Microsoft Windows Forum

Businesses are snapping their wallets shut, at least when it comes to software spending - usually a good leading indicator of economic growth. One key benchmark, the ChangeWave corporate software spending survey, has seen a shift into negative territory for the first time in years. In its January, 2008 survey …

Nobody has ever accused Microsoft of not knowing how to play hardball. From its history of monopolistic practices, of elbowing competitors out of the marketplace (hello, Netscape!), or lifting ideas it likes from adversaries like Apple without shame, Microsoft is more than ready to throw the first punch. With that …

[URL="http://www.opera.com"]Opera Software ASA[/URL], the company behind what used to be the alternative web browser of choice until Firefox came along and changed all that, has urged Microsoft to give consumers a genuine choice of standards-compliant browser clients. It has filed an official complaint with the European Commission which describes at …

Microsoft has today announced the availability of Service Pack 1 for the 2007 Office system product range, and you don't have to wait the 3-6 months which Microsoft says it will take to appear in the automatic updates either. In actual fact you can download it right now from [URL="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads"]OfficeOnline[/URL]. …

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates once talked about putting a PC on every desk. Now Gates is talking about turning the desk itself - or a tabletop - into a computer. Microsoft is set to announce an ambitious new computing category today called "surface computing" to try to make it happen. …

Microsoft is announcing the availability of its new [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver"]Windows Home Server[/URL] product today. The WHS solution is targeted directly at a family audience, helping them to protect, connect and share digital media and documents. The stay-at-home server delivers the same type of benefits that the corporate and academic server technology …

Not one to sit back and reflect quietly upon its moments of glory, Microsoft has been making quite a fuss over the record breaking [URL="http://www.halo3.com"]Halo 3[/URL] launch. It is, Microsoft insists, the "biggest entertainment launch in history." Sales in the first 24 hours, in the US alone, topped $170 million. …

[URL="http://www.mozilla.org"]Mozilla[/URL] has hit the 400 million downloads mark for the Firefox web browser client since it was officially launched in November 2004, a rise of 56 percent in the last 12 months alone. Of course, updates, reinstalls and trials are all included in download figures which have little real world …

Last week I wrote that I am a big Apple fan, and I am. I think its products are better than other technology companies and that's especially true of Microsoft. Anyone who's ever spent hours trying to debug a Windows-based PC or closing out pop-ups ad that appear with all …

In one of the most incredible cases of I did not do it syndrome, eBay owned VoIP supremo Skype has denied that it was at fault over the system outage which started on Thursday 16th August and prevented the vast majority of its users from being able to login to …

There has been much online speculation about how Microsoft is going to head off the Google Apps free office software attack, much of it focusing on an advertising supported version of Microsoft Office. While this may, at some point, feature in the Microsoft strategy it is not going to appear …

According to a [URL="http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=150624&ref=g_homelink"]statement[/URL] from IT research company [URL="http://www.gartner.com"]Gartner[/URL] Windows 7 is just three short years away from fruition. In response to an enquiry following a CNET News story reporting a sales meeting of the Seattle software giants where the three year figure was supposedly mentioned, Gartner cites a Microsoft …

Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker has [URL="http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/mitchell/archives/2007/07/email_futures.html"]admitted[/URL] that Thunderbird is to be booted out of the Mozilla camp in order to allow “the Thunderbird community to determine its own destiny” apparently. Put through my patented BS translator this produced “Thunderbird brings us no revenue, gets a bad press whether compared to …

Yeah, yeah, yeah – how can an operating system be environmentally unfriendly I hear you ask? User friendly, security friendly, productivity friendly even, but environmentally unfriendly? Well that is exactly the claim that I am prepared to make considering reports from the likes of [URL="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-6181366.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnn"]ZDNet[/URL] regarding the sorry state of …

Today I received an email from "Halifax bank" that contained the following: [quote]Dear halifax customer, During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error in your billing information. This might be due to either of the following reasons: 1. A recent change in your …

Just a week after Mozilla made the Release Candidate 1 version of the Firefox-alike open source email client available for download, comes the news that the final version is now [URL="http://www.getthunderbird.com"]here[/URL]. Mozilla Thunderbird 2 brings lots of new features to the table, most notably: [LIST] [*]Message Tagging - Organize emails …

