[microsoft] Forum Topics

According to an [URL="http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208401867"]Information Week[/URL] article, it would appear that gamers actually like the in-game adverts that they see while they play. Or rather Massive Inc, a Microsoft subsidiary that handles in-game advertising, has said as much. Gamers were surveyed and the results suggest that they will happily accept such …

When [URL="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080222/105312322.shtml"]Bill Gates gave a speech[/URL] last winter and hinted that the need for a keyboard was going to be diminishing, the writer in me scoffed, but I should learn to take Bill’s little hints a bit more seriously because the next version of Windows (aka Windows 7) is going …

There's an interesting story up at [URL="http://consumerist.com/tag/windows/?i=5010868&t=microsoft-and-the-1632-copy-of-vista"]The Consumerist[/URL] at the moment about some chap called Bill who has been charged $1632 for a single Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade license. It would appear what has happened is that Windows Live Marketplace kept saying to try again later when Bill pressed the …

Maybe it’s all part of a kinder, gentler Microsoft; or maybe it’s something else. In the latest example of Redmond’s increase in openness, the “Evil Empire” in an [URL=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/may07/05-16ANSIVotePR.mspx] announcement[/URL] last week said it backs the addition of the Open Document Format to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards …

[I]I can’t stand this indecision married with a lack of vision Everybody wants to rule the world ~Tears for Fears, Everybody Wants to Rule the World. [/I] There has certainly been a lot of gamesmanship going on in the computer industry these past few weeks as the industry’s biggest players …

I laugh inside when Microsoft loses ground, even in the slightest way. It’s particularly sweet when Redmond loses to a company like Novell, which owned the LAN market it pioneered through the 1990s, only to have it ripped from its grasp by the totally inferior Windows NT. This week Novell’s …

American readers will have been delighted by l[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7413099.stm"]ast night's announcement[/URL] ('last night' is relative, it was last night in the UK) that Microsoft is going to offer cash back on items bought through its partners from its search engine scheme. The idea completes a notion that began over a decade …

[URL="http://www.slipperybrick.com/2008/05/iphone-runs-windows-vista-kinda/"]Slippery Brick reports[/URL] that it is now possible to run Windows Vista on your iPhone, well after a fashion at any rate. In fact what you get is a Vista emulator called VistaPerfection 2.0 which provides your iPhone with "wallpapers, sliders, sound effects and over 90 Vista-themed icons for everything …

[URL="http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/21/vole-loses-alcatel-lucent"]According to The Inquirer[/URL] Microsoft has lost the long running Alcatel-Lucent patent case. The US International Trade Commission has ruled against Microsoft in the case which accused Alcatel-Lucent of violating four Microsoft patents concerning IP-based phone software. The ITC concluded that "there is no violation of section 337" which refers …

Even though the guy missed, Steve Ballmer might still end up with egg on his face. If the Microsoft CEO fails again to acquire Yahoo, he might do well to open his own diner since he always seems to have a ready supply of eggs. This time they came his …

In the past few weeks, we have seen Microsoft trying to acquire Yahoo! for some $46-odd billion dollars. They failed. So, moving on, they are [URL="http://furrier.org/2008/05/19/silicon-valley-rumor-microsoft-to-buy-yahoo-search-and-then-facebook/"]trying to acquire Facebook now[/URL]. Mark Zuckerberg is standing firm on this one though. They are decisively saying "no" to the acquisition. [URL="http://www.ginside.com/2008/1589/google-to-buy-facebook/"]Facebook is not …

[I]Fool if you think it's over 'Cause you said goodbye Fool if you think it's over I'll tell you why ~Chris Rea, Fool (If You Think It's Over). [/I] Those two crazy kids, Microsoft and Yahoo! are talking again. I know. I know. You thought it was over. Everyone did. …

You have to admire a guy who would walk away from a successful project of global proportions purely on principle. Walter Bender, co-founder of One Laptop Per Child, has reemerged and launched [URL= http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Main_Page]SugarLabs[/URL], a not-for-profit foundation that will continue the work of developing the Sugar open-source UI that runs …

Before I tell you about Bill Gates’ speech at CEO Summit 2008 today, I’d like to share one more story from my trip to Orlando for STAR EAST last week. And then I’ll tie the two together. In [my May 10 post](http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2434.html) from the conference, I mentioned “Testing Dialogues—In the …

