Microsoft gives businesses more time to test SP2

Microsoft has doubled the period of time it will allow business users of Windows XP to delay installing Service Pack 2. Customers who wished to avoid having systems updated while they were testing the upgrade had previously been able to use a tool to stave off SP2 until December while still receiving other bug fixes via Automatic Update and Windows Update routes. According to an email sent to select customers last Tuesday, Microsoft has now extended the grace period until 12 April 2005, due to requests for extra time to test and deploy SP2. ...more

Windows support for all major DVD formats

Microsoft has announced that the next version of Windows - codenamed Longhorn - will include support for 'all major writeable DVD formats'. Understanding the formats used for data storage DVDs (as opposed to movie DVDs which don't have this problem) involves negotiating a minefield of plusses and minuses, Rs and Ws: DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RAM and so on. However when it comes down to working out which drives can read and write to which disks the key is in the plus and minus signs. ...more

BT chooses Microsoft for TV over broadband solution

BT has opted to use Microsoft's TV Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform for its mooted TV over broadband service. Microsoft says that the IPTV Edition software platform allows broadband suppliers to deliver engaging, high-quality video content and services to their customers using their existing and next-generation broadband networks. The platform supports standard- and high-definition channels, on-demand programming, digital video recording and interactive program guides. ...more

IE users were at risk for three-quarters of 2006

Security researcher finds that Microsoft browser was unsecured for 75 per cent of last year. Internet Explorer was unsafe to use for over three-quarters of the year, according to a security researcher. Research carried out by Brian Krebs found that for 284 days in 2006, Microsoft's browser remained unpatched. ...more

Appeals court sets date for DOJ-Microsoft case

Favouring neither one side nor the other, the federal appellate court has ruled down the middle for the Microsoft anti-trust case, setting the date for oral arguments as 26-27 February. The schedule that has now been issued accelerates the process compared to Microsoft's proposal, but not as quickly as the government had wanted. Microsoft appealed for the case not to be heard before March while the DoJ favoured December. ...more