Tagged: microsoft

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Don’t worry, Black Screen of Death only effects computers with 32 processors

Softpedia has an unclear article title about Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1. While SP3 has been released to those who have a TechNet/MSDN Subscription or are a part of a major OEM, and SP1 has been out for approxmiately a month now, Softpedia is reporting that there is already an issue. While this may be true, it’s not...

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Report: Microsoft fastest to issue OS patches, Sun slowest

Symantec’s comprehensive security report on the malware industry from July 1 to December 31, 2007, is now available (PDF) in its 100+ page glory. While some parts of the report simply reiterate data we’re well aware of – it’s no surprise to read that the majority of malicious activity originates in the US – there’s also a great deal of new information here that...

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Microsoft Refreshes Visual C++, Ends VB 6 Support

With the release of a new feature pack for Visual C++ 2008, developers can now write applications that feature the Office 2007 appearance, a Microsoft senior executive announced this week. At the same time, the company also discontinued support for its aging Visual Basic 6 integrated development environment, or IDE — to the dismay of some die-hard users. “I am pleased to announce that...

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Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool 1.40

The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 computers for and helps remove infections by specific, prevalent malicious software – including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed. The tool creates a log...

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Windows Vista SP1 Prerequisite KB937287

Back in February, we posted about the release of a couple of prerequisites for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. While several million customers installed the updates successfully, you may have read that a few customers experienced an endless reboot cycle while installing one of the prerequisites: KB937287, the Servicing Stack Update (SSU), which contains the Service Pack 1 installation program. As posted last month...

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Sixteen updates coming on Patch Tuesday

Microsoft has announced that there will be a total of sixteen updates on the upcoming Patch Tuesday. Five of the updates are labeled as Critical and designed to address security vulnerabilities that could leave Windows or Explorer open to remote code execution. Three updates are labeled as “Important” and will resolve vulnerabilities that leave Windows open to spoofing and unauthorized user privilege elevation, and...

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Microsoft Announces Extended Availability of Windows XP Home for ULCPCs

Today Microsoft announced the worldwide extension of the availability of Windows XP Home for an emerging, new class of mobile personal computers commonly known as ultra-low-cost PCs, or ULCPCs. Windows XP Home for ULCPCs will be available until the later of June 30, 2010, or one year after general availability of the next version of Windows. Microsoft has heard from partners and customers that they...

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Microsoft wins document format standards battle

Microsoft Corp has won a battle to have a key document format adopted as a global standard, improving its chances of winning government contracts and dealing a blow to supporters of a rival format. The OpenDoc Society, which had argued Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) format was unripe for ratification by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), published the results showing Microsoft’s win on...

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NVIDIA drivers responsible for nearly 30% of Vista crashes in 2007

That huge bundle of emails and documents Microsoft produced as part of the Vista-capable lawsuit is full of fascinating information about how the company developed, planned, and launched Vista, but the latest juicy nugget to come out if it suggests that a lot of problems faced by the troubled operating system are actually NVIDIA’s fault — nearly 30% of logged Vista crashes were due...

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Vista SP1 fails to spark migration

Microsoft’s latest efforts to persuade customers to upgrade to its much-maligned Vista operating system have met with a cool response from users. Historically, Microsoft’s first service pack for one of its marquee products – such as Windows – provides the impetus for users to upgrade. As Gartner analyst, Stephen Kleynhans recently noted, customers see SP1 as the sign that the OS has reached maturity...