Defense agency to use Microsoft's Virtual Earth
Microsoft is collaborating with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a division of the Department of Defense, on its Virtual Earth technology.
The NGA wants to use the Virtual Earth technology "to provide geospatial support for humanitarian, peacekeeping and national security efforts," Microsoft said in a statement on Thursday.
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19.5.2006 Microsoft to Kill the Grace Timer and OEM BIOS Windows Vista Cracks with Vista SP1
With the advent of Windows Vista, cracks also became available being designed to bypass the activation process of the operating system.
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4.12.2007 Microsoft Says Vista SP1 Needs to Speak the Same Language as Vista RTM
Microsoft says that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 needs to speak the same language as the RTM version of the latest Windows client. Otherwise there's no game.
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2.4.2008 Vista SP1 – Microsoft Could Not Have Given Less – Vista SP2 Anyone?
Microsoft had the chance to position the first service pack for Windows Vista as a panacea for the operating system, giving the platform nothing less than a fresh start and another take at the Wow.
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3.10.2007 Microsoft: Vista! Vista! Vista!
Microsoft has a single generalized answer to all life's problems, but especially end user protection, and that answer is of course Windows Vista.
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14.8.2007 Microsoft isn't done with Vista yet
There is still more work to be done on Windows Vista, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, on the day the company's highly-anticipated operating system is officially released to enterprise customers.
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2.12.2006 Microsoft boxes up Vista
Although it is still working to finish the code for Windows Vista, Microsoft has reached a decision on which versions of the operating system to offer.
Microsoft has settled on six versions, including an Ultimate edition that will combine the best of the company's corporate and consumer features. The company is aiming to have all of the versions ready for launch in the second half of this year.
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27.2.2006 Microsoft: Vista won't get a backdoor
Windows Vista won't have a backdoor that could be used by police forces to get into encrypted files, Microsoft has stressed.
In February, a BBC News story suggested that the British government was in discussions with Microsoft over backdoor access to the operating system. A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication to gain access to a computer without to the PC user knowing.
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5.3.2006 Vista Might be too Complex for Microsoft
It will not have escaped your attention that Microsoft is laboring to finish the next version of its Windows operating system, Vista. A version aimed at the corporate market is supposed to be ready for Christmas, with the consumer edition following some time later (missing the Christmas market, which has irritated computer manufacturers and retailers more than somewhat). Last week, Gartner, a leading IT consultancy, predicted that Microsoft would miss those shipping dates.
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12.5.2006 Microsoft Vista is still a mess
We've had the pleasure of using Vista since its very early builds. The first release candidate is now upon us, and was made available to download by TechBeta and Technology Adoption Program program subscribers last week.
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13.9.2006 Windows Vista at Microsoft
Last Friday I took the plunge and upgraded my main work laptop (Sony VGN-TX3XP 11" Ultra-Portable) to Windows Vista RTM.
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10.11.2006 Microsoft to Testers: After Vista, What Next?
Windows Vista isn't even quite out the door, but Microsoft is already soliciting testers to tell them what should be in the next versions of Windows.
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21.12.2006 Microsoft Vista slow to take off
Windows Vista has been on the market for nearly a month now, but enterprise users and industry experts agree that Microsoft's latest and greatest OS still isn't yet ready to replace XP.
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3.1.2007 Microsoft: Vista upgrades for everybody
Windows Vista is starting to look like those Persian rug stores which are always having a 'closing down' sale. 'Full' prices are set laughably high only to make you think you're getting an amazing discount, because no-one pays the marked price.
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27.4.2007 So Where is Microsoft Vista SP1?
The April 25 release of a feature-complete Windows Server "Longhorn" beta is a monumental milestone for Microsoft, perhaps more important than the launch of Windows Vista.
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1.5.2007 What to do if Microsoft locks you out of Vista?
"What to do if Microsoft locks you out of Vista?" - This is question of lot of our users in last time, so here are some advices.