Suggestions for a suitable epitaph are welcome, although I suspect ‘good riddance to insecure rubbish’ will stand the test of time as well as any other when it comes to the death of Windows XP. Yes, despite the fact that Vista has hardly set the world on fire if recent …

In an effort to bring Firefox users closer together, Mozilla has released a conceptual design dubbed "Coop" that would give Firefox the ability to share "photos, news stories, links" with other users, reports [URL="http://www.computerworld.com"]Computerworld[/URL]. Mozilla of course, says that this is purely conceptual, and that this is as far as …

Today I somehow ended up at my local library (which I rarely visit nowadays). As I wandered the computer book aisles, a certain book caught my eye: "Why you should stay away from Microsoft", or something along those lines. I was interested to see what it would say, and I …

Well, what a weekend that has been. Ever since the reports started emerging online of a brute force attack on the Vista activation code using a modified version of the original software license manager script file I have been, shall we say, dubious as to the authenticity of the claim. …

[URL="http://onecare.live.com"]Microsoft Windows Live OneCare[/URL] was already struggling in the credibility stakes after failing to pass the Virus Bulletin VB100 certification tests as I reported [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1295.html"]here[/URL] last month. Talk about kicking a wounded animal, now the [URL="http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2007_02.php"]results [/URL]of the latest, and much respected, [URL="http://www.av-comparatives.org/ tests"]av-comparatives[/URL] are in, and do no make …

If you've been keeping up to the news, you'll likely be aware of the fact that [URL="http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37941"]Vista's activation code scheme for anti-piracy has been cracked[/URL] by using a brute-force method, allowing any pirates to download Vista and just let the cracking program do its work. I find this insanely ironic. …

Ok i got a dimsnsion 5150 last xmas (was that 2005? im crap with dates) and it had 19" TFT Radeon x600 DvdRW P4 HT 1gb RAM XP Home all for £699. Bargain. Or so i thaught On the day vista got released dell dropped the price of an e520 …

Since the launch of Vista, articles have been [URL="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128737-c,vistalonghorn/article.html"]fairly negative[/URL] about Microsoft's next-gen operating system. Which can be expected, since it's "Microsoft", is prone to bugs and viruses, and is a slow monster, right? It couldn't be farther from the truth. This "bug" which we speak of - how can …

[B][I]Well, vista was released here today and well, when i got it i was not impressed. In this blog im gonna detail what I like and dont like[/I][/B] [B][I]Im gonna sell it (thats a bucketload of money wasted :( ) or something and put 2k (only other OS i actually …

The big moment is set. Microsoft has announced the release date of Vista to consumers, which happens to be January 30. So now, all Microsoft has to do is convince users that XP is dead and that Vista is the "new" OS now. Is Vista next-gen? I would say definitely …

Microsoft has now hit 100 million users for Internet Explorer 7. But, says analysts, this isn't an impact on competing web browsers. This is simply internal growth. Sure, maybe. But it's saying something that people are quickly switching to Microsoft's latest browser. I think that the interface looks very cool; …

I always like to see technology getting incorporated into everyday items. It's nice when you can find a use for the technology in something other than a desktop PC. The car manufacturer Ford is now going to incorporate Bluetooth technology into its vehicles - something that other higher-end car manufacturers …

Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7 has a special bar that turns green when visiting "safe" sites, which it determines if it recieves a special strict security certificate from Microsoft. But, small business owners and corporations are worried that users will leave their sites feeling unsafe, as they are not eligable …

Why doesn't everyone switch to Linux? Is it because it's too difficult? Not exactly. The problem with Linux isn't because you have to run millions of commands to start it up, it's because it gives users too many options. Commercial companies like Microsoft standardize their product when they create it. …

As some of you may know, I am a Contributing Editor with [URL="http://www.pcpro.co.uk"]PC Pro Magazine[/URL] in the UK, which is why I am able to reveal that according to figures ‘obtained’ by the publication Microsoft Office 2007 will officially be a rip-off. If you are buying in the UK that …

