Simply Gadgets

Claim: Microsoft earned $1.5B from "Vista Capable" PCs

stevek — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:27:20 +0000

An expert estimates Microsoft earned more than $1.5 billion through the sale of PCs labeled as “Vista Capable,” according to a court document.

Microsoft allowed PC makers to label some XP-running PCs as “Vista Capable” prior to the release of the Vista operating system in early 2007…

View Full Article: Seattle PI’s Microsoft Blog

Microsoft Readies Cost-Cuts; Though Massive Layoff Unlikely

stevek — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:27:19 +0000

Microsoft will embark on a significant cost-cutting initiative in 2009, which might begin as early as this month, to offset a global slowdown in sales. However, sources tell Jim Goldman of CNBC, the cuts will largely be handled through attrition and the non-renewal of contract employees, rather than through a rumored, sweeping layoff…

View Full Article: NBC Bay Area

Keeping up with the Microsoft confabs

stevek — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:27:19 +0000

If your travel budget hasn’t evaporated into thin air - or if you want to follow along vicariously - here is a list of some of the conferences and events in 2009 where Microsoft will likely show and/or release new products.

It’s worth noting that so far, at least, there’s no Windows Hardware Engineering Conference slated for 2009. (Originally, one was scheduled for May in New Orleans, but it has disappeared.) Even Microsoft isn’t immune from slashing travel/conference budgets….

View Full Article: Mary Jo Foley’s Blog

MS pay-per-use PC patent already rejected

stevek — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:27:19 +0000

Microsoft’s patent application for a usage-based PC model has already been rebuffed by the US Patent Office, according to a letter disclosed today. Given to Microsoft a few days before the requested patent became public, the notice rejects Microsoft’s submission for being at once too broad and too familiar. The tendency to use vague terms and the existence of already patented, relevant technology are cited as the core reasons behind the rejection.

View Full Article: Electronista

Microsoft Urges Organizations to Patch Server Vulnerability as New Attacks Surface

stevek — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:54:10 +0000

Microsoft is again urging users to apply a patch for a vulnerability in the Windows Server service. The company reported earlier that a new variant of the Conficker worm has surfaced to target the flaw…

View Full Article: eWeek

Reality check on Microsoft layoffs

stevek — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:54:09 +0000

Todd Bishop: Speculation about possible layoffs at Microsoft has been swirling for weeks now in the Seattle tech community and online. We’ve been digging for information on this for a while, talking to people inside Microsoft and others familiar with the company. But so far, at least, we haven’t been able to get any reliable information or direct confirmation…

View Full Article: Todd Bishop’s Microsoft Blog

Make "Add-ons" for Google Chrome Using Bookmarklets

stevek — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:54:09 +0000

Even though Google took their web browser Google Chrome out of beta last month, we can’t help but feel like Chrome is still only half way to being a compete product at this point. Without RSS support, the ability to use add-ons, and gasp! no Mac version, Chrome still has a way to go before people give up Firefox for good and make a full switch…

View Full Article: ReadWriteWeb

How To Remove Bloatware From Your Notebook

stevek — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:54:09 +0000

If you were given the gift of a new laptop this Christmas, you know there’s really no better way to start the New Year. Whether it was upgrading an older notebook, or even your first computer chances are you’re expecting a huge bump in performance. If major notebook manufactures are known for anything these days, it’s filling up your shiny new machine with tons of additional software. This “bloatware” increases startup and shutdown times, increases background disk activity which promotes system lag, and greatly reduces battery life if the system can never reach an idle state. In this guide we’ll go over steps you can take to remove most of the unneeded applications that came preinstalled on your new notebook and hopefully speed it up without going as far as doing a clean install of Windows.

View Full Article: NotebookReview.com

Windows 7 beta 1 performance - How does the OS compare to Vista and XP?

stevek — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:54:08 +0000

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: How does Windows 7 beta 1 compare to Vista and XP in terms of performance? That’s a question that’s been hitting my inbox regularly over the past few weeks. Let’s see if we can’t answer it!

View Full Article: ZDNet Hardware 2.0 Blog

Mac web share nears 10% in December

stevek — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:54:08 +0000

In spite of fears of a late-year plunge, Apple has again beat its own market share record in December and now has a record 9.6 percent of web traffic as Microsoft’s own influence continues to fall.

Net Applications’ December results show Mac OS X surging from just under 8.9 percent in November to the new 9.6 percent mark for the tens of thousands of sites monitored by the web tracking firm…

View Full Article: AppleInsider