Microsoft

While fewer and fewer folks are continuing to employ Microsoft's aging Windows XP, according to a new report from industry analyst firm, Net Applications, more and more people are using Apple's Mac OS X operating system (OS). Net Applications ... compiles its reports on OS usage by using data gleaned from 160 million web users visiting 40,000 distinct Internet sites. The research firm's new study finds that Windows XP's market share slipped nearly two percentage points in the last month, down to 45.4 per cent. That marks the decade-old operating system's most significant decline in months, and ... (view more)

The company behind a service that allows access to Windows 7 on an iPad has run into a major problem: Microsoft says the service isn't properly licensed. The service is from a company named OnLive and works in a slightly complex manner. The user ... doesn't actually have Windows on their portable device, but rather uses the Internet to access a copy running on a remote computer operated by the company. (Source: infopackets.com ) iPad Users Access Microsoft Office, Adobe Flash Users of the basic service are able to access Microsoft Office to create documents and can save up to 2GB of documents to ... (view more)

Major PC maker Hewlett-Packard (better known as HP) is reportedly working on a number of tablet computers and hybrid devices based on the upcoming Windows 8 operating system (OS) from Microsoft. A recent presentation by the company's chief executive ... officer (CEO) suggests such gadgets could be available by the 2012 holiday season, or even sooner. During a recent earnings conference call, HP CEO Meg Whitman made reference to her company's plans to soon unveil Windows 8 tablets and related devices. The following day, she elaborated on this point, adding that HP would most likely use both the ... (view more)

Recently, it was announced that Facebook users would see more advertising promotions in the weeks to come. One of the first companies to come aboard is Microsoft, which will have its Bing search engine page embedded on the logout page of Facebook's ... site. It's reported that after users log out of Facebook, they will be greeted with an interactive Bing advertisement complete with wallpaper and an active search box. Typing a query into the search box will open up a results page in a separate tab. "Logout advertisements" like these are said to be among the newest changes coming to Facebook. ... (view more)

Microsoft is reporting success in its campaign to reduce graymail, which are defined as email messages that fall short of being labeled as 'spam'. Though definitions vary, most sources agree that true spam messages are sent without any permission ... from the recipient. Happily, spam filtering is now keeping spam to only three percent of the messages reaching an average user's inbox, Microsoft reports. (Source: liveside.net ) Legitimate Messages May Be Unwanted However, a lot of other emails, like promotional mailings, still get through. Often, the recipient has either lost interest in the ... (view more)

Microsoft has finally unveiled the first publicly available edition of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system (OS). While this version of the new OS is far from complete, it does give users a solid idea of what Microsoft has done to update its ... flagship product for use with mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones. "It's an even better Windows than Windows 7," Microsoft Windows director Steven Sinofsky said at a recent demonstration of the new OS, which took place at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. "It's incredibly fast and fluid to just navigate this UI (user interface ... (view more)

The former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Symantec Corp., known for antivirus software like Norton 360, has been appointed to Microsoft's board of directors. The addition increases the company's number of board members to ten. As ... Symantec CEO, John Thompson helped transform that company from a middle-of-the-road antivirus firm to an industry leader. When he became chief executive in 1999, the company's annual revenue was $632 million. By 2009, the year he stepped down as CEO, the firm's annual revenue was an impressive $6.2 billion. (Source: foxbusiness.com ) Thompson Brings ... (view more)

Microsoft's popular cloud computing service, SkyDrive, is reported to be getting a major overhaul soon. Included in the upgrade will be a number of visual improvements, the addition of a drag-and-drop feature, and a new tool that allows users to ... access files stored on their home computers from anywhere, securely, via the SkyDrive site. With about 17 million customers, Microsoft's SkyDrive service is one of the more popular cloud storage applications. However, that popularity hasn't discouraged Microsoft from giving the platform a major upgrade that it hopes will help drive the service to the ... (view more)

Symantec has unveiled three new versions of its popular security software, Norton 360. The three releases include Norton 360 Version 6 (compatible with the upcoming Windows 8 beta), Norton 360 Everywhere, and Norton One. Each of the three versions ... offer something different. For example, Symantec boasts that Norton 360 Version 6 will provide a download option to support the Windows 8 beta edition whenever that new operating system becomes available to the public, which is reportedly due this summer . Compatibility with Windows 8 Beta a "Priority," Symantec Says "We're making it a ... (view more)

Microsoft says that it will patch more than twenty security problems this Valentine's Day (February 14), coinciding with its regular "Patch Tuesday." Microsoft will be offering fixes for a wide range of flaws affecting the company's Internet ... Explorer (IE) web browser, every version of its Windows operating system (OS), as well as Microsoft Office. The total of 21 fixes will be spread across nine different security bulletins, four of which Microsoft has labeled "critical," which is the company's highest security warning. The rest of the bulletins are all marked "important," which is ... (view more)