On Monday, the WSJ published a story arguing that companies should give their employees more freedom to decide what technology to use in the workplace.
Predictably, it touched a nerve among people who work in corporate information-technology departments, some of whom said in the comments section that the writer (that would be me) was more or less advocating technology anarchy inside companies.
Does this sound familiar?
At the office, you’ve got a sluggish computer running aging software, and the email system routinely badgers you to delete messages after you blow through the storage limits set by your IT department.
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.
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.
Microsoft says a phishing scheme is behind the exposure of passwords to thousands of Hotmail accounts late last week and adds that it’s helping affected customers regain control of their accounts.
On Monday, the Neowin technology blog posted a story saying that an anonymous user on Oct. 1 had uploaded a list with password details of more than 10,000 Hotmail accounts to a Web site called pastebin.com, where developers typically share programming code with each other.
On Wednesday, a startup called OnLive that’s generating a lot of buzz–and skepticism–in the videogame world raised a new round of financing from AT&T, Warner Bros. and others. We spoke to OnLive founder Steve Perlman, a well-known serial entrepreneur, about the investment (which wasn’t quantified) and some of the implications if OnLive or startups like it are successful.
Apple routinely touts the number of applications people have downloaded from the App Store, but it doesn’t say how much money it makes from the online clearinghouse for iPhone and iPod touch software. Bernstein Research has taken a whack at estimating App Store sales and, while the dollars are mere crumbs to Apple, they are growing quickly.
Paul Allen’s spotty investing history just got a littler spottier, with a deal to sell set-top-box maker Digeo to cable-equipment provider Arris Group for $20 million.
The Microsoft co-founder is the primary shareholder in Digeo, a closely held Kirkland, Wash., maker of digital video recorders that has struggled with sales of its products and laid off about half of its staff last year.
The threats lurking inside companies are usually of the corporate backstabbing and politics variety. Microsoft employees have something else to worry about: cougars.
Or at least one cougar. Over the past few days, Microsoft employees have reported several sightings of a cougar, also known as a mountain lion, roaming around the company’s verdant campus in Redmond, Wash.
Microsoft is about to find out whether it can prevent further defections to the Macintosh among college students by charging less for Windows 7 than a typical textbook.
On Thursday, the company announced on Twitter that college students in the U.S. can upgrade their PCs to Windows 7 Home Premium edition for only $29.99, as long as they have a genuine copy of Windows XP or Vista already installed on their systems.
Microsoft Corp. has closed the technological gap with Adobe Systems Inc. in a battle over software for adding video and animation to Web sites. But Microsoft’s efforts to win customers in the market are moving much slower.
It’s no secret to anyone at Microsoft that more than a few employees tote around iPhones in their pockets. Some staffers make little effort to hide the Apple device, while others seem to treat the iPhone a bit like a flask of whisky — a secret, irresistible source of shame.
Nintendo’s Wii has outsold rival game consoles. Now a new study says it also outlasts them.
The study by SquareTrade, an independent provider of warranties on electronics, estimates that 2.7 percent of Wiis fail during the first two years of ownership, compared with a 10 percent failure rate over that period for Sony’s PlayStation 3 and a 23.7 percent failure rate for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
With less than three weeks before Microsoft launches another salvo in digital music players, the marketing executive overseeing the company’s Zune device is headed for the exit.
Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Zune, is leaving the company to take a position at Universal Music Group, according to people familiar with the matter.
One thing’s for sure about the employees at Microsoft’s new retail stores: they’re going to need strong backs and biceps.
In the job listings Microsoft posted for its new stores yesterday, the company lists a number of unsurprising requirements for prospective retail workers. They need to be able to provide a “warm welcome” for customers, “execute the sales and service strategies” of Microsoft’s retail group and restock shelves.
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