Microsoft Corp. today announced a new addition to the award-winning family of SideWinder gaming products, the SideWinder X3 Mouse, which combines gaming performance and versatile design at a value price of $39.95. This ambidextrous, eight-button gaming mouse delivers comfort for either hand along with the performance features fans of SideWinder products know and love, including a 2,000 dots-per-inch (dpi) laser-tracking engine with on-the-fly dpi switching between high, medium and low sensitivity. The SideWinder X3 Mouse is easy on the wallet, but it does not skimp on performance, offering gamers a full set of features and launching them ahead of the competition.

"Our research shows that in-game comfort continues to be the main consideration for PC gamers," said Bill Jukes, product marketing manager for Microsoft Hardware. "We designed this mouse to be ambidextrous and small in size, providing comfort to a wider variety of people and making it ideal for gaming as well as everyday use."

The CUDA architecture continues to blaze a trail as the leading platform for developing and running GPU Computing applications, with support for C, OpenCL, DirectX Compute, Fortran and other languages and APIs. The latest CUDA 2.2 Beta contains a host of significant new features, including:

Hardware debugger for the GPU
Linux developers can now use a debugger on CUDA-enabled GPUs that offers both the familiar interface of the popular open-source GDB debugger and the ability to debug kernels as they execute on the GPU. The GPU-side debugger has all the features that developers expect from GDB, including the ability to have breakpoints, watch variables, inspect state, etc., as well as additional functions for CUDA-specific features.

Even though there's still some time left before the official release of Windows 7, Microsoft - the creator of this OS - confirmed today that just like some Windows Vista distributions could be downgraded to Windows XP with ease, the same will apply to Windows 7. General users of Windows 7 will be given the option of downgrading right over Vista to Windows XP, a Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed.
"This is not the first time that Microsoft has offered downgrade rights to a version other than its immediate predecessor," the spokesperson told Betanews, "and our Software Assurance customers can always downgrade to any previous version of Windows."
Microsoft hasn't detailed exactly how downgrade rights will work with Windows 7 - for now we know that Windows 7 will be downgradable to either Windows Vista or Windows XP - the rest of the details remain unclear.

I once posted a news story on how well computer manufacturers are treating the environment according to the Greenpeace organization. Well I'm going to give you a little update on that story today. Last time Nintendo was the worst among worst when talking "green" and this year it is strengthening its position even more. From zero to eleven in being "green" (zero means worst) Nintendo scores the whooping 0. HP, Microsoft, Lenovo and Dell are next to have poor scores when it comes to preserving the world we live in. According to Greenpeace only Apple is "truly kicking the habit", maybe that's because they have an apple as their logo. Philips learned a lesson from last Greenpeace research and the company jumps from 15th to 4th place this year, well done Philips. The two best "green" manufacturers as of March 31st 2009 are Samsung and Nokia.

Microsoft Corp. and TomTom N.V. today announced that they have settled the patent infringement cases brought by Microsoft before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and the International Trade Commission (ITC) and by TomTom in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The cases have been settled through a patent agreement under which TomTom will pay Microsoft for coverage under the eight car navigation and file management systems patents in the Microsoft case. Also as part of the agreement, Microsoft receives coverage under the four patents included in the TomTom countersuit. The agreement, which has a five-year term, does not require any payment by Microsoft to TomTom. It covers both past and future U.S. sales of the relevant products. The specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Shuttle Inc., the market leader in the Mini-PC segment and manufacturer of Multi-Form-Factor solutions, today introduces the XPC H7 4500H complete system for satellite TV reception. Unlike present proprietary solutions, the H7 4500H now comes with satellite television conveniently and reliably integrated in Windows Vista.

The whole feature set of Windows Media Center that had previously been available for DVB-T tuners and analogue cable TV only, can now be used with a DVB-S TV tuner card as well. Timeshifting (pausing TV programmes), EPG (Electronic Program Guide) and recording, all this can be done right from the sofa by remote control.

