WinInsider

It turns out that the EU's antitrust decision against Microsoft in 2007 was a close call. Judges from the EU Court of First Instance narrowly voted to charge the software giant with antitrust abuses in a vote that was 7 for and 6 against. Since then, of course, Microsoft has settled the case, but this week's revelation about the closeness of the vote has caused some to opine that Microsoft would have been successful had it tried to appeal the decision. (Microsoft did appeal a previous 2004 ruling that included, among other things, a $720 million fine.) And the EU has clearly been emboldened by its success against Microsoft, which I find to be the more important issue here.

As Microsoft continues to navigate the ever-bumpy road of security, the software giant this week released its first service pack for Forefront Client Security, a member of its Forefront family of security products.

The Client Security app helps protect against nasty bugs that can come from the Internet or various client attachments.

"Forefront Client Security helps organizations better protect users against malware and spyware across multiple Microsoft platforms -- from small businesses to large enterprises," Microsoft explained in a press release. The app uses a single console to help IT administrators manage the security of "enterprise deployments of more than 10,000 clients," it added.

Microsoft has released a simple, stand-alone program from its U.K. research lab that assembles photos into a collage. AutoCollage 2008 is the fruit of work done in facial recognition and blending technologies, said Alisson Sol, the development manager for the project. The program, released Thursday, picks representative images while avoiding repetitive features, matching images so they seamlessly flow into one another. The photo can be resized, then printed.

Microsoft has dabbled in photo software a bit before. Previous releases includes the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer with XP, which has only rudimentary tools, such as rotating and saving photos in a different file format. The Vista OS has the Windows Photo Gallery Viewer, which lets users crop and adjust the contrast of photos, among other basic features.

After several months of increasingly dismal sales, Microsoft has finally cut the price of its Xbox 360 video game console in the United States. The price cuts not only make the console more affordable; they actually make the low-end Xbox 360 less expensive than market-leader Nintendo Wii. The price cuts go into effect Friday, September 5.

Microsoft sells three versions of the Xbox 360 and all have received a healthy price cut. The entry-level Xbox 360 Arcade, which comes with a 256 MB Memory Unit instead of a hard drive, is dropping from $279 to $199, or $50 less than the Nintendo Wii. The mainstream and best-selling Xbox 360 console, which features a 60 GB hard drive, is dropping from $349 to $299.

Dell on Tuesday said it would unveil its first mini-notebook this week, officially taking on Hewlett-Packard and others in the emerging market for sub-10-inch, ultra-light laptops.

Other than confirming the new product's scheduled introduction, a Dell's spokeswoman declined to provide details on what's probably the worst kept secret on the Web. Gadget enthusiast sites have been leaking details on the device, expected to be called the Inspiron Mini 9, for the last couple of weeks. The launch date could be as early as Thursday.

Sony Ericsson wants Windows Mobile developers to start working on applications for its Xperia X1 and on Wednesday it announced a tailor-made SDK for the upcoming smartphone.

A beta version of the Sony Ericsson SDK for Windows Mobile 6.1 is available for download from the company Web page. It has already been used in-house and by some partners to develop panels for the user interface, according to Merran Wrigley, spokeswoman at Sony Ericsson.

Sony Ericsson isn't trying to build a new developer community; instead it wants to take advantage of what's already there, according to Wrigley. The SDK is based on Visual Studio, with extensions for the Xperia panel interface. "It will feel very familiar to existing Windows Mobile developers," said Wrigley.

Microsoft is boosting integration of functional programming with its Visual Studio 2008 software development platform.

"Programming with F# can be enormously fun and rewarding, as well as just plain productive. This is now more true than ever, and we hope you enjoy using F# as much as we do," Syme said.

Additionally, Microsoft has launched an F# Development Center on MSDN, providing resources for developers and links to F# user communities. F# has been a joint project of Microsoft's Developer Division and Microsoft Research.

Struggling Sony Ericsson ditched on Monday rumors that its first mobile phone powered by Microsoft's operating system would miss the key year-end holiday sales period.

Sony Ericsson introduced the Xperia 1 model in February, saying it would start to sell the phone in the second half of 2008 in selected markets.

On Monday and over the weekend, several technology blogs and Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported delays in product rollout, quoting rumors and unnamed sources at Sony Ericsson.

Sam Ramji is a busy man. As Microsoft's senior director of platform strategy, his job is a big one: overseeing the company's initiatives in Linux and open source.

Wait a second ? Microsofts strategy in open source? Yes, thats right. The planets largest software company, whose relationship with open source has been, at best, hypercompetitive ? Linux partisans might describe it less diplomatically ? is reaching across the divide to the enemy camp.

Or, as Ramji wrote on his LinkedIn profile: Open Source Software projects and ISVs should contact me to initiate a relationship with Microsoft. I am focused on narrowing the gap between the Open Source community and Microsoft through research, collaboration, interoperability, and community engagement.

Microsoft slashed the prices Monday for the Xbox 360 video game consoles in Japan, an intensely competitive market where the software company has long been struggling against formidable rivals Nintendo and Sony.

The cheapest of three models, Xbox 360 Arcade, will cost 19,800 yen ($180) as of Sept. 11, down nearly 30 percent from 27,800 yen ($260) -- making it the cheapest among next-generation consoles here.

Nintendo's Wii costs 25,000 yen ($230). Sony's PlayStation 3 model sold in Japan, which has a 40-gigabyte hard drive, sells for about 40,000 yen ($370).