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Windows

Submission + - PDC Version of Windows 7 Has Critical Exploit. (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
twitter
twitter writes: "Windows 7 suffered a no user intervention remote root flaw before it was introduced:

The more than 6,000 attendees who will be walking away from the sold-out event with the Windows 7 operating system software in hand could have been vulnerable to an attacker exploiting the security hole. "The code that will be distributed at PDC for Windows 7 was put on CD before last week's security update was developed, so it will not contain the update," a Microsoft spokeswoman wrote...

This is to be expected because Windows code does not change much. 2000, XP and server 2003 were listed as sharing the problem. I wonder if they bothered to correct the 160 GB hard drive they also handed out.

Updates, if any in my journal."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft IP Exec Touts 'Mixed-Source' Future (infoworld.com) 3

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "Microsoft VP of Intellectual Property and Licensing Horacio Gutierrez describes a software future that is harder and harder to define as 'divided between open source and proprietary companies,' in an interview with InfoWorld. 'Every company that traditionally comes from an open source background has over time moved to the middle after realizing that in addition to the open source foundation, they also need proprietary offerings that will differentiate their services from others and therefore will enable them to build a viable business,' Gutierrez says. As for Microsoft's move toward this mixed-source future, calling out companies for infringing on Microsoft patents has apparently proved key to initiating collaboration: 'That is when my work and the work of the IP licensing team at Microsoft comes in, by turning those situations into potential collaborations that really answer what customers want,' Guiterrez says. 'Customers don't want to have to deal with these issues of interoperability and IP assurance concerns. They want their vendors to come together and solve it and that is the solution that we feel has worked and will continue to work in the future.' The interview, in which Gutierrez references collaboration 16 times, also touches on Microsoft's Eclipse agenda, cross-platform development efforts, interest in offering products under the open source license, and piracy."
Microsoft

Submission + - M$ Rattles Patent Saber Again. (slashdot.org) 3

Submitted by twitter
twitter writes: M$'s IP lawyer is threatening Red Hat and every other company that has not made a "deal" like Novell's:

"If every effort to license proves not to be fruitful, ultimately we have a responsibility to customers that have licenses and to our shareholders to ensure our intellectual property is respected," he said.

The trouble is that there's nothing to respect on the table. The term "Intellectual property" is meaningless. Novell's deal [2], [3] covers non specific software patents that the rest of the world has waited years for M$ to reveal. A lawyer should know that vague threats sound more like judicial extortion than a legitimate grievance. Who does he think he's fooling?
Microsoft

Ballmer Admits Google Apps Are Biting Into MS Office 293

Posted by Soulskill from the legacy-of-clippy dept.
twitter points out coverage of a discussion between Steve Ballmer and two Gartner analysts in which the Microsoft CEO admits that Google Apps is enjoying an advantage over Office by users who want to share their documents. He points to Office Live as their response to Google, and adds, "Google has the lead, but, if we're good at advertising, we'll compete with them in the consumer business." Whether or not they're good at advertising is still in question, if their recent attempts are any indication. Ballmer also made statements indicating some sort of arrangement with Yahoo! could still be in the works, but Microsoft was quick to step on that idea. Regarding Windows Vista, he said Microsoft was prepared for people to skip it altogether, and that Microsoft would be "ready" when it was time to deploy Windows 7.
Microsoft

Submission + - SPAM: Debt and Freeze, M$ Finally Going Down the Tubes.

Submitted by inTheLoo
inTheLoo writes: ESR predicted the fall of M$ if they were to lose their abilty to play games with stock options.

We can afford to pin some of our hopes on growth in Europe and developing countries and elsewhere, but Microsoft can't — the time horizon on it is too long for a company whose big challenge is to keep beating revenue expectations every quarter in a market where they have 92% share (if they don't beat those expectations every quarter, their stock tanks, the option pyramid collapses, and it's game over).

After ten years of flast stock prices and three quarters of missing expectations, is the end finally here? Twitter asks:

We've seen stories about how M$ is past it's prime, and how rejected their new OS is. Opinion of their new Office is about as low. Partners like CompUSA has gone under while others like Adobe are under full frontal attack for the remaining "profit centers". There's been a regular executive exodus. Now, after three straight quarters of missing Wall Street expectation comes news of massive losses, a now confirmed plan to go into debt buying their own stock and a hiring freeze. Is this, finally, the end of the end for M$?

