Microsoft releases Office 2004, 2008 updates

Office 2004 gets a security boost with the Mac 11.5.6 update, which corrects a vulnerability that could allow a remote baddie to overwrite your computer’s memory.

Microsoft strikes search deals with Twitter, Facebook

Microsoft has reached collaboration agreements with Twitter and Facebook to get their members’ public status updates and messages indexed and presented in useful ways on the Bing search engine.

Microsoft Begins Shipping Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition

Microsoft today announced that it has begun shipping Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition, replacing the previous Standard Edition and Special Media Edition with a single package offering the complete Office suite with support for Microsoft Exchange included.

Microsoft and Tesco strike up ‘virtual DVD’ partnership

Starting this autumn Tesco stores in the UK will be offering “virtual DVDs” to customers who purchase certain home video titles.

Microsoft Windows 7 Family Pack coming to UK

British consumers had been set to miss out on the Family Pack – which allows computer users to install Windows 7 on up to three PCs in the same household – because of an ongoing tussle between the European Commission and Microsoft over whether the technology company’s practice of pre-installing the Internet Explorer web browser on computers was anti-competitive.

Bing takes another 1 per cent of Google’s search share in the US

Latest figures from the internet data firm StatCounter suggest that Bing had a 9.41 per cent share of the US search market in July, up from 8.23 per cent in June. Google, meanwhile, saw its share dip slightly, from 78.48 per cent in June to 77.54 per cent in July.

Microsoft begins Security Essentials downloads

Microsoft has begun offering limited trial downloads of its no-added-cost anti-malware tool, targeted at consumer desktops.

Windows 7 licensing situation a “disaster” for businesses?

Doom and gloom warnings about a new Microsoft operating system from some corners sure aren’t anything new, but it looks like a particular licensing issue with Windows 7 could well cause some serious headaches for businesses transitioning from Windows XP.

Microsoft to bomb Europe with IE-free Windows 7

Microsoft’s approach to packaging of its signature desktop operating system couldn’t be much more different than Apple’s.

Instead of a single, packaged Windows 7, the new operating system – like Windows before it – will see Microsoft segment like crazy with six editions.

Apple digs into Microsoft at WWDC

Apple may have plenty of announcements of its own to make at this year’s WWDC, but it looks like it just couldn’t help itself from taking a few jabs at Microsoft as well.

Windows 7 boss predicts ‘modest’ initial shipments

A Microsoft wonk has admitted that PC vendors are unlikely to see a huge rise in shipments when Windows 7 hits the shelves on 22 October.

Bill Veghte, who is Redmond’s senior veep of the company’s Windows biz, made the comment at the UBS Global Technology and Services conference yesterday.

Best Buy leaked memo spills Windows 7 upgrade details

A leaked memo has revealed that Best Buy will begin pre-selling Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system on 26 June in the US.

The retailer confirmed late last week the date people can start buying Vista-based computers and subsequently qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7, when it lands in October.

Microsoft releases Office for Mac 2008 trial version

Office for Mac 2008 includes Entourage, Excel, Messenger, PowerPoint and Word, allowing users to everything from email to writing a document. The functionality of the trial edition is the same as the Standard Edition if you purchased that.

The trial version is available on a 30 day trial, downloadable on the Microsoft Site. You can convert your trial version to a full Home & Student or Standard Edition via download or from a retailer.