Stuart J. Johnston

Microsoft is seeking to patent a method for using a popular human-verification technology on the Web to deliver advertising to a captive audience. However, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may run into some resistance along the way, as it’s not the first time someone has thought about the ideas it’s trying to patent. Many Web sites and […]

“We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.” That’s the message that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) wants the heads of Fortune 500 companies to get this week as it launches a campaign to get large companies to reject Windows 7, and other Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) software. Instead of sticking with […]

Microsoft said Tuesday that it has extended its “Office Genuine Advantage” (OGA) anti-piracy program to the U.S., the UK and 11 other nations, bringing the total number of countries subject to the validity tests to 41. Software piracy remains a serious problem worldwide, and the OGA program is part of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Genuine Software […]

Windows 7’s official launch is still two months away, but a pair of recent reviews may point to a chink in the new software’s shining armor. The problem is that its battery life, particularly on low-powered netbook computers, seems to be shorter under Windows 7 than under the venerable Windows XP. The most recent review, […]

Microsoft is releasing a phone application platform for emerging markets — South Africa is first — that will let owners of so-called “feature phones” (non-smartphones) run some smartphone apps by hosting them in the cloud. Called OneApp, the platform has both client and server components. The client code that runs on the feature phone is […]

As if it weren’t clear enough already, Microsoft’s new Zune HD media players are lining up toe-to-toe, feature-to-feature with Apple’s iPod Touch. The latest proof? Microsoft’s devices will apparently include a marketplace for third-party applications. That revelation came into focus over the weekend when several users reported seeing an “Apps” item on the menu in […]

Office 2010 will provide more than just cool new features, like Web-based versions of the suite’s main applications. It will also improve security for both users and administrators, the company said. A new security technology that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is building into the next release of Microsoft Office aims to make it possible to safely […]

Microsoft has pulled the plug early on downloads of the Windows 7 “Release Candidate,” nixing availability of the upcoming OS’s final test release. Company spokespeople confirmed to InternetNews.com earlier this week that the last chance to the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) would be at the end of the day today. Instead, however, the chance […]

Microsoft held its first Windows Mobile Developers Camp (WinMoDevCamp) at its corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, Thursday, in a move aimed at recruiting developers to write applications to sell on the company’s upcoming Marketplace for Mobile. Introduced in February, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Marketplace for Mobile, set to go live by the end of the year, […]

As a settlement looms in Microsoft’s tête-à-tête with the European Commission (EC) over bundling Internet Explorer (IE) with Windows, one of the software giant’s arch rivals has weighed in with a calculated blogging campaign. Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, and Harvey Anderson, the foundation’s general counsel, both blogged this week that Microsoft’s proposed […]

Market share for Microsoft’s Bing search engine inched up a half a percent in July over its June performance. However, according to the latest figures from Web analytics firm comScore, that’s still flat from the performance of Microsoft’s pre-Bing search services of a year ago in July 2008. The surprise is just who is being […]

Even with last month’s revelation that Microsoft and Yahoo will combine their search efforts, Microsoft has a long haul to gain a significant leg up over its arch competitor. To do that, according to a leading search analytics firm, Bing must break users’ Google reflex. Although combined traffic to Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo’s (NASDAQ: […]