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17.8.2007 What Microsoft doesn't want you to know about Vista SP1
Microsoft touts performance and reliability as the key benefits of Vista's SP1, but a close look at the beta shows a significant change Microsoft doesn't seem to want you to know about --- you can now easily change your default desktop search tool to Google Desktop Search, or any another one.
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2.10.2007 Microsoft Makes Its Own: 32-bit Windows Vista vs. 64-bit Windows Vista
With Windows Vista, Microsoft delivered both the 32-bit and 64-bit flavors concomitantly, a first for the company, whose Windows XP x64 Professional (April, 2005) was launched one year after Windows XP SP2 (August 2005) and four after the initial 32-bit Windows XP (2001).
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8.1.2008 Microsoft: Windows Vista vs. Windows XP – Definitely Vista!
As far as Microsoft is concerned there is only one choice possible in terms of desktop clients. But Windows Vista is also the clear option over Windows XP when it comes down to the Redmond company's preferred operating system for mobile PCs.
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6.9.2007 Microsoft Vista shuts out other OSes
When Microsoft's Vista arrives on machines, it looks like it may need a trusted platform model (TPM) chip to be present on the system.
That's just one element of what Microsoft dubs "multi tiered data protection", and the firm says that it will support full volume encryption to prevent disk access to files by other operating systems.
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Microsoft Ships Second Vista CTP
As expected, Microsoft has shipped the October Community Technology Preview of Windows Vista, embarking on what the company hopes will be monthly test releases of the operating system. Build 5231 first surfaced last week and brings changes to Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and Vista's networking.
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Microsoft: No Sidebar Until Vista Beta 2
Testers and developers looking forward to playing with Vista's most prominent new feature over the holidays will have to wait a bit longer. Microsoft officials confirmed to BetaNews late Monday that the Windows Sidebar won't be delivered in a public build until Beta 2.
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20.12.2005 Microsoft to Skip Vista Beta 2
Redmond is planning to rely more on Community Technology Previews for Windows input, and has two new Vista test builds planned for the next two calendar quarters.
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28.1.2006 Microsoft Is Counting Its Vista Chickens
Microsoft has some lofty goals for Windows Vista. In the first 24 months the product is shipping, company officials are expecting to have it preloaded on 200 million PCs worldwide.
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7.2.2006 More than half of Microsoft Vista needs re-writing
MICROSOFT appears to be in a state of panic, ordering 60 per cent of its new operating system to be re-written amidst a major shake-up of its troubled Windows division. The news follows another delay with reports of a staff revolt over the way that management has handled the development of the operating system.
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24.3.2006 Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2 now?
Paul Thurrott writes in is weekly edition of shortakes that "the Vista Beta 2 build candidate is up to build 5384.3", he also notes that "you never know if a last-minute change could cause it to jump to the build 5385 range. "
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20.5.2006 Microsoft may delay Windows Vista, again
Microsoft's release of the upgrade to its flagship Windows operating system will likely be delayed again by at least three months, research group Gartner Inc. said on Tuesday.
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3.5.2006 Microsoft To Shut Off Vista Beta 2
Microsoft plans to close the Windows Vista Beta 2 test to new users after Friday, a company executive said Thursday..
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2.7.2006 Microsoft releases new build of Vista
On Monday, Microsoft released a new build of Windows Vista, the successor to the aging Windows XP, to technical beta testers, TAP customers, and MSDN subscribers.
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17.7.2006 Microsoft: Vista RC1 Coming Soon
Brushing off feedback from testers and pundits to push back the first release candidate of Windows Vista and issue a third beta instead, Microsoft confirmed Thursday that RC1 was on the way.
