Microsoft

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Vista operating system is more susceptible to malware than Windows 2000, and though it's 37% more secure than Windows XP, it's still too vulnerable.

Within hours of its release, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Service Pack 3 for Windows XP began drawing hundreds of complaints from users who claim the update is wreaking havoc on their PCs.

Among the many choices on Microsoft's table after the Yahoo deal fell apart, you have to admit that a wholesale buyout of social networking phenom Facebook would make some of the biggest waves.

A tech industry blog published by Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Redmond's bankers had contacted Facebook leaders to "gauge their interest" in a buyout. Microsoft already holds a 1.6 percent stake in the social portal thanks to a $240 million investment last year, a ratio that would suggest a final price tag in the $15 billion range.

Microsoft has warned users updating to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) that they won't be able to downgrade from Internet Explorer 7 to the older IE6 without uninstalling the service pack.

The warning first appeared in a post Monday to a company blog written by the Internet Explorer (IE) development team. Microsoft released Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update as an optional download Tuesday.

When Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) rolled out Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to millions of users, people had king-sized anticipations about what SP1 would do for their systems. Sadly, for some people, that eagerness turned into an imperial-sized disgust at what SP1 did to their systems. Sometimes SP1 wouldn't install correctly; sometimes it wasn't installed at all; and sometimes it left their machines far worse off than before.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) may be walking away from its $40 billion-plus bid to acquire Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), but there's little question that the company remains intent to invest and invent and maintain its role as a powerhouse in the tech services era. How it will do so is another question entirely.

The ease with which holes in antivirus software can be discovered and the insidiousness of invisible scripts that can track your Web surfing were two of the notable talks at the BlueHat hacker sessions Microsoft held Friday on its Redmond, Wash., campus, according to a veteran attendee.

The invitation-only event, held every six months for the past three years, brings top security researchers to the home of the biggest software company in the world where they discuss the latest and greatest exploits and issues in the world of computer security.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) on Friday announced the alpha release of Popfly Game Creator, a mashup authoring tool for the creation of casual computer games.

A blog post on the Popfly team site explains that Game Creator can be used to create "any kind of two-dimensional game, a category that includes things like the original Super Mario, Frogger, Asteroids, and a host of other old arcade games. To make it easy, Popfly is still focused on getting as much done as possible without having to write any code."

Microsoft Corp's board met on Wednesday to discuss its stand-off with Yahoo Inc over its $41.8 billion takeover bid, but failed to reach a decision on what to do next, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Microsoft's board of directors is still weighing whether to adopt a hostile approach and nominate a proxy slate of directors to replace Yahoo's board, sweeten its cash-and-stock offer for Yahoo, or possibly walk away from the deal, the Journal said.

A Microsoft spokesman was not available for comment.

Admit it. You always thought Microsoft had put a backdoor into its operating system to allow law enforcement agents to worm their way into your computer.

Now the proof is here. At least that's how some readers are interpreting a story out yesterday about a forensic tool that Microsoft is providing crime-stoppers to help them extract evidence from computers seized at crime scenes.