Online services

The infamous Flame virus can infect even secure PCs by tricking them into believing its malicious payload is actually an update from Microsoft.

As we already know, Flame has gained traction by tapping into security certificates for Microsoft's Terminal Server. Though they appear to be digitally signed by Microsoft, the certificates are actually cooked up by the people behind Flame, thereby tricking PCs into accepting them as legitimate.

Microsoft and Symantec revealed yesterday that the virus can up the ante by using the fake certificates to spoof Microsoft's own Windows Update service. As such, Windows PCs could receive … Read more

Microsoft's decision to turn off Web site tracking by default in IE10 is not sitting well with advertisers.

The Do Not Track feature prevents third-party Web sites from tracking your online activity. Web sites that receive the Do Not Track, or DNT, signal from your browser are supposed to honor that request, just as telemarketers are not supposed to call people on a "do not call" registry.

The ability to know where you go and what you do online concerns many users and privacy advocates. But advertisers use such information to determine how and where to target … Read more

Bing is now taking a "less is more" approach with the latest redesign of its search results page.

Microsoft's new tweaks to its search results have eliminated all of the information previously squeezed on the "left rail," offering a less-cluttered look and feel. The search results themselves take center stage, so you're not distracted by peripheral information.

In a nod to social networking, certain results now might sport a thumbs-up icon next to them, indicating that one or more of your Facebook friends likes that result. Hovering over the thumbnail of your friend's … Read more

Microsoft giveth, and it taketh away. At least, that's how it looks with the latest incarnation of the SkyDrive online storage service.

Unveiled this week, the preview of the new SkyDrive kicks in several improvements over its Web-based predecessor.

The old SkyDrive Web site separates documents that you upload from those synced via Live Mesh, creating a limited and clumsy workspace. The new preview edition ensures that all files are stored in one place, whether they're uploaded or synced from your PC.

You can now view and open all your SkyDrive files directly from Windows Explorer, eliminating the … Read more

As rumors have indicated for a while, Microsoft has added paid storage options to its SkyDrive cloud service.

Brand new SkyDrive users get 7GB of storage for free. Existing users (those with accounts as of April 22) continue to get up to 25 GB of storage for free if they opt to do so. After that, an additional 20GB costs $10 per year; an additional 50GB costs $25 per year; and an additional 100GB, $50 per year.

Microsoft also made available for download on April 23 a preview version of SkyDrive for Windows, a local version of its SkyDrive client. … Read more

Xbox 360 owners who don't have Live Gold accounts can join in on some of the usual festivities this weekend.

From April 19 through April 23, Microsoft is runing a special promo dubbed "Entertainment Unlocked," offering all Xbox owners a taste of free music, TV shows, and movies.

Xbox users who log in during Microsoft's extended weekend will find free access to SyFy, Crackle, Epix, YouTube, Vevo, and other entertainment sites. Netflix and Hulu Plus are kicking in free 30-day trials. And other online providers will offer streaming music and movies.

The promo is obviously aimed … Read more

Microsoft is hiring staff "to help us bring Skype experience on to the Web," a move that could help people use the Internet-based video and audio chat service more broadly.

Skype's VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service today requires a native app to run on various operating systems. A browser-based version, though, could bring the service to OSes that aren't supported, such as Google's Chrome OS; make it easier for people to use Skype on a machine for which they don't have installation privileges; and potentially integrate with other Web-based services.

Microsoft revealed the … Read more

Microsoft has decided to block access to The Pirate Bay from Windows Live Messenger, according to a new report.

When users try to send an instant message to a friend with a link from The Pirate Bay, Windows Live Messenger displays a warning, saying that the link is "blocked because it was reported as unsafe." TorrentFreak, which was first to report on the news, says that the same issue occurs in third-party instant-messaging clients, like Pidgin, when logged into Live Messenger.

Microsoft's apparent decision to block The Pirate Bay might conjure up privacy fears among those who … Read more

Microsoft Office users can expect to see a new version of Office Web Apps this summer, according to Windows Live enthusiast site LiveSide.net.

The cloud-based suite will reportedly be available in "preview" mode at the same time that Office 15 for the desktop is released as a beta. Users will be able to try the latest features of Office Web Apps to create or edit documents stored through SkyDrive or Hotmail, LiveSide added.

Little else is known or at least revealed about a new version of Office Web Apps. Microsoft did not immediately answer CNET's request … Read more