Posted 11/06/09 at 06:46:00 PM by Ryan Whitwam

PC vendors were hoping that the launch of the much anticipated Windows 7 would result in a sales boost. The first reports from those vendors, however, are not painting a very rosy picture. Most vendors report only modest increases in sales.

We know that sales of standalone upgrade licenses for Windows 7 were very good at launch, but it seems not many people went out to get a new PC. Vendors are not expecting sales to pick up in 2009. This may be due, in part, to the fact that Vista users can easily upgrade their existing hardware to the lighter weight Windows 7.

Some notebook manufacturers produced extra units running Windows 7 in anticipation of high demand. With demand ending up weaker than expected, these PCs end up discounted. Expect PC prices to continue to slide. Good for us, not so much for the manufacturers and vendors.

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Posted 11/06/09 at 08:51:27 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Microsoft is wallowing in the success of Windows 7. It is difficult to ignore the itch to compare Windows 7 with its predecessor. The Redmond-based software behemoth seems to be relieved that Windows 7 has managed to dodge the fate of Windows Vista. Windows Team Blog blogger Brandon Le Blanc could barely hide his excitement when reporting NPD group's assessment of the initial response to Windows 7.

"It has been quite amazing to watch the global excitement build around Windows 7, especially during a tough economic climate. It was just a few short weeks ago that we learned about Windows 7 outselling the UK's "own" Harry Potter. In Japan, anxious PC users waited in line to be one of the first to get their hands on Windows 7," a clearly ecstatic Le Blanc wrote on the official Windows Team Blog. 

According to NPD's weekly tracking service, Windows 7 software unit sales in the US surpassed VIstas by 234 percent during the first few days. However, revenue generated by Windows 7 sales was only 82 percent higher than Vista's during the tracking period. NPD imputed the rather lackluster revenue growth to the discounts offered on pre-sales and Microsoft's failure to plug the Ultimate version in a manner its due. Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade with an average selling price of $76 was the top-selling Windows 7 SKU during the week ending October 24, 2009.

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Posted 11/06/09 at 08:04:55 AM by Paul Lilly

During an interview with the Fox Business Network, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said his company has learned from Microsoft's past follies in terms of antitrust issues and letting the competition catch up.

"Hopefully we won't repeat the mistakes that Microsoft made 10 years ago that ultimately led to all these things that happened to them," Schmidt said.

Schmidt was also pressed on the potential for Twitter and Facebook to steal the thunder from Google among younger Internet users. But according to Schmidt, it's not a big concern because users of social networking services end up using Google even more.

You can view the two-part interview here and here.

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Posted 11/06/09 at 08:02:45 AM by Paul Lilly

Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite, the company's cloud-based communication and collaboration SaaS, now sports a new pricing model, more storage, and an international expansion that adds 15 additional countries and regions, according to TechCrunchIT.

That's great news for the suite's more than 1 million paying customers, who are now paying $10 per month instead of the former price of $15. Microsoft said it reduced the price because of "rapid customer adoption."

On the mailbox storage side, Microsoft now offers 25GB for users of the standard service, which has been expanded to include Singapore, along with trials to take place in Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, and Taiwan.

Microsoft's Business Productivity Suite Online Suite includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Live Meeting, and Office Communications Online.

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Posted 11/06/09 at 08:02:23 AM by Paul Lilly

Microsoft's security team is having a busy month when that traditionally hasn't been the case in November. As such, IT departments need to prepare for six security updates next week to fix flaws in both Windows and Office.

"Six is the lucky number this month," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security. "Really, anything less than 13 is a lucky number."

That's only half as many that were issued last month, which set the record for the most updates ever since Microsoft starting shipping the monthly patches six years ago. But next week's updates, which will patch 15 separate vulnerabilities, also sets a record for November, a month that's traditionally been pretty low-key.

On the bright side, none of next Tuesday's updates affect Microsoft's recently released Windows 7 operating system.

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Posted 11/05/09 at 06:47:25 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Artist Chuck Anderson has found immense success at the ripe old age of 24. If you’ve installed the Windows 7 RC or final version, you’ve seen his artwork. Chuck designed the login screen and default wallpaper for Redmond’s new OS.

Microsoft contacted him in December 2008. They started off showing him the crazy background themes they were bundling with Windows 7. This may have put the young independent artist at ease knowing he had a lot of leeway in his designs.

The designs were done with pencil and paper first, and then transferred to Photoshop for refining. The entire process took about four months. In the process of designing the login screen, Chuck and Microsoft noticed an early version had a series of seven lines at the bottom. They started repeating that in the final design. If you look at his work, you’ll see there are seven branches, seven leaves, and seven flower petals in a few places.

Microsoft managed to collaborate well with a talented young artist, and our new Windows is much more attractive for it. Hit the story link for some work in progress images of the background and login screen.

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Posted 11/04/09 at 08:50:04 PM by Jason Barry

Microsoft (finally) updated the msn.com portal that graces every Internet Explorer installation’s initial homepage. I know what you’re thinking: “who uses IE or MSN.com?!” That is a debate for another day, today is a day to celebrate MSN.com sporting a new design and some added functionality.

There is an online preview of the new layout and the first thing you will notice is that much of the clutter is gone; there is a new sleek design with a spiffy new logo. They have simplified the navigation and content links above the fold as well as integrated Bing search onto the page. Further, they have implemented connections to Microsoft’s new social networking friends: Facebook and Twitter.

Here is the link to the preview so you can see for yourself. The new design is rolling out now and should reach wide availability by early 2010.

As for “Who uses it?” They claim about 600 million unique users globally and 100 million in the U.S. Is there any chance you still use this portal? What do you think about the new layout?

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Posted 11/04/09 at 07:23:15 PM by Ryan Whitwam

A series of images have shown up online that purport to explain how the mysterious Microsoft Courier interface works. They consist of some professional looking diagrams and illustrations of the Courier device from the previously leaked videos.

The docs indicate that the unit will have multitouch gestures for actions like opening apps, and zooming. There’s a pen as well. It has two buttons, an eraser, and a twist mechanism to access different functions. Courier’s “home screen” is called the Smart Agenda. It displays email, weather, to-do lists, and any active items in the journal. Almost any content the device can access can be “clipped”, and stored in the journal.

There are also numerous references to “the cloud” in these images. They say that any part of your journal can be shared with the cloud. People can instantly comment on these portions via a web browser. Speaking of browsers, the courier has one, and it actually looks nice. Pages are organized like a stack of note cards to flip through.

While this may be vaporware, it is very attractive vaporware. Let’s hope it actually exists.

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