After a trickle of updates and "betas", Microsoft Corp. is ready to start promoting its official package of free desktop programs for e-mail, instant messaging, blogging and sharing photos. The programs are "essentially a free upgrade for Windows," said Brian Hall, general manager of Windows Live at Microsoft. The package includes Windows Live Mail client, which should replace the old and integrated Outlook Express. The package also includes Windows Live Photo Gallery, Live Writer for writing blog posts, and the Live Messenger instant-messaging software. The applications aren't much different from test versions previously available.

U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it will invest $500 million in a new Dublin-based European data center, which will be completed by Summer 2009. The 51,000 square-meter center, which will add only about 20 jobs by virtue of being largely self-automated, will deliver Windows Live services and store data for its online services businesses such as Window Live and MSN. In addition to the $500 million in construction, there will be "an additional substantial investment" to kit out the center with the latest available server technology.

AMD today announced it is demonstrating platforms based on Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, including features designed to help Microsoft Windows application developers optimize their software applications through tools in upcoming software products from Microsoft Corp. The technology demonstrations at the conference in Barcelona, Spain show new integration with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors.

The Japanese sales figures for last month's console sales are in, and there's some good news for the PS3. Sony's console is now just over 63,000 units behind the Wii compared to almost 175,000 units in August (the figures for September weren't announced), which is a considerably smaller gap. The bad news for both consoles is that sales figures have plummeted from 245,653 units for the Wii and 81,541 units for the PS3 in August to just 110,415 units and 47,183 units respectively. It was better news for Microsoft, which saw its Xbox 360 sales figures rise from 11,288 units to 18,717 units over the same time period, although it still lags behind both other companies. The PS3's and 360's sales would have been helped slightly by both consoles experiencing a price drop during October, and the PS3 is expected to do well in November with the introduction of the new 40GB PS3 in Japan, along pre-Christmas sales affecting figures.

Microsoft has decided to be a little generous this month and is offering all Xbox LIVE Silver members the chance to trial four free days of Xbox LIVE Gold, from 23rd to 26th November, as part of an event being called Xtival. Silver members will have full access to complete Gold functionality, with Microsoft promising a number of bonuses including competitions and exclusive downloads. Current Xbox LIVE Gold members are also being promised a treat, although Microsoft is yet to announce any specific details. This should give all Xbox 360 owners in Europe the chance to trial Xbox LIVE Gold if they're undecided about whether it's worth paying for or not.

In most cases, selling extended warranties on products that probably aren't going to die anyways has been an enormous profit-maker for retailers worldwide. However, the Xbox360 has unfortunately done the exact opposite. For whatever reason, the Xbox360 is notorious for failing. And so, to curb the deficit that the Xbox360 is causing Gamestop, Gamestop is no longer offering extended warranties on the Xbox360, instead relying on Microsoft to do that.

Microsoft earlier this year announced plans to re-design the Xbox360, in an effort to reduce alarming failure rates.

Software giant Microsoft is making progress in creating a modified version of its Windows operating system designed to run on the XO laptop built by the One Laptop Per Child project. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Will Poole said:

We're spending a nontrivial amount of money on it. We remain hopeful with our progress to date, we still have significant work ahead to finalize our analysis and testing processes. At the end of the day, there's no guarantees.

The OLPC project intends to start producing its laptop next month, which is designed for elementary school children in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The laptops were originally designed to run Linux, however Microsoft hopes to develop a cut-down version of Windows in order to install it on the XO, with the biggest issues being reducing the power consumption and the space required by the operating system in order for it to run efficiently.

Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $13.76 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, a 27% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.92 billion, $4.29 billion and $0.45, respectively.

"This fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999," said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "Operating income growth of over 30% also reflects our ability to translate revenue into profits while making strategic investments for the future."

