by Yukari Iwatani Kane, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Ben Schefers bought his first Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360 console four months ago to play games remotely with his friends. But the 33-year-old database manager now spends more time using it to play movies, television shows and documentaries.
“It’s something that my wife and I can both agree on,” he says, adding that he plays Xbox 360 games only a few times a week–and often only after his wife is asleep.
by Nick Wingfield, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
There’s a new sign Windows 7 is off to a strong start: Web surfers have started moving to the operating system much more quickly than they did its troubled predecessor, Windows Vista.
A new research report says Windows 7 on Saturday surpassed 4 percent of all devices visiting Web sites that day, a little over two weeks after the commercial launch of the product.
by Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are all offering some form of courtesy Wi-Fi through the holiday season, at venues such as airports, hotels and Times Square.
Each has a relatively new service it’s hoping to attract consumers to, whether it’s Google’s Chrome browser, Microsoft’s Bing search engine or Yahoo’s revamped home page and customization features.
by Jamin Brophy-Warren, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Since first releasing the Xbox nearly a decade ago, Microsoft has been targeting your living room. From videogames to film downloads to the coming Facebook add-on for their Xbox Live service, the software maker has rolled out features that aim to shorten the link between your computer and your TV set.
Microsoft Corp., Bank of America Corp. and L.L. Bean Inc. are just some of the companies that have flooded the Supreme Court with advice as it prepares for Monday’s arguments over one of the biggest questions involving intellectual property: When can a business method be patented?
When Microsoft made the decision this week to drop out as the sole sponsor of Fox’s upcoming special “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show,” the software giant said, “The content was not a fit with the Windows brand.”
by Robert X. Cringely, Editor and Writer, Cringely.com
I’ve had a couple days now with Windows 7 and it is certainly an improvement over both Vista and XP, requiring slightly less resources than either (significantly less than Vista), booting faster, and offering superior usability.
Microsoft’s big launch of the new Windows 7 operating system on Friday in Beijing was much like its launches around the world: a huge, boisterous demonstration of new features such as being able to share music across multiple computers in one home.
by Jessica Hodgson, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Thursday that he believes it’s a “shame” that Yahoo had decreased its focus on Internet search, through its recently announced partnership with Microsoft.
by Justin Scheck and Nick Wingfield, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal
Cash-strapped consumers have been slow to buy personal computers in the recession. But with the launch of Microsoft Corp.’s new Windows 7 operating system Thursday, PC makers are aiming to reverse that trend–and then some.
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