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 SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Wednesday that it needs to better inform users that its tool for determining whether a computer is running a pirated copy of Windows also quietly checks in daily with the software maker. The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction. For example, if the company suddenly started seeing a rash of reports that Windows copies were pirated, it might want to shut down the program to make sure it wasn't delivering false results. "It's...

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. has developed technology for people to pay by the hour to use a computer in their own homes, much like how many consumers use a pre-paid card for cell phone usage. The technology, called FlexGo, will be used as part of efforts to sell computers to lower-income consumers in developing countries, where Microsoft is eager to find new money-making opportunities but is battling software piracy and other barriers. Redmond-based Microsoft, working with computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. and others, plans to launch a second trial of the FlexGo plan in Brazil beginning Monday. In the next...

BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- For the past year or so, this is what I've been telling people in private. Now that there appears to be some sputtering by both the stock and by those who defend Microsoft I think it might be high time to explain my position. Let me preface by saying that Microsoft (MSFT : Microsoft Corporation News , chart, profile, more Last: 23.33-0.68-2.83%2:17pm 05/03/2006Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolioAnalyst Create alert InsiderDiscussFinancials Sponsored by: MSFT23.33, -0.68, -2.8% ) is not about to stop making gobs of money. It's just that there is virtually nothing interesting or exciting happening...

Naked PCs: Free software supporters are angry that Microsoft is putting pressure on PC vendors not to sell machines without an operating system installed Microsoft has urged UK PC vendors not to give customers the opportunity to buy a PC without a pre-installed operating system. Supplying base systems, or 'naked PCs', is a missed opportunity, according to Michala Alexander, Microsoft's head of anti-piracy. Writing in Microsoft's Partner Update magazine, which is distributed to computer dealers, Alexander estimated that 5 percent of computers sold in the UK in 2006 would not include an operating system. Alexander is keen to bring that...

A dangerous new exploit in Internet Explorer could put PCs and data at risk, Microsoft has admitted. The flaw, for which code has already been published on the internet, could be exploited to set an email-borne virus free on the unsuspecting public. Potential viruses could come as an attachment that conceals the code, or could possibly redirect users to a site that will unleash the code on the user's machine, leaving the computer open to remote attack. Once the PC is being controlled by a malicious user, it can then be used to launch attacks on other PCs. Even supposedly...

BARCELONA, Spain — Microsoft Corp. has won backing from major cellular networks for a new generation of phones designed to transform mobile e-mail from executive accessory to standard issue for the corporate rank-and-file. The partnerships, with operators including Vodafone and Cingular, to be announced today at a mobile industry gathering in Spain, could spell more trouble for the embattled BlackBerry and other niche e-mail technologies........ Unlike the BlackBerry and its peers, phones running Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile operating system can receive e-mail "pushed" directly from servers that handle a company's messaging — without the need for a separate mobile server...

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft and its hardware partners will continue to develop new digital media devices aimed at challenging the dominance of Apple Computer's ubiquitous iPod music player, Chairman Bill Gates said on Friday. "I don't think what's out on the market today is the final answer," Gates said, speaking to a group of minority students. "Between us and our partners, you can expect some pretty hot products coming out over the next few years." The Microsoft founder praised Apple's iTunes music store and said the software giant was talking with hardware partners to create media devices that can be less expensive...

Microsoft's Anti-Spyware program is causing troubles for people who also use Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus software; apparently, a recent update to Microsoft's anti-spyware application flags Norton as a password-stealing program and prompts users to remove it. According to several different support threads over at Microsoft's user groups forum, the latest definitions file from Microsoft "(version 5805, 5807) detects Symantec Antivirus files as PWS.Bancos.A (Password Stealer)." When Microsoft Anti-Spyware users remove the flagged Norton file as prompted, Symantec's product gets corrupted and no longer protects the user's machine. The Norton user then has to go through the Windows registry and delete multiple...

Microsoft will omit anti-virus protection in Vista, the next version of Windows, which it plans to ship late this year. As with previous versions of Windows dating back to Windows 2000 at least, Redmond is promoting Vista as a landmark improvement in Windows security. Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's platform products and services division, told reseller magazineCRN that safety and security, improved user experience, and mobility features will be key additions in Vista. But there will be no anti-virus software, the Windows development supremo said during a questions and answers session with CRN. For unspecified business (not technical) reasons, Microsoft...

Tired of being an also-ran in the digital music arena, software giant Microsoft is reportedly considering offering its own device. Redmond won't confirm it is discussing a new device, telling publications like Business Week that no decision has been made. Microsoft did not respond for comment as of this writing. But the company ignited the discussion with its December shift of its digital media software division and the MSN Music service to the Entertainment & Devices division, which experts agree is the likely umbrella group to make a push against the iPod. Analysts believe such a product would likely will...

