It’s not a surprising move, but as of December 8, it is an official one: Microsoft has moved its Windows Azure business by moving it into the company’s Server and Tools Business (STB) Unit.
In the wake of highly publicized security alerts from software giant Microsoft, online criminals have used the wave of public interest to push malicious software on an unsuspecting public.
The malicious emails take the usual form: A message from an authoritative source - in this case, Microsoft director of security assurance Steve Lipner - warns that security updates must be installed to ensure the security of the targeted PCs. The "updates" turn out to be malware.
Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system could be the product in the smartphone space that is most vulnerable to the rise of Android, whose market share has steadily climbed over the past year. A variety of factors, ranging from a pairing of the Android OS with the solidly selling Motorola Droid to a positive trend line in Android OS adoption, suggest that Windows Mobile could be squeezed out of the multiple-mobile-device ecosystem unless Mobile 7, rumored to be released sometime in 2010, proves to be the substantial improvement that Microsoft promises.
Microsoft, the Redmond-based software company, will be offering updated patches for 12 security flaws including the one for the zero-day IE bug in its Patch Tuesday release.
The updates will be delivered in a total of 6 bulletins on the 8th December which will fix problems in several Microsoft applications including Windows 7 and IE8.
Patches will also be provided for MS Office products which includes Project, Word and Work 8.5. Other products of Microsoft that will receive a fix include Windows 2000, XP, Vista as well as Server 2003 and 2008, Office XP, and Office 2003.
Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) will fix 12 security flaws, including a critical Internet Explorer 8 zero-day vulnerability, with a total of six bulletins in its upcoming Patch Tuesday release.
The upcoming Patch Tuesday release, which Microsoft will issue on Dec. 8, covers flaws in numerous versions of Microsoft Windows, including Windows 7 and IE 8, as well as Office, including Project, Word and Work 8.5. Specifically, the affected software includes Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7, as well as Server 2003 and 2008, Office XP, and Office 2003.
Hackers have one up on Microsoft when it comes down to the distribution of the latest iteration of the Windows client. Pirated copies of Windows 7 RTM are not only available for download in the wild, from various BitTorrent trackers and warez websites, but also sold in bootlegged DVD packages, and according to the latest reports, even pre-loaded on USB Flash drives. It is the case of Windows 7 10-in-1 Ultimate Steve Ballmer Signature Edition, obviously a counterfeit copy of Windows Vista’s successor.
Microsoft today confirmed that it is looking into reports that November's security updates have triggered a black screen on some Windows users' PCs.
"Microsoft is investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers," said a company spokesman in an e-mail Monday. "Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues."
Just got your hands on Windows 7 and want to bend it to your will? No problem. We've got plenty of tips, hacks and secrets to keep you busy for a long time, including automatically opening Windows Explorer to a folder of your choice, speeding up taskbar thumbnails, finding hidden desktop themes, forcing User Account Control to act the way you'd like, keeping your Explorer searches secret from others, and more.
So check out these tips. If you like them, we'll keep more coming.
Windows 7 has a had a very successful launch and has sold more copies than OSX during the second and third weeks in November. Overall sales of Windows 7 are projected to oversell both OSX and Windows Vista next year.
Windows 7 has been hyped by some as a challenger to OSX's sleek interface. According to Dan Nystedt on Computerworld, Windows 7 has had a very positive launch and is regaining ground slightly lost in the past several months to OSX and other operating systems.
Smartphones only recently have risen to sales prominence over more crude cell phone models. The shift has come largely thanks to more powerful and energy efficient mobile processors, putting unprecedented media, internet, and communications devices in the hands of users. A year ago, Microsoft looked comfortable in that market, coming off another year of growth and holding a promising 11 percent global marketshare, almost tied with Apple's 12.9 percent and just behind Research in Motion's 16 percent.
