Hosting Your Windows 7 Torrenting Party (Previously)
posted by Artw on Oct 22, 2009 - 110 comments

Its reach is impossible to measure precisely, but more than 3 million vulnerable machines may ultimately have been infected. : The inside story on the Conficker Worm at New Scientist.
posted by The Whelk on Jun 15, 2009 - 84 comments

Windows 7 will ship without Internet Explorer in Europe "Microsoft said it made it’s decision following an anti-trust investigation by the European Union." [more inside]
posted by sloe on Jun 12, 2009 - 84 comments

Microsoft is taking unprecedented measures to combat China's piracy. The people aren't happy. Is the company shooting itself in the foot?
posted by strangeguitars on Oct 22, 2008 - 66 comments

Celebrity computer endorsements throughout the ages.
posted by Artw on Aug 21, 2008 - 65 comments

Steve Ballmers's been busy. Whether it's attacking Google and Linux (or being attacked back), berating the moms of 13-year-old girls who hate Vista, or just being called an alcoholic, the perennial Microsoft CEO been everywhere these days.
What happened to the good old days when he just yelled a lot?
posted by FeldBum on Oct 11, 2007 - 45 comments

Today is a big day for Microsoft with the launch of three key products - Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007. User groups are already up-and-running. Vista and Office have been available for some time. But maybe this is just clever viral marketing? In spite of lots of new and improved features, Vista has not been well received by reviewers. But this has been true of every Windows version since Windows 95. One thing is certain, these versions will be the last releases that focus on the desktop rather than the Internet.
posted by bobbyelliott on Nov 30, 2006 - 109 comments

It needs an awful lot of RAM, disk space, and VRAM. Yet, with all this power, it suffers from very limited mobility (no, really); it's a big change from previous editions. It might even stop working on you, transforming your powerful workstation into a locked-down web-browsing paperweight (but what about your data?). It might not have the drivers you need to get your equipment working, which will be a problem because it won't load drivers that haven't been "blessed" by its maker. Certainly the technical challenges with Windows Vista are a handful, but what on earth were the Microsoft lawyers thinking when they inserted a clause in its EULA that specifically forbids problem-solving (clause 4)?
posted by clevershark on Oct 19, 2006 - 49 comments

To help enforce the genuine advantage, Microsoft will include a "kill switch" in Vista--if it's not validated within a specified time, all of its functions except web browsing are locked down and the machine automatically kicks you out after an hour. Will it mean more Linux users, an excuse to just use Google desktop, or is it just a matter of time until this, too, gets cracked?
posted by camcgee on Oct 5, 2006 - 136 comments

``I managed developer teams in Windows for five years, and have only begun to reflect on the experience now that I have recently switched teams. Through a series of conversations with other leaders that have similarly left The Collective, several root causes have emerged as lasting characterizations of what's really wrong in The Empire.'
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jun 18, 2006 - 75 comments

Windows Vista. Microsoft has released a public Beta of Windows Vista. Get your free copy with 2 activation keys that will let you install on 10 PCs per key. Public Beta Link.
posted by tatnasty on Jun 8, 2006 - 72 comments

"In some cases, there really is no way to recover without nuking the systems from orbit." -- Mike Danseglio, program manager in the Security Solutions group at Microsoft
posted by Steven C. Den Beste on Apr 4, 2006 - 43 comments

Microsoft has released their latest CTP (Community Technical Preview) of Windows Vista. Build 5308 Supposedly incorporates many more of the final features then previous CTP builds. Microsoft has also hinted at a final release during the first week of October this year.
posted by Hexidecimal on Mar 2, 2006 - 26 comments

Ten years ago today, Microsoft released a massive overhaul of their flagship product — Windows 95. It added support for 256-character mixed-case long filenames, pre-emptive multitasking, and protected-mode 32-bit applications. Detractors noted that its updated interface owed a number of debts to Apple's MacOS and IBM's OS/2. Most importantly, however, Windows 95 included built-in support for dial-up networking and a TCP/IP stack. Once this technology was widely-available, it was only a matter of time until the Internet became a household word.
posted by Plutor on Aug 24, 2005 - 80 comments

