14 DAY TRIAL // On Monday, Microsoft announced a new partnership with McLaren Electronics System that will make the two companies the official suppliers of engine control units to the FIA Formula One World Championship for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 racing seasons.
The new agreement is meant to reduce costs, boost competition, and support fuel efficiency and energy recovery initiatives in Formula One, one of the most popular racing contests in the entire world. The two companies are aiming to create a team that can achieve the Formula One title by including software solutions based on Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and other Microsoft software platforms and products as appropriate.
"We have been involved in Formula One and other forms of professional motorsport for 15 years and already work with all the Formula One teams. We are delighted to be working closely with Microsoft and the FIA to supply the standard ECUs to Formula One. Our work with Microsoft allows us to combine MES' considerable knowledge and experience of providing systems at the highest levels of motorsport with Microsoft's innovative technologies to deliver the best electronic system possible," said Peter van Manen, managing director of MES.
On Tuesday, the giant released Microsoft Robotics Studio, a new solution that will help to create robotic programs for multiple hardware platforms. The company also announced a third-party program meant to attract software developers to help improve the solution, already more than 30 third-party companies offering support for the giant's latest release. "Microsoft Robotics Studio is our response to requests from many hobbyist, academic and commercial robotics developers. We have quickly built a strong community with over 100,000 downloads of our preview releases, and we are excited to see the breadth of partner support across a wide variety of hardware platforms," said Tandy Trower, general manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group.
The new product is distributed free of charge for students, academics and for individual use but, for commercial purposes that are meant to provide revenues, you must pay for a license that costs approximately $399. You can download an evaluation version of the application here.
On Wednesday, the giant posted a press release on the official page to announce that kids and even adults can chat with Santa via Windows Live Messenger. If you are interested in this opportunity, you must add Santa's Live Messenger account to your list [email protected] and ask all sorts of things. Kids can chat with Santa and ask him about their current standing in the gifts' lists and find out if they were naughty or nice.
"Starting Christmas Eve morning, kids can check in with Santa through Windows Live Messenger to follow his journey around the world. As Santa circles the globe delivering gifts, kids who ask him where he is or when he will arrive at their house will be directed to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Santa-tracking site through a link in the conversation window," Microsoft said.
On Thursday, Microsoft published a statement on its webpage to underline the importance of the genuine software and the upcoming operating system, Windows Vista. As you may know, the giant is continuously fighting against the pirated applications and their distribution, because Microsoft's products are the most counterfeited solutions in the entire world. The giant already developed a powerful application to block the piracy over its products, but Windows Genuine Advanced Notifications created multiple problems for the Windows users. Because the Windows Vista operating system will be soon available for all users, Microsoft decided to start a powerful campaign to stop the piracy on the upcoming product.
"As part of its ongoing efforts to protect customers, Microsoft will periodically review product keys that appear to have been leaked or stolen, and will thoroughly investigate reports of system file tampering. Because a system file tamper compromises the integrity of the operating system, and puts the user at risk, reinstallation of the operating system may be required.
For product keys that have been determined to be illegally obtained or distributed, Microsoft will block these keys, which will eventually result in the system losing access to product enhancements and having certain features disabled. In some cases, the user will be asked to reactivate with a genuine product key. Failure to reactivate will result in that copy of Windows Vista being placed into a reduced functionally mode, as explained in our October "Software Protection Platform" announcement. It is important to note that even in reduced functionality mode users can always gain access to their personal data," Microsoft said.
On Friday, the giant announced that Gears of War is one of the games that made history after their release date because it is the fastest selling game of 2006 and the fastest-selling exclusive Xbox game ever. Gears of War is a game that places you in the role of a survivor that fights against the Locust Horde, a war between humans and creatures that are aiming to conquer the world.
"'Gears of War' clearly has won the battle for the title of the must-have game of the year. Its phenomenal success is one of many reasons why Xbox 360 is the ultimate place to get together with friends to play this holiday," Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp, sustained. "We've always held high hopes for 'Gears of War,' but we never expected such an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and gamers all over the world," said Michael Capps, president, Epic Games.
