Friday, November 28, 2008

Microsoft modifies Zune subscription model

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday announced a new music subscription plan for owners of its Zune players, which would allow them to keep 10 tracks per month and add them to their permanent collection.

The Zune Pass subscription service currently gives consumers on-demand access to millions of tracks for $14.99 per month.

Effective Thursday, the software company's modified subscription plan would allow owners of Zune to keep 10 tracks per month, which has an estimated value of $10. The users can also add those tracks to their permanent collection.

The company said agreements have been signed with the big four music labels -- EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group -- and also with a few independent distributors.

A Zune Pass would allow the user to download music and the downloaded content can be shared among up to three PCs and three Zune devices, the company said.

Zune Pass subscribers can retain digital rights management (DRM)-free MP3 tracks from Sony BMG and UMG.

The tracks can be burned to a CD or moved to other devices even if the subscription ends, the company said.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Man Gets Windows Vista to Work with Printer

This headline looks like it came from The Onion, but it didn't. It's the real headline of an article posted on SeattlePI.com in the blogs section. The core of the story is that a man couldn't get his printer to work with Windows Vista, and ultimately, with the help of a Microsoft test manager, solved the problem warranting an article about it.

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Ten Reasons Why Vista Isn't That Bad

Of all the ware Microsoft churns out from its sweatshop of "lightning bolt, lightning bolt" nerds, Windows is the one most inexorably tied to the public image of the company. Although we agree that Vista could have used a bit more time shoved back into the silicon womb for some feature buffing and bug fixing, it's not nearly as bad as people say.

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Bill Gates: top ten greatest hits (and misses)

Damn, Bill, you have come a LONG way. Look at you there back in '82, you handsome devil. As part of our tribute, let's take a quick look back at the top ten greatest (and not so great) products created on Bill-time, shall we? Don't worry, it'll only sting a little.

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

M$ lowered Vista reqs to help Intel sell incompatible chips

So now that the "Vista Capable" lawsuit is a full-blown class action, the judge has unsealed all 158 pages of emails between Microsoft execs trying to sort out what went wrong with the sticker program. While bits and pieces have been blacked out, what remains is still fairly incredible...

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Microsoft posts new Windows XP SP3 build, RC2 to the public

Two weeks after it last handed a new build of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to several thousand invitation-only testers, Microsoft Corp. today posted that version for public downloading. Want to try it out? Here's how: Uninstall RC1 if you have that first, download the reg patch from http://tinyurl.com/2mflo7 , then run windows update to get it.

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Microsoft slams the door on Vista pirates

With the launch of SP1 Microsoft promised to put an end to two popular hacks used by pirates to allow a non-genuine install of Windows Vista to function in the same way as a genuine install. Testing that I’ve carried out in the lab today suggests that Microsoft has been true to its word.

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Microsoft says "sorry" with free Valentine's Zune 80 players

Microsoft is notifying customers that the limited-edition Zune Originals Valentine's Day Zune 80 is delayed. To make things right, they're refunding money, but lettings users keep their Zunes.

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Windows Vista SP1 Go RTM

Today we are excited to announce that we have released Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista to manufacturing (RTM) for our first set of languages (English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese).In mid-March, we will release Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Update (in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese) and to the download center on microsoft.com

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Saturday, February 9, 2008

Windows Vista SP1 Go RTM

Today we are excited to announce that we have released Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista to manufacturing (RTM) for our first set of languages (English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese).In mid-March, we will release Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Update (in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese) and to the download center on microsoft.com

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Monday, February 4, 2008

Computer shop sales pitch: 'We remove Vista' (PIC)

Shop manager Aaron Kaplan said they were prompted to put it up because so many people were having problems with Windows Vista, including compatibility issues with older software and trouble adjusting to the interface.

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Sunday, January 20, 2008

Complete Uncut Gizmodo Bill Gates Interview

We wanted you to have access to the full 20 minutes so you can catch every little nugget from the conversation, and see how the chat evolved to the point where Bill could be frank and open about all things Microsoft.

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How to surf the web even if Internet Explorer is disabled

Crazy trick on how to use the Help function from basic Windows programs to surf the internets.

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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Microsoft seeks patent for office 'spy' software

Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker’s productivity, physical wellbeing and competence. The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers

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Holy Crap: Did Bill Gates Just Say Windows Sucks? [VIDEO]

We asked a simple question: what Microsoft product could have used a little more polish before release? The answer astounded us. We would just like to thank Bill Gates for his honesty and his openness.

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Bill Gates Envisions Life After Microsoft [PICS]

At CES 2008, we saw a video during the Bill Gates final keynote showing his post-Microsoft days: playing with action figures, working on his six-pack with Matthew McConaughey, "Big Pimpin'" with Jay-Z, trying to get a gig on the Daily Show, and calling every Democrat he knows to see if he can run for Vice President.

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Is Bill Gates an Underdog?

When asked about his changing image, Bill recounts the days when Microsoft was as fresh faced as Google, and the times when the government wanted to bust up the party. With everyone and their mom picking on Microsoft, maybe they're underdogs again.

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100 Things People Are Really Saying About Windows Vista

Microsoft's web site offers us "100 Reasons You'll Be Speechless" over Windows Vista. Quoth the copy: "Using Windows Vista for the first time may leave you searching for words". Er, yes... searching for words, and finding them.

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Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC1 vs. Shipping Vista

Microsoft just rolled out the first publicly available release candidate for SP1 of Windows Vista, and we snapped it up, eager to see if it's faster than the currently shipping version of Vista. To test its speed, we ran a series of benchmarks on exactly the same machine, first with the original version of Vista, and then with the RC of SP1

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Kaspersky inadvertently detects Windows Explorer as a virus

Windows Explorer, one of the most crucial components of Microsoft's operating system, was quarantined earlier this week after being falsely identified as malicious code by an antivirus company. Users of Kaspersky Lab's antivirus products noticed the issue, which Kaspersky claimed lasted two hours, on Wednesday night.

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Bill Gates: billionaire, nerd, beer baron

Being the shrewd businessman that he is, Bill Gates has just invested a significant amount of money in one of the few products that people consume during both good times and bad: alcohol.

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Internet Explorer 8 passes ACID2 test!

MSDN's Channel9 and the IEBlog both confirm the new version of IE, IE8, will pass the ACID2 Test!

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Microsoft Customer Service Calls Back 10 Years Later

On 1/8/08, 10 years after he placed a call to Microsoft tech support, they called Brian back to see if his problem had been resolved. Are they just that backed up? Latent Y2K error? Phishing attempt? The truth is much more banal, and potentially, more frightening. See if you can figure out the solution before continuing on to the answer...

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