Microsoft

Microsoft has applied for a US patent for a 'pay-as-you-go' system where consumers get heavy discounts on computers, but pay fees to use them.

The IT giant proposes a scheme whereby a "standard model" of personal computer PC is heavily subsidised, allowing customers to buy it at a much lower price, then pay for software bundles or an hourly rate. Bundles may include Microsoft Office for $1 (69p) an hour, gaming for $1.25 an hour or browsing for $0.80 an hour, the firm suggests.

The first beta of Microsoft's next operating system has apparently been spotted in the wild.

The first beta of Windows 7, which is expected to hit retailer shelves in time for the 2009 holiday shopping season, has reportedly popped up on torrent trackers as an ISO file. ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes also reports having a copy and has posted his first impressions of the beta. Overall, Kingsley-Hughes wrote that he likes Windows 7, calling it "solid and fast." But he does take issue with a few new features:

Windows 7 will hit store shelves sometime next year. And if I had to guess exactly when it would happen, November 2 would be my answer.

Yes, I know that Microsoft has said that it plans on releasing Windows 7 by early 2010 and there has been no confirmation on the part of the software giant that would indicate a 2009 release. But when we consider that Vista is still in trouble, Microsoft extended the XP deadline even further into 2009, and there's no end to Vista troubles in sight, I simply don't see any other option for Ballmer and Company.

Microsoft Corp. today confirmed that it has been working on a critical vulnerability in SQL Server for more than eight months, but declined to say whether it has had a patch ready since September, as an Austrian security researcher has alleged.

On Monday, the company warned customers of a bug that could be used to compromise servers running older versions of the database software, which is widely used to power Web sites and applications.

Microsoft researchers said that they overlooked a critical Internet Explorer bug because of inadequate processes and training that would have allowed them to detect the source of the error.

Microsoft released an emergency, out-of-band security patch last week repairing a critical error affecting the IE Web browser. The vulnerability stemmed from a fundamental flaw in the browser's data-binding function that ultimately left a gaping hole in the memory space that could be accessed and exploited by remote hackers.

Internet Explorer (IE) 7, when running on Windows Vista, contains a capability that should fight off most attacks trying to exploit the severe browser vulnerability that was patched this week by Microsoft, the software company said Thursday night.

In Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, IE7 runs in "Protected Mode," meaning the browser operates with restrictive privileges, Michael Howard, a senior security program manager at Microsoft, wrote Thursday on the company's Security Development Lifecycle blog.

Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit on Thursday said an forthcoming update for Messenger will add audio and video support to the personal service.

Messenger for Mac 7 corporate has audio and video support, but those features were missing from the consumer version. Microsoft said in a note on its Web site that an upcoming release of Windows Live Messenger delivers the new A/V protocol that will enable the company to deliver A/V support in Messenger for Mac.

Zune speculation is an armchair sport here in the tech sector of the Pacific Northwest (especially when we're all housebound because of a few inches of snow), and today Todd Bishop at TechFlash posted some interesting excerpts from the Zune team's job listings.

There’s talk that Microsoft has signed off internally on the Beta 1 Windows 7 bits. Word is the build number of what goes out to testers will be 6.1.7000.0.081212-1400.

What do all those digits mean? And when will testers actually get their hands on the code? Windows power users and long-time beta testers probably need no explanation, but the rest of us undoubtedly could stand some schooling. Here’s how it works:

Microsoft's first-ever iPhone application is a slick photo viewer with a browsing capability that handles a large number of photos on a mobile device screen. The Seadragon mobile application is free through Apple's application store. It a product of Microsoft's Live Labs division, which focuses on developing Web-based technology and applications.

Seadragon incorporates the Deep Zoom feature, which is also integrated into Silverlight 2, Microsoft's multimedia tool. It allows a user to quickly magnify a particular area of a photo, regardless of its size.