Microsoft

Ballmer says Windows 7 is "simply the best"

At a recent shareholders meeting Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer told attendees that "Windows 7 is simply the best PC operating system that we or anyone else has ever built".

As part of his opening speech Ballmer stated that the new OS was off to a "fantastic...

Xbox 360's Xtival weekend returns

Microsoft has announced that its Xbox festival - Xtival - will be returning in late November. Running across 27 to 29 November - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - the festival is a celebration of gaming, movies and music that takes place on Xbox Live.

For the duration...

Sky Player on Windows 7 available now

Sky Player, Sky's online TV service is now available via the Windows Media Center programme in Windows 7 offering "a new and innovative way for people in the UK to watch live and on demand TV from Sky on a PC".  

For existing Sky TV customers, Sky Player on...

Ten reasons to try out Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 has now entered its public beta phase, and it's already looking like a pretty substantial upgrade to the 2007 version, and a huge improvement on earlier editions of the omnipresent Office app suite. Here's ten reasons why you should give it a...

MS Office 2010 beta now available

Microsoft has revealed that the 2010 edition of its phenomenally successful Office suite has now entered beta. The software can be downloaded directly from Microsoft.com/office/2010.

The new version has a whole host of improvements, many of which will be familiar...

Microsoft's Azure cloud platform now available

Microsoft has finally launched its Azure cloud computing platform, more than a year after it was originally announced. The software, which promises an operating system in the cloud, will be a "community technical preview" until the end of the year, and then go live for...

O'Reilly: Ugly times ahead for the Internet

Web visionary, Tim O'Reilly, has suggested that we could be heading into an "ugly time" on the Internet possibly mirroring the browser wars of the nineties.

Talking at the Web 2.0 expo in New York, O'Reilly warned that a number of moves by big organisations like...

VIDEO: Microsoft Store employees do a little dance

Somehow we don't think this clip with be showing up in any internet video greatest hits compilations, unlike similar, more successful dance-themed vids of late.

Maybe it gets better after the 54-second mark (there's 4 mins 45 in total to cringe through) but that's...

Windows Mobile App Marketplace opens to all

Microsoft's Windows Mobile Application Markplace has opened a little wider to encompass any handset running Windows Mobile 6.0 or above. Previously, it was only available to handsets running the very latest version - Windows Mobile 6.5.

The catalogue contains...

iTunes still most popular music service by far

A survey of 2000 internet users in the UK from GfK NOP has found that iTunes still remains by far the most popular music service, but that new entrant Spotify is shooting rapidly up the charts, despite having only just celebrated its 1st birthday.

The survey asked...

Best Software, Service, or App 2009 nominations

Here are the nominations for Best Software, Service, or App in The Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009.

The following products were chosen because we feel they represent the best software, service or app on sale in the last 12 months that are available in...

Banned Xbox 360s flood e-commerce sites

If you're thinking about picking up a second-hand Xbox 360 in the next couple of months, be very careful. As a result of the mass banning of about 3% of the console's userbase from Xbox Live, many unlucky gamers are attempting to offload their consoles through eBay, Gumtree...

Microsoft reveals 10 million Xbox 360s sold in EMEA

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 has hit the 10 million consoles sale mark across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 4 years.

Reaching that milestone means that Xbox 360 is the only console to achieve year-on-year growth across the region this year,...

Bing sheds beta tag in UK

Microsoft has, it might come as a surprise, announced the official launch of Bing in the UK on Friday.

"Following a period of trial and continued in-depth analysis of consumer usage and behaviour, the service has been put through its paces and Bing is now shedding...

Xbox 360 social update dated

Microsoft has confirmed that it will be releasing its latest Xbox 360 update on the 17 November to all LIVE members.

The new update, which was first announced in June, will bring with it Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and Zune video to the console.

The Facebook...

Microsoft issues update for Office 2008 for Mac

Microsoft has updated its Office 2008 for Mac software, with version 12.2.3 now available to download from the Help and Support section of Microsoft's website.  

As well as the usual security and stability fixes, the update includes fixes for vulnerabilities...

Windows Marketplace for Mobile gets updated

"Much anticipated upgrades for Windows Marketplace for Mobile" have now gone live, reports Microsoft in a blog post.

Part of the second wave of features promised, there's said to be more advanced anti-piracy protection and an improved developer portal, as well...

Zune HD 3D games released

Zune HD owners have been given a treat on Thursday; a selection of free 3D games to download and play.

The new games, available for users who have updated to the new 4.3 software, will offer music listeners the chance to race around the streets of London, go bowling,...

Windows 7 offers "Mac look and feel" says Microsoft exec

Apple fans have a new salvo to fire at their Windows-loving brethren, as a Microsoft exec has revealed that the Windows 7 operating system enjoyed some fruit-flavoured inspiration.

Microsoft's partner group manager, Simon Aldous, has told PCR-Online, in a candid...

Project Natal to cost less than £50

Details have emerged regarding Microsoft's closely guarded Project Natal motion gaming add-on for its Xbox 360 games console.

While all we previously really knew was that the system would hit the shelves during 2010, games site MCV has heard from industry...

Microsoft cuts off Xbox 360 hackers

It's believed that up to 600,000 gamers may have been cut off from Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service because they're running modded consoles that can play pirated games.

Microsoft has confirmed that "a small percentage" of Xbox's 20 million users had...

Microsoft Xbox 360 wireless n adapter goes on sale in US

We've seen the Xbox Wireless n adaptor on sale in the UK, but now Microsoft has officially confirmed the launch of the Xbox 360 wireless n adapter in the US. 

Available on Amazon.com for $90, the new adapter promises faster connectivity over a wireless n network....

Windows 7 retail sales up 234% on Vista

Retail sales of Windows 7 were well over 200% higher than Vista's in the two operating system's first days of being on sale in the States, the NPD Group has revealed.

But although Windows 7 software unit sales were 234% higher than Vista's, it seems revenue...

Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - software, services, apps

It's been a bumper year in 2009 for software, services and apps as the overarching trend of tech creeps glacially away from its hardware focus and more towards what the Internet and its friends can do for us. So, before you shout out in the comments who you think should...

Microsoft cuts another 800 jobs

Microsoft has revealed it is cutting an additional 800 jobs across its global operations, further to the previous cuts announced in January.

Reuters quotes a spokesperson for Microsoft stating these latest job cuts are spread out across the company's global...