Microsoft Support & Discussions

After March 8 — one of the most prevalent rumored dates for Microsoft’s “NoDo” update to Windows Phone 7 — came and went, many WP7 users were wondering what happened. The new word is the update is now coming in the second half of March. View the full article

The Microsoft codename clues keep on coming. The latest: Orapa — a Mediaroom IPTV/Xbox/Kinect mash-up. View the full article

Supersite Microsoft announced today that it will release the final version of Internet Explorer 9 next week, on March 14. ... View the full article

I guess I can finally stop concluding my Internet Explorer (IE) 9 posts with the words “Microsoft officials continue to decline to provide a ship-date target for IE 9.” The RTW date is out: March 14. View the full article

Repurposing Windows machines as thin clients isn’t the only way that Microsoft customers can go the thin-client route. They also can use dedicated thin clients running the newly released Windows Embedded Standard 7 Service Pack (SP) 1 to do the same. View the full article

Supersite Previously, I explored the process of moving a desktop PC from hard drive to SSD. Today, I'd like to take a quick look at the experience of doing so with a laptop, in this case my primary laptop, a middle of the road, Core 2 Duo-based ThinkPad SL410. ... View the full article

Windows IT Pro Previously, I explored the process of moving a desktop PC from hard drive to SSD. Today, I'd like to take a quick look at the experience of doing so with a laptop, in this case my primary laptop, a middle of the road, Core 2 Duo-based ThinkPad SL410. ... View the full article

Windows IT Pro When HP announced its purchase of ailing Palm last year, analysts saw it as a sign that the long-time PC behemoth was trying to remove the Microsoft shackles and offer for the first time a pure-play platform of its own making. ... View the full article

Most of the TechFest 2011 projects that Microsoft is highlighting visibly are those that focus on using gestures, touch, computer vision and speech as ways to interact with PCs and other computing devices. View the full article

Supersite Today: Silly tech headlines from the usual suspects, a potential Zune replacement from Microsoft, a possible Xbox 360 price cut, work starts on next Xbox console, Bing HTML 5 site, Apple losing to Android and that's a shame, a possible Mango delay refuted, AT&T iPhone 4 is indeed faster than Verizon version, and how Apple and Nintendo changed the game market for good and bad. ... View the full article

Recent questions about the future of the Microsoft Zune music/video service have remained largely unanswered. But my contacts have shared a new, relevant piece of the puzzle: “Ventura.” View the full article

Microsoft is rolling out this week the first service pack (SP) for Visual Studio 2010 this week, and is preparing to deliver Beta 2 of its Visual Studio LightSwitch business-app-building tool in “the coming weeks.” View the full article

Windows IT Pro Macs are much more common today, as are Apple's other products, including the iPad. And while Microsoft is in no danger of relinquishing control of the PC market to Apple per se, it's pretty clear that Apple is now one of the most dominant suppliers of personal computing devices (i.e. Macs + iPads) in the world. ... View the full article

Bulletin Severity Rating:Important - This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Windows Remote Desktop Client. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a legitimate Remote Desktop configuration (.rdp) file located in the same network folder as a specially crafted library file. For an attack to be successful, a user must visit an untrusted remote file system location or WebDAV share and open a document from this location that is then loaded by a vulnerable application. View the full article

Bulletin Severity Rating:Important - This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft Groove that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a legitimate Groove-related file that is located in the same network directory as a specially crafted library file. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. View the full article

Bulletin Severity Rating:Critical - This security update resolves one publicly disclosed vulnerability in DirectShow and one privately reported vulnerability in Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. The more severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a use View the full article

Windows IT Pro When Microsoft and Nokia announced their blockbuster Windows Phone partnership, it was widely assumed that money would change hands in both directions. But a new report from Bloomberg says that Microsoft may be paying the biggest upfront costs in order to seal the deal. ... View the full article

Supersite Last month, Microsoft unveiled Windows Thin PC, a special locked down version of Windows 7 for thin clients and older PCs that will be used primarily in VDI scenarios in schools and other similar environments. This week, the company is talking up Windows Thin PC again, and providing a bit more information. ... View the full article

Microsoft has some fancy footwork to do around its tablet/slate positioning. View the full article

Supersite I'm upgrading many existing PCs from hard drive-based storage to SSD (solid state drive) storage. I'd like to discuss the beginnings of that effort now, with a look at my first desktop conversion. ... View the full article

Windows IT Pro Smartphones running Google's Android OS have been outselling Apple's iPhone in the United States for some time. ... View the full article

Supersite A blogger has recorded his experiences upgrading from an early version of DOS through every major version of Windows (except Millennium edition for some reason). It's pointless, and his final "complaint" is bizarre, but it's still quite interesting. ... View the full article

Supersite This one is too funny:  College Humor does it again with , in which many of the most infamous online gooneries are laid bare. Good stuff. ... View the full article

Supersite In the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast, Leo and I discuss the Mac OS X Lion preview and what it hints at for Windows 8, a rumored Windows 8 Tablet PC demo by the end of the first half of 2011, the return of the Windows Phone 7 pre-update, Apple's response to Microsoft's App Store trademark complaint, Windows InTune gets a release date, Consumer Reports slags Verizon iPhone 4 too, and Apple's iPad 2 announcement. ... View the full article