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It Might Well Be the 'Biggest IT Fail Ever'
Global Software Fail
Is of 'Historic' Proportions
the rundown

Global Software Fail Is of 'Historic' Proportions

Businesses, airlines, and more were knocked off line in CrowdStrike update snafu

(Newser) - The world got a reminder on Friday of just how vulnerable it is to a tech snafu. Here is the latest on the global computer outage linked to a single company—cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike:
  • What happened: It all boils down to a flawed software update by CrowdStrike, one that wreaked
...

Microsoft Skips Windows 9, Announces Windows 10

Start Menu back in move away from Windows 8

(Newser) - Windows 8 didn't exactly set the world alight—market research firms say the number of computers running it is a fraction of those still using Windows XP—and Microsoft has decided to skip a number and go straight to 10 for its latest operating system. "Windows 10 will...

Bill Gates on Ctrl-Alt-Delete: Yeah, That Was a Mistake

Wishes he could Ctrl-Z that, make it a single button

(Newser) - If you ever found yourself annoyed at having to press Control-Alt-Delete in order to log onto Windows on your computer, you've now been vindicated. In an interview for a fundraising campaign at Harvard, Bill Gates himself admitted the three-key requirement was a mistake, the Verge reports. Basically, it was...

Leaked: Microsoft's Windows Blue

Windows Blue includes new gestures, apps

(Newser) - The next version of Windows isn't due on shelves until later in the year, but eager customers can already get a look at a leaked version of it: A partner version of Windows Blue has been making the rounds on file-sharing sites, the Verge reports. It looks a lot...

With Sinofsky Exit, Microsoft Loses Its Steve Jobs

Farhad Manjoo: Who cares if Windows boss was kind of mean?

(Newser) - Farhad Manjoo pulls no punches when it comes to the departure of Windows chief Steve Sinofsky from Microsoft: It's like FDR firing Dwight Eisenhower on D-Day. Of course, both Sinofsky and Microsoft are trying to paint this as a mutual, amicable decision, but that's ridiculous, Manjoo writes on...

Why Windows XP Refuses to Die

It's ' the Methuselah of desktop operating systems': Harry McCracken

(Newser) - Despite upgrades like Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft's most popular operating system remains the clunky, security-plagued, 10-year-old Windows XP. But why? "I'm fascinated—and, in a peculiar way, inspired—by XP's astonishing longevity," writes McCracken in Time . Microsoft is mostly at fault, he says, because...

Look Out, iPad: Windows 8 a Contender

 Look Out, iPad: 
 Windows 8 a 
 Contender 
reactions

Look Out, iPad: Windows 8 a Contender

But a lot can happen in a year, note reviewers

(Newser) - Microsoft has skirted the problem it ran into three years ago, when its preview of Windows 7 was leaked to the general public, by "leaking" Windows 8—which will ultimately power PCs and iPad-rivaling tablets—itself. The preview of the operating system, first aired at a conference yesterday, was...

Coming Soon: Windows 8
 Coming Soon: Windows 8 

Coming Soon: Windows 8

Could be released as early as this holiday season

(Newser) - It seems like only yesterday that Microsoft released Windows 7—and indeed, most of us haven't gotten around to upgrading to that version—but already, Windows 8 is nearly upon us. Web forums were filled with news and rumors last week after PC manufacturers and equipment makers got "early...

Double Rainbow Guy Gets Microsoft Gig

(Newser) - Anyone who has seen the Internet viral video often titled "Double Rainbow Guy" knows that the cameraman involved is exceptionally impressed by rainbows. Especially double ones. The ecstatic laughing, sometimes crying video maker is Paul "Hungry Bear" Vasquez, and he has now been hired by Microsoft for a...

Windows-to-Mac Software Should Scare Microsoft
Windows-to-Mac Software Should Scare Microsoft
mac vs pc

Windows-to-Mac Software Should Scare Microsoft

Parallels' product makes choice of operating system less important

(Newser) - Conflicted about choosing sides in the apocalyptic showdown between Microsoft and Apple? No need to worry—in this brave new world, you can have your cake and eat it. Parallels is Mac software that allows users to seamlessly integrate Windows programs, even the entire desktop. So, for just $79.99—...

