* Tue, 18 May 2010 | Web User

The new-look Windows Live Hotmail will let you edit Office documents within your browser, even if the PC you are using doesn’t have Office installed.

Microsoft is to give its webmail client Windows Live Hotmail a makeover this summer, the company has announced.

New features including Windows Live Messenger integration and tools to deal with email that isn’t spam but not important either will be present in the new version of Hotmail when it is rolled out to the company’s 360 million email users.

via Microsoft unveils new look for Windows Live Hotmail | Latest technology and web news | Web User.

Now you can discover, create, and share Microsoft Office documents with your Facebook friends. Built using Microsoft Office 2010 – Docs for Facebook provides the best possible document service for the Facebook environment. Seamless integration with Facebook means that the service is all about sharing your documents. Finally docs can be friendly too!

Since launching docs.com last Wednesday, they’ve updated the site several times. Improvements include:

• Better sign-up and waiting list flows
• Better timing of prompts for extended Facebook permissions
• Fixed several styling bugs across browsers
• Better thumbnail generation
  … etc.

In addition to these changes, they’re working to improve:

• The comment stream beside each document
• Issues opening documents in Office running on your Mac or PC
• … and much, much more (including new features!!)

“We are gradually opening up the full featured offering to those of you on the waiting list, granting you access to create and upload new documents. If you have not received an invite yet, please regularly check whichever email address you use to manage your Facebook account.”

via About.

Office Web will be accessible at no cost through the software maker’s Windows Live portal.

By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
July 13, 2009 08:25 AM

In an effort to keep pace with the growing number of free or low-cost desktop productivity tools available online, Microsoft said Monday that it plans to introduce a Web-based version of its Microsoft Office suite that consumers can use at no cost.

Office Web, as the offering is called, will be part of the Microsoft Office 2010 release, which is slated for the first half of next year. “It’s going to be a great way for people to get their hands on these applications,” said Chris Capossela, senior VP for Microsoft’s Business unit, in an interview.

The free, online products will include the Office word processing application, the Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation software, and OneNote message pad. They’ll be available directly through Microsoft’s Windows Live portal and launch directly within a user’s browser.The move allows Microsoft to protect its flank from Web-based software from Google and from free, open source-based offerings, such as IBM’s Lotus Symphony product.

via Microsoft Plans Free Version Of Office 2010 — InformationWeek.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Remember how Apple blew a lot of good will with their iPhone fans when Apple didn’t include copy & paste and arrogantly claimed it wasn’t needed? Other than background app support (still not available unless you jailbreak), copy/paste was the #1 complaint for the iPhone. Apple finally relented, added copy/paste and iPhone users around the world rejoiced!

Surely, Microsoft would not make the same mistake with their new forthcoming Windows Phone 7 Series mobile phones, right?

via Windows Phone 7 Series – No Copy / Paste? WHAT???.

Windows Phone 7 at Amazon U.K.
Windows Phone 7 at Amazon U.S.

A Solution to the Vista Problem

Windows 7 was developed and released in just three years, and the operating system was basically done when the public beta hit almost a year before. This accelerated timetable was a response to Windows Vista, which was being lambasted by the press, by Microsoft’s competitors, and by consumers, whether or not said consumers ever actually used the operating system. Once upon a time, it seemed like everybody knew a computer guy who hated Vista.

Vista’s flaws – a buggy initial release, slow performance, poor public perception, higher system requirements and not enough to differentiate it from Windows XP – gave Microsoft several clear goals to meet with Windows 7. Now that we’ve been using the final version of the operating system for six months, it’s clear that the company was able to meet or exceed expectations in almost every area of Windows 7.

via The Problem With Microsoft’s Windows 8 Timetable | Windows 7 News.

Windows 7 Products at Amazon U.K.
Windows 7 Products at Amazon U.S.

Just like the German government did last week, the French government via the National Information Systems Security Agency (Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information) has also issued an alert, recommending users to switch to another web browser regarding an Internet Explorer’s vulnerability that was exploited to hack Google servers in China.

Here’s a translated version of the warning, provided by Google Translate:

via French government also warns Internet Explorer users – Mozilla Links.

Well here’s something I bet you didn’t expect, apparently if you set your Windows 7 machine to have a solid color background, it will hang for 30 seconds before it actually loads.

So if your into having a bleak and barren desktop with just a dull grey background, it may feel like time takes an age to pass. The reason being that, Windows 7 prefers to have a lively background image to load up every time it boots up.

But why does Windows 7 decide to hang for 30 seconds if you’ve set a plain color background image? Well basically it’s a bug that’s present in Windows 7 and Windows server 2008 R2.

via Solid Color Backgrounds Cause 30 Second Login Delays | Windows 7 News.

Microsoft will offer an “out-of-cycle” security update – but it first had to be well balanced “Regrettably, we must note that one of our products has been used for criminal activities.

Therefore we cooperate with Google, other partners in the software industry and international agencies to educate the facts, ” said Microsoft in a press release said the early availability of an update for Internet Explorer.

via IE: Update für kritische Lücke angekündigt – Browser – derStandard.at › Web. Full report in German language only.

674ShareemailshareIn a statement issued today, the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology known as BSI recommends that all Internet Explorer users switch to an alternative browser. They may resume using Explorer after a fix is issued by Microsoft for a critical vulnerability that has been implicated in the Chinese cyberattack against Google.If you missed it, yesterday McAffee released a report outlining details of the cyber assault on Google Google and around 20 other major technology companies. It specifically implicates a critical flaw in all versions of IE that allows hackers to “perform reconnaissance and gain complete control over the compromised system.” Microsoft has responded that it is developing an update to the vulnerability.

via German Government: Stop Using Internet Explorer.

Looking forward, Microsoft needs to continue its leadership in fighting piracy – for its own benefit and for the industry, but most importantly for customers. After closing out 2009 in December with a global Consumer Action Day, we kick off 2010 with our commitment to continue our fight against piracy, especially with Microsoft’s investment in its Genuine Software Initiative, which focuses efforts on three strategic areas

via Continuing the Fight Against Piracy – Genuine Windows Blog – The Windows Blog.

If you’ve configured Windows to automatically log you in rather than having to enter a password, you might find it annoying that you still need to enter a password when your PC comes out of sleep mode. Here’s the quick fix.Make Windows 7 Not Require a Password on WakeWindows 7 makes the whole thing a lot easier—just head into Power Options in Control Panel, then click the “Require a password on wakeup” on the left-hand side.

via Prevent Windows Asking for a Password on Wake Up from Sleep/Standby :: the How-To Geek.

Microsoft’s new and free security software Microsoft Security Essentials received some raving reviews since its first release as a beta version. The final version of the antivirus software program was released alongside Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7. Microsoft Security Essentials is using Windows Update to update the virus definition files which can be problematic in situations where Windows Update is not activated by default which is for example the case in company networks where updates are tested before they are applied to computer systems. It can also be helpful if Windows Update is not working properly either because of a computer virus or other form of attack or because of other reasons.

via Microsoft Security Essentials Updater.