| HOME > RSS Feeds > Windows | ||
| Add To: | 
|
 |
In Office 2007, the Outlook mail client looked a lot like its previous iteration, lacking even a full implementation of the productivity suite's ribbon interface. With Outlook 2010, however, Microsoft has caught the mail client up with the rest of the Office suite. eWEEK Labs' tests of the Outlook 2010 beta show some significant improvements, but also some room for confusion.
Microsoft Fixing Bing's Chinese Search 'Bug'
Microsoft responded to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's assertion, made in a Nov. 20 column, that Bing offers pro-Chinese-government results for politically sensitive queries inputted in simplified Chinese. Microsoft now asserts that those results are related to what the company calls a & bug& that will be fixed soon, although Kristof argues the company told him the same thing in June. Microsoft follows Google in experiencing political problems while trying to disseminate the Chinese version of its search engine.
Microsoft, News Corp Rumored In Talks to Delist From Google
Microsoft and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp are rumored to be in talks over an agreement that would see News Corp's news Websites delisted from Google search in exchange for payment by Microsoft. While Microsoft has declined to comment on the rumors, the Financial Times has suggested through an anonymous source that the talks are in early stages. Throughout 2009, Microsoft has been securing deals with Yahoo and other companies as part of a broad strategy to eat into Google’s market-share.
LABS GALLERY: Outlook 2010 Beta Eases Common Tasks, Fully Adopts Ribbon Interface
Released with the Office 2010 beta, the Outlook 2010 beta looks to be a fairly significant upgrade over the previous version. Outlook 2010 is now a full-fledged member of the Office suite, with full use of the Office ribbon in the Outlook interface. Outlook 2010 also will help users quickly perform common tasks and integrate social network awareness directly into the mail client. However, the only so-called social network the beta currently works with is Microsoft's own SharePoint.
Microsoft's Week: Azure and Office 2010 Show the Cloud Will Dominate
Microsoft rolled out the beta of Office 2010 and other productivity software, and made some key announcements about its Windows Azure cloud platform, during the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles this week. Even as Microsoft moves to embrace the cloud, the release of Google Chrome OS to open source for developers on Nov. 19 suggests that Redmond may eventually have to think even further about the cloud--and ways it could potentially move parts of its Windows franchise from the desktop to the Web.
Microsoft Countering Google Chrome OS Release with Windows 7
Microsoft issued an official response to news of Google releasing its Chrome Operating System to open source for developers. Although the Chrome OS will not be available to end users for at least another year, Microsoft is already citing Windows 7 as a more viable alternative for working on both the Web and the desktop. The initial target of the Chrome OS will be netbooks, whose always-on data connection will allow the browser-based operating system to launch and run its applications from the cloud.
Microsoft CEO Ballmer Touts Windows 7 Gains
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tells his audience at the Microsoft Annual Shareholder Meeting that Windows 7 has been outselling previous versions of Windows, including Windows Vista, by a ratio of 2-to-1. Data from outside analysts suggests that Windows 7 has made steady gains in the PC market since its Oct. 22 release.
Microsoft, SAP Partner on SAP BusinessObjects
Microsoft and SAP announced that the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation application would be & a preferred solution& for Microsoft customers seeking business functionality such as planning, budgeting, and financial forecasting. Both companies will explore ways to accelerate adoption of the SAP application among Microsoft's user base. Microsoft’s focusing on its core products, and divesting itself of some internally created business-intelligence applications, leaves it open to such partnerships.
Windows 7 Was My Idea?
Microsoft's & Windows 7 Is My Idea& billboard campaign reminds eWEEK Labs' Andrew Garcia that annoying things about Windows are still present in Version 7--and that new annoyances have been added to the list. Here's what Garcia would add to the OS to make Windows truly his idea.
10 Reasons Why Microsoft Should Fear Chrome OS
News Analysis: With the preview of Google's Chrome OS possibly just a day away, Microsoft should be concerned. If Chrome OS delivers on Google's promises, it could eventually capture the operating system market. The computing world is moving to cloud computing on the Web. Chrome OS, starting from its base as a Web OS, could win over a host of developers and users to this new platform. If this happens then Chrome OS could become the first new operating system in many years that has a serious chance of shaking Windows' dominance on the world's PCs.