Inventor of CTRL-ALT-DEL ridicules Bill Gates. "'I may have invented CTRL-ALT-DEL, but Bill Gates made it famous". Video clip of the episode, via TUAW, who say "The funniest part is the expression, or lack thereof, on the face of Bill."
posted by nthdegx on Jul 28, 2005 - 50 comments

Securing public computers isn't easy, but a Microsoft kit to do that may also help families share home computers. If you share a Windows XP Home or Professional computer with other users, particularly, children, or family members, you may find the Shared Computer Toolkit beta an interesting idea. But caveat emptor: this is free "beta" software, has a spooky "validation" process to confirm your copy of Windows is "genuine," and installation is not for the faint of heart. Then again, neither is re-installing Windows after a friend/relative/SO inadvertently trashes your computer.
posted by paulsc on Jul 7, 2005 - 18 comments

Internet Explorer - We discovered the web. Check out this humorous parody site created for Microsoft's browser Internet Explorer. Something tells me this won't be up for too much longer though.
posted by sjvilla79 on May 28, 2005 - 37 comments

The clueless reviews the Mac Mini His chief gripes are "The Mini boots up into a stripped-down operating system which Apple calls OS X, similar to the stripped-down WindowsCE OS found on many handhelds." and "No serial ports, no way to connect a printer, no PS/2 ports, no floppy drive, no 5.25" bays." Let the hate mail campaign begin!
posted by StormBear on Feb 2, 2005 - 47 comments

Whizzkid develops Linux application for Windows [...]The significance of the development is that Linux and Windows are able to work in parallel on the same computer or server. To[sic] now, the computer world is divided into systems that operate either with Windows or with Linux. [...]
posted by Postroad on Apr 12, 2004 - 33 comments

With its latest security update Microsoft has disabled the ability to pass username:password pairs in URLs. If you usually use this format for connecting to your site via either FTP or HTTP, it will no longer work after you install this update.
posted by johnnydark on Feb 4, 2004 - 34 comments

What software version numbers really mean. Not sure who started the latest trend of dropping version numbers from software. We could always blame Microsoft with Windows ME . But Macromedia is at fault too with the whole MX thing. And MX doesn't even stand for anything. Now Adobe is getting into the mix. There will be no Photoshop 8 or Illustrator 11. Just CS . So is this a good thing? Version numbers may not be exciting but it sure did make it easy to keep track of the latest upgrade.
posted by jeremias on Sep 29, 2003 - 42 comments

Windows Vulnerabilities XPlained I've always used Gibson Research's website to test my Windows system for vulnerabilities. With the latest BLAST aimed at MS, I thought to share his site with the class. While Mr. Gibson obviously has some axes to grind and bones to pick with Microsoft and with various software firewall makers, his explanations of how Windows can be XPloited in terms that are fairly easy to understand is most appreciated. Be sure to check out the numerous free utiltites (small downloads! I mean, really small!) that will help you plug nearly every hole in your Windows.
Didn't know MS had shut down www.windowsupdate.com til just now, either
posted by WolfDaddy on Aug 18, 2003 - 42 comments

Windows RG (Really Good) - a new build for the demanding windows user, and an early christmas present for all mac users.
posted by gravelshoes on Mar 28, 2003 - 12 comments

While MS-bashing is often too easy, this statement about recent security holes seemed especially astounding: "Outlook Express ships with every Windows system, or rather as part of IE, so it's on every system. But unless it is configured to receive mail, you are not at risk," said Scott Culp, manager for Microsoft security response. Interesting. Unless it is configured to receive mail, like, you know, an email program.
posted by judith on Oct 11, 2002 - 30 comments