Continuing its momentum and leadership in virtualization technology, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. today released the first video and images demonstrating live migration across three generations of AMD processors on VMware ESX 3.5, including the Six-Core AMD Opteron processor code-named "Istanbul." Live Migration of virtual machines across physical servers is key to providing superior flexibility for managing today's data centers. Additionally, AMD is highlighting its continued, cooperative development efforts with Microsoft as evidenced in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V, which is available today as a beta and adds support for AMD-V technology with Rapid Virtualization Indexing. The new 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor provides scalable performance for both Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 and has received support from all four global OEMs.

Today Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of Windows Internet Explorer 8, the new Web browser that offers the best solution for how people use the Web today. It can be downloaded in 25 languages at www.microsoft.com/ie8 starting at noon EDT on March 19. Internet Explorer 8 is easier to use, faster and offers leading-edge security features in direct response to people's increasing concerns about online safety. A new study commissioned by Microsoft and the National Cyber Security Alliance and conducted by Harris Interactive Inc. shows that 91 percent of adults in the U.S. are concerned about online threats in the current economic climate, and 78 percent are more likely to choose a Web browser with built-in security than they were two years ago.

"Customers have made clear what they want in a Web browser -- safety, speed and greater ease of use," said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "With Internet Explorer 8, we are delivering a browser that gets people to the information they need, fast, and provides protection that no other browser can match."

Microsoft Corp. and Lexmark International, Inc. signed a patent cross-licensing agreement that furthers the development of each company's product lines and will expand technological innovation to enhance the overall customer experience.
The patent cross-licensing agreement covers a broad range of products, including Lexmark printers and multifunction products, and Microsoft software products. The agreement allows greater mutual access to each partner's respective patent portfolio. The terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

Notebook sales are now outpacing desktop PCs three to one, and to meet that growth, the Microsoft Hardware Group is entering a new category of notebook accessories with the introduction of the Notebook Cooling Base, designed to make notebook use more comfortable with a built-in fan and sleek form. Microsoft Corp. is also responding to the rapid success of the Arc Mouse, which reached the top-10 list of best-selling mice after just two months on the market, by releasing the award-winning mouse in four special edition colors: deep olive green, marine blue, eggplant purple and frost white. These products provide a great way for people to display their unique style and work in comfort on their notebooks.

Rumor has it, that Microsoft will be ending the mass availability of the Xbox 360 Elite console in many parts of the world and plans on positioning it as a "limited edition" console instead of a regular one like it was until now. That's a result of the drop in the interest of the premium priced console. Consumers choose to buy the Arcade or Pro models and do not pay attention to the more expensive model. Microsoft will start winding down production of the black Xbox 360 Elite model in the spring and will eventually leave just the limited editions of the consoles on the market, like the recently introduced Resident Evil 5 Elite bundle for example. To compensate the small crowd of people that want to have the 120 GB hard drive found in the Elite models, Microsoft is said to prepare an upgrade standalone hard drive that's even bigger than 120 GB. Expect more information in the following weeks.

As expected, both Windows Vista Service Pack 2 RC and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 RC were made available for public download today. This build is the same one that was sent to testers last week. Download links follow:

• Five Language Standalone DVD ISO for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64
• Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x86 version
• Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x64 version
• Windows Server 2008 - Five Language Standalone for ia64-based systems

Today, Microsoft Corp. and Lenovo announced the availability of the Ultimate Academic Personal Computer promotion with high-powered, highly functional, affordable laptop PCs designed specifically for college and university students, faculty, and staff. As part of the program, initially offered as a pilot by Microsoft, Lenovo will offer four different ThinkPad laptops pre-loaded with Windows Vista Ultimate and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced that Samsung has adopted the VIA Nano processor in the new Samsung NC20 mini-notebook.

Mobility is enhanced by 802.11b/g and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, and a six-cell battery that provides up to 6.5 hours of use independent of any power supply, while storage options include either a solid state disk or a SATA hard disk drive. Other features include an integrated 1.3 mega pixel digital motion camera, 3-in-1 memory card reader and three built-in USB ports.