Oh yes it is! Vista is a massive failure and they won't be able to do better with less.

KDE

KDE 4.1 Beta 2 – Two Steps Forward, One Step Back? 431

Posted by timothy from the everyone's-a-critic dept.
jammag writes "Linux pundit Bruce Byfield takes a look at the latest KDE beta and finds it wanting: 'Very likely, KDE users will have to wait for another release or two beyond 4.1 before the new version of KDE matches the features of earlier ones, especially in customization.' He notes that the second beta is still prone to unexplained crashes, and goes so far as to say, 'Everyone agrees now that KDE 4.0 was a mistake.' I'm not too sure about that — really, 'everyone?'"
Microsoft

Submission + - Acer moving to Linux because of Microsoft (vnunet.com)

Submitted by ruphus13
ruphus13 writes: Acer is going to begin pushing Linux on its desktops and Laptops aggressively. According to this article, "We have shifted towards Linux because of Microsoft," he said. "Microsoft has a lot of power and it is going to be difficult, but we will be working hard to develop the Linux market." Acer sees two killer apps with Linux on computers: operation and cost. Its flavour of Linux will boot in 15 seconds compared to minutes for Windows, and the open source operating system can extend battery life from five to seven hours."
Windows

Microsoft Denies Call-in 'Save XP' Petition 340

Posted by samzenpus from the no-vista-love dept.
CWmike writes "Gregg Keizer digs deeper on a report that said Microsoft was logging calls from customers who requested that the company extend the retail availability of Windows XP to find that some users claimed that they couldn't get through to the support lines. Microsoft denies that it organized any kind of call-in petition and pleaded with users not to dial its technical support numbers to ask for an XP extension. 'As a courtesy to customers in need of technical assistance, we ask callers not to call Microsoft Customer Support Services to request an extension for Windows XP,' a company representative said. Microsoft declined to comment on whether its support lines had experienced a call-volume spike starting last Friday, when the Neowin notice first appeared."

Comment Ten years is unusual (Score 5, Informative) 522

by hawk (#23661639) Attached to: Jack Thompson Walks Out On Hearing
I am a lawyer, but this isn't legal advice. If this even *could* apply to you, you would already be a lawyer . . .

Ten years is unusual. I'm not even sure I've ever *heard* of "enhanced disbarment" before.

By its nature, disbarment is permanent. In many (most?) states, an attorney can petition to be considered for lifting of disbarment after five years--but has a heavy burden; he must show that he is no longer a danger if allowed to practice. The fact that he is a danger was established prior to disbarment; disputing it would end the possibility of showing the needed change.

Ten years, however . . . and that does *not* mean he gets the license back then, only that that is the earliest date at which he *could* request it and attempt to show fitness . . .

hawk, esq.
Music

Submission + - Behold the Future of Music: Virtual Bands (channelinsider.com)

Submitted by
buzzardsbay
buzzardsbay writes: "OK, the metaphor linking it to IT services may be a bit forced, but this column by Chris Gonsalves sheds light on an amazing trend in music: Virtual bands. Musicians previously limited to honing their chops in their basements and bedrooms are linking up through YouTube to swap multitrack files and create some really amazing music. The first really good example being Virtual Zeppelin, an act that sounds so much like the real thing that a lot of early listeners assumed it was a hoax. Turns out it's just a bunch of Zep freaks from the U.S., Canada and Japan who put a band together in a whole new way. This stuff has to be heard to be believed. And once you see it, it seems obvious that these virtual bands, made up of the best role players for any given project, will be a force in music production going forward."
Windows

Submission + - Microsoft Offers Vista Users Free Upgrade (informationweek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: According to InformationWeek, Steve Ballmer said Tuesday that Vista purchasers can legally install previous versions of Windows on their computers. He also said that he plans to leave Microsoft within 10 years.

Ballmer's comments indicate that Microsoft does not view the upgrade program as a mere licensing loophole through which a few disgruntled customers can gain access to Windows XP. Rather, it appears that the company is now formally endorsing the program and may in fact be counting on it to spur sales of Vista, which many businesses have rejected due to its hefty hardware requirements and incompatibilities with older applications.

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