Microsoft

In what has become a regular occurrence, another version of Windows 7 has leaked to file-sharing sites. The latest version is reportedly Win 7 Release Candidate built 7100, which is slated for an official Microsoft launch in early May.

Some bloggers who've had a chance to examine the alleged bootleg of RC 7100 are convinced it's the real deal. Long Zheng of the istartedsomething blog believes the latest Win 7 code, accessible via your favorite "content hub" (P2P site), is real if unspectacular:

The domain www.msn.co.nz has been hacked and defaced today by a “Peace Crew” (formerly “Terrorist Crew”) who carried out a similar attack on Nato and US military websites in January this year.

Everyone loves to hate Microsoft and sometimes the vitriol unleashed on the software giant is not without a degree of justification. Take the issue of software piracy for example.

To be fair, Microsoft loses a snot-load of money every year to the unlawful duplication and use of their products.

Looks like Microsoft’s March slip-up that pinpointed the next milestone delivery date was correct. The Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) — the one and only public RC — is set to be available on May 5.

I’ve been hearing Windows 7 Server, a k a Windows Server 2008 R2, also will be out in RC form the same day.

Still no absolute confirmation on what the build number will be for the RC. One thing is for sure: Windows 7, both client and server, are almost soup. (I’m still hearing this fall, most likely October, will be the official release date.)

Microsoft has promised that it will provide at least one public beta to Office 2010, saying that its assertion to the contrary earlier this week was "the wrong impression". "Although we are not disclosing a date for the public beta, there definitely will be one," a company spokesman said yesterday. "This development cycle for Office is no different than years past; technical preview is usually invite-only, but still goes out to hundreds of thousands of people, and there is a public beta cycle where millions can download and try Office."

Microsoft is dominant in several different software categories including the operating system, web browser and productivity applications segments. While in some areas like browsers, Microsoft is losing ground to the competition, there are still others where it is clearly dominate leading to frequent allegations that it is abusing its top position to stifle competition.

Microsoft’s most recent antitrust claim brought against it in the EU alleges that it is preventing competition in the browser market by bundling its Internet Explorer browser with Windows.

A year and a half after the first leaks, Microsoft is acknowledging that it is taking its Forefront security products online and making them part of the growing stable of Microsoft-hosted Online services.

In anticipation of next week’s RSA security conference, Microsoft is sharing news around is various enterprise security offerings. One of those announcements is the unveiling of what Microsoft is calling “Forefront Online Security for Exchange.”

Leaked builds of Windows 7 available for download via torrent trackers have been accompanying the development of the next iteration of Windows since the operating system was in Milestone 1 stage. As Windows 7 evolved to M2, M3, Beta and pre-Release Candidate, a steady flow of leaked development milestones have made it into the wild and are up for grabs for any user with a BitTorrent client. However, Microsoft indicated that all such releases put end users at risk because there's no telling how the source of the leaked builds tampered with the bits.

Microsoft's latest anti-Apple campaign continues to draw fire, a sure sign that the company has finally at least gotten in the game.

The latest critique comes from BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl. Hessedahl points out that the sticker price of the laptop is just the start of the comparison and suggests it is the Windows computer, rather than the Mac, that is loaded with hidden costs.

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed that the next version of Office, code-named Office 14, will come in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.