The very Hollywood-sounding Botnet Task Force, ably led by Microsoft, has dealt a serious blow to the people behind the Waledac botnet. But it did require assistance from the U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia to do so.
A court has rejected a claim that Microsoft acted unfairly by forcing would-be XP users to buy Vista first and then downgrade. It also ruled Microsoft was justified in only allowing downgraders to use more expensive editions of either system.
Unhappy with the publishing of a so-called ‘spy guide’ concerning how the company works with law enforcement agencies, Microsoft managed to get the Cryptome Web site taken down. But order has now been restored, with the site back up and the document in question having been passed around across the Web.
When an outdated piece of software finally disappears, few people mourn it. But while Internet Explorer 6 may no longer have much popularity, it really is getting a send-off.
Microsoft has forged a deal with Amazon which will protect the latter from legal challenges from the former concerning both the Kindle e-reader and Linux-based servers. This is just the latest in a long line of similar patent cross-licensing deals made by Microsoft since 2003.
Microsoft has launched a program to allow speakers of rare language to help customize its products into local dialect. The company is billing it as a way to save dying languages.
The next few weeks are going to be interesting ones for Microsoft and its Internet Explorer Web browser. With the browser ballot screen hitting Europe, we’ll finally get to see how many Windows users only use Internet Explorer out of habit and laziness. There’s just one problem, however, that this provides a perfect opportunity for hackers to exploit naive computer users. The Web browser choice screen is set to be tested out on some users in Belgium, France, and the U.K. next week, and then rolled out to every Windows user in Europe on March 1. This browser ballot is the result of a long-running antitrust investigation by the European Union as to whether Microsoft is unfairly hogging the browser market by bundling Internet Explorer in with every copy of the Windows operating system. This should provide for an interesting spectacle. Will the market shares of Chrome and Firefox rise by a massive amount in Europe as people are prompted to choose their browser? And will the forced install of IE8 for those sticking with Internet Explorer cause mass confusion and angst? According to InfoZine, while IT security and data protection firm Sophos is as interested as the rest of us as to how this pans out, it’s also concerned that hackers and cyber-criminals will seek to exploit the situation. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said:
The Microsoft and Yahoo deal has got the thumbs up from regulators on both side of the Atlantic. Which means the real work of implementing the search and advertising agreement can now begin.
Microsoft has confirmed that European Windows users will be prompted to consider rival browsers to Internet Explorer from March 1. The move makes no actual difference to the freedom and choice users have, but may reduce the numbers who stick with Internet Explorer out of habit.
Microsoft unveiled its new Windows Phone 7 Series mobile operating system at Mobile World Congress earlier this week. And it was met with widespread approval. But what does Windows Phone 7 Series mean for Windows Mobile, and where was the Microsoft Phone that’s been rumored for years now?
Microsoft has apologized after problems left many users unable to access services such as Hotmail. Though it initially appeared the services themselves were down, it appears the problem was instead in the way Microsoft systems recognize users.
With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft has set its stall out, creating from the bottom up in an effort to better compete with the likes of Apple iPhone, Google Android, and RiM Blackberry. Can it possibly pull it off or is this too little, too late?
Microsoft says Windows XP computers crashing after last week’s security update may be down to a well-concealed piece of malware. Though they haven’t given many details, it has been linked it to a notorious rootkit named Tdss.
Windows Mobile 7, newly rechristened Windows Phone 7, will be demoed on stage by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the 2010 Mobile World Congress. Finally all the speculation and anticipation will come to an end, and we’ll be able to see whether Microsoft can fight back against Apple, Google, and RIM on the mobile sector.
It took Microsoft 17 years to discover and patch a security loophole which first debuted in Windows 3.1. Unfortunately that patch has now had to be withdrawn after it caused some computers to display another vintage classic: the blue screen of death.
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