Mary Jo

Windows Live Spaces users have been on a rampage since August 1, when Microsoft rolled out the final version of its Windows Live Spaces blogging/social-networking service. On August 2, Microsoft officials acknowledged on The Space Craft Live Spaces blog that they were aware of performance, rendering and other issues and working to fix them. It […]

We like a good Windows Vista dig as much as anyone. But is Apple CEO Steve Jobs really justified in calling Mac OS X 10.5 (a k a “Leopard”) the equivalent of Vista 2.0? Can’t the 64-bit versions of Vista fully support 64-bit applications? And isn’t Apple’s TimeMachine feature the same as Windows Volume Shadow […]

Search is about more than search-engine algorithms. It also must take into account user click-through and browsing behaviors, if search-result accuracy is to be improved. That’s according to Microsoft researchers, who are set to present details regarding some of the analysis techniques that Microsoft Research is developing to help improve search-result quality. The Microsoft researchers […]

From Microsoft Watch: When it comes to search, Microsoft researchers are some of the key movers and shakers inside the Redmond software company. At this week’s SIGIR information-retrieval powwow, Microsoft researchers will present new findings on how search result accuracy can be improved by analyzing user click-through and browsing data. When it comes to search, […]

Microsoft won’t be using the “plus” symbol to differentiate the version of Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 that is bundled into Windows Vista, after all. Microsoft officials say they listened to customers in deciding against designating the version of the browser integrated into Vista as IE 7+. Instead, that version now will be known officially as […]

While there is no such beast as a 100 percent secure operating system, Microsoft was out to show at the Black Hat security confab that it had come a long way with Windows Vista, in terms of security. Attendees were, by in large, impressed with Microsoft’s Windows security progress. Nonetheless, as expected, one researcher successfully […]

A year ago, one of Microsoft’s key Windows architects defected to Google. Now, another operating-system expert has joined Google. The latest Google hire is Linux expert Andrew Morton, Linus Torvald’s right-hand man. As is the case with Lucovsky, no word on exactly what Morton will be doing at Google – other than continuing to work […]

Patch Tuesday is just around the corner. Expect a dozen new security bulletins, with plenty of Windows patches – a number of which will be deemed “critical,” according to the Softies. There will be more Office fixes in the new patch batch, too.

From Microsoft Watch: Microsoft’s latest iteration of its blogging/social-networking service may have gone live earlier this week, but many users aren’t convinced Windows Live Spaces is ready for prime time. Microsoft officials are working to fix a variety of problems that didn’t show up until the service hit production. Among them: performance bottlenecks, HTML rendering […]

Microsoft is getting ready to unleash the Alohabob application-migration technology it acquired earlier this year when it bought Apptimum. At the same time as Microsoft makes available Vista Release Candidate 1 (currently expected in late August), Microsoft plans to roll out the Alohabob file/app migration tool. Microsoft is counting on tools like Alohabob to convince […]

From Microsoft Watch: It’s a chicken and egg scenario: Would better podcatchers and RSS aggregators result in more people subscribing to that kind of content? One Microsoft employee, Marc Mercuri, believes that to be the case. To help Windows users better capture, organize and manipulate their feed data, Mercuri has built a podcatcher that he […]

The Next WGA Target — The Channel: To date, Microsoft has focused on consumers with its anti-piracy campaigns around Windows and Office. The next targets on Redmond’s radar screen: OEMs and system builders. There’s a New Office Live Sheriff in Town: Newly promoted Corporate VP Rajesh Jha has some definite opinions about how Microsoft should […]