Microsoft Talk

From Yahoo Tech: Windows 7 on netbooks? No problem, says Microsoft.

“Looking forward, we can confidently say that no matter how netbook PC hardware evolves, we’re gearing up to ensure that Windows 7 will run great on them,” Brandon LeBlanc, a Windows communication manager, wrote in Friday blog post.

“We’ve been testing Windows 7 on netbook PCs since before Windows 7 was feature complete, and our plan is to enable these small notebook PCs to run any edition of Windows 7,” he wrote.

A beta version of Windows 7 was released in January.

LeBlanc’s comments were part of a “year in review” blog about Windows netbooks. He shot down suggestions that netbooks will hurt Microsoft, and touted the company’s gains over Linux-based netbooks.

“Initially, some in the industry viewed low-cost netbook PCs as a new challenge for Microsoft and an opportunity for Linux to make inroads in the consumer market. Some believed consumers wouldn’t want or need their netbook PC to be a full-featured PC,” he wrote. “In fact, the exact opposite turned out to be true – a number of analysts and researchers following the space see ample evidence indicating customers really DO want netbook PCs to work like their larger brethren – and that the way the vast majority of consumers make that happen is by buying a netbook PC with Windows.”

He pointed to NPD data that said Windows-based netbooks have gone from 10 percent of units sales in the first half of 2008 to 96 percent as of February 2009. LeBlanc also said that return rates for Linux-based netbooks were four times as higher than Windows, according to vendor data.

By Kyle Monson: On Thursday at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division, delivered a keynote demonstration of the “connected experiences” available to Windows users.

Bach outlined Microsoft’s target, a “three-screens-and-a-cloud scenario” in which “our customers can get the services and capabilities they want delivered to any device whenever they want.”

Such a scenario involves interaction and syncing between your “three screens”—TV, PC, and mobile phone—and an online account that manages them and backs up your content. Bach pointed out that, ideally, “A Windows PC, a Windows phone, and a Windows Live service will create that connected experience that we’re talking about.”

Microsoft’s new My Phone service will facilitate that connectivity. The service backs up a Windows Mobile phone’s data and content, and lets users access that content via PC. For instance, users can search for text messages on their phones using their PCs.

Bach also took the audience on a tour of Windows 6.5 (which you can see for yourself in our Windows Mobile 6.5 slideshow), and talked about the newly announced customizability options. Designers like Isaac Mizrahi have signed on to design wallpapers for Windows Mobile phones.

Besides nifty skins and wallpapers, another way to customize a Windows Mobile phone is through apps from the Microsoft Mobile Marketplace. Bach said that all apps in the Marketplace are certified by Microsoft, that users can back them up, and said there’s a self-serve refund feature with which users can get their money back for apps they aren’t satisfied with.

Adam Sussman from Electronic Arts joined Bach on stage to talk up the Mobile Marketplace, and promised that “every major EA Mobile release this year will be available on the Windows Mobile platform.”

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled the Release Candidate (RC) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 to the general public.

The RC was released to TechNet and MSDN subscribers last week, and is now publicly available, the company said in a blog post.

It is available via the Customer Preview Program site or Windows Update using the Windows Update Experience Kit.

This post originally appeared on AppScout.

Microsoft testing new Internet search engine Kumo

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed it is testing a new Internet search engine it hopes will power the US software giant out of distant third place in a market dominated by Google.

A Kumo.com search engine being privately tested by Microsoft workers is reportedly based on semantic technology that enables it to understand sentences and relationships between words.

Current search engines, including software used by Google, rely on matching words typed into search boxes with those found at websites and in data found on the Internet.

“There’s a good deal of excitement brewing over this test, both internally and externally, which we’re always glad to see,” Microsoft Live Search general manager Mike Nichols wrote in an online message.

“Our hope is that our employees will give us great feedback on our new features and that it all becomes part of the external experience soon.”

The Internet has buzzed with speculation regarding whether Microsoft intends to replace its Live Search with Kumo since an internal memo written about it by Satya Nadella, a Microsoft senior vice president, was leaked online this week.

Microsoft said Tuesday that the memo that ricocheted quickly about the Web “is in fact accurate.”

Nichols posted a “sneak peek” screenshot of Kumo with his message at an official Live Search blog website.

Nichols said it remains to be determined whether the Kumo codename with replace “Live Search” when it makes its public debut.

Found this online and thought you early Windows 7 adopters would enjoyit:

1. Windows 7 should not be positioned in relation to Windows Vista, which is nonexistent in most businesses. Windows 7 needs to be related back to Windows XP, to which I think it is the legitimate successor.

