14 DAY TRIAL // On Monday, Microsoft made an interesting statement concerning the latest version of its operating system, Windows Vista. As you surely know, Windows Vista was the most awaited edition of the product developed by Microsoft because the software giant managed to keep it in the spotlights since the first release candidate version. The company introduced Vista as the most secure operating system ever designed, containing several security tools able to make the computer activities safer. Although Windows Firewall, Application Control and Windows Defender are included in the application, the security companies are still working on powerful solutions able to enhance Vista's protection systems. As I said, Microsoft proudly announced that the company managed to sell over 20 million copies of Windows Vista since the official release on January 30. The software giant also made a comparison to the previous system, Windows XP that recorded almost 17 million sold copies in the first two months so it's obvious Vista's advertising campaign was quite efficient.
"We are encouraged to see such a positive consumer response to Windows Vista right out of the gate. While it's very early in the product lifecycle, we are setting a foundation for Windows Vista to become the fastest-adopted version of Windows ever," Corporate Vice President Bill Veghte said according to News.com. Bill Mannion, Windows Marketing Director at Microsoft, sustained the most copies of Vista were sold as standalone products but the final numbers were also improved by the update to Vista function. "It's boosting the overall number, but it's certainly not the core component of the 20 million," he said according to the same publication.
As you surely know, Microsoft's game console Xbox 360 was one of the most awaited products of the year because it brought some of the most powerful specifications ever implemented into this kind of devices. The revolutionary game console is now available in a new flavor that will bring even more advantages to the gamers from every corner of the world through the brand new Xbox 360 Elite. The new edition of the game console is equipped with a 120GB hard-disk able to store music, movies, pictures, trailers, demos and even games as well as any other content compatible with the product. The entire Xbox 360 Elite is distributed with a black wireless controller, a black headset, a HDMI cable as well as with a Xbox Live Service Membership that allows you to interact with a huge community of gamers using a simple online service. The game console will be shipped on April 29 for a retail price of $479.99 while the hard-disk will be also available as a separate product for $179.99.
"Today's games and entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content. Xbox 360 Elite's larger hard drive and premium accessories will allow our community to enjoy all that the next generation of entertainment has to offer," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, according to a press release published on the software giant's website on Tuesday.
Nowadays, the entire world tends to become mobile as more and more developers are continuously working to build mobile software able to work on any type of handheld device. Because the market is requesting it, the Internet companies are almost forced to comply with the demands if they really want to succeed with their business. Take the example of Google, the search giant that owns the most powerful search technology on the Internet that was also attracted to the mobile hardware devices. Although numerous rumors were sustaining the search giant prepares a Googlephone, the company's representatives sustained they will remain at the software developing stage, trying to avoid the hardware market. On Wednesday, Microsoft made an important step into the mobile battle by announcing a new browser able to bring the old PC experience to the handheld devices. Deepfish is currently available as a limited technology preview, the company refusing to offer more details about an upcoming public beta version.
"Think about your mobile browsing experience today. It's often less than intuitive, the pages don't look like what you've come to expect on the desktop, and it takes a long time for a page to load. Deepfish aims to solve that problem. With the Deepfish technology, we capture the full layout of the page and deliver it to the mobile device, resulting in an experience similar to that on the desktop," Dr. Gary William Flake, a Microsoft Technical Fellow and the founder and director of Microsoft Live Labs said, according to a press released published on Microsoft's page.
On Thursday, Microsoft published an interesting security advisory, sustaining the Windows animated cursor is vulnerable to attacks and can allow an intruder to connect and view the files stored on an affected computer. It seems like the problem concerns the animated cursor files with the .ani extension that can become vulnerable when a user visits a page containing a malicious script or opens an email with a dangerous attachment sent by the attacker. "Microsoft is investigating new public reports of attacks exploiting a vulnerability in the way Microsoft Windows handles animated cursor (.ani) files. In order for this attack to be carried out, a user must either visit a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit the vulnerability or view a specially crafted e-mail message or email attachment sent to them by an attacker," the software giant said in the security advisory.
Although there was no successful exploitation reported, Microsoft encouraged users to update their antivirus databases to the latest versions and to avoid opening malicious websites or attachments sent by unknown persons. As usual, Microsoft sustains that it's better to install Windows Live OneCare, a security suite able to ensure the protection of a vulnerable system even when the computer is attacked by malicious people.
At this time, the security companies from every corner of the world are struggling to enhance our computers' security with new and powerful tools. As a firm that provides the most popular operating system in the entire world, Microsoft also works hard to make the computer activities safer, but sometimes, its efforts are quite useless. On Friday, the statement was proven again after some spammers tried to spread a virus using the latest edition of the Microsoft Internet browser, IE7. According to security company Sophos, millions of spam messages sent from a fake Microsoft email address were directed to the inboxes from all over the world. The messages encouraged users to download Internet Explorer 7 but the included link redirected them to a W32/Grum-A worm.
"Worms like this are only succeeding in spreading because so many people have still not learnt to be suspicious of unsolicited emails, even if they claim to come from well-known companies like Microsoft. The problem is that to the casual observer the email looks genuine, and the image displayed looks near-identical to the imagery that Microsoft is using on its website to promote Internet Explorer 7.0," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, according to the official site of the company.
