microsoft

Zune vs. Samsung

Welcome to my first post on the newly relaunched MP3 Insider blog. I'll be updating this blog regularly with MP3 player-related rants and predictions. If you're a fan of the MP3 Insider podcast I co-host with Jasmine France, you'll probably enjoy this blog as well. I wanted to start with something classy, but instead, let's get the ball rolling with a juicy product smackdown.

After having a day to reflect on Microsoft's latest Zune offering, I began to think that perhaps the iPod vs. Zune battle is a little too obvious. Whether the iPod's … Read more

Microsoft: Zune launching November 13

Microsoft is shooting to release its new Zunes on November 13.

When the company announced the launch of the second-generation Zunes on Tuesday, it said only that they would arrive in stores sometime in mid November. But gadget blog Gizmodo discovered that Amazon.com is taking preorders for the 4GB, 8GB and 80GB digital music players and listed November 13 as the release date.

This is what I found when I tried to preorder a new Zune: "Availability: This item will be released on November 13, 2007. Pre-order now! Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available." … Read more

Microsoft's pseudo-open source: open trap for open-source developers?

If you believe some of the headlines, Microsoft just open sourced a bunch of software related to its .Net libraries. Don't be fooled. The definition of open source is very clear. This is not open source. Not even a little bit. In fact, this may actually be an insidious trap (more on that below).

Will Hurley captures the move accurately:

Is .NET open source now?...The license indicates that developers can "see" the source code, but Microsoft's not providing any means of copying it. If a developer finds a bug in the code, rather than fixing it themselves and submitting a patch to the community they'll be encouraged to submit feedback via the product feedback center. They're showing us the man behind the curtain, but we're not allowed to speak to him in person just yet. We're still stuck with the giant, disembodied green head. And since community involvement is essential to most open source efforts, well....

In other words, it's not open source. But is it good for developers, anyway?… Read more

Rumor mill: Microsoft letting Bungie go free

The Intertubes are all a-buzz today, especially the video game corner, about a rumor that Microsoft has made the decision to let Halo developer Bungie become an independent studio again.

This is interesting timing, given that Halo 3 was just released last week, to largely enthusiastic reviews and huge commercial success, and that there are still additional Halo properties to come, including a project being produced by Lord of the Rings impresario Peter Jackson.

Still, according to the rumors, first reported by 8bitJoystick, Microsoft would keep hold of the Halo property, and would simply allow Bungie--which was solo before being … Read more

Episode 574: Ripping is stealing

Windows Vista SP1 beta lacks 'wow'

If you've been waiting for Windows Vista SP1 to come out before you make the leap to the new operating system, don't, says Microsoft.

Microsoft's Pete McKiernan, a senior product manager for Windows, told CNET News.com that one of the purposes of a service pack is to include all the patches that have been released in one package. Windows Vista SP1 will have that, but little else for the home user.

Unlike the buzz surrounding Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista SP1 won't include a new version of Internet Explorer, and won't include any new … Read more

Zune 2.0 gets official

Microsoft has officially revealed its plans for new 4GB, 8GB, and 80GB Zune MP3 players (the rumormongers nailed this one). The new players are expected out in November, priced at $149, $199, and $249, respectively. The 80GB version is only available in black, but both the 4GB and 8GB versions will be available in black, red, pink, and green. While the news hasn't exactly knocked us off our feet, there are some interesting new features worth noting (skip to the end to find out what they didn't add).

Wireless sync Zune users can now sync their player to a computer over a home Wi-Fi network. This is a feature Zune users have been asking for from the very start, so it's nice to see it finally implemented. Existing Zune users (all 1 million) will also be given the new wireless sync feature… Read more

Too little, too late for Zune in '07

The technology and music pundits wrote off Microsoft's Zune player immediately after it launched, and one reviewer predicted that it would be such a failure that Microsoft would quietly forget about it by the middle of 2007. I was willing to give Microsoft a little more credit, only because I don't think that the iPod and iTunes are perfect, and because I've seen how Microsoft comes from behind: it refines, improves, outspends and waits until the competition stumbles.

This evening, Microsoft unveiled version 2.0 of its Zune family, and this time, it's got a credible music player--for 2006. Unfortunately for Microsoft, it's 2007.

Office of the future?

For most everyone working in the U.S. corporate world, Microsoft Office is a must: Outlook for e-mail/calendar; Word for word processing; Excel for spreadsheets; and PowerPoint for presentations. The 2007 release has been covered extensively on CNET Reviews.

However, a recent rise in free office suites has given end users much more choice in productivity software than they've had in many years. Just two weeks ago, IBM announced a free version of Lotus Symphony. Though it's still in beta release, the freeware includes serviceable word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software, all of which support Microsoft Office … Read more