[microsoft] Forum Topics

Want to buy a Dell machine loaded with Linux? Shame, as it appears that Dell Europe would really rather you bought a Windows-powered one, despite having a website devoted entirely to selling Dell Ubuntu laptops. And, oh boy, does it use some strange arguments to dissuade you from becoming a …

It's hard for me to admit it but there are things, ten things to be exact, that I really hate about Linux. Sometimes I think it's just me but I do see other people stating a few of these in the forums so I'm at least not alone with some …

[URL="http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/poll/index.cfm?action=showresults&pid=3228421"]A new poll into Operating System popularity by a British computer magazine[/URL] has revealed that an incredible 37 percent of respondents are still using Windows XP. That's more than Windows 7 which managed to woo 30 percent of the folk taking part, and Vista could only garner a pretty poor …

While keen to point out that Microsoft's TechNet portal security was "in no way compromised" by the tactic, researchers with security outfit FireEye [discovered](https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2015/05/hiding_in_plain_sigh.html) that [a well established China-based hacking campaign called Deputy Dog](https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2013/09/operation-deputydog-zero-day-cve-2013-3893-attack-against-japanese-targets.html) had managed to create profiles and posts on TechNet that contained embedded Command and Control codes …

Which 12 year old operating system which is still running on 11 million servers is about to die? Yep, that's the one: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 reaches 'end of life' status on July 14th. One of the longest running discussions on DaniWeb asks the question [Why does Windows XP refuse …

It's that time of year again, and the latest [Secunia Vulnerability Review](http://secunia.com/vr2015/) has been published. This analysed anonymous data gathered from scans right across 2014 of millions of computers which have Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) installed and revealed some interesting statistics. On average, the computers used by the people …

Windows is, according to just about any security expert you ask, the operating system most vulnerable to attack. Unless the security expert happens to be from Microsoft, that is. So it was quite refreshing to see Microsoft admitting to a spike in attacks on Windows this week. [attach]15849[/attach]According to [URL="http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2010/07/13/update-on-the-windows-help-and-support-center-vulnerability-cve-2010-1885.aspx"]a …

When 'Thefacebook' first launched in February 2004, access was initially restricted only to students of Harvard University where Mark Zuckerberg was a student. Facebook went on to become something of a success, with the social network [controversially being valued at more than $100 billion](http://www.daniweb.com/internet-marketing/social-media-and-web-communities/news/423739/is-the-facebook-bubble-ready-to-burst#post1810124).  Microsoft must have been …

2014 was not a good year for Microsoft, with the Xbox Live network being disrupted at both ends of December by [Lizard Squad DDoS attacks](https://www.daniweb.com/software-development/game-development/news/488412/lizard-squad-claims-responsibility-for-taking-down-xbox-live-today) and then as the year was finally coming to an end a different hacking collective dropped another bomb onto Xbox. A posting on Twitter simply …

I used to refer to [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Windows[/URL] as "The Infinitely Rebooting OS" and it has improved some over earlier versions but today was a different story and reminded me of those thrilling days of yesteryear. My question is why, Windows, why? Why must I reboot when I install a desktop application? …

Yesterday, September 10, 2009, the announcement came that [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] launched and is funding a new open source organization named [URL="http://www.codeplex.org"]CodePlex Foundation[/URL]. The [URL="http://www.codeplex.org/board-of-directors.aspx"]major players[/URL] in the new organization are from Microsoft, [URL="http://www.novell.com"]Novell[/URL] and [URL="http://www.dotnetnuke.com"]DotNetNuke[/URL]. Does this mean that a brave new Microsoft is beating its proprietary, closed-source swords into open …

Think that macro viruses written in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) are just something that people using the Internet a couple of decades ago had to worry about? Think again. Word macro attacks never went away, they just went into decline. New evidence suggests they could be making something of …

So it seems that an Internet Explorer zero day vulnerability allowed the back door to be opened that resulted in the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story252590.html"]hack attack on Google[/URL] and many others that has received such publicity this week. According to [URL="http://siblog.mcafee.com/cto/operation-%E2%80%9Caurora%E2%80%9D-hit-google-others/"]McAfee[/URL] it has identified an Internet Explorer vulnerability as being one of the …

So, Microsoft and iSIGHT uncovered another 0-day vulnerability; this time impacting all supported versions of Microsoft Windows and Windows Server 2008 and 2012. iSIGHT [has detailed](http://www.isightpartners.com/2014/10/cve-2014-4114/) in the wild exploits of the vulnerability, and points the finger of suspicion at state-sponsored Russian interests. The Dallas-based cybersecurity outfit explained that the …