Starting from next month, Microsoft's award-wining entertainment console, the Xbox 360 will be sold in red color. That's of course a limited version, created to debut along with Capcom's survival horror Resident Evil 5. The bundle will include a red Xbox 360 Elite, single wireless controller also painted in red, a 120 GB hard drive, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, exclusive Resident Evil Premium Theme, Xbox 360 black wired headset, HDTV-ready component HD AV, HDMI and Ethernet cables. All this will be yours for $399. The bundle will be available for the March 13 release of Resident Evil 5.

The Microsoft SideWinder X8 Mouse, available on store shelves this week, offers a best-in-class tracking engine with Microsoft BlueTrack Technology and wireless freedom built for lag-free play. The newest mouse to join the SideWinder line, the SideWinder X8 offers the best frame rate, speed and acceleration on the market and a tracking range from 250 dots per inch (dpi) to 4,000 dpi, giving gamers ultimate control and precision.
"Many gamers have long desired a wireless gaming mouse that doesn't compromise on performance, and Microsoft delivers with the SideWinder X8 Mouse," said Bill Jukes, product marketing manager for Microsoft Hardware. "Combining the best tracking performance available with an innovative wireless solution, this mouse will change the way gamers perceive wireless performance."

In what could come as a rude shock to certain Microsoft ex-employees, the individuals the company fired as part of its recent workforce reduction schemes, as reactions to a deteriorating world economy, the company wants portions of the money it gave as severance packages back, which it finds as an overpayment caused due to an administrative error. As part of Microsoft's penny-saving schemes, the company sought to axe as many as 5,000 jobs, 1,400 of which were lost in this month alone.

Microsoft's human-resources department admitted to the error when working out and issuing severance packages to some ex-employees. If the ex-employees weren't unfortunate enough already for having lost their jobs, Microsoft now demands the portion of its severance package that is overpaid, back from its recipients. In a letter sent to all liable individuals, the company expresses sincere apologies as it asks for the overpayment to be returned. The letter is posted on Scribd and can be read here. Microsoft gives its ex-employees, most of whom are unemployed at the moment, 14 days to return the money.

UPDATE (02/24): In a fresh report by MSNBC, Microsoft admits to the fact that administrative glitches caused it to pay more severance than intended to some laid-off employees, and the company intended to ask for the overpaid amount back through private communication. The plan took a sour turn with a copy of the letter surfaced on the internet, turning out to be embarrassing for the company. Lisa Brummel, senior VP for human resources, in an interview to MSNBC shared some figures: only 25 out of the 1,400 recently laid-off employees were sent the letter, the degree of discrepancies measured around US $4,000~5,000 per odd payment. The executive reportedly called most of the 25 laid-off employees Monday to personally tell them Microsoft would not seek repayment after all.

In an exclusive interview with the guys at Neowin.net, Microsoft have confirmed, that provided no serious problems arise, they are on track to release Windows 7 RC on April 10. As yet the only changes which are known about, are User Account Control (UAC) fixes which prevent malware from disabling UAC all together.

More information about the development of Windows 7 comes from Geeksmack, with their email conversation with Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft Senior Vice President of Windows. Sinofsky said, "We have received an amazing amount of feedback, many suggestions for new features too, during the beta-over 500,000 suggestions just from the Send Feedback button." What was also interesting to note, "... by far the most humorous element has been that the build numbers blogged about are higher than our current build. Today's build is 7046, but it hasn't completed yet :-)"
Sinofsky is also said to have spoken to Ars Technica, and said that, "The build will be available broadly".

Today, Microsoft Corp. announced a partnership with technology industry leaders and academia to implement a coordinated, global response to the Conficker (aka Downadup) worm. Together with security researchers, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and operators within the Domain Name System, Microsoft coordinated a response designed to disable domains targeted by Conficker. Microsoft also announced a $250,000 reward for information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet.

