Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers experience with the operating system…
Apr
19
Outlook Express users who want to continue to access their Hotmail accounts offline after June 30 are being encouraged by Microsoft to download its free Windows Live Mail software.
Users will still be able to use Outlook, the big brother of Outlook Express, to read their Hotmail messages offline, but they may have to first upgrade their Outlook Connector synchronization software, according to information posted online today by Scott Hammer, a Microsoft e-mail support manager…
Apr
10
New security changes to auction website eBay Australia will affect the way buyers purchase goods, and funnel more funds into its coffers.
Under the changes, direct deposits, money orders and personal cheques will no longer be listed as a payment option after June 17.
As a result, buyers will have only two options with which to pay: either cash-on-delivery, or via the online commerce website PayPal, which is owned by eBay.
PayPal accepts direct deposit or credit card payment on behalf of eBay sellers at a fee of between 1.1 and 2.4 per cent.
EBay defended the change, saying buyers were more likely to have problems with ‘offline’ payment options such as direct deposit…
Apr
5
There’s always a danger when a key employee leaves for a new company that he or she will stir things up by taking a few co-workers along, but some defections can be particularly grating. Looking to coddle its growing workforce a bit more, Facebook started shopping for its own executive chef in January. And when Sheryl Sandberg came over from Google to become COO last month, she said she knew just the guy at her old place. Everything panned out and now, as Carolyn Jung (until recently, the Merc’s food editor) reports at Food Gal, Josef Desimone has been whisked away to become the new Facecook…
Apr
5
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Friday indicated that Windows 7, the next major version of Windows, could come within the next year, far ahead of the development schedule previously indicated by the software maker.
In response to a question about Windows Vista, Gates, speaking before the Inter-American Development Bank here, said: “Sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version.” Referring to Windows 7, the code name for the next full release of Windows client software, Gates said: “I’m super-enthused about what it will do in lots of ways.”
Apr
5
In a decision that highlights Windows Vista’s hefty system requirements, Microsoft said Thursday that it would allow computer makers to continue to sell the older Windows XP operating system on “ultra low-cost PCs” for an extended period.
Microsoft said it would allow system vendors to preload the Home edition of Windows XP on ULCPCs through June 2010, or one year after the next version of Windows becomes generally available.
Microsoft defines ULCPCs as, among other things, systems that use discount-line processors and lack a separate graphics card. An example of such as system is the Asus Eee PC, which runs Windows XP or Linux and sells for less than $400.
Such low-spec machines would be incapable of running Vista…
Apr
5
Apple said on Thursday its iTunes online music store has surpassed Wal-Mart Stores to become the largest music retailer in the United States.
Apple’s statement, citing industry data, came on the same day that iTunes faced a new challenge as News Corp’s MySpace social networking site said it had formed an online music venture with three record labels.
MySpace Music is a joint venture with Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group, according to the News Corporation-owned website…
Apr
5
Microsoft sent a letter to the Yahoo Board of Directors Saturday setting a three-week deadline for moving forward on its more than $40 billion buyout offer.
The letter signed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Microsoft will take its case directly to Yahoo shareholders and work to elect a new slate of directors, if the board doesn’t respond by the deadline by April 26.
The bid to buy Yahoo was made in January and announced Feb. 1.
At the time, Microsoft offered $44.6 billion, or 62 percent above Yahoo’s market value. The deal is currently valued at about $41 billion, based on Friday’s closing share prices.
Yahoo’s board formally rejected Microsoft Corp.’s bid, saying it undervalues the company.
Apr
5
WordPress 2.5, the culmination of six months of work by the WordPress community, people just like you. The improvements in 2.5 are numerous, and almost entirely a result of your feedback: multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, salted passwords and cookie encryption, media library, a WYSIWYG that doesn’t mess with your code, concurrent post editing protection, full-screen writing, and search that covers posts and pages.
Mar
31
There is a ton of interesting information in the documents that have been released as part of the Windows Vista Capable lawsuit.
There’s the juicy e-mails that show Microsoft caving to pressure from Intel and lowering the graphics requirements to get the Vista Capable sticker. There’s also Dell outlining all of the problems it had with Microsoft in getting Vista to market as well as with its many readiness programs.
For those that want to give the full documents a read, the Seattle Post-Intellingencer has posted the complete PDF files of the documents, linked to from this blog by Todd Bishop.
Another area that got some notice this week was the inordinate number of early Vista crashes that were attributed to Nvidia, according to a list from early 2007. Nvidia was cited as causing nearly 30 percent of early Vista crashes (the exact time of the report is not listed), while Microsoft itself was to blame for nearly 18 percent. Intel and ATI each accounted for about 9 percent of crashes, according to the documents…
