The battlefield is all set and warming up for a war that promises to be quite exciting!

Not very long ago, technology giant Microsoft challenged the might of Google, with the launch of a new search engine, Bing.  Not stopping at that, it went ahead and announced Office 10, which will include free online versions of its four popular software programs – a shot at Google’s web-based office applications.  Google, not one to be left behind, surprised everyone with a talk about its new operating system, clearly hoping to overturn the dominance of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows.

This announcement by Google threw the tech world into a tizzy; some going to the extent of saying that Google’s new offering would finally mark the end of Windows’ rule and others shaking their heads at what they perceive to be a great mistake by Google.

It is certainly going to be quite a ride!  Microsoft powers almost 90 percent of the world’s computers and this gives Microsoft an inherent advantage, where operating systems are concerned.

Google’s new operating system, called the Google Chrome Operating System, is initially expected to target net books. It may be released to the world in the second half of 2010. (more…)

Microsoft’s intention to respond to all those that offer online productivity software free for personal use is on the verge of becoming a reality.  It is all set to provide all of its Office software online, just like Google, Zobo, Adobe and others are doing.

This move will benefit both corporate and smaller customers.  While corporate customers will be able to get in on the paid subscriptions and tap into the online services, others can sign up for a service, where their online files will be stored and get help with data backup and security.

The best thing about this is that, everyone will be allowed to use the online versions of different applications, such as Word and PowerPoint without it being necessary to buy the desktop versions.  All they need to do is sign up for the free Windows Live account.

The technical preview engineering milestone for Office 2010 has been announced, and this allows thousands of people, mostly software engineering partners, to test drive the software by downloading it.  The beta version of the software is expected to be released by the year-end and the final version may be shipped in the first half of 2010.

Results of several technical previews reveal that improvements have been made to the office suite, such as the Ribbon being the default interface OneNote, Outlook and all other Office applications.  Not only is Ribbon made default but it has also been tweaked a bit. (more…)

Credit: Nicholaschan (via Flickr)

We’ve been talking about Windows Mobile 6.5 for months and finally you can get your hands on one.  It has been launched on Oct 6, 2009. WM6.5 is being backed by most major players.  In Europe, mobile operators Orange, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom AG (T-Mobile); and Samsung, Acer, Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics, HTC and Toshiba.

AT&T has announced two phones based on Windows Mobile 6.5: The HTC Tilt 2 and the Pure.  Microsoft expects to have a huge variety of phones running the OS by the end of the year, which includes touch screen phones with slide-out keyboards, compact flip phones as well as sleek full-keyboard smartphones.

With this version, Microsoft seems to get its mobile platform in order.  Here are some improvements in 6.5 compared to the previous version.

New Today screen – Although, the classic Today screen is still there, 6.5 comes in a new version that gives this mobile a fresh look.  Unfortunately, the users may not be able to experience this screen as some manufacturers replace it with their customization, such as HTC. (more…)

Windows Vista was one of the most awaited operating systems from Microsoft. It is one of the most ambitious projects for Microsoft and also one of the largest software projects.

Windows Vista was released worldwide, five years after Windows XP has been introduced, which is the longest gap between Microsoft releases. It was launched with much aplomb with several new and better features and huge promises of a better computing experience. A lot was expected of it, especially due to the long wait.

Windows Vista has the visual sophistication not seen in the previous operating systems and the ease of use is remarkable. The Windows Start menu has been made much faster than the previous versions, with the integration of the Instant Search feature that helps find almost anything on the PC instantly. Windows Aero, which is the first of its kind in a Windows operating system has translucent window borders and icons. Taskbar tabs show graphical preview of the window’s contents. Windows layout has changed for the better.

However, Microsoft’s primary objective with Vista was to increase the security in the Windows operating system, which was a cause for complaints in their previous operating system, Windows XP. Vista is certainly the most secure version of Windows yet. It is aimed at protecting the PC from worms, spyware, viruses and other unwanted software and is a huge step forward from Windows XP security. The User Account Control (UAC) feature which is one of the significant changes, is felt to be annoying and obtrusive. Accessing files over a network is slower in Vista that the other operating systems. Although, there is a whole lot more security in Vista, unnecessary extra features bog down network sharing. Windows Vista is slower than XP.

Although, Windows Vista was found favorable when it was launched, this sentiment has not been shared by too many Windows users. Surprisingly, Microsoft faced competition for its Windows Vista from none other than its very own Windows XP.

Windows Vista faced severe post-launch pains and all of Microsoft’s efforts at creating magic with their news desktop OS in five years, fell flat. Microsoft tried its best to reiterate why Vista is a great successor to XP, in a market where users do not appreciate change. However, they failed to do this convincingly, in part due to a technological mishap. (more…)

Microsoft has the reputation of fading out the old products on the release of a new one, in order to create a demand for the new product. Sometimes, after getting used to something, it hurts to see it go, as it happened with their operating systems. The general consensus is that XP is far better than Vista, but the fading out of XP has begun.

But the same cannot be said about their service packs. Windows XP Service Pack 3 has been recently released to manufacturers on April 21, 2008 and to the web on May 6, 2008, after a long delay. It the latest and last entry of XP service packs, and is a much awaited product that comes with all the updates for the operating system, that have been released earlier, as well as some new functionalities. Since the release of the XP, Microsoft has brought out several fixes for the operating system and according to Microsoft, a total of 1174 fixes are packaged in Windows XP Service Pack 3.

This service pack supports many operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Professional N, Windows XP Starter Edition, any version of Windows XP Media Center Edition and any version of Tablet PC Edition, but cannot be used with x64 version of Windows XP.

The new functionalities that Microsoft talks about are nothing major and are features that improve the security and reliability of the system. (more…)

Most computer users like toys. After all, a computer is nothing less than a big toy for even the most professional webmasters. But sometimes smaller gadgets and widgets make us smile with their useful natures and ease of use. New tools are appearing online constantly that serve one purpose or another and often as soon as we get something downloaded, we being to wonder how we ever lived without it.

Microsoft is not exempt from offering toys of their own through various websites. The goodies offered by Microsoft vary in function and features, but some are truly enjoyable.

Microsoft XP PowerToys
The Microsoft XP website offers more than tutorials and frequently asked questions about the operating system. It also gives XP users some freebies. Programs are available to download through the site which include very functional features that are hard to live without – at least they are once you download and experience them.

Power Calculator
The puny calculator that comes standard with all Microsoft operating systems is easily deleted and even more easily replaced. But don’t settle for a basic calculator when you can have the Power Calculator. Anyone with an engineering or math background can appreciate the Power Calculator. It’s essentially a graphing calculator for the computer. Of course it still does basic arithmetic, but is also plots integers and performs complex functions. Even if you don’t have complex quadratic functions on a daily basis, it still feels good to have the capabilities – just in case. (more…)