Section: Computers, Software / Applications
Earlier this month we saw Microsoft post and then quickly remove details on a “buy Office 2007 get Office 2010 free” offer. Thankfully though it seems that those details were accurate at the time, albeit made available for the publics eyes a little earlier than planned.
Anyway, it seems that those who are planning to pick up a copy of Office 2007 can go ahead and do so safely knowing that they will be able to get upgraded to Office 2010 for free when it comes available in June.
The details of the offer are simple, buy a “qualifying” copy of Office 2007 sometime between March 5, 2010 and September 20, 2010 and get a free upgrade to Office 2010.
Its nice knowing you can buy an expensive software program and be confident that it will not be outdated by a new release in just a few months.
Read [Microsoft] and [Digital Inspiration] Via [Lifehacker]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Windows: AutoPatcher, the small but powerful utility that makes it easy to install Windows updates while offline, and on multiple systems, has added support for Windows 7, giving users more control over when and how they update their systems.
We've previously offered big props for AutoPatcher, because for people with slow connections, big jobs to pull off, or quite a few systems to keep updated, it's far more convenient than going the official Microsoft Updates route. To use this version, you'll download the package, run "apup," then let AutoPatcher build its own program from the most recent updates. Once that's done, run AutoPatcher from your initial downloaded folder, and tell it which updates you want to download and, optionally, install. Because it's a portable application, those updates you grab can be brought to any other Windows 7 system, and you can grab updates for XP, Vista, and other editions as well.
AutoPatcher is a free download for Windows systems only.
Microsoft will plow millions of dollars into a Bing advertising campaign in the UK, the Guardian reports.
Microsoft will run television ads, as well as ads across the Internet with the slogan, "Bing and decide."
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Yahoo (YHOO) shares are getting a boost this morning from a pair of bullish notes on the company’s advertising business.
YHOO is up 35 cents, or 2.2%, to $16.41.
Dear 1998: In a dozen or so years, another search engine war will be raging. Microsoft will battle Google for domination, while Yahoo looks on (what's an "Alta Vista?"). One will frame itself as David in the battle against Goliath. Here's the twist, however: Microsoft considers itself the underdog in this fight.
Announcing a new Bing campaign, the software giant's managing director and vice-president of consumer and online at Microsoft U.K., Ashley Highfield, told The Guardian, "This is a big moment—we are taking out our slingshots and taking on Goliath."
In the search space, the analogy actually makes a bit of sense. Microsoft, after all, is hovering around 3 percent. Google, on the other hand, makes up roughly 85 percent of the U.S. market. That said (and this coming from a guy who has never really read the bible all that closely), I don't remember the part in the story where David hired out third-party firms to build a billion dollar ad campaign for his slingshot company.
How about Goliath versus another Goliath with a slight limp?
Google may be considering pulling out of China because of Chinese governmental censorship, but over at Microsoft, it's full speed ahead. Zhang Yaqin, head of Microsoft's Chinese R&D unit, says the company will spend $500 million on research and development in China this year, plus another $150 million on outsourced projects.
Google may be considering pulling out of China because of Chinese governmental censorship, but over at Microsoft, it's full speed ahead. Zhang Yaqin, head of Microsoft's Chinese R&D unit, says the company will spend $500 million on research and development in China this year, plus another $150 million on outsourced projects.
I don’t remember what Microsoft’s search engine share was, when I left the UK in the summer of 2000, but I’m pretty sure it was a lot better than the current anemic 3%.
According to the Guardian, Microsoft would love for Bing to recapture those glory days and is willing to spend the rest of its natural life next 3 months trying to claw it back.
The three-month campaign, which includes three TV ads created by the agency JWT, starts on Wednesday and uses the strapline "Bing and decide". The ads aim to show that Bing simplifies the "information overload" that accompanies the results of many searches.
The TV campaign will run solidly for a month and then in two-week bursts until mid-June. It will be backed by a digital campaign across Microsoft’s network and on media including social networking websites.
Three whole months, huh? Way to lay it all on the line Microsoft. You lose market share over a 10-15 year period and expect to win it all back by reaching consumers while they’re watching Coronation Street?
Of course, I know that Bing’s ad campaign won’t run for just 3 months–just this particular push–but consider this: Google achieved 90% share in the UK via word-of-mouth. Bing has been available to UK users–albeit in beta–since June. If they felt that Bing was truly revolutionizing search, they would have pushed the needle already. Right?
From the files of the What Can't Dropbox Handle Dept.: the web-based file syncing service makes it easy to keep custom dictionaries in Word, or most any other app, available and synchronized between computers, as commenter caryo points out.
Image via eHow.
From the "Spelling and Grammar" tab in Microsoft Word's options, you can choose where your custom dictionary—with all your custom words for the spell checker not to catch—should reside, and export it somewhere else. Move it into your Dropbox folder, and set up other computers to pull their custom dictionaries from there, too. When you add a word into one system, it gets updated on others. Browsers and other apps also keep custom spelling dictionaries (here's where Firefox keeps its own), so Dropbox, and other instant file-syncing services, can be very handy indeed.
Got a similar clever use to tip us to? Drop it in the comments and add #tags somewhere in your text.
Are you just getting used to "The Ribbon"? Still having fun playing around with the preset formatting choices? Well, get ready to learn a whole new bunch of Office functionality, as the 2010 version of Microsoft's software suite is coming out soo...
Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 OS will come on devices delivered by various mobile phone makers on the market, including Toshiba, which has just unveiled plans to launch such a device, the TG03. The company already has a series of smartphones available, including the TG01, which was launched last year with Windows Mobile 6.1 on board, and the TG02 and ... (read more)
In today's podcast: Cisco to stop developing WiMax radios; HP revises earnings to cover more EDS legal costs; and Microsoft discontinues Windows Essential Business Server.
Microsoft's Bing search engine blocks out "sexually explicit" results and gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender queries in Arab countries, claimed the Open Net Initiative late last week.…
Once in a while, what happens in Vegas gets liveblogged to the rest of the world. To bring you the thrill and spills of Microsoft’s MIX10 conference next week join Ed Bott, Mary Jo Foley, Kip Kniskern, Benjamin Rubenstein, Paul Thurrott and myself as we’re all in to group liveblog both keynotes where they’re expected to blow the lids off Windows Phone 7 Series and Internet Explorer 9.
Check back on Monday, March 15 9am PST and Tuesday, March 16 9am PST for the first and second keynote respectively to find the liveblog embed. For the organized among us, import this handy iCal file.
Audience participation will be enabled by default so feel free to ask questions and provide your thoughts on the announcements live.
Microsoft is not only adding new content to its mapping, location and search platform on a regular basis, but also making sure to break the records it sets in terms of the size of the updates. The latest imagery refresh offered to Bing Maps users covers no less than 6.7 million square kilometers, and, according to the Redmond company, i... (read more)
Microsoft's Bing is filtering out the sexy stuff in Arab countries, as well as terms like 'gay' or 'homosexual', the OpenNet Initiative has found.
The iPhone has been a flop in China, only selling around 200,000 units in its first quarter in the country.
One reason: It doesn't have WiFi, while grey market versions of the phone do.
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