Tech ARP has managed to get a hold of a copy of a draft document, preliminarily named the Windows 7 Upgrade Program. It is said to have been distributed to Microsoft's OEM partners on 10th December giving them a month to provide feedback. Obviously nothing is set in stone yet, but Microsoft provided similar upgrade programs for Vista and XP. The extract follows:

Software giant Microsoft is looking for another spot that will make the company's products more widespread than ever. It plans to open a chain of own retail stores that will sell all Microsoft software product including Windows and other applications as well as personal compuetrs running Windows operating system, cellphones running Windows Mobile OS and last but not least the company's Xbox videogame console. Microsoft has also appointed David Porter, a former Wal-Mart Stores executive, to lead the new initiative through its way up. Porter spent 25 years at Wal-Mart Stores in roles of increasing responsibility and seniority in store operations, merchandising and information technology. In his last role at Wal-Mart, Porter was vice president and general merchandise manager of Entertainment, where he served as a strategic point of influence throughout the Wal-Mart business. Porter's first day at Microsoft as corporate vice president of Retail Stores will be Feb. 16, 2009.
"There are tremendous opportunities ahead for Microsoft to create a world-class shopping experience for our customers," Porter said. "I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases, and we'll share learnings from our stores with our existing retail and OEM partners that are critical to our success." That's all we know for now, key details around the new retail stores are still to be worked out. We'll keep you posted if anything new pops up.

Microsoft has had patchy success with its Windows Vista series of operating systems, and is banking on its next major addition to the Windows franchise, Windows 7 to turn its fortunes for the better. After having generously released beta versions of the operating system to the public, the company is gearing up for a product launch schedule. In the process, it made its SKUs (variants) of the operating system official today. The lineup consists of three variants in particular, suited for domestic deployments, with three variants aimed more towards commercial deployments, and then of course, there is an Ultimate variant that lets one have it all. The lineup for Windows 7 is as follows:

• Windows 7 Starter Edition
• Windows 7 Home Basic
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Windows 7 Professional
• Windows 7 Enterprise
• Windows 7 Ultimate

A website has emerged campaigning for Microsoft to step up development of Windows 7 and launch it earlier than planned. The beta released in the last month has created much excitement across the tech world, and many people are eager for the release of Microsoft's new OS, currently slated for Q4 2009 to Q1 2010. Many websites are posting positive reviews of the public beta, a reason behind this movement. The founder of the site, Kelly Poe has said,

I'm a BIG Windows fan and have been loving what Microsoft has done with the recent Beta Release of Windows 7. There have been so many great reviews from people like Leo Laporte (twit.tv, TWIT Podcast) and Paul Thurrott (www.winsupersite.com, Windows Weekly podcast), needless to say I'm jones'n for the release of Windows 7.

So here we are...let's join together and get Microsoft to release Windows 7...enough with this Beta stuff...release it already!!! Let the beautiful little birdy (with the odd name) fly!!!

At the time of writing the site had a backing of 646 votes, which was constantly growing. You can find the website and join the campaign at releasewindows7.com

Microsoft made public today, the first release candidate of Internet Explorer 8. Internet Explorer 8 RC 1, build number 8.0.06001.18372 is the latest version of the familiar web browser that is said to be faster, better and more secure than its predecessors. This release is compatible with both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008. There is still no official release for Windows 7. For more information, please read the release notes.

DOWNLOAD: Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1

Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $16.63 billion for the second quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008, a 2% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.94 billion, $4.17 billion and $0.47, declines of 8%, 11% and 6%, respectively, compared with the prior year.
Client revenue declined 8% as a result of PC market weakness and a continued shift to lower priced netbooks. However, strong annuity licensing drove Server & Tools revenue growth of 15%. Entertainment and Devices revenue grew 3% driven by strong holiday demand for Xbox 360 consoles with a record 6 million units sold in the quarter.