Microsoft have done a welcome about face regarding the default rendering mode of IE8.
It has been a couple of years since I looked at the Mini-Microsoft blog but I have just subscribed to it in Google Reader and read the latest entry called That Whistling Sound. There is a Wikipedia entry about Mini-Microsoft which gives some background information on the blog.
More anti-competetive behaviour from Microsoft.
The UK computer agency Becta is advising schools not to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices.
Microsoft has lost its appeal against a record 497m euro fine imposed by the European Commission in a long-running competition dispute.
Windows Vista will be generally available from tomorrow. Anyone planning to get it will have to choose between a plethora of versions.
The Vista Content Protection specification could very well constitute the longest suicide note in history.
Microsoft rips off Apple's Workgroup Manager icon.
Microsoft and the European Union have begun a two-day hearing that gives the US giant its last chance to defend itself against possible daily fines.
Microsoft bombshell: no EFI support for Vista. But don't panic, it seems like EFI is a load of crap anyway.
Someone just pointed out this thread on the "Mini-Microsoft" blog. There are contributions from people (at least claiming to be) involved in Vista development who are describing it as a monumental disaster. It seems to be related to a recently announced delay in shipping.
Years ago my father wrote a program in GW-BASIC to use a computer as a timer in the lab. Basically you hit a key every time an event occurs and it records all the times for later analysis. He was complaining that you could not do this on a modern PC (he is running Microsoft Windows XP), well he agreed that it must be possible but didn't know how to go about it. Well in fact you can run GW-BASIC on an XP machine so all his old programs should work. You can download GWBASIC.EXE.zip from KindlyRat's GWBASIC page.
John Maughton explains how a few schools in the UK have solved many of their IT problems by ditching Microsoft. For further reading check out the Becta report Open Source Software in Schools.
Microsoft has not done enough to comply with sanctions imposed for breaking European anti-trust rules, the European Commission (EC) has said.
A European court has turned down an appeal by Microsoft to delay hard-hitting sanctions from the European Commission.
Microsoft critic received $9.75m after antitrust settlement.
Microsoft is obviously burning up a lot of effort fighting the "Linux threat" on numerous fronts and seem to be resorting to increasingly dubious practices in doing so. A lot of this is covered at Groklaw. Like in the recent MS Is a Big Fat Patent FUDster post.
ReactOS is an Open Source effort to develop a quality operating system that is compatible with Microsoft Windows applications and drivers.
The US Patent Office has rejected Microsoft's FAT patent.
Microsoft has been talking about improving Windows security for years, but new viruses and worms are now appearing at an alarming rate (up 400% in the last year). John Gruber sensed that the masses are getting restless.
Merijn Bellekom has announced that he will cease development of CWShredder which is the only available tool to automatically remove the evil CoolWebSearch trojan that exploits the ByteVerify vulnerability in the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine. Apparently the latest variants are too aggressive or too complicated to allow for automated removal.
Microsoft has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority for misleading claims about the relative cost of Linux and Windows.
Microsoft has pulled out of a UN software standards body.
www.zenatode.org.uk Ian Gregory 2010
