Windows & Microsoft

Microsoft seems to have heeded the critics who were less than enthralled with the company's recent Internet Explorer ad that featured a housewife spewing vomit on her husband after she saw the porn he was viewing on his computer. The ad has been pulled from a Microsoft YouTube channel, as well as from a Web site launched for the ad campaign.

In this special IT Blogwatch, we look back at what bloggers were saying about IT news in June. From iPhones to aviation and from H-1B workers to Windows 7, bloggers blogged it and your humble blogwatcher watched it.

By Richi Jennings: your humble blogwatcher, who selects bloggy morsels for your enjoyment every day. Not to mention how we used to play games on phones...

In September 2008, the London Stock Exchange collapsed because its Windows-based electronic trading platform, TradElect completely failed. Now, under new leadership, the Exchange will finally do away with its fatally flawed Windows system.

Microsoft has launched a new ad campaign for Internet Explorer that is either clever and slyly humorous, or obnoxious and snarky, depending on your point of view. But in one ad promoting IE 8's so-called porn mode, the software giant has crossed the line of bad taste --- by about three miles. I've got details and the video itself in my blog.

After many delays, you can finally download Firefox 3.5 from Mozilla.org. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers debate its speed, stability, security, and, err, private browsing mode.

By Richi Jennings: your humble blogwatcher, who selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention life in plastic: it's fantastic...

Steve Jobs is frequently held out as the model of a tech industry CEO, but a Harvard Business Review blogger says that his style of management represents just about everything that a CEO shouldn't do.

In today's podcast: Microsoft to charge more for Windows 7 in Europe than US; news of Jackson's death slows down Web sites; and China Telecom wants to offer BlackBerry.

Yesterday Microsoft announced that it will charge $120 for upgrades to Windows 7 when it ships. But don't believe that price; I expect that permanent discounts will ensure consumers will always pay less.

Microsoft has essentially said it's betting the farm on Internet search and Bing. But it may be that it's real target isn't Google, but instead Yahoo.

Redmond has released the beta of Morro, or Microsoft Security Essentials. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers and Slashdotters download and dissect the free malware protection program. It raises questions of trust and anti-trust; plus analogies with cars and, yes, Nazis.

By Richi Jennings, your humble blogwatcher, who has selected these bloggy tidbits for your enjoyment. Not to mention a futuristic movie timeline...

Apple's penchant for secrecy could ultimately backfire --- Warren Buffet has hinted that the company might have violated the law by not revealing months ago that Steve Jobs was scheduled for a liver transplant.

Netbooks have been the one bright spot in PC sales over the last year. But there's some evidence that the glory days of the netbook are over, and that buyers will turn to more traditional notebooks.

Microsoft still suffers from Google envy: Steve Ballmer appears ready to make a bet of up to $11 billion that Microsoft's new search engine Bing can overtake its Internet competitor. At best, the bet is a long shot, and throwing away that amount of money could well do Microsoft irreparable harm.

You've long been able to use many Windows applications on desktop Linux... if you knew what you were doing. With the new version of Crossover Linux, though, anyone can install and run Windows applications on Linux.

The massive protests in Iran are powered by access to Facebook, Twitter and other Internet services even though the Iranian government has blocked access to them from inside Iran. How are the Iranians managing to get to the sites? Here are four tools and techniques Iranians are using to evade Internet censorship.