2. I don’t see Windows 7 as Vista SP2 or Vista Lite or anything like this. Windows 7 looks like a new OS to me and deserves to be treated as such. (Readers: Give Windows 7 a chance, OK?)

3. Windows 7 needs to run just fine on hardware the runs Windows XP just fine today. My sense, playing with Windows 7, is this is possible. Vista grabbed an early reputation as a resource hog. Windows 7 must avoid this.

4. Because Windows 7 cannot upgrade an existing Windows XP installation, Microsoft needs to provide easy transition tools. A copy of Windows 7 and a flash drive or small stack of DVDs needs to move all my data and my applications and my settings to the new OS. This may mean Microsoft needs to send an applications disc with Windows 7.

5. Just for emphasis: If I have to reinstall my applications, Windows 7 will not be a welcome upgrade.

6. If Microsoft does not or cannot accomplish the previous items, then it should not promote Windows 7 as an upgrade and offer it on new hardware only. This will avoid one of the major factors in Vista’s failure: It’s inability to run well on what people already owned.

7. Fortunately, the Windows 7 user experience is not wildly different from XP the way Vista is. This will make it easier for companies (or households) to have a mix of Windows XP and Windows 7.

8. I like what I have seen of Windows 7, but have yet to hear Microsoft offer a good reason besides “a wide range of improvements” for me to upgrade. If it comes only on new hardware, that’s fine. And, yes, some people will then decide they like the new OS and upgrade older machines as a result. But, if Microsoft hopes to sell an upgrade it needs to look at how Apple sells its upgrades.

9. Speaking of which: Apple sells features and applications that are included with the OS as major upgrade benefits. If Microsoft included more significant applications with the OS, maybe it could make them as important as the iApps are to Apple customers. Apple manages to charge its best customers up to $300-a-year for upgrades of some sort.

10. I think we have solved the problem of linking Windows 7 too closely to the release of Office 14 now that the timing between two seems clearly offset. Delays, economic or technical, should not bring the two releases back together. At least, not until its clear from seeing the software that one won’t drag down the other.

Lots coming out of Redmond these days.

Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 is reportedly being released to testers, and updates to Windows 7 beta are slated for next week.

Although Microsoft is being relatively mum on the subject, a variety of Web sites are reporting that a release candidate build of Service Pack 2 for Vista and Server 2008 has been released to Microsoft Connect testers. The build, according to the sites, is 6002.16670.090130.

‘More to Share’ Soon

Ars Technica, for instance, has reported that SP2 is available to testers through Windows Update, adding that Microsoft — as it usually does — is recommending that regular users wait until the final release to download it.

SP2 adds a variety of improvements. In terms of hardware, for instance, there is integration of the Feature Pack for Wireless, with support for the most recent Bluetooth, version 2.1, and the Windows Connect Now Wi-Fi configuration. Wi-Fi performance after waking from sleep mode is improved, as are RSS feeds and the ability to record data onto Blu-ray discs.

In operating-system enhancements, Search 4.0 is updated to improve indexing, relevance, and finding or previewing documents, e-mail, music files and photos. SP2 also offers improved content protection for TV in the Windows Media Center.

Windows 7 Updates

The Windows 7 updates — up to five total — are planned to begin on Feb. 24. According to Microsoft, the updates won’t add features or fix bugs. Instead, according to a posting on the Microsoft Update Product Team blog, the updates “test the Windows 7 servicing infrastructure.”

The notice, posted Thursday by the Microsoft update team, noted that the company sometimes verifies “update scenarios during a beta, and releasing these test updates will help that when we need to release real updates,” so “the process will run smoothly.” There had been some speculation online that this batch of updates might address some security issues found in Windows 7 beta.

The updates will be offered interactively, meaning users will be notified, but they won’t be installed automatically. Instead, users will be required to go the Windows Update Control Panel and manually start the installation. But users can also right-click on the updates and select “hide update” to avoid having it show up in the available update list. The company said the updates will be “clearly titled” as tests.

Good news/bad news for the software mega-giant in legal news this morning.

Microsoft won a motion to end the class-action status of the Windows Vista Capable lawsuit on Wednesday, but lost a motion that could have ended the suit without a trial.

The motion to end the class-action status of the lawsuit means the plaintiffs will have to sue Microsoft individually, instead of as a group that could have drawn in potentially thousands of other consumers who felt wronged by the issue.

