14 DAY TRIAL // On Monday, Microsoft continued to improve its Xbox 360 game console by announcing a new update able to connect two or more players. Windows Live Messenger for Xbox 360 will allow the owners of the Microsoft game console to communicate with the users of the Windows equipped PCs or Windows Mobile handheld devices. According to the software giant, the new improvement will be included in the Xbox 360 Spring Update scheduled for May 7, 2007. This latest feature will allow the Xbox owners to chat with other members of the Live platform straight from their TV system while they're playing, watching movies or listening to music.
"Bringing the largest IM community in the world, Windows Live Messenger, to Xbox 360 makes sense, as Xbox LIVE has really become the largest social network on television. For our growing community of 6 million on Xbox LIVE, using Xbox 360 is a very social, connected experience. They are using Xbox 360 to play games, music and movies while simultaneously communicating with one another through video, voice and text chat. With this announcement we are simultaneously expanding the access of Xbox LIVE users to existing friends and family while introducing Windows Live Messenger users to the benefits of Xbox 360," said Jerry Johnson, product unit manager of Xbox LIVE at Microsoft, according to a press release published by Microsoft.
Microsoft said on Tuesday that the company is expecting a 20 percent boost in sales for the Chinese market after the software giant managed to release new policies over its products and the antipiracy battle. The company is continuously trying to promote the latest version of the operating system, sustaining that Vista is a real market hit even in China, one of the largest IT markets in the entire world. As you might know, other Internet giants, such as Google and Yahoo, tried to conquer the Asian market, but every time their attempts were rejected straight from the beginning.
In a world dominated by the local firms including Baidu, HP or Dell, Google and Yahoo tried to expand their offerings by releasing Chinese versions of their solutions. Google encountered a powerful resistance from Baidu, often regarded as the Asian Google that managed to attract almost the same category of users that is also targeted by the search giant. Yahoo's fate was even worse, the company recording several departures and even an internal reorganization meant to revamp the giant portal.
The software giant continued its Xbox 360 game console update mania with a new important announcement made on Wednesday. According to a press release published on the company's website, Microsoft will debut Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta on May 16 and will be available until June 6. If you didn't know, the Halo trilogy is one of the most popular names on the games market, the third version being addressed only to the Xbox 360 owners. The already registered for the beta members will have the possibility to download the beta version of the game starting May 16 and connect through the Xbox Live Gold system to other players from all over the world.
"Halo: Combat Evolved and 'Halo 2' changed the face of console gaming forever. Gamers from around the world have logged more than 800 million hours on Xbox LIVE playing 'Halo 2,' and years after its launch it remains the No. 1 title on our Xbox LIVE network. Bringing an early look at the multiplayer elements of 'Halo 3' to our passionate fan base is tremendously exciting for us," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, according to a press release published by Microsoft.
Thursday was probably the most important day of the week at Microsoft because Microsoft Senior Product Manager Alex Kochis confirmed a Windows Vista crack that might pass the Windows Genuine protection system built by the company. As you know, Windows Vista is the last version of the operating system developed by the company and also the most awaited edition ever designed. Because it was very popular even in the beta stages, Vista was attacked by numerous software pirates that were looking to activate the application using a hacked license. However, Microsoft tried to prevent those illegal activities by means of several security tools but, according to a recent announcement, they might be quite useless. The Microsoft employee confirmed several hacking attempts, sustaining that Vista might be vulnerable, but avoided to mention if the vulnerability was exploited or not.
"As I've said in the past, we focus on hacks that pose threats to our customers, partners and products. It's worth noting we also prioritize our responses, because not every attempt deserves the same level of response. Our goal isn't to stop every "mad scientist" that's on a mission to hack Windows. Our first goal is to disrupt the business model of organized counterfeiters and protect users from becoming unknowing victims. This means focusing on responding to hacks that are scalable and can easily be commercialized, thereby making victims out of well-intentioned customers," the Microsoft employee sustained in a blog post.
"The vulnerable Microsoft" campaign was continued on Friday with a new security advisory released by the company after only one week since the ANI flaw allowed attackers to exploit a system using the cursor files vulnerabilities. This time, the security advisory concerns the Domain Name System (DNS) that seems to be vulnerable in multiple operating systems developed by Microsoft: Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. According to the company, the only versions avoided by the flaw are Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4, Windows XP Service Pack 2, and Windows Vista because they do not contain the vulnerable code. Using the flaw, an attacker is able to connect to an affected system, execute malicious commands and then obtain administrator privileges able to allow him to take control over the system.
"Microsoft's initial investigation reveals that the attempts to exploit this vulnerability could allow an attacker to run code in the security context of the Domain Name System Server Service, which by default runs as Local SYSTEM. Upon completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take appropriate action to help protect our customers. This may include providing a security update through our monthly release process or providing an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs," it is mentioned in the security advisory.
