Archive for the ‘Windows OS’ Category

Good news! There’s still time to download crap!

It looks like we may have been a bit hasty in announcing the end of the Windows 7 public beta downloads. Although Microsoft had originally pegged today as the finale, they’ve decided to extend the deadline until February 10th, 2009.

Users with slow connections will be glad to know that there’s a two day period. As long as your download starts on the 10th, you’ll have until the 12th to finish it. Product keys will “continue to be available after February 12th,” though the announcement doesn’t say what the final date will be.

Wow. Two days to download something. Do people really do that anymore?

I forgot all about Windows Mobile.

All those Windows Mobile users waiting for Windows Mobile 7 are going to have to wait a little longer, but at least now they’ll have something to keep them busy while they wait. Next month, Microsoft is reportedly planning to unveil Windows Mobile 6.5 and accompanying services at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, which is taking place between February 16 and 19.

At least they get a dot release to muck things up before the big 7.0 release.

Talk about asinine.

The European Union’s antitrust agency on Saturday confirmed that it has charged Microsoft with breaking the law, saying that the company “shields” Internet Explorer (IE) from “head-to-head competition” by bundling its browser with Windows.

How does bundling IE with Windows shield IE from “head to head” competition? Huh? With each Windows installation I have performed, IE is used exactly one time. To download Firefox. Period.

The question is, who on Earth would expect a company NOT to bundle it’s products? If Microsoft prevented IE users from downloading other browsers, yes, I think that would be a problem. As it stands now? The EU is just a bunch of whiny cry-babies that need a diaper change or something.

Isn’t this interesting.

Busted! In an apparent gaff that undermines Microsoft’s multi-million dollar “I’m a PC” campaign an ad for a PC-only software program Songsmith, made by Microsoft, features a MacBook Pro.

Microsoft launched the Windows-only Songsmith program earlier this month. The software allows you to generate musical accompaniments to match your voice. In a Web-only ad for the new software people composing music are using a MacBook Pro. Take a look at the commercial yourself and you can see from the laptop’s aluminum body and ports on the left side of the laptop that it’s a MacBook Pro. Covering the Apple logo on the lid is a floral sticker.

Does Windows run better on a Mac? Apple couldn’t have asked for a better ad. I bet they don’t teach that in IT and computer schools.

People are actually downloading a beta of Windows? Aren’t the main releases full of enough bugs?

Acknowledging that its release of Windows 7 public beta “was not ideal,” Microsoft said it will suspend the software’s 2.5 million download limit for a couple of weeks.

Honestly, based on experience, I thought all versions of Windows were betas, then again I also thought that walking on the treadmill would get easier in time too.

I love the headline.

Microsoft’s Ballmer: Windows 7 is nearly final

Microsoft Corp.’s next version of the Windows operating system is almost ready for prime time.

That’s one message Chief Executive Steve Ballmer delivered on the eve of the official opening of the International Consumer Electronics Show.

When I first read the headline, I could have sworn it said, “Windows 7 is nearly fatal”. Yeah, I laughed too. So, Windows is almost ready for prime time, huh? Does that mean it will work out of the box or will they need an update the moment it’s released?

Microsoft has given yet another reprieve to its seasoned Windows XP operating system.

The cut off date for PC makers to obtain licenses for the software was 31 January 2009.

But now Microsoft has put in place a scheme that will allow the hardware firms to get hold of XP licences until 30 May 2009.

Who knows, many people could be using Windows XP for another decade.

Has there ever been a day without an “unpatched bug” in Internet Explorer?

The unpatched bug in Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) that hackers are now exploiting also exists in older versions of the browser, including the still-widely-used IE6, Microsoft Corp. said late yesterday.

Today, a Danish security researcher added that Microsoft’s original countermeasure advice was insufficient and recommended that users take one of the new steps the company spelled out.

It’s pretty sad when you have to patch the unpatch so the bug won’t bug you. If the powers that be at Microsoft were suffering from cerebral palsy or some other ailment, they would never have hope of finding a cure because they would knock themselves out curing themselves of shingles instead.

Isn’t this a normal occurrence in the world of Windows?

Despite a record-breaking Patch Tuesday this week-28 patches across 8 reported vulnerabilities in one swipe-Microsoft managed to miss a couple. This has resulted in a zero-day exploit, originating from China, of Internet Explorer 7 on supported editions of Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Server 2008.

I imagine, with 28 patches, the staff got a little confused as to what was and what wasn’t included in the update. Now we know why they call them vulnerabilities.

Do you run Vista? Are you a techno-geek? Then you might be interested in this.

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is set to be released as a public beta version Thursday, Microsoft has confirmed. The program, which has been under limited testing since October, will become available on the Microsoft TechNet site.

If you are technologically challenged you shouldn’t mess with Service Pack 2 yet. In fact, I highly recommend you upgrade. To a Mac. Heh. Yeah, okay, I know you won’t but I tried.