5 Great Microsoft Web Services You Probably Don’t Use

// March 4th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Technology News

Microsoft is so often the behemoth everyone loves to hate that people overlook the stuff it does right. We tried its newer Web services and found five gems. Preston Gralla, PC World

When you think of Web apps and services, Microsoft doesn’t immediately come to mind. Lately, though, the company has been rolling out a slew of them, including several that match or beat competing offerings from Google, Yahoo, and any number of startups you’ve never heard of.

Which of those Microsoft services are the best? We’ve tried them all, and we’ve selected five free hidden gems. (more…)

Microsoft reveals details of Gazelle browser

// February 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Technology News

Bigger and better than Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer, says Microsoft.

Microsoft researchers are working on a new browser called Gazelle which it promises will have some impressive new features and capabilities.  The firm released a research paper (PDF) late last week, saying that the new browser would offer significant security improvements compared to other browsers, including Internet Explorer. “No existing browsers, including new architectures like Internet Explorer 8, Google Chrome and OP, have a multi-principal operating system construction that gives a browser-based operating system the exclusive control to manage the protection of all system resources among web site principals,” Microsoft said in the report. (more…)

Official: Windows 7 date is confirmed

// July 3rd, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology News

Bill Gates may have only just said his goodbyes, but the Microsoft machine keeps on running with the company announcing information about the release of Windows 7. The paint may not have even dried on the Windows that is Vista, but it seems that Microsoft is already looking to launch its successor within the next two years. In a letter to enterprise and business customers on Tuesday, vice president of Microsoft Bill Veghte announced that the approximate launch date for Windows 7 is January 2010. (more…)

Firefox Impressions From An Internet Explorer User : 5 Things Microsoft Can Learn From Mozilla To Build A Better Browser

// July 3rd, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology News

The latest release of Firefox 3 should give Microsoft something to worry about. I wasn’t an avid Firefox user until the pre-release days of Firefox 3. And by the time I made the switch, it dawned on me how Firefox 3 was light years ahead of Internet Explorer 7, and the lackluster Internet Explorer 8 beta. I won’t go on and on about the virtues of Firefox, rather what pointers Microsoft can take from Mozilla to build a better Internet Explorer and hopefully regain their dwindling market share. (more…)

Microsoft in ‘trouble’ as Bill Gates leaves

// July 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology News

A Harvard University dropout who ushered in the home computer age and made billions of dollars along the way will have his last official day of work at Microsoft on 27 June. Three people will essentially fill the void left behind when Bill Gates retires from the company he and friend Paul Allen co-founded in 1975. Since Gates began his transition from leading Microsoft to heading his personally-bankrolled charity, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, his job as chief software architect has been handled by Ray Ozzie. (more…)

Windows 7 Shows Microsoft Hasn’t Learned Vista Lessons

// July 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology News

The project was called MinWin, a Microsoft effort to slim down the next version of Windows. The company said it had heard, loud and clear, that another bloated OS like Vista wouldn’t fly. Then Windows 7 galumphed into the room. Microsoft is spending much of this week offering glimpses of its next operating system at the All Things Digital Conference. If the previews are any indication, MinWin has joined BOB on the ash heap of Redmond’s abandoned projects. Indeed, Windows 7 looks like it’s going to include many of Vista’s useless CPU and memory hogging “features” and then some. In other words, it will be time to upgrade the hardware again when Windows 7 ships in the next year-and-a-half or so. (more…)

Windows 7 info officially revealed

// July 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology News

With Vista struggling Windows 7 it’s the OS on everyone’s lips at the moment. It could be set for an early release in Q4 2009. Chris Flores, from the official Windows Vista Team Blog brings us up-to-date. Flores has conceded that Microsoft is working on Windows 7, but has stated that this is normal in the Windows OS cycle. “…we started working on Windows Vista even before we released Windows XP. So naturally, we’ve been thinking about the investments we made in Windows Vista and how we can build on these for the next version of Windows,” he said. (more…)