Windows dissatisfaction at all time high. Of 1,500 corporations surveyed, nearly 40% are actively seeking alternatives to Microsoft and their new licensing schemes. "This cumulative dissatisfaction will not necessarily translate into corporate defections to rival operating systems. But it does open the door a crack and raises the possibility that Linux and Mac OS X can gain new footholds in an overwhelmingly Windows world."
posted by jragon on Aug 6, 2002 - 12 comments

Celebrate, Windows users, you too can use the world's best MP3 player, with the final release of XPod today, which gives iPod compatiblity to Windows.
And this is not the only option, ephPod does the same thing, but does require you to buy a copy of MacOpener first.
Didn't Apple say they were coming out with their own Windows drivers for iPod eventually?
posted by Mwongozi on Jun 24, 2002 - 19 comments

The real challenge to Microsoft in the 21st Century? Wonder what the techies out there think of this - is it yet another pc false dawn, or - if and when Red Hat get on board - the beginning of the end for Windows? Checkout the heavyweight 'partners'... What with the developments in the pipeline for PlayStation Linux - and maybe even the XBox! - , and Linux making tentative inroads in China, how's Bill gonna embrace and extend this one? Please elucidate for the ignorant! Link courtesy of BBC Sci/Tech
posted by dash_slot- on May 30, 2002 - 25 comments

Microsoft Windows + NSA = loopholes in security: "A careless mistake by Microsoft programmers has revealed that special access codes prepared by the US National Security Agency have been secretly built into [almost all versions of] Windows." an interesting article that really shouldnt be surprising, and all the more reason to buy a mac.
posted by sixtwenty3dc on Mar 22, 2002 - 25 comments

Cairo on the horizon (again). Balmer talks of Microsoft's intention to integrate MSDE (i.e. SQL Server) technologies into the Windows filesystem. This long sought-after utopia of unified, object-oriented storage where files and directories become irrelavant has been talked about since 1994. It may, soon, be upon us.
posted by costas on Mar 13, 2002 - 9 comments

Microsoft must include Java with XP and IE. Sun sues Microsoft for including Java, then sues Microsoft for not including Java. Fascinating.
posted by milnak on Mar 8, 2002 - 33 comments

Microsoft plans "doomsday defense". Microsoft Corp. plans to argue in court hearings next week that if antitrust sanctions sought by state prosecutors are granted, the company would be forced to pull its latest Windows computer operating systems off the market and be unable to develop new systems.
posted by aaronshaf on Mar 4, 2002 - 56 comments

MS Windows for your car? Let me make sure I'm getting this...cell phones in cars = bad, BSOD in cars = good?
posted by kasnj on Mar 4, 2002 - 14 comments

Not even the duckie escapes co-optation No one disputes the XP GUI is cool. "Good Artists create, Great Artists STEAL, and Real Artists Ship" [link from nofuncharlie]
posted by otherchaz on Feb 5, 2002 - 31 comments

Do you have a 'Super Cookie' ??? Another m$ screw-up... Very interesting since wmp just minutes before tried to access the net through my firewall that is set to block all except a few programs. If you're running mozilla his demo doesn't hit but using msie it sures pulls up the ID# of my wmp... time to tighten things down again!!! Another blasted waste of time to fix what m$ should not have let out in the first place!!! Link via... Inflight Correction
posted by tilt on Jan 17, 2002 - 13 comments

FBI warns Microsoft XP users "The FBI is urging computer users to unplug and don't play when it comes to addressing serious security flaws found in Microsoft's new Windows XP program." "Microsoft admitted this week that there are several serious glitches in the new software. " Really?
posted by headlemur on Dec 22, 2001 - 24 comments

Microsoft to end support for Windows 95/98. Apparently buried in the news releases of Windows XP, Microsoft says it will no longer support some of the older OSs by June of next year, along with a number of other products. While this may sound like a good idea at first, could this be another thing that goes horribly wrong? (more inside...)
posted by PeteyStock on Nov 20, 2001 - 30 comments

$100 million in fake software seized .The copies of Windows Millenium and Windows 2000 Professional were indistinguishable from the real thing except for their failure to crash every 15 minutes(I made that up).Ever burn a copy for friends? Is that wrong?
posted by Mack Twain on Nov 17, 2001 - 31 comments

