microsoft

Microsoft's Open XML hits snag in standards process

Note: an update to this blog includes official comment from Microsoft and comments from a Microsoft employee who attended this same meeting.

A committee formed to devise the United States' position on Microsoft's Open XML document format voted against recommending it as an ISO standard on Friday, according to one participant.

Rob Weir, an IBM employee and advocate of the rival OpenDocument format, on Sunday detailed in his blog the proceedings of a three-hour meeting of the committee, which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Despite a number of Microsoft partners joining the committee in recent … Read more

Microsoft plays nice with Ask

Microsoft's adManager beta search advertising service currently enables small businesses to buy keywords on Microsoft Live Search and MSN. Now, adManager will also allow customers to buy keywords on Ask.com and manage the pay-per-click ad campaigns through one interface. AdManager is an upgrade service that's part of Microsoft's Office Live set of small business services.

Rewards program boosts Microsoft search share

While Google remained the top Web search engine in the U.S. in June, Microsoft's share rose nearly 3 percent from the previous month as a result of a Microsoft program that offers rewards to people for using the Live Search site.

Microsoft's search share rose from 10.3 percent in May to 13.2 percent in June, according to the latest figures from ComScore, released on Monday. Microsoft's Live Search Club, which awards points to participants that can be redeemed for T-shirts, software and other items, was launched in late May. The company began testing the … Read more

Microsoft's Virtual Earth Preview is Bullitt-proof

Ever since the first time I saw Lt. Frank Bullitt thrash his Ford Shelby GT around San Francisco, I have longed for a chance to drive the streets of this city unhindered by traffic restrictions, pedestrians, and other such annoyances. Thanks to a Microsoft application, my dream has virtually come true. The Virtual Earth Local Technology Preview makes use of streetside-view photographs similar to those used by Google's Street View application.

With the Microsoft service you get the added bonus of navigating the maps in either a yellow race car or a blue sports car. Drivers get a view … Read more

Stumbling over email attachments

A friend sent me an email last week asking me to answer a few questions for him. He mentioned that they were brief and would require little time on my part. Unfortunately, he included the questions as an attachment, and I've been avoiding that email ever since.

I'm not sure if I'm alone in this, but I associate attachments with "heavy lifting." Involved analysis. Lots of time. Real work.

He called me today to ask if I'd taken a look. Sheepishly, I admitted my attachment phobia and promised to answer by tonight. I'm in the middle of doing that now and, guess what? He's right. The questions aren't difficult to answer. He shouldn't have sent them as an attachment.… Read more

Time Out New York communicates with Zimbra

I asked people to share with me their experiences moving to Zimbra, and I've had a great deal of responses. One, in particular, I found interesting from Time Out New York. I glommed onto this one immediately because I reference Time Out whenever I'm in London. It's the best source of information for what's going on.

Jeffrey Vargas of Time Out New York related: [Used with his permission]

Time Out New York is a weekly print publication, so we rely heavily on Macs. Out of 150 computers, about 125 are Macs. Even are servers are Xserves, for a majority of our work.

We've been using Apple's mail services in OS X since 10.2. After a messy migration to OS X 10.3 and several issues with an update from OS X 10.3.8, we were over frustrated with Apple's frugal mail services.… Read more

E3 2007--in under 4 minutes

Miss any of this week's big E3 news? CNET TV's got you covered. Veronica Belmont wraps up all the announcements from Santa Monica, including the highlights from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

Earlier CNET TV coverage:

CNET TV: Microsoft E3 press conference highlights: Rock Star, Gears of War on PC, and--of course--Halo 3 CNET TV: Focus on 'Wii Fit'

Critical Microsoft security bulletin revised to add Office for Mac

One more time around the block, James.

Microsoft late Thursday revised one of its critical security bulletins from Patch Tuesday, adding another item to its list of affected software.

Security bulletin MS07-036 now includes a warning that Microsoft Office 2004 for the Mac is also affected.

The update is designed to address a security flaw, which could allow attackers to overwrite the computer's memory with malicious code.

Microsoft notes that people running Office 2004 for the Mac on the Mac OS X 10.2 are at risk. It advises people to first install the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.5 update, … Read more

Windows Live Mobile Search hits V2

Back when Windows Live originally released Windows Live Search for Mobile, I absolutely loved it. Windows Live Mobile Search is a killer app, especially if you have a Windows Mobile phone. Version 1 of the application included tight integration with Windows Live Local, with support for both standard and aerial map views. The most powerful features, though, are local search and directions. You can search for addresses, restaurants, hotels, or whatever in your area and get directions to get you there. I can't tell you how many times it has helped me to figure out where I needed to … Read more

E3: A first-timer's retrospective

My time here in Santa Monica is coming to a close, and I'm still not sure how I feel about my first E3 experience. I knew that it wasn't going to be as over-the-top as years past, but I guess its reputation was still built up in my mind.

Apparently, going smaller also means going more spread out. I don't think I went to a meeting or a shoot in the same location twice! From the Fairmont Hotel (valet parking was full, I had to double-park blocks away to pick up my registration pass) to the Barker … Read more