Microsoft

A day after Microsoft revealed that it would make Windows 7 downgradeable all the way back to XP, a new poll suggests it's unlikely anyone will really want to do that. Apparently, Windows 7 is gaining popularity after all. The poll is courtesy of ... ChangeWave Research, which has been keeping tabs on Microsoft's operating systems for a while now. Two years ago it polled users shortly after Vista's much-anticipated launch, only to find that just 10% of all users felt "very satisfied" with the OS. A couple years of serious griping later, and here we are with what most hope will completely redeem ... (view more)

At this point, Windows 7 represents Microsoft's best hope for regaining the confidence of business and home users disgruntled with its much-maligned Windows Vista operating system. Just in case Win7 doesn't satisfy, however, the company is making it ... downgradable all the way to Windows XP. Downgrading a Windows system is hardly new, but prior to Vista the demand for such retroactive steps was actually quite rare. As Vista's popularity began to wane only a few months after its launch in early 2007, computer makers and retailers began marketing certain systems that had XP instead of the newer, ... (view more)

Microsoft recently announced that April 14, 2009 will mark the beginning of its "phase out" process for the Office 2003 productivity suite and the Windows XP operating system; two cornerstone programs that will be forced into semiretirement so that ... more resources can be used towards newer products. The lifespan of a Microsoft product is dependent on the amount of time and involvement the company allocates when implementing security updates, patches, and similar. Microsoft Product Life Cycle: Mainstream Support Office 2003 was released in November 2003 as a successor to Office XP. At the time ... (view more)

A Texas senator is trying to make it illegal for any government agency to buy Windows Vista without prior approval. Juan Hinojosa says simply "Don't buy it because it's not worth it." If the law passes, all state agencies in Texas would need written ... approval from the Legislative Budget Board before buying Vista itself or any machine with the system pre-installed. The only exception would be for places of higher education. Anti-Vista Amendment Rides State Budget The proposal is not a separate law. Instead it's a rider to the budget: one of 800 amendments added during the legislative process. ... (view more)

Microsoft's highly anticipated Windows Mobile application store has yet to launch, but the company has effectively stirred the tech market into a frenzy with the recent unveiling of several notable supporting developers at the CTIA Wireless trade ... show in Las Vegas yesterday. (Source: pcmag.com ) The list includes a number of recognizable names for anyone with a computer or a game console. Among the most notable developers currently working on apps are news and weather networks: Accuweather.com Associated Press CNBC Video game developers and retailers: Electronic Arts (EA) Mobile Gameloft ... (view more)

When's the last time you found a new Apple MacBook for less than $1,000? Never? Base pricing is the focus of Microsoft's recent ad campaign, which launches a frontal assault on its competitor's alleged "Apple tax". Although the last time Microsoft ... worked with popular ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, it ended in Costanza-esque disaster -- however, this time the two are taking a different tact. Rather than prance in a fantasy world where comedians and geeky tech moguls journey across the United States , this new series of ads follows everyday computer buyers in their quest to purchase an ... (view more)

It's been almost one week since users have been able to experience Internet Explorer 8 , Microsoft's latest weapon in the browser war against rivals Firefox, Safari and Chrome. Unfortunately, fanfare doesn't appear to be overwhelming, and now there ... are reports that some users might actually be reverting to IE7 -- or even opting for competitor browsers. Early Highs, Later Lows It was reported that as much as 2.61% of all web surfers were using IE8 just three days after the release date. While some assume that these numbers would have doubled or tripled by now, the figures have barely improved ... (view more)

According to reports emerging this weekend, users have been slow to adopt Microsoft's new Internet Explorer (IE) 8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1), rumored to be the company's last version of the iconic web browser. Internet Explorer 8 RC1 was released ... late last week, and met with general satisfaction from security and usability experts. Although the new IE has the ability to blacklist known malware web sites and prevent phishing scams, it's been demonstrated already that it can be hacked . Reaction to IE8 "Underwhelming" Despite all the hacking, speed, and usability tests buzzing about ... (view more)

A recent study conducted by NSS Labs revealed that of the six most-used browsers, Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) RC1 is "head and shoulders" above Firefox, Safari and Chrome in its ability to detect and block socially-engineered malware. ... Socially-engineered malware is considered to be among the most prevalent computer viruses in existence. The infection process becomes a very familiar scenario: a user is enticed to visit an external website and agrees to the malware download under false pretences. NSS reported on the dangers of these attacks many times in the last year, urging users to constantly ... (view more)

When the leader of a nation makes an important change, the belief is that most citizens will support and echo their decision. Microsoft is hoping that won't be the case in Asia, after the Prime Minister of India abandoned his Microsoft Outlook ... account in favor of open-source email. The Indian leader voiced his concern over the vulnerabilities of his Outlook account following a nasty computer virus that caused massive disruptions when sending/receiving emails containing important (and at times, crucial) information. The Indian Central Information Commission admitted to the change, stating that ... (view more)