Microsoft

Many IT managers swear by the following rule: never deploy a version of Windows until the first service pack has been released. That way you can be sure that any huge bugs have been resolved before committing to the new platform.

However, in the case of Windows 7, Microsoft is hoping that you'll throw caution to the wind and roll it out anyway. And given the lack of drama emanating from early adopters - true deal-breaker bugs have been few and far between with Windows 7 - some techies will be tempted to ignore their thumbs for a change and take a chance on the RTM build.

Software giant Microsoft has said a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browsing software allowed hackers to attack human rights organisations, prompting Google to abandon its Chinese operations.

"Internet Explorer was one of the vectors used in targeted and sophisticated attacks targeted against Google and other corporate networks," Mike Reavey, the director of Microsoft's Security Response Center, said in a blog post.

"Microsoft continues to work with Google, other industry partners and authorities to actively investigate this issue."

The German government recommends using browsers other than Internet Explorer until Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) provides a patch to fix a critical security flaw that allowed a cyber attack against Google Inc. (GOOG).

In a statement posted on its website, Germany's Federal Office for Information Security warned that attacks by hackers "cannot be fully prevented," even if users run Microsoft's browser in safe mode.

Microsoft Corp has no plans to pull out of China, its chief executive said on Thursday, playing down concerns about recent cyber-attacks and censorship raised by rival Google Inc.

"There are attacks every day. I don't think there was anything unusual, so I don't understand," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told Reuters after a meeting on modernizing government services at the White House.

Microsoft released a single Windows security bulletin for its first Patch Tuesday update of the year.

The bulletin is rated critical for users of Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, and low for several other editions of Windows. The vulnerability at issue lies within the Microsoft Windows Embedded OpenType (EOT) Font Engine, and is due to the way it decompresses specially crafted EOT fonts. If an attacker can trick a user into viewing content rendered in EOT font, the vulnerability could be exploited to permit remote code execution, Microsoft said.

Microsoft won't fix vulnerabilities in the latest versions of Internet Explorer or Windows during its regularly scheduled patch release on Tuesday, meaning users will have to wait at least another month to get updates that correct the security risks.

Ever since Star Trek first introduced the concept of a voice controlled computer, people have been fascinated with the idea of inventing alternate input methods for everyday devices. Some of these involve mapping brain waves, but in a somewhat more down to earth approach, Microsoft is hoping to patent EMG muscle sensors that might finally pave the way for gesture based computing.

Windows 7 Operating System has a hidden God Mode that can be enabled rather easily. If you are on Windows 7… Create a new folder and name it:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

The folder icon would change and it would get the name GodMode. This folder when opened would give you a long list of customizations that can be accessed from a central location.

As the end of the decade nears, quite a few things have changed. Ten years ago, Bing, Chrome, Facebook and Twitter didn't exist. Windows 7 didn't exist. Not even the iPhone, the iPod Touch or the netbook were around. It was an exciting decade. But one thing that has remained relatively constant over that period is Microsoft's position in the marketplace.

Microsoft is downplaying talk of a zero-day bug in Internet Information Services (IIS).

Last week, reports began to circulate of a security vulnerability in IIS. The issue was due to the way IIS 6 handles semicolons in URLs. However Microsoft contends that because IIS must be in an unsecure configuration, the handling of semicolons is essentially besides the point.