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Is Released at PDC
Microsoft releases the public beta version of Office 2010, asking for feedback from users ahead of the productivity suite's general release in early 2010. While Microsoft Office has traditionally been a desktop-centered platform, new functionality connects its various applications to the Web in new ways, particularly with the Outlook Social Connector, which allows users to see e-mail senders' LinkedIn connections and activity feeds.
Microsoft Loses Intellectual Property Battle in Chinese Court
Microsoft finds itself under fire from a Chinese court, which ruled that older versions of Windows violate an intellectual property agreement between Microsoft and Beijing-based software company Zhongyi Electronic. The property in question is two Chinese fonts used in Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Microsoft is also fighting a handful of stateside battles over patents and intellectual property.
REVIEW: Office 2010 Beta Performs with Striking Stability and Polish
Office has an unenviable task: getting organizations and individuals excited about undertaking a major upgrade of a platform whose previous versions have been handling users' productivity chores just fine for going on 10 years now. The beta of Office 2010 shows extended Web and mobile reach, as well as a number of useful enhancements across the suite's apps.
LABS GALLERY: Office 2010 Beta Provides New Ways to Slice and Dice Data, Build Apps
The beta release of Office 2010 performs with striking stability and polish. In addition to the new edition's enhancements in the areas of cut and paste, picture and video editing, data visualization, and Web-based access to Excel and PowerPoint that I discussed in my review of the Office 2010 technical preview release, I took note in this beta of new ways to slice and dice data in Excel and a raft of application-building enhancements in Access.
Microsoft's Thinking About Azure Platform Evolved
Microsoft's president of Server and Tools Business, Bob Muglia, described in a keynote address at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference how the industry's thinking about the cloud has evolved over the past year. Muglia suggested that the infrastructure behind Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, was an inspiration in the creation of the Azure platform. Azure will begin charging for its services in February 2010.
Microsoft to Share Some IE 9 Details at PDC
Microsoft is slated to share some information about Internet Explorer 9 at the company's Professional Developers Conference.
Microsoft Co-founder Paul Allen Diagnosed with Lymphoma
Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975 along with Bill Gates, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer that originates in the body’s lymph nodes. This is the second time that Allen has fought the disease, which he first successfully beat after being diagnosed in 1983, the year he left Microsoft. Allen owns two sports teams, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, and maintains other media and technology investments.
Microsoft Mobile Marketplace Now Available for Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1
Microsoft extends its Windows Marketplace for Mobile to users of Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1, older versions of the smartphone operating system. Microsoft has also added new features to Marketplace for Mobile. The mobile-applications store originally launched on Oct. 6 along with Windows Mobile 6.5, a more robust version of the OS that is still considered by many to be a stopgap measure until Microsoft can roll out Windows Mobile 7 in 2010.
10 Things Missing from Windows 7
When Microsoft launched Windows 7 in October, some users were shocked to find that many of the features they were used to in Windows Vista didn't make their way to Windows 7. They may also have been a little disappointed to learn that some features on their wish lists didn't make it into Windows 7 either. Realizing that, we've compiled a list of 10 things missing from Windows 7. This includes Vista features that were dropped from Windows 7, features we wish Microsoft had included, and even a couple of services that technically are in Windows 7, but can be placed on the missing-features list based on user preference.
Microsoft's Week Included Bing 2.0, Exchange Server 2010
Microsoft launched a handful of new initiatives for both consumers and businesses this week. In addition to Exchange Server 2010, the new version of its messaging and collaboration platform, Microsoft also added features to Bing, including a more robust video page and search results from Wolfram Alpha, a computational engine that nominally returns a single numerical answer or chart in response to a search query. Microsoft also saw its market share for both Bing and Windows 7 creep up incrementally, as Redmond battles a variety of competitors ranging from Google to Apple for points amidst a still-tight economic climate.