Stuart J. Johnston

Microsoft has published instructions for a workaround that will make it harder for corporate users of its new Bing search engine to access porn from their work PCs. Additionally, according to a posting on the Bing Community blog, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) plans to “formalize” the solution in “the next couple of months,” though it does […]

Microsoft plans to deliver ten patches, six of them “critical,” next Tuesday when it makes its scheduled monthly patch drop — on what’s known as “Patch Tuesday.” On the list of serious bugs to patch this time around is one in Internet Explorer (IE) that even affects IE8, which just shipped in March. The disclosure […]

Microsoft almost always toots its own horn when it has a successful product or service. For those products and services that don’t achieve their goals, though, Microsoft often has a quiet demise on tap, according to a new study released this week. One point that jumps out of the report, which was written by Matt […]

Bing is now officially off and running — as of Tuesday night when Microsoft held a gala of sorts, custom lighting Seattle’s iconic Space Needle and shining a blue “search” light into the clear June sky over the city’s downtown. “Want to shoot you a quick note that today is the first day that Bing […]

It’s official — or at least semi-official. Windows 7 will be available for sale as of October 22, a Microsoft spokesperson told InternetNews.com. Windows 7 has been in the final phase of testing — known as Release Candidate or RC — since May 5. Still, the company has been cagey about disclosing nearly every important […]

Users impatient to try out Microsoft’s new search engine don’t have to wait until Wednesday after all. Bing is live now. In fact, bloggers began reporting that Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Bing search engine was live by about midnight Pacific time Sunday night. For instance, Enthusiast site LiveSide reported on its blog that “at least some” […]

With all of the attention on the launch of Bing, the news that Microsoft quietly announced it is going to deliver version 3 of its Silverlight streaming media technology on July 10 at an “invitation only” event in San Francisco went almost unnoticed. Microsoft has gone out of its way to inform the world what […]

After weeks of vociferous complaints, Microsoft announced late Friday afternoon that it will, after all, remove the three-application limit for upcoming Windows 7 Starter Edition. That edition will become Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) default netbook offering when Windows 7 ships later this year. With the explosive success of netbooks in the past year and a half, […]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introduced the company’s new Google search competitor and its new name — Bing — Thursday at the D: All Things Digital Conference in Carlsbad, Calif. However, despite a glitzy demo, and the rebranding, it remains to be seen whether Bing will go “ka-ching” for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and whether both the […]

The Zune HD. Click to enlarge.Source: Microsoft. The rumors have been flying among portable music player aficionados and other gadgeteers for weeks, but now it’s official. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) this fall will roll out a new Zune music player aimed squarely at Apple’s iPod Touch. “Available in the U.S. this fall, Zune HD is the first portable […]

Microsoft announced this week that it’s publicly released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2. The company released the second service pack for Vista to manufacturing, otherwise known as RTM, in late April. The two operating systems can use the same service pack because their code base is fundamentally the […]

Microsoft this week plans to debut its new search engine and the strategy behind it, but its choice for a new name — reportedly “Bing” — may already be taken. Whatever the new moniker, however, AdvertisingAge is reporting Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) plans to invest $100 million to promote the new branding. The announcement of the […]