Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. is forcing Windows Live and MSN Messenger users to upgrade to the newest version due to a security update included in that release, according to a posting on a Microsoft blog.

Microsoft Inc. released its security update yesterday in what has now commonly become known as Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of the month. This patch Tuesday included fixes for four security flaws affecting several of its products, including two flaws affecting recent versions of Windows, and three that have been publicly disclosed. There was only a single critical flaw issued; for a remote code execution vulnerability affecting Windows 2000 SP4.

Once again Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has gone awry, penalizing legitimate Windows XP and Vista users.

The problem occurred when unspecified server problems caused by an unknown automatic update from Microsoft created a Windows Validation meltdown making Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage servers incorrectly flag legitimate copies of Windows XP and Vista as pirated copies.

Back in the fall of 2006, McAfee, Symantec and Check Point fumed as Microsoft Vista's Security Center hid their products where only sophisticated and dedicated customers could dig them out.

Not only that, Microsoft in effect hid its x64 kernel as well, putting it beyond the reach of advanced security products.

The issue was twofold: First, security vendors contended, there wasn't good communication between Vista interfaces and their existing security products, and second, security products couldn't effectively interface with the Vista kernel.

Microsoft listened.

When Microsoft Corp. unveiled the long-awaited details of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 on Wednesday, the company also quietly pushed back the release date for another highly anticipated product, Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft blamed human error for a problem that identified legitimate Windows users as pirates last week.

"Nothing more than human error started it all," Alex Kochis, senior product manager for Windows Genuine Advantage at Microsoft wrote on a company blog. New software was accidentally loaded onto the live servers running the system, he said. That ultimately caused the servers to decline activation and validation requests that were good, he wrote.

It's no secret that Microsoft employs individuals that attempt to bypass the security restrictions built into its software products in order to make them safer, but the company has rarely publicized this fact. That's changing with a new Web log called hackers @ microsoft.

Late last night we started receiving reports from readers experiencing problems with Windows Genuine Advantage authentication. Users of both Windows XP and Windows Vista were writing to say that they could not validate their installations using WGA, and one user even said that his installation was invalidated by the service.

Details about the first OEM systems equipped with Windows Home Server are leaking out on to the 'Net, and it looks like HP is going to get the ball rolling with its MediaSmart Home Server. Prices for the units were accidentally posted on several sites, such as PC Mall and onSale.com, and it looks like the server will have a US list price of $596 for the 500GB version and $745 for the 1TB version. The listings were quickly pulled, no doubt because HP hasn't officially announced them yet, but they are still available via the magic of Google cache.

Microsoft(MSFT) said Monday it would lower the estimated retail price for the Xbox 360 in Europe and would introduce an Elite version of the video game console.

As of Friday, the price of an Xbox 360 with a 20-Gbyte hard drive and one wireless controller would be cut by 50 euros ($67) to 350 euros ($472). The price for the entry-level Xbox 360 Core console was reduced 20 euros ($27) to 280 euros ($377).