Microsoft's automatic updates system has once again found itself in the limelight following an issue with Windows Desktop Search 3.01 which has slowed thousands of computers and is causing havoc for IT technicians around the world. Despite client computers being configured only to update currently installed software, numerous blogs have reported that the Desktop Search software is installing itself and then hogging resources by loading an indexer, resulting in client computers slowing to a crawl and file servers struggling with the increased load. A Microsoft spokeswoman says the company is looking into reports, but IT administrators won't be too impressed with Windows Update at the moment as this comes just weeks after news that the update services secretly downloads and installs updates even on computers with automatic update disabled.

Microsoft has just released the November update for DirectX 9.0c. At present only the end-user web installer is available, but this is the version which should suit most techPowerUp! readers best anyway. Although it's only a minor update, everyone should update to prevent any potential problems in new games and to ensure full compatibility with future drivers. The download is between 10KB and 212.6MB depending on how up-to-date your current version of DirectX is and it is for all versions of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. Download here.

Rapidly rising Internet star Facebook Inc. has sold a 1.6 percent stake to Microsoft Corp. for $240 million, spurning a competing offer from online search leader Google Inc. Under the expanded strategic alliance, Microsoft will be the exclusive third-party advertising platform partner for Facebook, and will begin to sell advertising for Facebook internationally in addition to the United States.

Microsoft Corp. today released research showing an acceleration in the number of security attacks designed to steal personal information or trick people into providing it through social engineering. Microsoft's most recent Security Intelligence Report, a comprehensive analysis of the threat landscape, shows that attackers are increasingly targeting personal information to make a profit and are threatening to impact people's privacy. The report found that during the first half of 2007, 31.6 million phishing scams were detected, an increase of more than 150 percent over the previous six months. The study also shows a 500 percent increase in trojan downloaders and droppers, malicious code used to install files such as trojans, password stealers, keyboard loggers and other malware on users' systems.

Just in time for the holiday seacon, Microsoft Corp. today released the long rumored new Xbox 360 Arcade console. Available in stores beginning today for $279.99, Xbox 360 Arcade console is the first Xbox 360 console to include five family-friendly games, a wireless controller, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection to enable high-definition output if desired, and 256 MB of memory useful for storing games and entertainment content. The Xbox 360 Arcade console includes five best-selling games: PAC-MAN Championship Edition (NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.), UNO (Carbonated Games), Luxor 2 (MumboJumbo), Boom Boom Rocket (Electronic Arts Inc.) and Feeding Frenzy (Sprout Games).

In July, representatives for Microsoft claimed that their Xbox360 prices in Japan were competitive enough, and did not need to lower them. However, Sony's recent announcement to cut both the 20GB and 60GB PS3, as well as the upcoming release of the 40GB PS3, caused Microsoft to re-think their position. To remain competitive, as of November 1st, the Japanese Xbox360 core will cost ¥27,800 (£120/€172/$244), and the Japanese Xbox360 Premium will cost ¥34,800 (£150/€215/$306).

Some small but significant details of the next major release of Windows have emerged via a presentation at the University of Illinois by Microsoft engineer Eric Traut. His presentation focuses on an internal project called "MinWin," designed to optimize the Windows kernel to a minimum footprint, which will be the basis core for the next generation Windows 7. Click here to watch the presentation.

Most movies that come out in America target a very slim demographic: the 18-34 year old male. However, Hollywood is facing one of the weakest box office performances on record. Instead of looking at the movies in circulation or in production, they are very quick to blame Halo 3, which also targets the 18-34 year old male demographic. "The Heartbreak Kid" is a fine example of this, according to Hollywood. Initial estimates hoped that this movie would make $25 million on the opening weekend, but in reality, it hardly made over $14 million. This is absolutely paltry compared to Halo 3 sales, which were $300 million in the first week. While "The Heartbreak Kid" may have gotten relatively mediocre ratings, Hollywood would much rather blame the extreme success of Halo 3 than look inwards and wonder whether or not people really want to see movies like "The Heartbreak Kid".

Dassault Systèmes (DS), a world leader in 3-D and product life-cycle management (PLM) solutions, and Microsoft Corp. today launched Microsoft Virtual Earth -3DVIA (Technology Preview). This free online application, developed by Dassault Systèmes, allows consumers to imagine and create realistic 3-D models - such as of buildings and structures - then share them through Microsoft Virtual Earth and online communities.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the final updates to the fall release of its Live Search service, introducing a broad array of new services and features to its local and mobile search offerings. The new features and enhancements are designed to make it easier for people to find what they need at home or on the go through significant innovations in mapping, imagery and driving directions as well as new services to make the mobile search experience easy and powerful.

