Visual Studio Express stays free

Visual Studio Express is being made a free download - permanently. Originally the software development tools were going to be free for only one year starting November 2005. Since then, Microsoft says that over five million copies of the tools have been downloaded from the Microsoft site. ...more

Pocket PC ads under FTC scrutiny

Microsoft is again on the wrong side of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is looking into its recent advertising campaign for the Pocket PC platform. The print campaign that began in April last year outlined a number of Pocket PC functions, including accessing the Net. The adverts asked "Can your Palm Do That?", but the correct answer was "No, and neither can Pocket PC". ...more

New Vaio gets Transmeta

Sony has some new editions to the Vaio stable, one of which has at its heart the new low-power, low-heat Tranmeta chip. Unveiled yesterday, the Vaio QR (PCG-QR1/BP) boasts a similar spec to its predecessors, retailing at ?1,850, but has come in for a complete makeover and now sports a blue-black translucent plastic case that is so dark it appears opaque. More exciting is the Vaio GT (PCG-GT1), which, at first glance, could be mistaken for a camcorder. ...more

Adobe threatens Microsoft with EU

Adobe is threatening to report Microsoft to European anti trust authorities if the company goes ahead with a '.PDF file save' feature in the new version of Office slated to appear next year. In response, Microsoft says it will remove the function from the latest beta of Office and offer it as a 'free download'. ...more

Microsoft takes on jpeg with new HD Photo format

Microsoft has introduced a new file format for digital images that promises higher image quality and greater preservation of data in compressed images. HD Photo - the new name for Windows Media Photo - has been developed to compress images with up to twice the efficiency of jpeg but with with fewer artefacts. The result, Microsoft says, is higher-quality images that are half the file size of the corresponding jpeg. ...more