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24 Feb 2012 21:48

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Tech: Microsoft appears to be killing off longtime product lines in Windows 8

  • Zune This death was kinda obvious for a while, but now the Zune appears to have zero presence in the upcoming version of Windows. Seriously, they lost their biggest fan like four years ago — the writing has long been on the wall.
  • Live More surprising is the fading away of the Live brand, which anchors many of their online messaging services; “Microsoft Account” will replace Windows Live ID. The company appears to be trying to simplify their brand naming. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Aug 2011 23:02

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U.S.: In tonight’s episode of “WHERE WERE THEIR PARENTS?!”:

  • 5,200 U.S. kids fall out of windows each year source
  • » On the plus side, that number’s falling: Between 1990 and 2008, roughly 7.3 children and teens per 100,000 fell out of windows each year, which is actually down — especially in areas that have pushed safety campaigns to prevent this from happening. However, it’s not the case in every city. In New York and Boston, previous studies have shown 96 percent declines. In this study, that level is much lower.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 May 2011 10:32

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Tech: Did the Justice Department hinder Microsoft? No. Outside forces did.

  • 93.9% Windows’ share of the desktop operating system market in 2002, after an antitrust settlement with the Justice Department
  • 91.1% Windows’ share of the desktop market today … as the Justice Department’s oversight ends; it’s like nothing actually changed source
  • » Then again, a lot has: The computer industry has evolved away from Microsoft’s model while still remaining tightly attached to it. With the growth of tablets and mobile phones (two markets where Microsoft simply struggles to stay afloat), and the evolution of open-source and Web apps into methods that get around Microsoft’s dominance, in many ways the company is weaker, even if we mostly still use Windows, even though OSX is probably better. Also, we think Google’s Chromebooks could chip into Microsoft’s market share in short order. None of these things are the Justice Department’s doing, though. The tech industry, instead, worked around Microsoft.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:54

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Tech: HP’s making WebOS an option – for your laptop and desktop (Whoa!)

  • Need any more proof Windows will die someday? Well, here you go. Starting in 2012, HP will start offering WebOS on its PCs, allowing users to choose between Windows and the Web-oriented operating system. This is a huge step, because it means two major companies – Google and HP – are pushing away from the traditional Windows model. But HP’s corner-stoned on the model, so it’s even bigger than Google’s Chrome OS. This is huge. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2010 21:37

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Tech: Windows Phone 7’s launch: Some positives, some negatives

  • good Microsoft drew over 200 people to a San Francisco AT&T store for its Windows Phone 7 launch today. It’s like an Apple launch, right?
  • bad Nearly all of them were there to nab tickets for a Maroon 5 concert to celebrate the phone’s launch. Barely anyone bought it. source
  • » On the plus side: Not everywhere was like San Francisco, apparently. The phone was reportedly sold out at stores in other major cities, including Atlanta, and around the world, the phone is faring much better than in the iPhone-heavy Bay Area. The lesson here: Are Maroon 5 fans really interested in buying a Windows phone?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Oct 2010 10:53

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Tech: Microsoft departing exec seems a future without Windows

  • Complexity kills. Complexity sucks the life out of users, developers and IT. Complexity makes products difficult to plan, build, test and use. Complexity introduces security challenges. Complexity causes administrator frustration.
  • Departing Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie • In a “post-apocalyptic” memo he released recently to Microsoft employees. What’s interesting about the memo is that it barely even mentions Windows, but instead emphasizes that Microsoft needs to change its overall approach to cheap, easy-to-use devices if it wants to stay in the game. In fact, in a tag cloud someone did of the memo, the top two words were “devices” and “services,” two things that other companies do much better than Microsoft right now. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 10:31

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Tech: Say what you will about Microsoft, but Windows 7 is a cash cow

  • 10 copies of Windows 7 sold every single minute
  • 25M copies sold in the last 29 days alone
  • 175M copies sold since it first launched source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Jun 2010 20:51

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Tech: That’ll teach ’em: Microsoft launches hypocritical criticism at Google

CEO Steve Ballmer and Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie asked aloud why Google has two OSes. They should really have twelve, like Microsoft. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2010 23:36

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Tech: Google on Windows: That’s nasty, use OSX or Linux instead

  • nope Reportedly, new Google employees won’t be able to use Windows as one of their OS options anymore; it’s just Mac and Linux.
  • why? Blame it on security concerns in the wake of Google’s whole hack thang with China that happened a few months ago. source
  • » The real question: How many of their employees are holdouts working on Amiga or BeOS? Really, we want to know. If this is a company of nerds, there has to be at least one.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2010 10:32

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Tech: Windows 7 RC stragglers: Microsoft goes from awesome to mean

  • 1st Microsoft offers pre-release copies (ooh) of Windows 7 to users for free.
  • 2nd They then release Windows 7. It’s a huge hit for the company, their biggest in years.
  • 3rd Some people are still using the release candidate. This won’t do! We must stop them!
  • 4th Microsoft will start rebooting their computers automatically soon. That’s evil!
  • 5th MS will then change their backgrounds and call them bad names. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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