“We’re pleased that the court granted our motion to decertify the class, leaving only the claims of six individuals,” said David Bowermaster, a Microsoft spokesperson, in an e-mail. “We look forward to presenting our case to the jury, should the plaintiffs elect to pursue their individual claims.”

The case centers on claims that Microsoft misled computer buyers with the Vista Capable advertising campaign nearly a year prior to the release of the operating system. Plaintiffs argue they overpaid for computers due to the Vista Capable campaign and that the PCs they bought could only run the lowest-priced version of Vista, Home Basic, which they say is not a true Vista OS because it lacks key features of the other Vista versions.

Microsoft lost a request for a summary judgement, a ruling based on facts presented ahead of the trial. The company has argued that the plaintiffs have not demonstrated that Vista Home Basic was not the ‘real Vista’ nor that consumers overpaid for PCs because of the Vista Capable ad campaign.

The downside for Microsoft is that the case will now go to trial should the plaintiffs opt to continue. The company has already seen a stream of embarrassing e-mails made public through the lawsuit.

In the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman said that while class action status is no longer appropriate for the case, it makes “no comment” on the claims people paid higher prices for PCs as a result of the Vista Capable Campaign.

Woman Sues Microsoft Over XP Downgrade Charge

A woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft over a US$59.25 charge for downgrading her Windows Vista PC to XP.

In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Los Angeles resident Emma Alvarado is asking that Microsoft return the fee she paid for downgrading a Lenovo PC with the Windows Vista Business OS preinstalled to Windows XP Professional. Alvarado purchased the PC on June 20, 2008, according to the suit.

Alvarado also is inviting others who have paid fees to downgrade to XP to join the suit (PDF) and is requesting refunds for them as well.

Many customers who purchased PCs with Vista installed opted to downgrade to XP because they weren’t happy with Vista’s “numerous problems,” according to Alvarado’s suit.

“As a result, many consumers would prefer to purchase a new computer preinstalled with the Windows XP operating system or at least not preinstalled with the Vista operating system,” according to the filing.

The suit goes on to accuse Microsoft of using its “market power to take advantage of consumer demand for the Windows XP operating system” by requiring people to buy Vista PCs and then charging them to downgrade to the OS they really want.

This action violates Washington state’s Unfair Business Practices Act and the Consumer Protection Act, according to the suit.

Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster said the company has not been served with the lawsuit, so it would be premature to comment about it.

The turbulent economy could hinder enterprise adoption of Windows 7, even though many companies opted to skip Windows Vista and are still running the outdated Windows XP OS, analysts said.

Although the beta of Windows 7 released in January is getting good reviews, that may not be enough to inspire businesses to upgrade, given their tight IT budgets and the fact that many are cutting costs in any way they can.

“I think the down economy will hinder just about everything,” said David Smith, a vice president and fellow at research company Gartner.

Windows 7 is expected to be available before the end of the year, or at the very latest, early next year. Unless there is a dramatic economic rebound, all signs point to the economy still squeezing IT budgets at that time.

Tens of thousands of jobs have been cut in the last several months as cost-cutting measures at companies across all business sectors. Not only do those job cuts show that overall budgets are tight, they also mean that companies will probably have a surplus of client PCs that they can reassign to other workers, said Michael Cherry, an analyst with research firm Directions on Microsoft, in Kirkland, Washington.

I know I’m buying fewer items these days and have no plan to upgrade my Tablet’s OS or software. XP will last until it’s dying day. I could have upgraded to the new Win 7, but my tablet is too finicky as it is, so a brand new OS is just asking for trouble.

How has the economy affected your computer hardware or software purchases?

From that Scion of Technology, Blake Handley: Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 will be available in six (6) different versions (one not available in the US) — however, Microsoft is hoping that only two versions will be popular.

Microsoft’s Windows 7 Recommendations:

For Consumers:

Windows 7 Home Premium for most customers
Windows 7 Professional for customers who want additional features and functionality useful for small business activities.
For Businesses:

Windows 7 Professional for most customers
Windows 7 Enterprise for medium-to-large business and enterprise customers that choose to license Windows through Software Assurance.