Microsoft will stop releasing security updates, hotfixes and other updates for Windows XP SP2 on July 13th 2010. No biggie, you might think, after all Windows XP SP3 was released way back in April 2008 and since then we've had both Vista (perhaps best forgotten) and the much more palatable …

More often than not I'll be writing about the security problems facing Windows XP users, such as when I recently reported how a large number of enterprises are still running XP SP2 machines which will shortly [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story287954.html"]stop being supported by Microsoft[/URL] in terms of security updates, hotfixes and the like. …

Bugs are, and always have been, a fact of life for the software developer. However, if Microsoft researcher Andrew Begel has his way, they could be a thing of the past. Last month a paper entitled '[Using Psycho-Physiological Measures to Assess Task Difficulty in Software Development](http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=209878)' was published which Begel …

Microsoft is just about over the three day hump that has been their timid Windows 8 release, and amid the [cries of anger](http://www.daniweb.com/hardware-and-software/microsoft-windows/windows-vista-and-windows-7-8/news/438107/windows-8-launch-three-year-user-backlash-predicted) over die-hard user, it's apparent Microsoft's move toward Windows 8 was one for the long term, not the short time.  While some jump to call …

So here I am working on a Sunday morning, as usual, and I when I fire up my laptop (which serves as my desktop) a message appears informing that an update is being applied and it won't take long. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that this update appeared …

Aside from being one of the [most hated CEOs](http://www.businessinsider.com/hated-tech-ceos-2011-12?op=1) in the world of technology, Steve Ballmer is hard at work trying to design a new world for Microsoft and the future of consumer electronics and, simultaneously, saving himself from a history of redicule. Ballmer's ambitious claim of [400 million](http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/05/ballmer-400m-windows-phone-8-windows-8-devices/) Windows …

Nintendo is sitting firmly at the top of the games console tree right now, having just been 'bigged up' by the release of the US sales figures for October which show the Wii on 803,000 and the DS on 491,000. Both well ahead of nearest rival, the Xbox 360 on …

Microsoft knows it has to do something in order to claw back some kind of market position, not now but five years into the future. The culture of computing is changing amongst the young and hip consumer, and it's moving away from the Microsoft Windows-centric vision of the past. While …

Microsoft first started warning people that the there was going to be an important change to Windows' certificate requirements back in June. A change that is designed to improve security across the Windows platform by way of increasing the RSA key length to a minimum of 1024 bits for certificates …

[ATTACH=RIGHT]22213[/ATTACH]You may not be a big fan of Microsoft, but you wouldn't expect your computer to be held to ransom by the company would you? In recent months it has become quite commonplace, at least across Europe, for scammers posing as Microsoft technical support staff to 'cold call' people on …

[ATTACH=right]16954[/ATTACH]What's a billionaire to do when he's not in the spotlight so much anymore and maybe getting a little, well... bored? Sue everyone that people are paying more attention to than you, that's what! Interval Licensing, the company owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is suing nearly every big name …

[ATTACH=RIGHT]16182[/ATTACH][URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] got some bad news this week when it found out that [URL="http://www.yahoo.co.jp/"]Yahoo Japan[/URL], unlike its U.S. parent company, will be partnering with [URL="http://www.google.com"]Google[/URL], rather than Microsoft's search engine, [URL="http://www.bing.com"]Bing[/URL]. The decision means that most of the Internet searches originating in Japan will use Google's search engine rather than Bing. …

Microsoft has published an [advance notification](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms13-jan) for vulnerabilities that will be patched in the January 2013 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin due next week. However, anyone hoping for a permanent fix to deal with the Internet Explorer zero-day exploit that surfaced during the seasonal holiday period is going to be disappointed. …

Apple has done it again. This time with [URL= http://www.sproutcore.com/]SproutCore[/URL], a JavaScript framework that simplifies development of native-looking Web-based applications without the need for Flash or any other specialized runtime. Apple has reportedly contributed loads of resources to the project, which was originally developed by [URL= http://www.sproutit.com/]SproutIt[/URL] creator Charles Jolley. …

Reports are coming in thick and fast about 'state-sponsored' zero-day exploits hitting business websites in the UK. The latest, disclosed yesterday by [SophosLabs](http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/06/20/aeronautical-state-sponsored-exploit/), involves an as yet unnamed European aeronautical parts supplier and follows on from another the day before involving a European medical company site. In both cases the …