Justice Rejects Microsoft Penalty (yahoo news) The government considered but rejected penalties against Microsoft Corp. in its antitrust case that would have required the company to reveal the secret blueprints to its flagship Windows software and to distribute products from its fiercest rivals, court records show. The Justice Department also set up an e-mail address where consumers and companies may send their comments about the antitrust settlement. That address is: microsoft.atr@usdoj.gov Whether or not you're pro-Microsoft, anti-Microsoft, or on the fence... I encourage everyone to send their thoughts along.
posted by SilentSalamander on Nov 16, 2001 - 9 comments

MS : Linux is the threat. According to the Register, Linux has been upgraded from a threat to the threat.

I'm waiting for Ballmer to call Linux the Evil Empire.
posted by jragon on Nov 13, 2001 - 35 comments

Is Microsoft finally doing things right? According to this usability study putting Win98 and XP side by side, the answer seems to be affirmative - on favour of XP. Won't make me trade my Mac for a Wintel machine though.
posted by betobeto on Nov 2, 2001 - 31 comments

Microsoft, DOJ settlement close... but the deal apparently would not place significant limitations on functions that Microsoft could "bundle" into its Windows operating program. The judge is said to be concerned about the "national psyche," but will slapping Bill on the wrists really help things?
posted by tranquileye on Nov 1, 2001 - 6 comments

The Twenty Most Critical Internet Security Vulnerabilities
This is a list of Internet security tips that SAMS and the FBI updated yesterday. The list is really aimed at IT professionals and does not offer much advice to the home user. My advise for any home user who is worried about viruses and security: 1. Don't use Windows OS, any Windows OS (try Linux or Mac) 2. Remove Outlook from your computer. 3. Don't open e-mail attachments you did not ask for.
posted by DragonBoy on Oct 2, 2001 - 10 comments

Internet Explorer 6 final is out for windows. Hopefully they've worked all the bugs out from the public beta. They're claiming full 100% standards support for DOM level 1 and CSS 1 (it only took five years!), though time will tell how accurate that claim is.
posted by mathowie on Aug 27, 2001 - 64 comments

Windows RG (really good edition)
posted by quonsar on Aug 23, 2001 - 9 comments

Slate's Mickey Kaus and the Washington Post ask the question: For all the claims of illegal monopolies and unfair advantage, is the tech industry counting on Microsoft and Windows XP's Oct. 25 release to save its bacon?
posted by rcade on Jul 30, 2001 - 19 comments

NY Senator wants XP's release delayed and The Register writes a somewhat humourous article about it (as usual). Excerpt: "It appears that Microsoft intends to maximize its monopolistic power, using XP as a platform to enter new lines of business while encumbering competitors," Schumer said, rooting deep into the 'I just sussed out Redmond's business strategy; let's arrange a press conference' archive.
posted by DyRE on Jul 25, 2001 - 1 comment

Win XP's Product Activation as a breeze to hack. Provided that RC1 still ships as is and you keep your RAM locked at a fixed number of sticks, it's simply a matter of keeping a backup of a DBL file. For all the ballyhoo, it's amazing that something this obvious slipped under the cracks. With WPA this sloppy, is this the only half-hearted facet of Windows XP?
posted by ed on Jul 17, 2001 - 36 comments

Microsoft generously allows people to alter their computer environments. This act of corporate benevolence will allow manufacturers to - gasp! - put new links on the Start menu and desktop. Also, they will allow Internet Explorer to be uninstalled, so that a person can use the bug-ridden, crippled browser of their choice. How gracious of them.
posted by solistrato on Jul 11, 2001 - 15 comments

Someone reverse engineered the Win-XP activation mechanism. It's not as bad as many people thought. It's certainly no cause for paranoia.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jul 9, 2001 - 25 comments

Minesweeper - It offends me so ban it!
posted by twistedonion on Jun 21, 2001 - 21 comments