I've been following the career arch of corporate raider Carl Icahn for years. The billionaire investor specializes in buying up huge chunks of stocks of volatile companies, then going after the company's board of directors to get the deals he wants. It's worked pretty well with Icahn's investments in companies …

Microsoft continues to reach out and touch mobile device makers and their carriers. The company today announced a deal with Research in Motion that will enhance integration between Microsoft’s Windows Live services and Blackberry 7000 and 8000 series devices as well as the [URL= http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2443.html]BlackBerry Bold[/URL], a brand-new model unveiled …

Research in Motion has thrown its BlackBerry hat into the iPhone ring with [URL= http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrybold/] BlackBerry Bold[/URL], the latest version of the company’s line of sleek, multimedia savvy smartphones. According to a RIM [URL=http://www.rim.com/news/press/2008/pr-12_05_2008-01.shtml]press release[/URL], the new unit is “crafted from premium materials inside and out, that radiate elegance with …

News is breaking that [URL="http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=11735"]Microsoft is preparing a 65nm GPU[/URL] for the next Xbox 360, codename Jasper and due in August. The most recent updates to the ever popular games console, namely the Falcon revision, seem to have helped a lot with RRoD failure: also known as Red Ring of …

[I]Well there’s nothing to lose And there’s nothing to prove I’ll be dancing with myself ~Billy Idol, Dancing with Myself.[/I] Microsoft is 30-something and that’s an elder statesman in personal computing terms, and maybe it’s feeling a bit old. The desktop is so yesterday. The future is on the web, …

Microsoft has launched a new add-in, designed specifically to simplify the process of creating content that is accessible for visually impaired and what it refers to as 'print disabled' individuals. The new [URL="http://www.openxmlcommunity.org/daisy"]Save as DAISY XML[/URL] add-in is open source, being developed in conjunction with the [URL="http://www.daisy.org"]Digital Accessible Information System …

Is the Yahoo deal done yet? The stock market thinks so, slicing Yahoo’s financial value by 15% in the last two trading sessions. If the deal were still alive, then the stock would be moving the other way around. Yahoo’s chief Jerry Yang says the $37-per-share demand wasn’t etched in …

There’s a better-than-even chance that you’re using Microsoft Outlook for e-mail. And if you’re like me, you’re not too happy about it. But there’s a free plug-in available today that brings some much needed relief from some of what ails the world’s most popular e-mail client. I tried it today …

Okay, let the finger-pointing begin. Should Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer take the heat for the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo merger falling apart? After all, didn't he say that Microsoft wouldn't raise its $45.7 billion bid for Yahoo, then weeks later, say he'd raise the bid, from $31 per share to $33 per …

I’ve never liked Steve Ballmer very much as president of Microsoft. I don’t know the man personally, of course, and I could never quite put my finger on my reasons for disliking him. Until today, that is, when I read an [URL= http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlWMAaojPTn9VWib6NSyXZ5A3ntQD90F02SO0]Associated Press story[/URL] that included allegations that the …

Despite insisting that its proposed acquisition of Yahoo! "made sense for Microsoft, Yahoo! and the market as a whole" Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, has admitted defeat and withdrawn its proposal to purchase the Yahoo! business. "Yahoo! has not moved toward accepting our offer. After careful consideration, we believe the economics …

Microsoft has put the brakes on Windows XP Service Pack 3, which was supposed to be available yesterday through the [URL=http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us]Windows Update Website[/URL]. A [URL=http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3262170&SiteID=17]Tuesday post[/URL] on its TechNet site said a “compatibility issue” between Microsoft’s Dynamics Retail Management System point-of-sale application and SP3 has caused the delay. The same …

[I]Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger Sometimes you're the ball ~Mark Knopfler, The Bug[/I] Technology moves so quickly it's a bit like the weather in New England. If you don't like it, wait five minutes. To prove this, not long after I published my post last week, [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2351.html"]Microsoft Misses the Boat …

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Microsoft bid to acquire Yahoo was a bust—and I hope it stays that way. I shudder to think of the consequences of a company like Microsoft acquiring Google-like power. Microsoft already has too much power and control over my life. I …

Having all your data wherever you go is useful beyond measure. A Web-based service and series of open APIs unveiled this week by Microsoft is intended to offer a solution to keeping all our devices in sync. If I had a dollar for every time I accessed an Outlook contact, …

Microsoft is not old by corporate standards, but in the world of technology it is down-right staid. That’s why it takes a while for it to make major changes (or five years to roll out an OS). A few years ago when Bill Gates was still in charge, he recognized …