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Windows 7 for XP ProfessionalsUpdating Support Skills from XP to Windows 7by Bink.nu's Raymond Comvalius
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Andy Lees, Microsoft's new Windows Mobile chief, expects the division to start working more closely with other Microsoft groups -- including Xbox, Zune, Windows, Windows Live and Office -- to develop new experiences on mobile phones. That's one of the tidbits I gathered in an interview with Lees last week while working on this story for today's newspaper. Here's an extended version of his comments on the subject:
Look back at what Microsoft has and what we could do to help the customer in this situation. We have 300 million Windows Live users. They're using Hotmail and instant messaging and things, and those people want to use their mobile device as a window on that. We have lots of people that play games that we provide -- games on PC, games on Xbox, and there's a whole bunch of things like that, that we can provide. A lot of people manipulate their photographs and display their photographs either via Windows Live or on Windows Vista on their PC. And they plug up cameras and different things. If we can bring those things to bear, and work together to enable these user experiences, then that really is where we can accelerate a differentiated experience. So we spend a bunch of time looking at how we can bring those things together.
Later, I pressed for more details. His response:
That's all I'll say, but you can easily imagine how we can take those things -- music, some of the things we do with Zune; games, with what we do with Xbox and Xbox Live; things that we would do with the PC and the Web, with Windows Vista and Windows Live; what people do in business with Exchange, with Office -- and how we'll make those things really come to life on mobile devices, in the right way for a mobile device.
Of course, there's already a Windows Mobile connection in some of those areas, such as Windows Live Hotmail and Messenger. But based on his comments, Lees seems intent on increasing those existing ties and establishing new ones with additional product groups.
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The Japanese are simply hyping Vista SP1 release. I was just surprised to find that a roll of toilet paper printed with highlighted features is already available in Japan. You kind of have to feel a little bad for Vista -- it just keeps getting crapped on these days. Now available in a Toilet Paper Near You - so if the flush doesn't work, do you blame in on Vista then.Also for some trivia now - If there is one place in the world that any gadget-electronic freak should go to, that is Akihabara district in Tokyo. Numerous stores bring on fascinating number of products, often first in the world. There are also products which are not so usual, nor you can find them in retail or e-tail in any other part of the world.Continue for images At Source
Microsoft expects that shipments to China of handsets with its software will more than double in the next year amid an expected boom in demand for Web access once the country launches 3G wireless services.
About 2 million mobile devices installed with Microsoft operating systems were shipped to China in the last year, about 10 percent of the software giant's global total, Benjamin Tan, business group director for China at Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business.
"Microsoft's shipments into China has basically doubled (in the past year). In the next one year we are aiming to more than double our shipments into China," Tan told Reuters in a telephone interview on Monday.
In September 2006, Microsoft launched MSN Soapbox, the company's answer to YouTube. The user-generated video site went public in February 2007, only to be semi-closed down for two months soon after in order to add content filtering. The service has been updated and tweaked many times over, but eventually it was merged into the larger MSN Video site. While this was happening, many who were following Silverlight's progress were wondering why Microsoft was still using Flash on its video sites, especially considering that it had offered Silverlight on some of its other pages, including the Microsoft.com homepage, The Podium ’08, MSN Extra, and the Microsoft Download Center.
Silverlight-powered videos were bound to happen and now, as announced at MIX08, Microsoft is readying a new video site. "You will be able to scan our Quick Picks for the latest videos, enter a search, or choose a category from our Video Guide," said the company. "Then tell us what you think by rating what you've watched. If you like what you see, you can share it with a friend or colleague, or link to it in your blog using one of our community features." Microsoft Videos will launch in beta sometime in April with United States content at first. Of course, April could mean April Fools or it could mean April 30, but either way we'll keep you posted.
With Microsoft's aggressive strategy to build out its Software-as-a-Service capability to online storage—even as physical, hardware-based storage remains ubiquitous and competitive—some businesses may find it tempting to allow employees and workgroups to jump into Microsoft's SkyDrive for some limited purpose.
SkyDrive, Microsoft's Office Live storage arm, is a free, Web-based service that is loosely integrated with some Office applications and, because of how it's organized, outflanks its biggest rival, Google in online storage. The Test Center has taken a look at SkyDrive, formally launched last month after a short beta run, in the ever-expanding shadow of high-powered NAS, SAN and desktop storage solutions.
Microsoft says of SkyDrive, "Sharing with friends, co-workers or family is easy when you all add and update files in a shared folder." Sharing personal files with friends or family might make sense, but doing so with co-workers is questionable.
