Microsoft

Microsoft looking at Webkit?

During a tour of Australia, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has made some news, rejecting a new bid for Yahoo, and dismissing Google's Android phone project.

Now, an apparent throwaway remark regarding WebKit, an open-source browser rendering project, has caused yet another stir. Webkit is used by Google's Chrome browser and Apple's Safari browser.

Speaking at a developer event, Ballmer was asked whether Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser was in danger of being bypassed by open-source development.

In response, Ballmer said that open source is "interesting" and that Microsoft "may need to have a rendering service." He added more

Windows 7 knows where you are

LOS ANGELES--Windows 7 has a new programming interface designed to make it a whole lot easier for software to figure out where in the world a PC and its user are located.

That should make it easier for a whole new range of location-based services from finding nearby friends to LoJack-like PC tracking programs. Even search could be a whole lot better if the search engine knew where you were. Indeed, searchers often enter their city with their location to try and get just that benefit.

"There's so many times you have to enter in where you are more

Internet Explorer 9

With Internet Explorer 9, you can pin websites to your Windows 7 Taskbar so they are one-click away. Just drag the tab down to the taskbar to pin

Get to your favorite sites faster

Ballmer rules out new bid for Yahoo

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Friday that Microsoft is "not interested" in making a new offer for Internet company Yahoo, despite Yahoo's share price currently sitting at less than half what Microsoft initially offered.

Speaking at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia lunch in Sydney on Friday, Ballmer said: "Look, we made an offer, we made another offer. It was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us, and we moved on."

Ballmer said other deals with Yahoo had also been unsuccessful. "We tried at one point to do a partnership around search, not more

Microsoft aims Windows 7 for 2009 holiday season

LOS ANGELES--In a technical session on Thursday afternoon, Microsoft provided the clearest public indication that it is planning on getting Windows 7 completed in time to run on PCs that ship for next year's holiday buying season.

In a presentation on its somewhat secretive Velocity program to improve PC quality, Microsoft director Doug Howe showed a slide saying that the Vista Velocity program would continue through next spring as Microsoft worked to improve Vista machines that ship in next year's back-to-school time frame. He went on to say that Microsoft would continue more

Microsoft maps get Photosynth panoramas

Microsoft now lets people using its Live Search Maps service get a more immersive view by integrating the company's Photosynth panoramic viewer technology.

Photosynth stitches multiple images together into a 3D view, and people can in effect gaze around from a virtual vantage point. Areas with Photosynth views can be shown in the "explore collections" view of a map that also lets people see photos and other additions to a map.

I found the feature easy to use--even the Photosynth installation that had given me some headaches when I tried it during its early days. I still don't more

Internet Explorer 9

With Internet Explorer 9, you can pin websites to your Windows 7 Taskbar so they are one-click away. Just drag the tab down to the taskbar to pin

Get to your favorite sites faster

Microsoft ditches old Hotmail design; users gripe

Yahoo and Google aren't the only ones whose Web site changes incur the wrath of users who'd rather things stay the way they were.

Microsoft is discontinuing an option to use Hotmail's older "classic" interface, merging it with a newer "full" design into a hybrid the company says is faster to use than both the predecessors. "With our new combined platform, we offer great performance in all markets by putting the best features from both versions in one well-designed platform. Because of these performance improvements it is no longer necessary to offer the classic version," the company more

Windows 7 Server gets its day

LOS ANGELES--After two weeks of focus on the desktop version of Windows 7, it's server counterpart finally got a day in the sun.

Vice President Bill Laing began on Thursday pointed out the obvious difference between the products that would use the server software, as compared to Netbooks and other PCs built on Windows 7.

"We actually use forklift devices to bring our toys," he said, pointing to several refrigerator-size servers that were on stage with him.

Laing traced the company's progress in developing its various server operating systems, which now span from its Windows Home Server product more

Windows exec tackles CNET readers' questions

LOS ANGELES--Over the past few days, readers have been diligently sending me their Windows 7 questions and on Wednesday I had a chance to put some of them to Jon DeVaan, the head of the Windows core operating system division.

Microsoft has talked about the ability of Windows 7 to run on a Netbook, adding today that it can fit on a solid-state drive as small as 16GB. But just how much space does that leave?
Devaan said Microsoft has done a lot of work to ensure that Windows 7 occupies a smaller amount of both memory and storage, allowing more

Windows 7 takes center 'stage'

Correction, 10:33 a.m. PST: This story initially misstated when a Windows 7 feature-complete beta will be available. It is early 2009.

LOS ANGELES--Choice was the watchword in the Windows 7 discussion Wednesday, as Microsoft aimed to highlight what it sees as its chief advantage over rival Apple.

"A key part of Windows 7 is to enable a full spectrum of choices," senior vice president Steven Sinofsky said in a speech at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) here.

While the new Windows will enable high-end machines with multitouch, it will also work on low-end machines. While Vista has more

Microsoft hopes to rebuild trust with Windows 7

LOS ANGELES--One of the biggest problems with Windows Vista had nothing to do with the software Microsoft shipped.

It was all of the things Microsoft didn't ship. In the years leading up to Vista's release in November 2006, Microsoft changed course several times, leading to wasted time and energy for hardware and software makers that had made bets on features or timing that later were changed.

In a speech to hardware makers attending the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), Microsoft's Jon DeVaan said that the company is aiming to rebuild trust that Microsoft will deliver products with more