For the second time in two days, there are reports that a cougar has been on the prowl near Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond.
(Credit:
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)
The sightings were enough to prompt Microsoft to send out a note on Friday letting its employees know what they should do if they encounter one of the cats, which are also known as mountain lions.
"Never approach a cougar," Microsoft said in the memo, which was earlier posted on Seattle-area Web site TechFlash. "Although cougars will normally avoid a confrontation, all cougars are unpredictable. Cougars feeding on a kill may be dangerous."
The e-mail also advised workers to make sure to give the cougar an avenue to escape, to talk in a calm, confident voice, and to back away slowly, as opposed to sprinting.
Predictably, the cougar also made for some good fodder for puns and jokes on Twitter, particularly given the popular culture meaning of the word cougar, along with Apple's penchant for naming versions of its operating system after big cats.
Here are a few of my favorites:
"Microsoft recruits Cougar to help fight Snow Leopard." (via @LoCul)
"Just saw the email about a cougar sighting on the Microsoft campus. Young men in their early 20's should take extra precautions." (via @akula)
"The cougar sighting at Microsoft is further proof that they can be found anywhere but the end zone." (via @MichaelGruner)
That last one, for those who didn't catch it, is a reference to the Washington State University football team, which has the cougar as its mascot and has been victory-challenged of late.
Updated 10:50 a.m. PDT: Added pricing information.
SAN FRANCISCO--While Microsoft is trying to position Windows 7 as an exciting new version of the operating system, Apple on Monday tried to characterize it as the same old Windows.
In a keynote speech at the Worldwide Developer Conference here, Apple's Bertrand Serlet said the underpinnings of Windows 7 include the same complexities that have been in the past versions of the operating system.
"That's Windows 7," he said. "Fundamentally, it's just another version of Windows Vista."
Bertrand Serlet speaking at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)Serlet tried to draw a contrast between Windows and what Apple is doing with Snow Leopard, the next version of its own operating system. "We've come at it from such a different place."
But while his rhetoric suggested a fundamental difference, Serlet actually characterized Snow Leopard in some of the same ways--as a better version of the existing Leopard operating system.
"We love Leopard," he said. "We are proud of Leopard."
The goal of Snow Leopard, he said, was really "to build a better Leopard."
There are other similarities between what Apple's and Microsoft's efforts. Among the new features in Snow Leopard is a feature that adds the Expose window--previewing feature to the Dock--not unlike the Aero Peek feature that Windows 7 has as part of its new task bar.
In fairness, there are some key differences between what Apple is doing with Snow Leopard compared to what Microsoft is doing with Windows 7.
Windows 7 is largely focused on improving the look and performance of the core Vista engine, while Snow Leopard goes more under the hood, aiming to better handle 64-bit processing and multicore capabilities.
Apple is also trying to boost its Windows compatibility story by adding Exchange server capability to Snow Leopard. According to Apple, all the user has to do is fill in an e-mail address and password, and the software will "auto-detect" the Exchange Server and make the user's calendar and mail available in Mac OS X's iCal and Mail programs.
The biggest pressure from Apple, though came on the pricing front. Serlet said that Apple will ship Snow Leopard in September and charge just $29 for Leopard owners to upgrade.
Microsoft has hinted that it will offer a cheaper upgrade for Vista users to move to Windows 7, but has not announced details.
There's a Snow Leopard on Live Search for sure. But could Live Search be inside Snow Leopard?
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET Networks)Those of us with too much bandwidth and too little life (yours truly included) are wondering just why Microsoft chose to make a snow leopard the backdrop photo on Live Search on Thursday.
Even though Microsoft puts a new picture on the site each day, surely it hasn't exhausted all the images that are not references to competitor's products.
As TechFlash points out, the fact that Microsoft has the mascot for Apple's next operating system could be cluelessness on Microsoft's point. Or it could be hubris.
But another crazy thought crossed my mind. What if Microsoft has landed a deal to make Live Search the default in the next version of the Mac OS. For a long time now, Apple's Safari has had a Google search bar built-in. I don't know how much traffic that generates for the search giant, but it would seem to be at least as significant as some of the PC deals that Microsoft is paying good money to get.
Obvious animosities aside, mightn't a deal make sense. Microsoft has talked about needing to spend some money to boost Live Search share.
If it is the case, would Microsoft and/or Apple be crazy enough to tip their hand? It seems unlikely. But, even if that's not the reason that the Snow Leopard is there, would such a deal make sense?
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