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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Microsoft

Microsoft stories: 446 news summaries

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walt MOSSBERG

Gap Narrows, But Macs
Still Beat PCs

Performance and price gaps close but Mac is still value

Oct 29, 09 11:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - With Windows 7 and Mac’s Snow Leopard operating systems both available, it’s time for Walter S. Mossberg to drop some science on the arduous task of picking a computer. Things aren’t too different this time around: Macs are still more expensive, though “prices on Windows... More »

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Microsoft • Walt Mossberg • Apple • Macintosh • Mac OS X • personal computers • laptops • Windows 7 • Snow Leopard

NOT FAMILY-GUY FRIENDLY

 Microsoft 
 Yanks Seth 
 MacFarlane 
 Sponsorship 

Windows pulls sponsorship of comedy special after watching it

Oct 27, 09 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Apparently, Microsoft just can’t handle a good Holocaust joke. After attending a taping of Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show, the software giant has pulled its support, saying the content “was not a fit with the Windows brand.” The show, a... More »

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Microsoft • advertising • Fox • Seth MacFarlane • corporate sponsorship

David Pogue: SO LONG, VISTA

 Windows 7 Drops: 
 Microsoft Is Back 

Redmond can be proud of its new OS: Pogue

Oct 22, 09 7:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - At last, you can put your Vista woes behind you. Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, which drops today, takes what's good about its predecessor—especially security and good looks—and eliminates the parts that drove users bonkers. Windows 7 isn't just substantially faster and more compatible with users' machines,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • Microsoft Vista • PCs • operating system • upgrades • David Pogue • Windows 7 • Windows 7 review

Microsoft's
Bing Teams
With Twitter

It hopes to gain edge over Google in social networking

Oct 21, 09 4:54 PM CDT
(AP) - Microsoft has picked up a new weapon in its Internet search duel with Google—full access to Twitter's communications hotbed. The partnership announced today represents a coup for Microsoft as it tries to spice up its Internet search engine, Bing, in its long-running attempts to lure traffic from Google. A... More »

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social networking • Google • Microsoft • search engine • Twitter • Bing

Microsoft Recovers Nearly
All Lost Sidekick Data

Meltdown not as bad as feared; minority of users affected

Oct 15, 09 11:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - It turns out Sidekick users will get “most if not all” of their data back, Microsoft announced today. The company now believes that only a minority of users were affected by the blackout. Until now, the company had painted a much bleaker picture, saying Saturday that though it would... More »

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Microsoft • crash • data storage • Sidekick • cloud computing • online data storage • T-Mobile

Sidekick Users Revolt Over Mass Data Loss

Forums crowded with angry users; some threaten lawsuit

Oct 12, 09 1:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sidekick users are on the warpath after learning Microsoft and its subsidiary, the ironically named Danger Inc., have lost all their data, permanently, in a server crash. T-Mobile offered to credit users a free month of data service, but that didn’t mollify the people on T-Mobile’s support forums,... More »

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Microsoft • crash • data storage • smartphones • Sidekick • T-Mobile • Danger Inc.

mossberg review

Windows 7: Finally an End to the Ordeal of Vista

It's even better than aging fallback Windows XP

Oct 8, 09 7:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - PC users who've suffered the agonies of Vista are finally about to get a reprieve, Walt Mossberg says: Windows 7, to be released Oct. 22, is "a faster and much better operating system than the little-loved Windows Vista, which did a lot to harm both the company's reputation, and... More »

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Microsoft • Walt Mossberg • Microsoft Vista • operating system • Windows 7 • Windows 7 review

Hackers Post 10K Hotmail Passwords Online

Operation may have thousands more; Microsoft investigating

Oct 5, 09 6:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Names and passwords for at least 10,000 compromised Hotmail email accounts were made public today, and Microsoft says it's investigating. A list of account names and passwords that was posted to a software development forum may only be a small part of the cache of stolen info—it consisted... More »

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Microsoft • email • phishing • Windows Live • hacking • Hotmail

Tech Review

Microsoft's Free Antivirus Software Actually Works!

Program performs well in stress test

Oct 1, 09 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Want a great, free antivirus program from a big software brand? OK, it’s from Microsoft, and … wait! Come back! Believe it or not, Microsoft’s new Security Essentials software is pretty darn good. AV-Test.org ran it through a bevy of tests and found the freebie performed admirably.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • Windows • computer virus • spyware • computer security • malware • antivirus • Security Essentials

tech showdown

 Pick an OS: 
 Uncool Robots 
 or Snooty Evangelists? 