Windows 7 Versions:
Windows 7 Starter

Broad app and device compatibility with up to 3 concurrent applications
Safe, reliable, and supported
Ability to join a Home Group
Improved taskbar and JumpLists

Windows 7 Home Basic (in Emerging Markets only)

Starter features
Unlimited applications
Live Thumbnail Previews & enhanced visual experience
Advanced networking support (ad-hoc wireless networks and internet connection sharing)
Mobility Center

Windows 7 Home Premium

Home Basic features
Unlimited applications
Aero Glass & advanced windows navigation
Easy networking & sharing across all your PCs & devices
Improved media format support, enhancements to Windows Media Center and media streaming, including Play To
Multi-touch and improved handwriting recognition

Windows 7 Professional

Professional features
Unlimited applications
Ability to join a managed network with Domain Join
Protect data with advanced network backup and Encrypting File System
Print to the right printer at home or work with Location Aware Printing

Windows 7 Enterprise & Ultimate

Professional & Consumer
Unlimited applications
BitLocker data protection on internal and external drives
DirectAccess provides seamless connectivity to your corporate network. (requires Windows Server 2008 R2)
Decrease time branch office workers wait to open file across the network with BranchCache. (requires Windows Server 2008 R2)
Prevent unauthorized software from running with AppLocker

NOTE 1: Ultimate includes all Enterprise and all Home Premium features, including multi-language packs.

NOTE 2: Windows 7 Enterprise is available only through Microsoft Volume Licensing

NOTE 3: While there will be an “upgrade path” for Windows XP users; there will not be an upgrade proceedure. A clean-install will need to be run.

NOTE 4: There will not be a special version for Netbooks. (None was needed)

Microsoft on Monday sought to avoid past mistakes by releasing the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Ecosystem Readiness Program. The program aims to help Microsoft’s partners prepare for the next versions of its software.

Independent hardware and software vendors, original equipment and device manufacturers, and developers will be able to ensure their products are compatible and use the features of Microsoft’s new software.

Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows product management, said Microsoft is engaging Windows 7 partners differently from the past. Previously, for example, Microsoft typically shared ideas that were final. Sometimes, he admitted, things would shift and make it difficult for partners to plan when they should begin developing products.

As Microsoft gets closer to the final version of Windows 7, Nash said, the company wants its partners to test their Windows Vista-based products to make sure they run well on Windows 7. For partners who don’t yet have Windows Vista products, Nash said this is an opportunity is to build products that target both Windows Vista and Windows 7 because the architectures have similar foundations.

Making a Smooth Transition

Because there were so many different iterations of Vista and each worked somewhat differently than the other, there were an inordinate number of complaints and dissatisfaction among customers who adopted one version of Vista, only to realize later that they needed a different version or a different product, explained Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Nash encouraged partners to download the code and tools for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 betas to get a sense of the products’ capabilities and identify opportunities. He also suggested partners join the ecosystem program and begin testing their applications and devices.

Microsoft’s first-ever layoffs point to a need for the company to rethink its Windows client business, which is largely responsible for the disappointing financial results that led to thousands of Microsoft job cuts announced Thursday.

Microsoft’s second-quarter results Thursday, in which net profit fell 11 percent, show that the company is still largely dependent on its Windows client business for its financial health. That business in turn is dependent on the market for PC sales, which is currently flat and shows no signs of improving over the short term.

Microsoft has been trying to diversify its revenue for some time and has made incremental progress. But until other parts of the business begin to pull in more revenue, the company should examine ways to keep its Windows client business from damaging its overall financial health if the current economic condition worsens, analysts said.

Thursday’s results also show that Microsoft still has some lessons to learn from Windows Vista, which appears to have come back to haunt the company.

Microsoft put considerable investment and time into developing Vista, expecting the OS to be more successful than it has been. In the middle of Vista’s development cycle, the company also had to put out a major update to Windows XP in the form of a service pack that it did not charge for, also interrupting the normal revenue flow of its client business.

At the time it was developing Vista, Microsoft thought it could “change the PC market with a new OS,” Directions on Microsoft’s Rosoff said.

However, consumers as a whole did not rush out to purchase new machines just because they had Vista on them, and many companies opted to skip the OS altogether and continue to run XP instead.

Microsoft has now learned that Windows client is not going to be the kind of product that will “suddenly spur this huge wave” of PC market growth, Rosoff said, and it probably will approach the business with that in mind in the future.

Three vulnerabilities in SMB networking were patched in a single update today my Microsoft: MS09-001: Vulnerabilities in SMB Could Allow Remote Code Execution.

Heads up on three updates for networks that have holes, which could leave you vulnerable.

Two of the three vulnerabilities are rated critical for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003; the third is rated Moderate for those platforms. Two are rated Moderate for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, and the third does not affect those platforms at all.