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16.8.2006NTP Patent Rejected in Final
Judgment
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office said that it
had found one of the five
wireless e-mail patents owned
by NTP invalid, and issued a
final rejection notice to the
patent holding company on
Wednesday. The agency had
previously rejected all five
of NTP's patents in non-final
rulings...
betanews.com -
23.02.2006Two Microsoft FAT Patents
Rejected
The U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office rejected Microsoft's
patent application for its
File Allocation Table (FAT)
file system technology on
Tuesday, however the Redmond
company has put on a brave
face and told BetaNews that it
expects to ultimately be
victorious...
betanews.com -
05.10.2005Vista, IE7 Clear of US Antitrust Concerns
The Justice Department will
not be going after Microsoft
for any antitrust concerns
with Windows Vista or Internet
Explorer 7. The government
agency said Tuesday in a
report that it could find no
issues in either product...
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23.11.2006UK gov't agency: Don't upgrade to Vista
British schools should not upgrade to Microsoft's Vista operating system and Office 2007 productivity suite, the British Educational Communications
and Technology Agency (BECTA) said in a report on the software. It
also supported use of the
international standard ODF (Open Document Format) for storing files.
Schools might consider using Vista if rolling out
all-new infrastructure, but should not introduce it piecemeal alongside other versions of Windows, or upgrade older machines, said the agency, which
is responsible for advising British schools and colleges on their IT use.
"We have not had sight of any evidence to support the
argument that the costs of upgrading to Vista in educational establishments would be offset by appropriate benefit," it said.
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11.01.2008Subway agency wants to keep MIT students quiet over hack
Although the Defcon conference has ended, Massachusetts' transit agency is looking to prevent three student researchers who uncovered holes in its
fare collection system from divulging their discoveries to anyone else...
betanews.com -
14.08.2008Creators of rejected App Store comic book appeal for rating system
After its 'Murderdrome' comic book was rejected by Apple's iPhone App Store, Infurious Comics this week appealed to Web site visitors support its
request to Apple for a rating system similar to one already used on iTunes...
betanews.com -
30.08.2008Now a British educational agency raises alarms on OXML
A British watchdog agency has filed a complaint with the European Commission charging that Open XML -- on its way to standardization -- fails to do
its stated job of supporting interoperability with software from other developers...
betanews.com -
15.05.2008UK Government agency tells schools to shun Vista
In a surprise criticism of
Microsoft, the government's
schools computer agency, has
warned that deploying Vista
carries too much risk and that
its benefits are unclear.
Becta, the British Educational
Communications and Technology
Agency, said on Wednesday that
it "strongly recommends"
schools do not deploy
Microsoft's next operating
system within the next 12
months. And in a further dig
at Microsoft, Becta argues
there are no "must-have"
features in Vista and that
"technical, financial and
organisational challenges
associated with early
deployment currently make this
a high-risk
strategy."
Tom
McMullan, a technical
consultant at Becta, told
ZDNet UK: "There is not a
case for schools to deploy it
unless it is mission-critical
stable." Speaking at the BETT
education trade show; "There
are lots of incremental
improvements, but there are no
must-haves that justify early
deployment." Becta was
similarly dismissive of Office
2007, which is being launched
alongside Vista. Although it
acknowledged that there are
many new features in Office
2007, the agency said most of
these were only useful in the
private sector.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft
tried to wave aside such
caution.
neowin.net - 11.01.2007
Microsoft pay-per-use PC Model rejected
Microsoft recently submitted a patent application for pay-per-use computing as previously reported on Neowin; that application has already been
rejected by the patent office. A letter was given to Microsoft privately before the public was made aware of the reasons behind the rejection of
the patent. The rejection was based that the idea was "too broad" and "the tendency to use vague terms and the existence of already patented,
relevant technology" This rejection may put a stop to Microsoft's plan to help lower the cost of purchasing a computer by using a pay-per-use
business model.
Read full
story.....
neowin.net - 03.01.2009
National Security Agency beefed Win 7 defenses
The National Security Agency helped Microsoft harden Windows 7 against attacks and is providing similar assistance to Apple, Sun Microsystems and Red
Hat too, an agency official said.