Although not yet released, the existence of Microsoft's Xbox 360 Arcade package has been confirmed. The unit has been rumored to replace the Core model. Photographs confirm the $279.99 price point, and indicate that the games Boom-Boom Rocket, Pac-man, Uno, Feeding Frenzy, and Luxor 2 are indeed included on a compilation disc. Like the Core, the Arcade model comes without hard drive, but includes 256MB memory card, wireless controller, and HDMI port. The reason given for this early stock availability is human error - incorrect shipping date.

Microsoft is finally ready to roll with its Windows Home Server operating system (OS). The Redmond, Washington-based software company pushed out a release candidate version of the software in June and released it to manufacturing in mid-July. Microsoft Windows Home Server (32-bit) is now available to purchase. Newegg lists the OEM version of the software on its website for $189.99. For more information on Windows Home Server and all of its features, be sure to check the Windows Home Server home page.

Microsoft's October security bulletin brings six security updates and re-released one. Click here to read the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary, and eventually download the updates.

Some details of Windows XP SP3 have been released, with the bulk of changes simply being a collection of hotfixes and patches - altogether there will be 1,073 patches and hotfixes in SP3 which were not included in previous service packs (114 addressing security issues, the rest being for performance and reliability). However, there are four completely new features included with SP3, mainly being backported from Vista:

• New Windows Product Activation model: no need to enter product key during setup
• Network Access Protection modules and policies have been brought to XP after being one of the more-well-received features in Windows Vista. You can read more about NAP here
• New Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module - the Windows XP SP3 kernel now includes an entire module that provides easy access to multiple cryptographic algorithms and is available for use in kernel-mode drivers and services.
• New "Black Hole Router" detection - Windows XP SP3 can detect and protect against rogue routers that are discarding data

The new service pack will be compatible with all versions of Windows XP, including Embedded, Fundamentals, Start, Media Center, Home and Professional Editions.

When the common user sees a patch for Windows that should have come with Windows Update and didn't, it's no big deal. The user simply goes to the Microsoft website, downloads the patch, runs the Windows Genuine Validation tool, and goes on their merry way. However, for at least four hours this morning, nobody could do that. The servers glitched, and from 12AM EDT to at least 4AM EDT, nobody could validate anything, from Windows Media Player 11 to Windows Vista Ultimate. There is no official word from Microsoft as to what caused this temporary bug or how they are planning to make sure this doesn't happen again.

After all the rumors ciculating around the web for weeks, Bungie and Microsoft Corp. have finally announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of Microsoft's "Halo" franchise, to become a privately held independent company, Bungie, LLC, in which Microsoft will hold a minority equity interest. As part of this transaction, Bungie and Microsoft have forged a deep and long-term development and publishing relationship focused on the continued success of the "Halo" franchise. It is also the intent of both parties to expand their partnership to include new IP created and owned by Bungie.

Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET has always been an industry leader in providing a programming and debugging environment for numerous languages including Visual C++, C++/#, J/J#, Visual Basic, and many more. However, despite the general good sentiment about the product, Microsoft was often criticized for not revealing the source code to its libraries. Now Microsoft is taking steps towards open sourcing its code and finally is letting developers peek under the hood as it releases the source code to various .NET component libraries. The initial release will contain source code for the .NET Base Class Libraries (System, System.IO, System.Collections, System.Configuration, System.Threading, System.Net, System.Security, System.Runtime, System.Text, etc), ASP.NET (System.Web), Windows Forms (System.Windows.Forms), ADO.NET (System.Data), XML (System.Xml), and WPF (System.Windows). Later Microsoft will release the source code for other remaining libraries as well, including WCF, Workflow, and LINQ. The move is detailed on the blog of Scott Gu, a Microsoft employee.