After extensive review, not only does the CRN Test Center not recommend SkyDrive, but it would also be advisable for VARs to suggest their clients block its access through content filters.
For now, as with any mass-market, file-sharing service, SkyDrive is something that's best left at home and kept out of the business. These are SkyDrive's components:
SecurityFor companies with compliance concerns—such as HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley or Payment Card Industry—it's difficult to see how SkyDrive could create anything other than a headache. While SkyDrive is SSL- and password-protected (although it allows simultaneous sign-ons with the same ID across multiple systems), it lacks other control features. Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., needs to make a stronger security statement with online applications like SkyDrive before even small businesses can warm up to it.
Microsoft, seeking to expand offerings on its Xbox 360 console, has reached an agreement with a company headed by Peter Safran, the veteran Hollywood producer and talent manager, to produce original shows for distribution on the system.
Through his Safran Co., Safran represents clients like the actor and producer Sean Combs ("Monster's Ball"), the actor and writer Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") and the filmmakers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer ("Epic Movie"). Safran founded the company in 2006 after leaving Brillstein-Grey Management.
Speaking by telephone last week, Scott Nocas, global marketing manager for programming of the Xbox Live entertainment service, said he expected similar deals to follow. "We definitely look at this as the first of many," Nocas said.
In an interview at his office in Los Angeles last week, Safran said his first round of programs would all be scripted, as opposed to reality shows, and would probably run under 10 minutes. He said he planned initially to focus on genres, like comedy and horror, that appeal to the Xbox 360 audience, which is heavily concentrated in the 14-34 age group, and tends to be more male than female.
For the second time, a device submitted by Microsoft for U.S. Federal Communications Commission testing of wireless "white spaces" technology has stopped working and been taken out of the process. The wireless prototype, which was not made by Microsoft, unexpectedly stopped working on Wednesday, Microsoft said Friday. In February, the FCC took another Microsoft-submitted device out of testing because it had power problems.
The White Spaces Coalition, which includes Google, Philips and Dell as well as Microsoft, has asked the FCC to let wireless devices use vacant frequencies, referred to as white spaces, in the spectrum band allocated to television. They say this would give consumers more wireless broadband options. Opponents, including the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), say such devices would interfere with TV broadcasts. Microsoft and others voluntarily submitted prototype devices for testing, a step that usually isn't included in this type of FCC process, said Microsoft spokeswoman Ginny Terzano.
The NAB used Wednesday's unexpected shutdown to attack the white-spaces backers. "In baseball, it's three strikes and you're out. How many strikes does Microsoft get? If they can't get the device to work in the lab, how are they going to get it to work in the real world?" NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton said in a statement sent to reporters.
We have been waiting for Microsoft to open the beta for Fiji, the suspected codename for the next version of Media Center for well over a year now. I first posted about it in March of last year, with invites first opening just a month after that, and now it appears we may finally have taken a step forward.
Users (who shall remain nameless, because I edited them out) at The Green Button are reporting that they have received e-mails from Microsoft Connect. If true, this would be the first step to finally getting something in our hands to play with (under NDA of course).
This release will bring DIRECTV support among other unannounced features. I had expected it to include HD DVD support, but I wouldn’t count on that any more. Other features have been kept under tight wraps, though I’ve got a few in mind that I’m rather sure will be there.
Whatever upgrade is being done to Xbox Live on April Fools is anyone’s guess, but recent surveys and speculation might lead some to believe Netflix is coming. Was Monday’s meltdown a result of this?
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D9AE78D9-9DC6-4B38-9FA6-2C745A175AED&displaylang=en
This version of the Access 2007 Runtime contains files whose versions are slightly higher than the level of the same files that are updated by Office 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1). For additional information about Office 2007 Service Pack 1 and the Access 2007 issues fixed by Office 2007 Service Pack 1, click the following article numbers to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
936982 Description of the 2007 Microsoft Office suite Service Pack 1 942378 Issues that are fixed in Access 2007 by the 2007 Microsoft Office suites Service Pack 1
Please check the download link and source for what files are updated to correct some specific Access 2007 runtime issues
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WS4 lets you perform an instant search of your computer. WS4 helps you find and preview documents, e-mail messages, music files, photos, and other items on the computer. Please refer to the Knowledge base article KB940157 for a full description of the technology. Note The WS4 installation process automatically upgrades previous versions of Windows Search technologies.
Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows Vista (KB940157)
Multilingual User Interface Pack for Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows XP (KB940157)
Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows Server 2003 (KB940157)
Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows XP (KB940157)
Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (KB940157)
Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows XP x64 Edition (KB940157)
Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows Vista x64 Edition (KB940157)
Apple's teasing commercials that imply its software is safer than Microsoft's may not quite match the facts, according to new research revealed at the Black Hat conference on Thursday. Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology looked at how many times over the past six years the two vendors were able to have a patch available on the day a vulnerability became publicly known, which they call the 0-day patch rate.
They analyzed 658 vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft products and 738 affecting Apple. They looked at only high- and medium-risk bugs, according to the classification used by the National Vulnerability Database, said Stefan Frei, one of the researchers involved in the study.
What they found is that, contrary to popular belief that Apple makes more secure products, Apple lags behind in patching.
"Apple was below 20 [unpatched vulnerabilities at disclosure] consistently before 2005," Frei said. "Since then, they are very often above. So if you have Apple and compare it to Microsoft, the number of unpatched vulnerabilities are higher at Apple."
It's generally good for vendors to have a software fix available when a vulnerability is disclosed, since hackers often try to find out where the problem is in order to write malicious software to hack a machine.
For a vendor to have a patch ready when the bug is detailed in public, it needs to get prior information from either its security analysts or external ones. Otherwise the vendor has to hurry to create a patch, but that process can be lengthy, given the rigorous testing needed to test the patch to ensure it does not conflict with other software.
Microsoft’s tabletop computer could appear in homes in three years or less, the executive in charge of its development said this week.
Since unveiling the Microsoft Surface product last year, the company has gotten plenty of feedback from businesses and enthusiasts who want to get their hands on the technology, said Tom Gibbons, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Specialized Devices and Applications business. And Gibbons said he feels confident that the touch-based computer could be affordable enough for consumers in three years or less. “In the three-year time window, we absolutely see how to get there,” Gibbons said. “If we can beat that, we’ll try to beat that.”
Surface is a computer built into a coffee table, and its 30-inch screen is controlled by touch rather than by a mouse or keyboard. (The complex manufacturing, of course, makes it expensive — the commercial version will be priced between $5,000 and $10,000) Though the concept is similar to Apple’s (AAPL) touchscreen iPhone, the implementation of the technology is quite different. Surface works using digital cameras under the glass, which track movements above.
Because of that design, Surface can be used to track objects, not just gestures. For example, in one Microsoft demonstration, special coasters are used on the Surface table to show how it might identify a drink in a bar, and allow a patron to reorder digitally.
Gibbons said Surface has plenty of buzz; Microsoft has gotten 2,000 inquiries from 50 governments or corporations, stretching across 25 industries. But for now, his focus is on getting the first units shipped out to customers. “We’re running a couple of months later than I’d like with our deployments,” Gibbons said. The reason: Because a tabletop interface is so new, customers have needed extra help designing custom software. “While I was hoping we’d have something out now, we’ll definitely have something out in the next couple of months.”
This week's court victory for Impulse Media Group, an operator of pornographic Web sites that had been accused of illegal spamming, was a loss for the Federal Trade Commission. The agency brought the civil suit against the company, leading to the trial in U.S. District Court in Seattle. But Microsoft also played a big role in the case. The company provided much of the evidence against Impulse Media, in the form of messages it gathered in special Hotmail "trap accounts" that capture spam.
Those trap accounts are part of the company's broader effort to fight spam in the courts and on other fronts. The company has also filed more than 130 spam cases of its own in the U.S. (See this recent story for more details.) Following Impulse Media's victory, it might be reasonable to wonder if Microsoft will change its approach to such cases.
At least in one respect, it doesn't look like it will.
Aaron Kornblum, senior attorney on Microsoft's Internet Safety Enforcement team, declined to comment on the verdict, but he said via e-mail today that it "does not impact how Microsoft will continue to assist government efforts to help keep people safe online."
The jury in the Impulse Media case found that the company wasn't responsible for e-mail messages sent by its affiliates in violation of the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act. (Among other things, the messages contained sexually explicit content but weren't labelled sexually explicit, as the law requires.) Impulse Media defended itself by citing its policy against spamming by its affiliates, saying the primary purpose of the affiliate program is to generate traffic from other Web sites, not from unsolicited e-mail messages. It said it terminated its relationships with affiliates who broke the rules, although government lawyers contended that it was too easy for the affiliates to sign up again or use alternative accounts.