Microsoft

Searching for more search industry event names

I'm sitting here at Microsoft's "Searchification" event in Mountain View, Calif., but I can't tell you any of the news because it's all embargoed until tonight at 9 p.m. PT. Check back then for the full story. In the meantime, you can get a mini preview leaked by a Microsoft employee last week.

I realize the search market is a hot space and the major players, along with a lot of minor players, are all trying to hold themselves out as industry leaders. But some of the names of the events are getting … Read more

Why Microsoft must abandon Vista to save itself

While Vista was originally touted by Microsoft as the operating system savior we've all been waiting for, it has turned out to be one of the biggest blunders in technology. With a host of issues that are inexcusable and features that are taken from the Mac OS X and Linux playbook, Microsoft has once again lost sight of what we really want.

As we're more than aware, Vista Ultimate comes at a premium. For an additional $160 over the Premium SKU price, Ultimate gives you a complete backup and restore option, BitLocker Drive encryption, the ever so popular Windows Fax & Scan, and the "Ultimate Extras." But what started with a promise of "Extras" by summer, quickly turned into an apology from Microsoft and the eventual release of DreamScene and Windows Hold 'Em (among others) today. And while each of the "Extras" runs just fine, Microsoft's "Extras" blunder is just another reason why the company must abandon Vista before it's too late.… Read more

Improving Red Hat's JBoss numbers

Red Hat is struggling to get the value its expected from JBoss. That was clear from its earnings report yesterday and Matthew Szulik's comments:

"The rate of JBoss bookings has not met my expectations," Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik said on the company's second fiscal quarter 2008 conference call. "We expect it could double RHEL [Red Hat Enterprise Linux], so far it's about the same. We will accelerate JBoss growth in the second half of the year."

What can Red Hat do to boost its JBoss business? Is the sky falling?… Read more

MIT students turn famed Harvard statue into 'Halo' chief

It goes without saying that in addition to a stellar reputation for academic innovation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology is renowned for its geeky pranks. The best-known of these was perhaps the time when students decorated the campus' Great Dome to look like Star Wars robot R2D2 in celebration of the legendary film series' first prequel in 1999.

But Star Wars prequels are so last decade. These days, it's all about the much-hyped Xbox 360 title Halo 3. And why prank your own campus when you can pull a fast one on those snotty Crimsons next door?

Consequently, MIT pranksters … Read more

Facebook me to the bozo brigade

Until now I've resisted joining the scrum opining about what Facebook may or may not do with Microsoft, Google, Yahoo--or Mr. Bacciagalupe on the corner. But the numbers getting tossed around these days are so "bubblicious" that you have to wonder whether history's about to repeat.

On paper, it all makes good sense. (And doesn't it always?) In this case, Microsoft would pay a reported $300 million to $500 million for a piece of Facebook. Microsoft's PR team would undoubtedly issue a typically ain't-things-grand press release about how synergies between the two companies … Read more

Microsoft demos in-game advertising

Microsoft showed off its Massive advertising platform in Times Square in New York on Tuesday.

The tech giant wanted to show the advertising world, which is gathered in New York for the annual Advertising Week conference, exactly how the dynamic in-game advertisements work.

Flashing high above 43rd Street were clips from a series of games that showed avatars stopping to view a movie trailer for the Hollywood blockbuster 300. A Toyota advertisement also lined the outfield wall in a baseball game that's played on Microsoft's Xbox game console.

"The idea is to have advertisements appear and fit … Read more

$10 billion Facebook valuation? Desperation breeds Microsoft's insanity

It is fairly typical for also-rans to overpay for relevance. In other words, the runner-up in a competition is often willing to pay a hefty premium for something that it thinks will make it relevant again.

This phenomenon is on display today with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Microsoft is pushing for a $300 million - $500 million investment in Facebook (or 5%), valuing the social networking site at $10 billion. This is a clear indication that Microsoft believes that it needs Hail Mary efforts to become relevant online, and that a site that allows users to "chomp" and "poke" each other will somehow translate into insane amounts of revenue.

Good luck on both counts, Microsoft.… Read more

Binary? Decimal? Excel 2007 finds it all so confusing

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed a bug in Excel 2007 that can cause it to produce erroneous answers for a particular multiplication task.

Specifically, the problem can crop up when the answer to a multiplication problem should result in 65,535. You fans of binary arithmetic don't need to be told that's 2 to the 16th power minus one, or maximum integer that can be described with two bytes, counting up from zero. So it's a good bet some binary-to-decimal translation is involved in the problem.

A repair is in the works, Microsoft said, without sharing much more … Read more

Overheard at the countdown to the 'Halo 3' era

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--For the marketing folks at Microsoft and at its Bungie video game studio, the next 19 minutes will be some of the most meaningful of their careers.

That's because, at 9 p.m. Pacific, midnight eastern, it officially becomes Halo 3's world.

Since the launch of the Xbox 360 in November 2005, everyone has been waiting for this: the one great game that will define the next-generation console era.

And even though I'm here, at Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus, where the software giant is hosting a pre-launch event for developers, investors and other &… Read more