite. Until now, no application has been more important for the long-term survival of Mac than Microsoft Office. However, Apple's new iWork may change this fact. Why is Microsoft no longer the only drug that can keep Mac healthy? Quick answer: the Redmond-based company contracted its own illness; Microsoft faced problems in ... (view more)

Want a dirt-cheap version of Windows Vista? Move to China. Microsoft has posted an extremely low price for the new operating system in that country, with hopes of drastically improving sales. The Chinese will see a price reduction North Americans, ... for now, can only dream of. Vista Home Basic there will plummet from over 1,500 renminibi to just 499 renminibi ($66 USD). Home Premium will similarly drop, from 1,800 renminibi to 800 renminibi. That means Home Basic and Premium will drop 67% and 50%, respectively. For the record, China's Vista price is now less than a third of that charged to ... (view more)

Not feeling secure in your Microsoft software? Well, the company appears ready to make at least nine steps towards giving you some comfort while using Windows, Office, and development program Virtual Basic. Security updates are nothing new for ... Microsoft, which typically releases similar patches on a monthly basis. However, this update is a bit special given its size and the number of applications it seeks to improve. Patches are a mix of critical and not-so critical. Windows XP and Vista will receive security improvements addressing both minor and major holes (not outlined by Microsoft), ... (view more)

Microsoft Windows XP will be used to handle vital functions of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and has already been installed on most of the PCs delivered by Lenovo for the event. Microsoft's poster boy Windows Vista will only be used on PCs set up in ... Internet lounges for athletes to use, contrary to a Microsoft sponsored report earlier this year. (Source: InfoWorld.com ) Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo, said the Olympic games require mature, stable technologies during a briefing in Beijing. Due to the size and importance of the Olympics, it's not the place to try new technologies, especially ... (view more)

Discovering that the brand new laptop you've purchased has only a trial edition of Microsoft Word is a bummer. Discovering that Microsoft Works, the cookie-cutter full-version alternative, will feature advertisements in the future only compounds the ... frustration. Announced last Wednesday, Microsoft's new initiative to bombard poor Works users with ads will first run in a test program. There's no concrete date for the new and exciting Works SE 9, although Melissa Stern, a senior Microsoft product manager, says customers can expect to find it on new computers within the next few months. So, why ... (view more)