MetaFilter posts tagged with windows and Microsoft

Every party should be a windows 7 party

Artw — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:13:01 -0800

Hosting Your Windows 7 Torrenting Party (Previously)

The dry, technical language of Microsoft's October update did not indicate anything particularly untoward.

The Whelk — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:40:29 -0800

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.

Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom!

sloe — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:14:55 -0800

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." "This means that computer manufacturers and users will be free to install Internet Explorer on Windows 7, or not, as they prefer" - Dave Heiner, deputy general counsel for Microsoft. Related: Bing (6% market share launch) and the Browser Wars which are still being won by IE or pretty much a dead heat between IE and FF depending on who you sample. Apple nod: Safari's come from behind upset?

The biggest hacker in China

strangeguitars — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:41:02 -0800

Microsoft is taking unprecedented measures to combat China's piracy. The people aren't happy. Is the company shooting itself in the foot?

Sienfeld wants you to buy Vista, Shatner wants you to buy a Vic 20

Artw — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:07:03 -0800

Celebrity computer endorsements throughout the ages.

Ballmer's Been Busy

FeldBum — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:37:49 -0800

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?

Big day for Microsoft

bobbyelliott — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:10:12 -0800

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.

Where do you want to go tomorrow?

clevershark — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:27:40 -0800

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)?

The switch kills what now?

camcgee — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 14:09:35 -0800

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?

Every once in a while, Truth still pipes up in meetings. When this happens, more often than not, Truth is simply bent over an authoritative knee and soundly spanked into silence.

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 00:03:44 -0800

``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.'

Windows Vista Public Beta Available

tatnasty — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 05:09:28 -0800

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.

When malware runs wild!

Steven C. Den Beste — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 13:46:57 -0800

"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

Windows Vista 5308

Hexidecimal — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 10:23:54 -0800

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.

Ten years ago, the blue-screen was born.

Plutor — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:00:01 -0800

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.

Top Billing

nthdegx — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 04:57:34 -0800

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."

Public computers get security help

paulsc — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 18:40:50 -0800

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.

Internet Explorer - We discovered the web.

sjvilla79 — Sat, 28 May 2005 14:04:29 -0800

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.

Someone is mad that paid too much for their MCSE

StormBear — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:30:03 -0800

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!

Whizzkid develops Linux application for Windows

Postroad — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:42:25 -0800

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. [...]

Microsoft update disables user:password in URLs

johnnydark — Wed, 04 Feb 2004 12:55:16 -0800

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.

What software version numbers really mean

jeremias — Mon, 29 Sep 2003 07:14:58 -0800

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.

Windows Vulnerabilities XPlained

WolfDaddy — Mon, 18 Aug 2003 11:49:07 -0800

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

Windows RG

gravelshoes — Fri, 28 Mar 2003 07:50:32 -0800

Windows RG (Really Good) - a new build for the demanding windows user, and an early christmas present for all mac users.

judith — Fri, 11 Oct 2002 15:02:50 -0800

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.

jragon — Tue, 06 Aug 2002 13:24:49 -0800

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."