The admission came in prepared remarks delivered Tuesday by Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's
information assurance director, at a hearing before the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security.
winbeta.org - 19.11.2009
UK Schools warned off Microsoft deal
The UK computer agency Becta is advising schools that are considering moving to Microsoft's School Agreement subscription not to sign licensing
agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices. The agency reminds schools they are legally obliged to have licensed
software, but suggests they use instead what is known as "perpetual licensing", which gives the permanent right to use the software and requires no
ongoing payments beyond the purchase price. The advantage to schools in using a subscription service such as Microsoft's is the smaller, annual
payments. However, a spokesman for Becta emphasized that that Microsoft required schools to have licences for every PC in a school, whether they use
the software or not.
The government agency has complained to the Office of Fair Trading, saying talks with Microsoft have not
resolved "fundamental concerns" about academic licensing and about Office 2007 and the Vista operating system. The agency hopes that by referring
the case to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), "Microsoft will move promptly to address the issues raised". If schools have already signed up with
Microsoft, Becta says "they should consider their renewal and their buyout options" alongside any findings the OFT may make.
jcxp.net - 27.10.2007
Schools advised against Vista, Office 2007 upgrade
The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) has advised schools against upgrading to Windows Vista or Microsoft Office 2007
because of the prohibitive cost and interoperability issues.
Becta's main concern with Office 2007 is the potential for
difficulties to arise when attempting to read documents created in Office 2007 using older and non-Microsoft applications, such as Office 2003 and
OpenOffice. Most poorer households are not yet running Office 2007, the agency said, and so deploying it in schools would risk opening up what Becta
referred to as a "digital divide", excluding some pupils from reading documents.
Becta said it was concerned about Microsoft's
support of its own document specification, Office Open XML (OOXML), on which Office 2007 is based. It added that Microsoft still does not effectively
support OpenDocument Format (ODF), which is an international standard.
winbeta.org - 11.01.2008
NSA helped Microsoft make Vista secure
The U.S. agency best known for
eavesdropping on telephone
calls had a hand in the
development of Microsoft's
Vista operating system,
Microsoft confirmed Tuesday.
The National Security Agency
(NSA) stepped in to help
Microsoft develop a
configuration of its
next-generation operating
system that would meet U.S.
Department of Defense (DOD)
requirements, said NSA
Spokesman Ken White. This is
not the first time the
secretive agency has been
brought in to consult with
private industry on operating
system security, White said,
but it is the first time the
NSA has worked with a vendor
prior to the release of an
operating system.
By getting involved early in
the process, the NSA helped
Microsoft ensure that it was
delivering a product that was
both secure and compatible
with existing government
software, he said. "This
allows us to ensure that the
off-the-shelf security
configuration that the DOD
customer receives is at a
level that meets our
standards," White said. "It
just makes a lot more sense to
be involved up-front, than it
does to have the tail wag the
dog." The NSA's involvement
in Vista was first reported
Tuesday by The Washington Post
. The NSA has provided
guidance on how best to secure
Microsoft's Windows XP and
Windows 2000 operating systems
in the past. The agency is
also credited with reviewing
the Vista Security Guide
published on Microsoft's Web
site.
neowin.net - 10.01.2007
NATO arms itself with Windows Vista
Even with Windows 7 headed fast for the market, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not waiting for the next iteration of the Windows client,
and has armed itself with Windows Vista. According to Microsoft, parts of the NATO Unclassified Network are now accounting for Vista as one of the
items in their arsenal, as a direct result of the collaboration between the NATO Communication Information Systems Services Agency and the software
giant. NATO is in the vanguard of military organizations rolling out Windows Vista. The Redmond giant revealed that among its top ten customers, the
US Army occupied the first position, with US Air Force at number three. News source: Softpedia
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 11.12.2008
Schools warned off Microsoft deal
The UK computer agency Becta is advising schools not to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices.
The government agency has complained to the Office of Fair Trading.