The French parliament is now going to dump Windows in favour of open-source. More specifically, Linux. The planned switch date is June 2007, with over 1000 parliament workers switching. No word yet on what Linux distribution they're going to use, or what email client -- one thing is for sure: …

On Thursday I went to Oxfordshire for a training day on the much anticipated Windows Vista. Firstly the appearance of Windows Vista has many improvements and enhancements over XP, with the outstanding graphics and of course Windows Aero, you've found what Microsoft like to call `the Vista experience`. The sku's: …

Ordinarily this headline would no longer come as any surprise, after all everyone is pretty much used to Microsoft keeping the competition at bay using whatever methods it can. However, this is no ordinary headline because what IO left out is the name of that competitor: Windows XP. In an …

Of course, it all depends who you are listening to when it comes to browser client market share statistics. The Seattle Times was listening to OneStat.com when it reported that Internet Explorer is on the rise for the first time in a couple of years (up 2.8 percent from July …

Well, maybe for a week or three anyway. That is the theory being bandied around wherever more than three geeks assembly for longer than 10 minutes, or so it seems. Perhaps it is just the company I keep. However, is there any merit in the idea that Vista, and specifically …

[COLOR=Red][B]This blog entry is regarding a registry hack for Windows XP. Be advised that twiddling with the registry requires care, and use the information here at your own risk. [URL="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;322756"]Backing up[/URL] the registry before proceeding is adviced. [/B][/COLOR] This is a based on the [URL="http://www.petri.co.il/add_command_prompt_here_shortcut_to_windows_explorer.htm"]Add Command Prompt Here[/URL] tweak that …

Hello there, Is there a free windows flash maker that have got no advertisments? I have got flash maker free version, but it advertises in my swf file. I want free flash maker, may be full functional trial Thanks

I have lenevo R60 laptop. I am finding difficulties in installing driver as i have lost my CD. I have downloaded some software but they are not working please help.

Hello all, Firstly I want to start by saying that I have had a difficulty with my laptop keyboard (previous post "IE keeps opening by itself". I haven't replaced it as the maufacturer has gone out of business. My current problem is that the left ctrl button does not work …

Hi all My summer job is working in a PC repair shop and we have just had a lady drop her laptop off and the hard drive is screwed. We just went to re-install the OS when we realized that we don’t know whether it is XP Home or Pro. …

Hi All, I recently installed some windows updates on my machine, and as soon as I restarted my PC this error msg appears after the BIOS has finished intialising everything: "DISK BOOT FAILURE. INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" Obviously it is not recognising my C: drive, where Windwos Vista …

hi, How am I able to share a wi-fi connection through a Windows Mobile 6 device to my computer running Windows 7 x64 via USB. I have tried and failed for days on end. Does anyone have any idea on how to get this working? Zane

I am installing office 2003 on a vista business PC in administrator profile and i get this message Error 1404 setup cannot delete the registry key. How can i solve it please help

Hey guys, I bought a new computer with 4 gigs of ram, 64 bit windows vista OS, dual core 2.4 ghz processor. . and I'm having some problems with it. Firefox frequently seems to mess up. Sometimes it won't stop loading a page when I click 'X', it will become …

So I just reformatted my PC(windows XP pro SP3), and I can't seem to get internet access on it. Everything is plugged in and running fine, and I'm getting a connection to a laptop right next to it(where I'm posting this from) Anyone know whats wrong or what I can …

If you can fix this, you are a genius. This may be a long post. In a nut shell, I was playing on call of duty this morning when all of a sudden my net dropped. Futile attempt after next of shutting down router and computer from the mains. I …

How to password protect a folder in the windows xp. I have a single logon. It isn't a shared computer but I need to protect some folders with passwords. Is there any option to deal with it. I know about "pcsecurity software" but I want to know the way that …

hi, i am new on this i need help my computer will not reboot it says that it did not start windows succsessfully? i have tryed safe mode no good and all the others on that page. Any help will be great

This is a new one, i don't know if you allready treated something like this, but i want to find a future and better solution. Ok, this is it. I have this windows xp machine at work (P4 3 Ghz, 512MB RAM, 80Gb HDD, VideoOnBoard), friday at 12:00 i try …