>There are reports in a TechNet forum that claim a recently released reliability and stability patch for Windows 7 may end up making some PCs less reliable and stable.

The Ars Technica site discovered the thread about the fix, KB977074, late last week. KB977074, one of a number of Windows 7 updates Microsoft made available for download at the end of January, was designed to “resolve some reliability issues in Windows 7.”

View Full Article: Mary Jo Foley's Blog

Microsoft is aiming to make Web viewing of the Winter Olympics a lot more like watching the events on TV.

While Beijing brought the first widespread use of the Internet to deliver live video of the Games, the Vancouver Olympics--which starts February 12--will offer a range of new options, including TiVo-like features like pausing, rewinding, and replaying during a live broadcast. In addition, broadcaster NBC is using the adaptive streaming capability of Silverlight (Microsoft's rival to Adobe's Flash) to allow those with a good connection to get the Games in up to 720p high-definition quality...

View Full Article: CNET News

Good news and bad news for Microsoft this morning in its Facebook relationship.

The Redmond company, which has a minority stake in the booming social networking site, said in a blog post that the companies are deepening their relationship in Internet search, working on new features and expanding into markets outside the United States. At the same time, the company says it will no longer be responsible for display ads on Facebook. Microsoft calls it a "mutual decision."

View Full Article: Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog

Corporate Vice President Mike Nash, who headed Microsoft's security efforts before spending the past several years in product management and strategy roles in the Windows unit, is leaving Microsoft.

His Windows roots run deep, though, with Nash having been the first product manager on the original Windows NT marketing team. In his long tenure, he also oversaw development of Microsoft.com and led the launch of Windows 2000, before shifting to head the security team...

View Full Article: CNET News

As of February 1, Microsoft officially jumps into the cloud-computing frey and now is charging customers for developing and running apps in its Azure cloud.

Microsoft has been working on Azure for more than three years; beta testers have been kicking its tires for more than a year. With Azure, Microsoft is attempting to recreate its Windows ecosystem in the form of a utility. Today, developers and customers can develop and deploy on the Windows Azure operating system and make use of the SQL Azure hosted database. In the coming months, Microsoft will make available to developers its Azure AppFabric Web-service utilities. And as 2010 progresses, Microsoft is slated to make available to developers and customers more of the on-premises “private cloud” complements to Azure...

View Full Article: Mary Jo Foley's Blog

An inside report from within an Apple town hall meeting has revealed some of CEO Steve Jobs' blunt criticisms, particularly against Google. In the wake of the iPad launch, Jobs claimed the search firm's motto of "Don't Be Evil" is simply "bullsh*t" and that the new rival is fully intent on killing the iPhone with Android despite the companies' partnership on iPhone services. He similarly pointed out that the aggression was largely one-sided and that Apple hadn't entered search...

View Full Article: Electronista

Laptop owners upgrading their Windows XP and Windows Vista machines to Windows 7 are complaining that Microsoft's new OS has severely reduced their available battery life.

One user tells The Reg that after upgrading his circa 2007 HP notebook from Vista to Windows 7, the machine's battery life dropped from two hours to a half hour, and countless others are voicing similar complaints on Microsoft's TechNet forums...

View Full Article: The Register

Sales of Windows 7 and a recovering economy boosted Microsoft to a record quarter, with the company on Thursday reporting fiscal second-quarter revenue of $19.02 billion, up 14 percent from the year-ago period. Net income was up a whopping 60 percent to $6.66 billion...

View Full Article: Seattle PI's Microsoft Blog

Surely, there are going to be some people beating their heads against a wall in Redmond today.

After a decade of pursuing the notion of a tablet computer for consumers, it now appears possible, if not likely, that Apple will be the one that gets credit--and the revenue--for making the product mainstream...

View Full Article: CNET News

CompTIA is the computer industry group that oversees common certifications such as A+, Network+, and Server+, and its certifications have always been good indefinitely.

Not anymore. In a policy change announced this month, CompTIA dropped a bombshell on the hundreds of thousands of people who hold its certifications: those credentials are now good for only three years—and the change in policy is retroactive...

View Full Article: Ars Technica

Bill Gates dropped by The New York Times on Monday to discuss his full-time job as head of the Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy, especially its work in global health and development.

Mr. Gates was on his way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he is expected to announce an expansion of the foundation’s vaccine programs in poor nations...

View Full Article: The New York Times

Microsoft has filed suit against TiVo, specifically accusing the company of infringing on its video purchasing and delivery patents. This comes just days after a lawsuit was filed by TiVo against AT&T, one of Microsoft’s biggest customers.

The best way to explain this complicated series of affairs is through a short timeline. Here’s the summary of what’s happened thus far...

View Full Article: Mashable