Stuart J. Johnston

The beta version of Windows 7 isn’t even quite out the door — that begins in earnest today, when Microsoft starts the consumer beta test of Windows Vista’s replacement. But that hasn’t stopped Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) executives from looking past the beta to the final step before commercial release, suggesting that the software giant is […]

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer announced Wednesday night that the long-awaited public beta test of Windows 7 has begun – although consumers will not be able to download it until Friday. Beyond that, though, Ballmer’s first ever keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) promised to be light on surprises – after all, his […]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer plans to announce the official start of public beta testing for Windows 7 at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas Wednesday evening. Beyond that however, sources say, many of the company’s other plans for the show are not likely to excite the audience. Instead, they warn technology-hungry consumers […]

For Microsoft, in many respects, 2009 promises to be much like 2008. The company has all the same challenges it exited 2008 with – lingering legal issues, efforts to test and ship the latest version of Windows, and the continued development and evolution of its “cloud computing” plans. Did we mention the down economy? ‘Vista […]

Tired of those cheesy rent-to-own ads that offer everything from dining room sets to bedroom suites, or even new PCs for “low, low” prices? Get ready for the Microsoft version – with a twist. On Christmas day, Microsoft filed a patent application for a “pay-per-use” PC hardware and software rental model that would let a […]

Microsoft plans to issue a “release candidate” of the new standards-driven Internet Explorer 8 early in the first quarter, with final release pegged for the first half of the coming year. The RC, as it’s called, will also add a new feature aimed at making IE8 more transparently handle sites created using differing Web standards, […]

While Microsoft maintains that Windows Vista is the most successful version of its iconic operating system ever, that picture may be dimmed by a new report that found that almost half of corporate IT shops will skip it while waiting for the next major release — Windows 7. In an independently-funded survey, long-time industry analyst […]

The pre-beta version of Windows 7 that Microsoft handed out at two major conferences this fall was uploaded to BitTorrent sites almost immediately — enabling almost anyone with a little tech savvy to begin kicking the tires early. Now, it’s happened again, despite Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) vaunted tight-lipped policies regarding unreleased products. Last week, at […]

Microsoft announced on Tuesday it is shipping the first public beta of Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Vista Service Pack 2. For the next couple of days, the releases are only available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. On Thursday, the company says it will expand that to anyone who wants to download it […]

Spamhaus.org, an organization that tracks and analyzes spam traffic, has fingered Microsoft as the fifth most spammer-friendly e-mail service in the world. The problem has to do with spammers using Microsoft’s Live services as a portal to send their unwanted messages. Spamhaus officials say they have repeatedly notified Microsoft that it should block those spam […]