It says talks with Microsoft have not
resolved "fundamental concerns" about academic licensing and about Office 2007 and the Vista operating system.
Microsoft says
it wants as many people as possible to benefit from its technology at the best possible price.
Information and communication
technology (ICT) is an essential subject in schools, which have to spend huge sums on installing, upgrading and maintaining equipment and software.
winbeta.org - 26.10.2007
The 'Forrester Experiment'
Joe Wilcox: I suppose debunking reputable analyst firms is one way to attack negative Vista perceptions. But no way would have been
better.
First, it was the "Mojave Experiment," which seeks to show
Vista haters can love the operating system if they think it's a new, unreleased Windows version. Now comes the "Forrester Experiment," where the
Windows Vista Team blog faults Forrester Research analyst Thomas Mendel's nasty report on Vista.
"Forrester Gets
Schizophrenic on Windows Vista" wrote Microsoft's Chris Flores on Friday, referring to Forrester report "Enterprise Trends: Vista Is Rejected; Mozilla and Apple Make Small Gains."
winbeta.org - 28.07.2008
U.S. agency may keep Windows XP on its PCs for three more years
The U.S. government's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may stick with Windows XP for as much as three more years, even though the
agency plans in January to begin refreshing its PCs with hardware capable of supporting Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows Vista operating system.
The hardware upgrade will be managed by Electronic Data Systems Corp., which announced Wednesday that it has received a two-year,
$68 million extension to an initial five-year IT services contract with the bureau, which is known as the ATF. The contract includes management by EDS
of about 7,000 desktop PCs.
Dr. Gregg "Skip" Bailey, the ATF's CIO, said the planned desktop system replacements are part of
the bureau's normal three-year upgrade cycle for PCs.
The decision not to go with Windows Vista was made for a number of
reasons, according to Bailey. Probably the most important one, he said, is the ATF doesn't have enough time between now and January to verify that
all of its systems will run effectively on the new OS...
winbeta.org - 30.08.2007
Apple gets in a mucking fuddle over iPhone dictionary app
In the latest twist of Apple's confusing iPhone AppStore policies, one developers dictionary application was rejected for "objectionable
content". Why? It contained swear words. In a blog post by John Gruber, technical writer and technology pundit, Gruber confirms Apple censored an
English dictionary. Matchstick software, developers of Ninja Words - a "really fast" dictionary, first submitted their iPhone application on May 13;
it was rejected two days later. According to Phil Crosby, one of Ninjawords's developers, "Our app was crashing on the latest beta of iPhone OS
3.0. We quickly fixed this issue and resubmitted." Matchstick did not hear from Apple again until May 30 when Apple rejected the application for
"objectionable content".
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 06.08.2009
Gov't Agency to Use Virtual
Earth
The National
Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency, a division of the
Department of Defense, said
Thursday that it will use
Microsoft's Virtual Earth
technology "to provide
geospatial support for
humanitarian, peacekeeping and
national security
efforts."..
betanews.com - 19.05.2006
UK Schools warned to avoid a Microsoft deal
The UK computer agency Becta is advising schools that are considering moving to Microsofts School Agreement subscription not to sign licensing
agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices. The agency reminds schools they are legally obliged to have licensed
software, but suggests they use instead what is known as " perpetual licensing ", which gives the permanent right to use the software
and requires no ongoing payments beyond the purchase price. The advantage to schools in using a subscription service such as Microsofts is the
smaller, annual payments. However, a spokesman for Becta emphasized that that Microsoft required schools to have licences for every PC in a school,
whether they use the software or not.
The government agency has complained to the Office of Fair Trading, saying talks with Microsoft have
not resolved "fundamental concerns" about academic licensing and about Office 2007 and the Vista operating system. The agency hopes that by
referring the case to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), " Microsoft will move promptly to address the issues raised ". If schools have
already signed up with Microsoft, Becta says " they should consider their renewal and their buyout options " alongside any findings the
OFT may make.
neowin.net - 27.10.2007