(CNET Networks Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)A Windows feature that automatically searches for Wi-Fi connections can be exploited by hackers, a security researcher has warned. The feature is part of Windows XP and 2000 and was exposed as being vulnerable at hacker conference ShmooCon on Saturday by vulnerability researcher Mark Loveless. Loveless claimed that hackers can take advantage of the feature to include a user's PC in a peer-to-peer network, giving them access to information on its hard drive. When a PC running Windows XP or Windows 2000 boots up, it will automatically try to connect to a wireless network. If...

This is a transcript from a show Steve Gibson did with Leo LaPorte. The link to the audio is at the above link. Also, I will excerpt a little of the relevant information here.Steve: And so, you know, because I'm a developer when I'm not being a hacker, I wanted to understand - oh, and the other thing is, I want to write a robust testing application, you know, that always works all the time. So I wanted to know, like, okay, what bytes have to be set which way, what matters, what doesn't. Because, you know, that's the way...

Men Face criminal charge for Xbox TamperingTue Dec 20, 2005 3:45 PM ET168 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors have charged three men with copyright infringement for selling modified Xbox consoles that enabled the original video game machine from Microsoft Corp. to play pirated games. The criminal complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday named ACME Game Store co-owners Jason Jones, 34, and Jonathan Bryant, 44, as well as Pei "Patrick" Cai, 32.

The European Commission has threatened to fine Microsoft up to 2m euros (£1.36m; $2.4m) a day until it gives rivals more access to its systems. Brussels said the software giant had failed to supply adequate information about its server programs. Microsoft has five weeks to provide improved documentation before the daily penalties are imposed. But the group pledged to contest the EU's "unjustified" demands by whatever means possible. 'Changing demands' "We will contest today's statement to the full extent permitted under EU law, including a full oral hearing on these issues," Microsoft legal chief Brad Smith said in a statement....

Microsoft Corp. has shut down the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger that discussed politically sensitive issues including a recent strike at a Beijing newspaper. The action came amid criticism by free-speech activists of foreign technology companies that help the communist government enforce censorship or silence dissent in order to be allowed into China's market. Microsoft's China-based Web log-hosting service shut down the blog at the Chinese government's request, said Brooke Richardson, group product manager with Microsoft's MSN online division at the company headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Though Beijing has supported Internet use for education and business, it fiercely polices...

Microsoft set out to adopt a formal and rigid support lifecycle in 2002, back at a time when most analysts were expecting to see Windows Vista (then, "Longhorn") within a couple of years. My own point of view was that this lifecycle business had a lot to do with Microsoft's then-new volume licensing scheme, which among other things is oriented towards selling software subscriptions. If you're buying a subscription for software, you can see how lifecycle plans become important. However, delays in Windows Vista coupled with a questionable approach to "consumer" products means that 2007 will carry a few surprises...

Microsoft has admitted to removing the blog of an outspoken Chinese journalist from its MSN Spaces site, citing its policy of adhering to local laws. The blog, written by Zhao Jing, also known as Michael Anti, was removed from MSN servers on Dec. 31, according to investigative journalist and former CNN reporter Rebecca Mackinnon. She claimed that the blog was actively removed by MSN staff rather than being blocked by Chinese authorities. A Microsoft representative told ZDNet UK on Wednesday that it blocked Anti's MSN Space blog to help ensure that the service complied with local laws in China. "MSN...

The BlackBerry service, based on the handheld e-mail device that has become a must-have tool for the business elite, could be shutdown in the United States after a bitter legal battle over a key patent. This week, NTP, a small firm that holds a crucial patent that allows e-mails to be sent to mobile devices, announced a licence agreement with Visto Corp - an arch-rival of Research In Motion. (RIM), the company that created the BlackBerry. The announcement could put further pressure on RIM to settle a patent claim from NTP which could be worth up to $1 billion (£565...

The Open Document Fellowship has been created to give the OASIS Open Document Format added momentum, as the war of words between Sun and Microsoft gets bitter The Open Document Fellowship was launched on Monday to add momentum to what appears to be a growing movement to support the open standard for the production, storage and dissemination of documents. The Open Document Format for Office Applications, or OpenDocument, was developed by standards body OASIS. Last month, it received its first major seal of approval when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts became the first public body to insist on the use of...

The commonwealth of Massachusetts has finalized its decision to standardize desktop applications on OpenDocument, a format not supported by Microsoft Office. The state on Wednesday posted the final version of its Enterprise Technical Reference Model, which mandates new document formats for office productivity applications. As it proposed late last month before a comment period, Massachusetts has decided to use only products that conform to the Open Document Format for Office Applications, or OpenDocument, which is developed by the standards body OASIS. State agencies in the executive branch are now supposed to migrate to OpenDocument-compliant applications by Jan. 1, 2007, a...