New Microsoft ads go for Mac-esque buzz—and fail laughably

Sep 28, 09 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Anyone who wants a computer faces an unpleasant choice: Mac OS or Windows. Now, Windows is “awful”— buggy, at times barely functional. But one expert would rather assign himself to Microsoft purgatory than join the club of snooty, self-satisfied cooler-than-thou Mac users. “Stop showing me your iPhone,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • Mac OS X • operating system • computer • Windows 7

TECH REVIEW

 New Zune HD Scores, 
 but Lags on Content 

Microsoft player is best yet, but purchasing media is a drag

Sep 23, 09 6:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Microsoft's Zune music player has long been the iPod's dowdy stepsister, but the new, fourth-generation Zune HD is finally "a portable media player that you can be proud to carry around," says Katherine Boehret of the Wall Street Journal. The new device features a "stunningly vivid" touchscreen,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • music downloads • iPod • digital music • Zune • media player • Zune HD

ANALYSIS

 Microsoft's 
 Courier Tablet 
 Is 'Astonishing' 

Combines touch-screen and stylus, 'opposite' of Apple's coming entry

Sep 22, 09 9:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Microsoft’s foray into tablet computers looks to be “astonishing,” Gizmodo blogger The Paperboy raves after getting a look at leaked photo of the Courier, which has two screens and opens like a book. It has touch-screen and stylus capabilities, and is in the “late prototype” stage,... More »

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Microsoft • Apple • Internet leak • touchscreen • tablet computer • Courier • Gizmodo • stylus

 Microsoft Pinching Apple 
 Employees to Staff Stores 

Managers enticed with higher salaries and sent back to poach sales people

Sep 22, 09 2:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Microsoft’s planned expansion into the brick-and-mortar retail sector will be staffed at least in part by…Apple Store employees, reports the Loop. The software giant is hiring away Apple managers with higher salaries, sources tell the tech blog. Those managers in turn are trying to bring aboard Apple's top... More »

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Microsoft • Apple • poaching • Macintosh • retail stores • computer • Apple Store • manager • employees

Tech Review

 Zune HD Rivals 
 iPod Touch 


Sep 15, 09 3:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Microsoft releases a new Zune every year, mostly to collective shrugs, but this year’s model “might be the Zune that you’ve been waiting for,” writes Mark McClusky of Wired. “You were waiting, right?” The slim, white-and-black Zune HD is “a lovely industrial design,”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • iPod • Zune • tech review • Zune HD

With Job Openings, Employers All a-Twitter 

Social-networking site gives companies a cheap medium to find the techno-savvy

Sep 8, 09 12:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - For some firms, Twitter is playing the role of headhunter: companies like Verizon and Microsoft are posting openings on the social-networking site, the Wall Street Journal reports. Job boards have “become saturated,” says a Newell Rubbermaid VP. “With Twitter, we don't have to go through that huge... More »

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social networking • Internet • Microsoft • Verizon • job search • job market • Twitter • tweet • social media • job vacancies

New Sony Vaio PCs Will Include Google Web Browser

Facing Microsoft, search giant aims to expand market for Chrome

Sep 1, 09 8:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google Chrome, languishing in the browser wars, will get a substantial boost thanks to a deal with Sony—which is shipping new Vaio PCs with Chrome pre-installed. Google is also talking to other computer manufacturers, the FT reports, as it attempts to weaken the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which... More »

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Google • Microsoft • web browser • Internet Explorer • Sony • Firefox • Mozilla • Web browsing • Google Chrome • Vaio

GLOSSIES

 'Craigslist Murder' 
 a New Internet 
 Phenomenon 

Real-world cops with computers tracked real-world cybercrime

Aug 31, 09 4:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff’s alleged crimes and capture were so tied to the Internet that a “new kind of murder” has been born, writes Maureen Orth in Vanity Fair. Not only did Markoff allegedly find victim Julissa Brisman on Craigslist, but before the meeting that Boston... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Internet • Microsoft • Boston • murder • criminal charges • Julissa Brisman • Philip Markoff • Craigslist killer

(Newser) - Microsoft has apologized after eagle-eyed Twitter users and bloggers noticed it swapped a white head onto the body of a black model in an image for its website in Poland. The image on Microsoft’s US homepage, captioned “Empower your people,” shows a white woman, a black man,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • Poland • race relations • Photoshop

(Newser) - Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo are ganging up against Google Books, trying to quash its settlement with publishers and authors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The settlement, which still needs court approval, would allow Google to offer works scanned off library shelves online for free, provided publishers get a cut... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Yahoo • Google • Microsoft • Google Book Search • Amazon • library

(Newser) - A Texas district court judge has ruled in favor of a Canadian software company and issued an injunction barring Microsoft from selling copies of its Word program, which can read and write XML files, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. XML capability is central to Microsoft Word; i4i claims the company... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Microsoft • Texas • Canada • patent infringement • Open XML • US District Court • Microsoft Word • word processor • i4i

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