Microsoft on Friday said it was prepared to split a $250,000 reward among two individuals that helped to identify the person who created last year's Sasser worm. The worm's author, 19-year-old Sven Jaschan, was found guilty in German court and faces a sentence of 21 months probation.
After the worm spread in May 2004, which caused infected Windows machines to crash and continuously reboot, Microsoft released a fix for the vulnerability that the worm exploited. It then offered a reward to those who could supply information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
Taking another step into data storage, Microsoft on Friday unveiled software for backing up files on disk-based systems.
The product, dubbed System Center Data Protection Manager, is designed to tempt more companies to try disk-based backup and recovery through a tried-and-true tactic: a cut-rate price. Microsoft said that with its software and an accompanying server computer, it will cost customers less than $5,000 to protect 1 terabyte of data, compared with competing systems that cost $50,000.
A Korean government antitrust committee will hear arguments Wednesday into whether Microsoft violated competition laws by bundling programs with its Windows XP operating system.
Daum Communications, a Korean company that runs a popular Web portal and has its own instant messenger software, filed a complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission in September 2001. The company alleges that Microsoft abused its strong market position by tying Messenger with Windows XP, causing unspecified losses.
When Office 12 comes down the pike in a year or so, it will have a new look and feel aimed at exposing a user's favorite features.
Specifically, Microsoft is working on a "ribbon" concept in which the user would get a different strip or ribbon of icons depending on the task at handwhether it's a simple note, a fancy document, a graphical presentation, multimedia or a spreadsheet, said a source familiar with the plans. That ribbon would expose only the tools relevant to the current job.
As part of its monthly patching cycle, Microsoft on Tuesday plans to release three security alerts for flaws in Windows and Office.
Two of the security bulletins apply to Windows, and at least one of them is deemed "critical," Microsoft's highest risk rating, the company said in a notice posted on its Web site Thursday. Its Office productivity suite will get one bulletin, also rated critical.
The notice did not specify whether one of the patches will be for Internet Explorer. Microsoft earlier this week offered a workaround for a known flaw in the Web browser that opens the door for intruders to crash IE and to run arbitrary code.
Microsoft's Windows AntiSpyware application is no longer flagging adware products from Claria as a threat to PC users.
Less than a week after published reports of acquisition talks between Microsoft and the Redwood City, Calif.-based distributor of the controversial Gator ad-serving software, security researchers have discovered that Microsoft has quietly downgraded its Claria detections.
According to the results published by Howes, four different builds of the Windows AntiSpyware beta detected the Claria products, but the default recommendation was "ignore."
Prior to the recent tests, Microsoft's AntiSpyware tool detected Claria's products and presented users with a recommended action of "Quarantine."
Microsoft on Thursday is expected to unwrap a Windows software and licensing promotion aimed at making it easier for midmarket companies to implement basic Microsoft infrastructure software, according to a Microsoft executive.
The new software bundle, called the Windows Server System Offer for Midsized Companies, will debut at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2005, which will be held in Minneapolis over the weekend.
Also at the show, Microsoft plans to unveil a new version of its Open License Program aimed at midmarket customers, said John Lauer, vice president of midmarket in the small, midmarket, and partner solutions business at Microsoft.
Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates made a surprise appearance at the Live8 concert in London's Hyde Park on Saturday to urge world leaders to do more to ease the problem of Africa's crippling debt and extreme poverty.
Gates' presence on a stage shared with the likes of Elton John, REM and Coldplay may have seemed out of place to some but he was also in the presence of famous friends and fellow humanitarians such as U2 singer Bono.
Gates was introduced to the crowd by Live8 founder Bob Geldof who praised the charitable work of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and hailed the software tycoon as the world's most important philanthropist.
Mario Juarez, product manager of security at Microsoft, said Tuesday at Microsoft's TechEd conference in Amsterdam that only one in three people using Windows XP in the United States has downloaded Service Pack 2, which tightens security on the operating system. "We know that the percentage of people using Windows XP SP 2 is lower than we would like it to be," Juarez said. "One in three machines that run Windows XP is running SP 2. Customers are still reluctant to upgrade."
In general, however, people are being more vigilant about online threats, Detlef Eckert, chief security advisor at Microsoft, said. He also noted that attacks are becoming more targeted and are motivated by financial gain..
Microsoft's Money 2006 has hit the shelves, offering customers a comprehensive financial management suite that can do everything from balance their checkbook to paying their bills online.
This year's release takes into account tightening budgets with improved online banking, as well as better tracking so that users can keep tabs on their spending. At the same time, tools to decipher budgets, understand spending, and manage debt were improved over the previous release.
The revamped spending tracker breaks spending down into categories and provides at a glance notification of when categories are nearing their established limits. Also, bills may now be paid for many accounts using funds from many banks and payments scheduled on the bill calendar.