Nokia Challenges Apple With 3G Netbook

(Newser) - Nokia is charging into the mobile computing market with its first netbook, PC World reports. The phone company’s Booklet 3G features 3G connectivity for Internet access and packs a healthy 12 hours of battery life. The tiny laptop—10 inches—runs Windows and has Nokia’s Ovi mobile apps...

Microsoft Move Won't Derail Antitrust Case

Company has unfair advantage, European Commission says

(Newser) - The European Commission is moving forward with its antitrust case against Microsoft even after the company's promise to sell its Windows 7 operating system without Internet Explorer in Europe. The commission "notes with interest" Microsoft's announcement, CNET News reports, but adds that "Microsoft has apparently decided to supply...

Guess Who's Taking On the Apple Store?

Microsoft hires Wal-Mart guru for new retail effort

(Newser) - Microsoft has hired a former Wal-Mart exec to help the company open a chain of retail stores—a new strategy in its battle with Apple. The move is the latest sign of upheaval at Redmond, reports the Financial Times, and represents a change in approach. "To open their own...

High Traffic Delays Windows 7 Beta Rollout

Company's site crumbles under demand

(Newser) - After promising the world Windows 7 Beta on Wednesday, Microsoft had to pull the plug on its download site due to cripplingly high traffic, CNET reports today. “We are adding some additional infrastructure support,” Microsoft said, “before we post the public beta.” Microsoft hopes to have...

PC to Mac: Who's Square Now?
 PC to Mac: Who's Square Now? 
ANALYSIS

PC to Mac: Who's Square Now?

Microsoft's $300M ad campaign fights 'snooty' Apple

(Newser) - Apple's ads have long painted Microsoft users as square, but the PC has effectively stood up to the cool kids in the company's $300 million campaign, writes Farhad Manhoo in Slate. "Even if they are a little saccharine, the core message of Microsoft's ads—that Apple is snooty—should...

Microsoft Should Throw a Rock Through Its Windows

Operating system needs a fresh start

(Newser) - The window on Microsoft’s operating system agility has closed, and to fix it, Randall Stross argues in the New York Times, the tech giant needs to start from scratch. Windows “has become an obese monolith built on an ancient frame,” Stross says, and it “seems to...

Microsoft Warns Windows Users of Safari Threat

(Newser) - Windows and Safari mix like virus-vulnerable oil and water, Microsoft warns, and Windows users should stop surfing with Apple’s web browser until the security holes have been patched. The “blended threat” combines a bug in Safari that downloads files to the desktop automatically and a vulnerability in how...

Windows XP Will Live On, But Only in Low-Cost PCs

No luck for frustrated Vista users who prefer the older operating system

(Newser) - Microsoft is going to keep Windows XP on the market—but only for a few users and not for the sake of those unsatisfied with its successor, Vista. The company will stick to its June 30 deadline for withdrawing XP from stores but will supply the older operating system for...

Mac OS X Grabs Record Market Share
Mac OS X Grabs
Record Market Share

Mac OS X Grabs Record Market Share

Gains 3.56% over January, while Windows drops .36%

(Newser) - Apple's Mac OS X operating system grabbed a record 7.57% of market share in January, up 21.7% from the year before, Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog reports. The computer company’s share grew 3.56% over the course of December, while rival Microsoft Windows faced a .36% loss—...

Dude, This New Dell Is Sweet
Dude, This New Dell Is Sweet
NEW RELEASE

Dude, This New Dell Is Sweet

Desktop is 'elegant, handsome, and cleverly designed'

(Newser) - The iMac’s latest challenger is coming from an unlikely source: Dell. The maker " long associated with boxy, boring machines" brings the buzz with its newest contender, the XPS One, raves the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg. The sleek desktop machine, he says, is “elegant, handsome, and...

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