Microsoft

Microsoft today announced the availability of the Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac, its first Mac-specific desktop complete with a stylish wireless Comfort Curve Keyboard and a wireless High Definition laser mouse. With this new desktop set, the Microsoft Hardware division combines comfortable design with High Definition technology to deliver the ultimate in cutting-edge performance, luxury and style to any Mac user. The futuristic silver finish complements the Mac design to make a mark on any desktop while providing the freedom of wireless control.

Microsoft Corp. plans to open a software development center in Vancouver, British Columbia, later this year, partly as a way to recruit and retain talented workers who can't get into or stay in the U.S. because of immigration laws.

The software vendor announced the plans Thursday, saying that the new Microsoft Canada Development Centre will open this fall and be staffed by developers "from around the world."

Microsoft will drop six patches during the regularly scheduled patch release this month to fix vulnerabilities across a wide array of its platforms, including Windows and Office.

Three of the bulletins are rated critical and could result in remote code executions in Microsoft Windows, Excel and the .NET Framework.

The company will also post two updates rated important for Windows and Windows XP Professional which could also result in remote code executions. There is one update that is rated moderate for Vista.

Microsoft has apologized for its silence on delivering all the add-ons promised in January to people who bought Windows Vista Ultimate, the premium version of the operating system.

Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system is a mighty paradox. On the one hand, it's more robust and feature-rich than any of its predecessors. For the most part, it's also more secure and is immune to many pretty sophisticated takedown attempts. But it's got one nasty Achilles' Heel, which'll enable you to crash the OS in under 10 seconds.

Internet Explorer 8 will be released as a beta test version later this year, according to a Microsoft source. Windows XP is apparently included in the plans for the new web browser.

Few details are known about the forthcoming version 8 of Internet Explorer . But sources are now saying it will be released for testing after Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is made available. The release date of the latter has been put back to later this year, TheHotfix reports.

According to some reports Xbox 360’s continue to experience hardware issues. A recent query put to an Australian game retailer puts the figure at a 30% return rate. Already highlighted in the European community recently, the perceived failure rate of the Xbox 360 game console from Microsoft is beginning to tarnish the platforms image.

Microsoft's channel, hardware, services and software partners could learn some lessons, too—and demand changes from Microsoft or go more on their own.

Although Microsoft may not have the first service pack for Windows Vista ready at the end of this year as some expected, financial analysts say that a delay should not have a negative effect on enterprise adoption of the OS.

Security Strategy Director in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group Jeff Jones, on Thursday published a report claiming that in the first six months of the Vista life cycle fewer serious security vulnerabilities have been found in Microsoft’s newest OS, compared not only to Windows XP, but also all major enterprise Linux distributions and Apple's MacOS X.