MICROSOFT NEWS
Microsoft seeking open-source expert to help put Linux on Azure
Submitted Friday, January 27, 2012 @ 07:27 AMzdnet.com — Microsoft is moving steadily ahead with its plan to enable Linux to run on its Windows Azure cloud platform. See the complete story here.
Microsoft names ex-antivirus employee as botnet 'suspect'
Submitted Tuesday, January 24, 2012 @ 06:46 AMbbc.co.uk — Microsoft said it suspects a former employee of an antivirus software firm was behind the Kelihos botnet attacks. See the complete story here.
New Chinese malware attacks Department of Defense
Submitted Thursday, January 19, 2012 @ 08:49 AMventurebeat.com — Access cards are often used in governmental departments for both physical access as well as access to protected information. As AlienVault explains in a blog post, cyber criminals will always try to be in step with our security measures, even if they are physical ones like a card. Kind of like, if we built it, they will hack. In this case, the Chinese cyber criminals have found a way to bypass a physical card, by attacking the Windows operating system in the card reader. See the complete story here.
Expect Windows 8 in October
Submitted Thursday, January 19, 2012 @ 08:47 AMpcworld.com — Microsoft is aiming for October to release the commercial version of Windows 8, based on comments attributed to a Microsoft spokeswoman at CES. See the complete story here.
Microsoft celebrates IE6 death as Google downranks Chrome
Submitted Thursday, January 05, 2012 @ 06:43 AMbbc.co.uk — Microsoft has celebrated the imminent demise of version 6 of its Internet Explorer browser by baking a cake. The software giant held the light-hearted celebration as it revealed that the program was used by less than 1% of US internet surfers. See the complete story here.
Microsoft Makes Kinect Useful with New Dashboard Update
Submitted Tuesday, December 06, 2011 @ 08:35 AMforbes.com — For a while now in many users’ homes, the Microsoft Kinect has been relegated to the same fate as the system that inspired it, the Nintendo Wii. Both have been sitting around collecting dust now, waiting for something to come along and make them relevant again. See the complete story here.
Microsoft: No Resurrection for Dead Botnets
Submitted Wednesday, October 05, 2011 @ 09:42 PMdarkreading.com — On September 27, Microsoft announced it had taken down a "relatively small" botnet known as Kelihos. The botnet, which consisted of 41,000 compromised computers, allowed its operators to send spam, steal financial information and level denial-of-service attacks against target networks. See the complete story here.
Xbox 360 Teams Up With Entertainment Leaders to Transform TV
Submitted Wednesday, October 05, 2011 @ 09:36 PMmicrosoft.com — A new era in television begins this holiday where your entertainment becomes instantly searchable, easily discoverable and enjoyable in extraordinary new ways from a single device — Xbox 360. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced plans to roll out the next generation of TV entertainment on Xbox LIVE, the online entertainment service for Xbox 360. Nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers, including Bravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon FiOS and Syfy in the U.S.; BBC in the U.K., Telefónica in Spain; Rogers On Demand in Canada; Televisa in Mexico; ZDF in Germany; and MediaSet in Italy, will begin rolling out entertainment services to the console this holiday, in more than 20 countries. See the complete story here.
Memory comes to the fore in Firefox 7
Submitted Wednesday, September 28, 2011 @ 01:17 PMnews.cnet.com — Performance and improved memory use were the goals of Firefox 7, which arrived on schedule today from Mozilla. Firefox 7 is available to download for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. See the complete story here.
Microsoft Gets Court Order to Shut Down Kelihos Botnet, Names Defendant...
Submitted Wednesday, September 28, 2011 @ 01:04 PMeweek.com — Microsoft obtained a court order to block the command and control servers held by the Kelihos botnet, also known as Waldedac 2.0 before it could grow and become more disruptive. See the complete story here.
