Microsoft

Breaking its silence on the first service pack for Windows 7, Microsoft said on Thursday that it will include only minor updates, including many already released.

"For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update," Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc said in a blog post.

LeBlanc said that Microsoft is not yet ready to announce a time frame for either the beta or final version of the service pack. But, he said that businesses should not wait for the update.

"So don't wait," LeBlanc said. "Go ahead and deploy...more

LAS VEGAS--When it comes to copy and paste, Microsoft argues that there's a better way of doing things on the phone.

Rather than include the feature in Windows Phone 7 Series devices (something many users say they want), Microsoft argues that a better approach is simply to offer so-called smart links--which recognize a block of text, such as a hyperlink, phone number, or address, and allow a specific action to be taken. For a phone number, such "smart links" would allow the number to be dialed. An address might get pulled up in the mapping program, while clicking on more

Although Windows 7's "XP Mode" has been a welcome feature of the new operating system, there's been a fair bit of confusion brought on by the virtualization layer's hardware requirements.

To work, XP Mode has required a PC processor that supports hardware virtualization, and that feature had to be turned on in the computer's BIOS (basic input/output system). Those requirements caused some consternation, as PC owners didn't always have an easy way to tell if their system fit the bill.

Well, those requirements are no more. As part of a wave of virtualization announcements

Microsoft's MSN China venture is losing a key executive.

Vice President of Sales Xiao Chen is resigning from his position at the end of March to start his own company, a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters. Chen has been with Microsoft's Chinese MSN venture since its start in 2005.

MSN China has struggled to gain a foothold against QQ, a Chinese social network service that has grabbed a sizable percentage of China's Internet users.

And late last year, MSN China got into some hot water after it was revealed that its microblogging site Juku lifted programming code from more

reporter's notebook LAS VEGAS--Microsoft's Clint Rutkas was sent a rather intriguing e-mail a couple weeks back. Could he use a phone he'd never held to control a robot he hadn't built to send T-shirts into the crowd at the Mix10 conference.

Ever the adventurous type, Rutkas readily agreed. And sure enough, when Monday's keynote rolled around, Rutkas' Windows Phone T-Shirt Cannon was ready.

Rutkas said he didn't even get a prototype phone in his hands until a couple days into the project. Although he was 90 percent sure he could just do things remotely more

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft often talks about the importance of search being more than just 10 blue links. However, it turns out that at least the "blue" part of that is very important.

When Microsoft was designing what would eventually become Bing, it tested a vast number of colors and it turned out that the one that users engaged with the most was indeed blue. More specifically, it was a shade of blue quite similar to the one used by Google.

Paul Ray, a user experience manager for Bing said on Tuesday that choosing that specific blue (#0044CC for you color enthusiasts) more

Bing Maps is getting star-struck.

On Wednesday, Microsoft is adding a star-gazing feature to its Bing Maps service, allowing users to "look up" and see what the stars look like from any point on earth. I'm not sure if it is enough to make Robert Scoble shed more tears, but the new move does allow one to see the stars above them even when it is daylight.

Microsoft's Blaise Aguera y Arcas showed off the concept, which draws on Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope project, at last month's TED conference.

The Worldwide Telescope was first made available in more

A new survey shows that businesses are increasingly planning their move to Windows 7, with more than half of those questioned planning to have some machines running the operating system in their corporations by the end of the year.

The survey, conducted of 923 businesses in January, found that 16 percent are already running some Windows 7, with a further 42 percent planning to start their deployment by the end of 2010.

"It is just very positive about Windows 7," said Dimensional Research analyst Diane Hagglund, the study's author. "They are planning to deploy it. They are planning to more

A jury in Texas ruled against Microsoft Tuesday in a patent infringement case and awarded plaintiff VirnetX $105.75 million.

Scotts Valley, Calif.-based VirnetX sued Microsoft in February 2007, alleging that the software giant had infringed on two VirnetX patents related to virtual private network technology.

The jury in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that Microsoft willfully infringed on the patents, according to a statement from the firm of McKool Smith, which represented VirnetX.

"Our clients are very happy with today's verdict," attorney Douglas Cawley said in the statement. "We hope this more