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

If you tried to validate a legitimate copy of XP or Vista today before 2pm, you were in for a nasty suprise. It seems that all Windows Genuine Advantage servers failed at once sometime today. One BoingBoing reader who contacted Microsoft was told to try again on Tuesday, as they expected the servers to be down for a few days. Rob Knop of the ScienceBlog Galactic Interactions responds with an entertaining rant.
posted by [expletive deleted] on Aug 25, 2007 - 28 comments

The How-To Geek provides hints and tips for a variety of operating systems and popular pieces of software. The how-tos cover a pleasing range of head-slapping I-should-have-known-thats to relatively advanced techniques. Follow the latest page to read the site in blog form.
posted by nthdegx on Jul 8, 2007 - 12 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

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