Microsoft

Microsoft on Thursday released its monthly bug fix advance notice, warning IT shops that it plans to release five critical patches for virtually all versions of Windows next week on "Patch Tuesday."

Still, the warning notice may more notable for what is missing than what it will fix. Invariably fairly thin on details, Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) advance notices provide administrators with a little early warning of what they can expect to focus on when the actual patches come out a few days later.

Windows Vista got such bad press (mostly justified) that small businesses stayed away in droves. Add in the effects of the Global Financial Crisis and many SMBs didn’t just avoid Vista – they delayed upgrading their ageing PC fleets. But with the financial freeze melting and the release of Windows 7, things are starting to move again in the desktop PC small office market.

Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) will roll out a total of five critical patches for numerous versions of Windows operating systems in its upcoming September "Patch Tuesday" security update release, according to a Microsoft Advanced Notification bulletin posted Thursday.

Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet to VMware by launching the lastest version of its Hyper-V hypervisor as a free download, cheekily offering the software to coincide with the first day of the VMworld show in San Francisco.

Microsoft made available for download on September 1 a public test build of the embedded version of its Windows 7 platform — known officially as Windows Embedded Standard 2011 and codenamed “Quebec.”

Windows Embedded Standard is targeted at OEMs and specialized device makers who want to build platforms and applications that use various Windows components. In other words, it is the componentized version of Windows 7.

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed that it is examining a critical vulnerability in older editions of Internet Information Services (IIS) server, a day after a hacker posted exploit code to the milw0rm.com site.

A hacker has posted code that could be used to take over a system running Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services) server.

The software, which was posted to the Milw0rm Web site on Monday, could be a big problem for some webmasters, however the attack appears to work only on older versions of Microsoft's products. It was not immediately clear how many versions of Microsoft's products are vulnerable to the attack, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for more information on the issue.

Despite protestations from the Bush administration, the FCC succeeded last year in making a certain chunk of the nation's TV and radio spectrum--dubbed "white space"--available to unlicensed broadcasters. That meant that companies could begin developing super Wi-Fi devices that create networks at a distance of miles, instead of the 50+ feet we're used to today. The dream, nationwide wireless Internet access, was within reach.

From Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista, the Windows operating system has taken many giant leaps. And while Vista received a lukewarm reception from some users, Windows 7 is likely to be remembered for addressing those criticisms.

In fact, there aren't many changes to the overall look of Windows 7 when compared to Windows Vista. Instead, Microsoft seems to have paid attention to the feedback it received and created an OS that is not only stable, but also very capable.

So what is new in Windows 7? Here are 18 cool things Windows 7 does that Vista doesn't.

An analyst just speculated it'll be this week, and now biz site MCV is claiming Microsoft's Xbox 360 will announce new SKUs and reduced prices tomorrow. MCV's source? Well, MCV, it seems. According to the site, "MCV can finally confirm that tomorrow is the day that Microsoft will reveal its new intentions for the Xbox 360." Assuming nothing more happens today, and that the analyst proves accurate, that gives MCV 50/50 odds. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It's almost like betting the sun will come up...or set again.