The first vulnerability, SMB Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2008-4834), is a frightening one: an unauthenticated networking bug. This is the one that doesn’t affect Windows Vista or Server 2008, but on 2000, XP or Server 2003 an unauthenticated user could invoke a remote code execution over the network.

The second vulnerability, SMB Validation Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2008-4835), is very similar to the last one: an unauthenticated network vulnerability that can theoretically allow remote code execution, but more likely denial of service.

The third vulnerability, SMB Validation Denial of Service Vulnerability (CVE-2008-4114), is rated Moderate for all platforms. A specially-crafted network request could cause the system to stop responding and then restart.

Head on over to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-001 - Critical

Microsoft is one of five companies that have invested a total of $24 million in N-trig, an Israeli company that develops multi-touch technology.

Would having a computer that you an interact with by mouse, pen and fingers be something you are interested in? Microsoft is betting you are. They just invested $24 million dollars into N-Trig, as stated below. Actually, Microsoft was one of a few companies, partnered by Aurum Ventures, Challenger Ltd., Canaan Partners, and Evergreen Venture Partners.

According to a Microsoft press release: N-trig’s DuoSense technology is included in Windows 7, enabling the new operating system’s multi-touch capabilities.

“With the introduction of multi-touch in Windows 7, integrated with N-trig’s DuoSense technology, our customers will have a new and natural way to interact with their PCs,” Ian LeGrow, group program manager for Windows Client at Microsoft, said in a statement. “By simulating the way people write and touch naturally, N-trig is helping to make it easier to navigate your PC and enable a new class of Windows experiences.”

Although my computer still isn’t powerful enough to run Windows 7 (requires at the minimum 1 g of RAM, I have 512, which is what my TC1100 came with), Windows 7 does have the capability, as stated above. That would be interesting to play with, interact with the tablet in new and different ways: moving screens around, opening programs and files with a touch of my finger.

If anyone has downloaded Windows 7, let us know how the multi-touch interface is working, maybe provide some links to pics you capture and place on the world wide web, using Microsoft’s new online programs.

Due to ‘high demand’, Microsoft pulls the plug on download site.

If you were one of the lucky few to download Windows 7 before Microsoft’s servers crashed, enjoy playing and tweaking and lording it over your fellow interneters.

Such was the hype for the new (and allegedly) improved Windows operating system, that, apparnantly ‘hoards’ of users clicked on the download link. This just shows how despearate people are for something other than Vista (that was constantly shoved down our collective throat).

Microsoft kept telling consumers that they just didn’t understand Vista, were too stupid to use it, had missed the point, etc. Finally, they announce a ‘new and totally innovative OS that will completely change the way we use our computers’, then the site crashes.

Apropos for Microsoft? They should have realized a new OS with such promise and hype would have more than ‘a few’ interested. What I would like to know, is why weren’t more servers available beforehand to handle the influx of downloads. Was it an oversight? Or was it to gauge the neediness or wants of consumers so they can adjust future pricepoints?

While I was not one of the lucky few to download and install the new Windows 7, the new OS does look promising. Demanding less powerful computers than its predecessor, Vista, was surely partly to blame for the system site’s failure to handle the download’s load. Some other sites have downloaded and tweaked with the new OS, and have given it rave reviews. Joseph Flatly of Engadget gave Windows 7 a pretty good review, saying “looked pretty good, outperforming Vista and XP in “real world” tasks”.

If you were one of the lucky few, let us know in the comments below.

Verizon chooses Microsoft for Mobile to integrate Live Search and advertising on their phones and smartphones.

The agreement is for five years and starts the first six months of 2009. Services available include:

Depending on which device they use, customers will be able to use voice commands and typed queries and even select to use location-aware searches to receive highly relevant search results, including maps, directions, traffic information, information on local businesses, movie theaters and show times, gas prices, and weather. In addition, customers will also get search results that include news and entertainment content such as downloadable full-track songs, videos and games. Verizon Wireless customers will be able to access Microsoft Live Search from a device’s home screen, by downloading an application or through Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Web service.

I”m not sure being locked into one particular search engine or being forced to endure advertising for a paid contract (or month-to-month as I am) is the best way for consumer choice. My phone is a Nokia 9500 Communicator Smartphone, has web/wifi capabilities. If I were on Verizon and were locked into just one service (as good as that may be), I would be one upset consumer. I can forsee many Verizon customers looking for this as a loophone to getting out of their contracts.

Or, Verizon could block the web service for an excuse to charge another fee. There aren’t many details on the press release on fees, phones or services. If you are a Verizon customer and are looking forward to this marriage of ideas, let us know in the comments.