Irony Alert: Microsoft Profits From Each Google Gadget Rival Sells
Submitted Wednesday, September 28, 2011 @ 01:03 PMfoxnews.com — Forget Windows Phone. Microsoft’s cash cow is actually Google’s Android. The Windows giant is filling its coffers off of Google’s patent woes -- even as its own phone operating system struggles. Samsung, the second largest smartphone maker in the world, announced a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft on Wednesday that allows it to distribute phones running Google’s Android operating system. See the complete story here.
Microsoft launches web-based Windows Phone Marketplace
Submitted Tuesday, September 27, 2011 @ 09:12 AMzdnet.com — You can now easily browse the more than 30,000 Windows Phone apps, have them installed, and write reviews all from the new web-based Marketplace. See the complete story here.
Microsoft dumps partner over support call scam
Submitted Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 04:40 AMpcpro.co.uk — Microsoft has thrown out one of its "Gold status" partners after finding it was taking part in a tech support scam. See the complete story here.
Microsoft Losing Billions On Bing As Plans Secret Weapon
Submitted Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 04:15 AMsmarthouse.com.au — It's less Bada Bing and more Zero Bing. Microsoft's search engine is on a losing streak as reports suggest it is losing $1 billion per quarter – a massive loss for the search engine which kicked off just two years ago. See the complete story here.
Microsoft hands Rustock botnet case over to FBI
Submitted Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 04:11 AMnews.cnet.com — Microsoft is hoping that federal agents will bring to justice one of the world's most notorious spammers, known to the company only as Cosma2k. See the complete story here.
Dell Defends PC Business, Calls Post PC Era Talk "Complete Nonsense"
Submitted Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 04:02 AMhothardware.com — Michael Dell is exactly what the Windows and Linux community need right now. It doesn't matter if you're not a fan of Dell computers, it's Mr. Dell's message that speaks to computer users far and wide. Consider that Apple is pushing hard into the mobile space with its iPad tablet devices, creating a sector that some analysts claim is cannibalizing the PC market. Smartphones are rocking dual-core processors (and soon quad-core chips), and the world's largest computer maker (HP) wants to sever its PC division, either as a spin-off or packaged with a bow and sold to the highest bidder. While all this is going on, Michael Dell comes out and squashes all the gloom and doom talk as complete and utter nonsense. See the complete story here.
Microsoft clears up Linux confusion over Windows 8 Secure Boot feature
Submitted Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 03:58 AMwinrumors.com — Microsoft’s Windows chief, Steven Sinofsky, admitted there had been some comments recently that “synthesize scenarios that are not the case” around Microsoft’s work with UEFI. Redhat employee Matthew Garrett speculated that OEM machines that ship with copies of Windows 8 may lock out support for Linux installations. Garrett highlighted Microsoft’s new Secure Build OEM requirements for Windows 8 systems. Sinofsky rejected the claims in a blog post on Thursday and stated that Microsoft is simply taking advantage of new technologies to improve the security of Windows. “We are introducing capabilities that provide a no-compromise approach to security to customers that seek this out while at the same time full and complete control over the PC continues to be available,” said Sinofsky. See the complete story here.
Adobe to ship critical Reader, Acrobat patches
Submitted Sunday, September 11, 2011 @ 11:31 AMzdnet.com — Adobe plans to release “critical” patches to cover code execution vulnerabilities in its flagship Reader X and Acrobat X software (Windows and Mac). See the complete story here.
Windows 8 Features Vastly Improved Boot Times
Submitted Sunday, September 11, 2011 @ 10:27 AManandtech.com — Windows 8 news continues to trickle from the Building Windows 8 blog at a steady clip: today, Gabe Aul detailed changes to the Windows 8 boot process that promise to drastically reduce startup times. See the complete story here.
Microsoft reinvents flagship software — Windows 8 — for PCs and tablets...
Submitted Sunday, September 11, 2011 @ 09:34 AMseattletimes.nwsource.com — The next version of Windows is being billed as a radical reinvention of Microsoft's flagship operating system — the most extensive overhaul since Windows 95. See the complete story here.
