Microsoft introduced the Windows Marketplace Labs Web site, featuring a beta version of its digital locker technology that enables digital downloads of software from Microsoft and third-party vendors.
The digital locker is designed to offer more secure online buying and offer a single source for storing personal information, including their purchase history and licenses. All too often, people will lose or misplace their license key when they make an electronic purchase, said Yasha Kaykas-Wolff, user experience manager for Windows Marketplace Labs.
A federal judge has thrown out an antitrust suit brought against Microsoft by the founder of the now-defunct pen-computing company Go Computing, the software giant said Friday.
In an opinion filed Thursday, Maryland District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz granted Microsoft's motion to dismiss Go founder S. Jerrold Kaplan's suit, which was filed in June 2005. Motz did allow Kaplan the option of filing a new suit based on any damages that may have occurred within four years prior to the filing of such a suit.
update
For those who want to try out the current test version of Microsoft's Windows Vista, it may be now or never.
The company is nearing its self-imposed cutoff point and plans to stop allowing new downloads after Friday, according to Microsoft blogger Ian Moulster.
"In case you weren't aware, we are only providing a limited number of copies of Windows Vista Beta 2--either download or physical copies--and we're fast approaching the cutoff point, " Moulster wrote. "What this means is--if you want to get a copy, get it now."
Microsoft released Beta 2 of Windows Vista in May but didn't make it available to the general public until earlier this month. Microsoft cautioned at the time that it might limit the number of testers.
Microsoft has released the third beta of its upcoming Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP, moving a step closer towards an anticipated official release of the revamped browser later this year.
Beta 3 boasts improvements in reliability, compatibility, and the user interface. Only minor changes have been made to IE 7's look and feel, however; users can now add an e-mail button to the customizable toolbar and shuffle tabs by dragging them to the left or right.
Other modifications include enhancements to the Real Simple Syndication support within IE 7, tweaks to improve Web site compatibility, and fixes to several rendering bugs. However, users won't see any performance improvements in Beta 3; speed won't be tuned until the browser reaches Release Candidate stage later this summer or in the fall.
MobiTV, a mobile TV service provider, has expanded its software to include devices that run Windows Mobile 5.0, Microsoft's operating system for cell phones and handhelds.
The service for Windows Mobile gadgets, announced Thursday, costs $9.99 a month, in addition to the cost of an unlimited monthly data service from the consumer's cell phone provider. MobiTV is a TV broadcast service that lets cell phone and smart phone owners watch live television, as well as on-demand content, in full-screen format.
Microsoft is cutting 148 total U.S. sales jobs, as part of efforts to be more efficient, the company said Thursday.
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said the software company is eliminating 214 sales jobs but adding another 66 in the reorganization. Employees whose jobs are being eliminated will have the option to apply for the new positions, Gellos said.
The Redmond-based company said the job cuts and new positions are aimed at helping the company be more responsive to customers.
Microsoft has recently been attempting to appeal to a crowd it traditionally hasn't focused on: digital photographers.
The software behemoth has never been known as a leader in the creative side of software manufacturing; that title arguably goes to Apple Computer or Adobe Systems. But Microsoft is trying to change that image in anticipation of the eventual release of its Vista operating system, particularly in the field of digital photography.
Thursday marked its first Pro Photo Summit, featuring the launch of a program called Icons of Imaging, designed to showcase the work of leaders and innovators in photography; and the announcement of the winners of a Future Pro Photographer Contest.
A Microsoft technology evangelist has left after 15 years with the company to go work for archrival Google Inc., continuing
a string of high-profile personnel changes at Microsoft this month.
Vic Gundotra, Microsoft's general manager for platform evangelism, will join Google in a year in order to comply with a non-compete
clause in his Microsoft contract, the companies confirmed separately. In the meantime, Gundotra will keep busy doing philanthropic
work.
Google hasn't yet decided what role Gundotra will play after joining the company. "He has a broad range of skills and experience
which we believe will be valuable to Google," Google spokesman Steve Langdon said via e-mail.
Microsoft said Thursday that it is making another slight delay to the planned arrival time for Office 2007, citing performance concerns with recent test versions.
The software maker now plans to finish the code for the revamped Office suite by the end of the year, with a mainstream launch in "early 2007." It said in March that the product would be ready by this October, but said at the time it was delaying the retail availability until January, in order to jointly launch the product with Windows Vista. That operating system update has also seen postponements.
Bill Gates is usually the one talking about the future of computing, but on Wednesday, college students from around the world got a chance to show the Microsoft chairman some of their own concepts and prototypes.
Naturally, under the circumstances, none of the projects used the Linux operating system or ran on an Apple Mac. But they all sought to apply Windows and other Microsoft technologies to an issue of major global significance -- improving health care.
The seven projects, on display Wednesday at Microsoft's Redmond campus, are finalists in the software design segment of the company's annual Imagine Cup competition. Gates won't have an official say in which wins the $25,000 first prize in August, but he spoke highly of several he saw.