14 DAY TRIAL // Since March 8, 2006, when the first beta version of Live Search was rolled out, the Redmond-based company struggled to compete with the famous search giant Google but every time, the Mountain View firm managed to face the competition and quickly rejected its attempts. But it seems that things are going to change soon as Microsoft prepares a new move to become a top player in the search engines competition. New speculations came out on Monday sustaining the software giant prepares Searchification, a special search engine-related conference that would be the perfect time for the introduction of Live Search 2.0, a revolutionary technology able to fight with any other product in this industry.
However, Microsoft has an extremely difficult mission, since Google is the clear leader of the market and it looks like there is nothing able to top it from conquering the Internet. According to market researcher comScore, the Google sites recorded no less than 55.2 percent of the total search queries conducted in July 2007. The numbers are at least shocking when we think that Microsoft?s page had a total of 12.3 points in July 2007, compared to 12.2 points in June, the same year.
One of the most attractive online battles these days concerns Google and Microsoft, two Internet giants that are challenging one another with several products. Beside Google Earth vs. Virtual Earth or Google Search vs. Live Search, two new solutions are targeting the same category of users: Google Apps and Microsoft Office. While Microsoft Office is famous for its offering, Google Apps comes in several flavors, including powerful technologies such as Google Talk, Gmail, Docs & Spreadsheets and Calendar. Feeling the Google threat, Microsoft made an interesting comment on Tuesday, saying that consumers must analyze 10 elements before moving to the Mountain View company?s product.
"We believe competition is good for customers and the industry. That said, customers tell us that our solutions deliver the ease of use, reliability and security that enterprises need. This is validated in the strong reception we?ve seen to 2007 adoption and usage and by having achieved more than 90% enterprise agreement renewal in the fourth quarter of our last fiscal year. Our long history in meeting the complex needs of enterprise customers, a partner ecosystem that has grown 43% on the Office platform since last year and our current and future investments in the software + services arena will deliver even more flexibility to customers," Microsoft stated according to ZDNet.
In addition, the Redmond-company also included 10 reasons to choose the Microsoft-powered solutions instead of the ones provided by Google. The most interesting one seems to be the second reason, which sustains that "Google has a history of releasing incomplete products, calling them beta software, and issuing updates on a "known only to Google" schedule ? this flies in the face of what enterprises want and need in their technology partners ? what is Google doing that indicates they are in lock step with customer needs?"
For the complete message signed by Microsoft, check out this link.
Microsoft became famous because it designed Windows, a software solution which is currently installed on millions of computers from all around the world. However, apart from the amazing number of software products designed by Microsoft, the Redmond-company is also focused on multiple hardware solutions which can represent a smart ?investment? for your computer. On Wednesday, Microsoft rolled out Mobile Memory Mouse 8000, a special notebook mouse which comes with a 1GB flash memory meant to allow you to save files on the go. Obviously, the mouse can be connected to your computer through a USB port and can be bought for no less than $99.95.
"With the continued rise in notebook sales, there is a huge demand for smart peripherals that help mobile users get their work done more efficiently, and the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 combines three key tools into one stylish device," said Matt Barlow, worldwide director of marketing and partner development at Microsoft Hardware. "Over the past 25 years Microsoft Hardware has consistently raised the bar of innovation, and adding a gigabyte of memory to the mouse transceiver is truly a computing milestone. We?ve packed more memory into the transceiver than an entire computer had 25 years ago."
On Thursday, Microsoft confirmed a vulnerability in Windows Live Messenger that could allow an attacker to control your computer in a matter of seconds. According to the Redmond-based company, most of the WLM versions ? as well as the old MSN Messenger releases ? are affected by the flaw, except the 8.5 beta and the 8.1 editions running on Windows Vista. Microsoft patched the security hole quite quickly and included the fixes in the MS07-054 bulletin.
"You can read from the bulletin that MS07-054 affects MSN Messenger 6.2, 7.0, 7.5 and Windows Live Messenger 8.0. It has been fixed in Windows Live Messenger 8.1, which has been automatically offered to users since February 2007. The vulnerability is in the library that handles the video chat webcam protocol. The 7.0.0820 release is a version of 7.0 with the fixed 8.1 webcam library (hermes.lib). Windows 2000 and older clients will need to upgrade to 7.0.0820," the Microsoft Security Response Center team explained in a blog post published on Thursday.
Since January 30, 2007 when Microsoft officially released Windows Vista, numerous users avoided migrating to the latest version of the operating system due to the incompatibilities with several hardware devices reported by other consumers. Although the hardware companies can easily fix this issue by releasing new drivers compatible with Windows Vista, Microsoft seems to be ready to make an unexpected move: more hardware devices built in Redmond that would be 100 percent compatible with Vista.
This week, Microsoft released a special notebook mouse that comes with an in-built 1Gb flash memory. Following other hardware devices, the mouse is fully compatible with Windows Vista.
"While we cannot disclose future roadmap plans, you can expect to see continued integration between Hardware and our Microsoft partners such as Windows Vista, Windows Live and Games for Windows. Our goal is to create innovative mice, keyboards and Internet communications products that enhance the software experience and make computing easier, more fun and more productive," Matt Barlow, Director of Worldwide Marketing and Business Development for Microsoft Hardware, said on Friday according to the official page of the software giant.
