Entry Archive
Monday, November 02, 2009 5:02 PM/EST
Microsoft's most recent deal, with OpenX Technologies, which will see OpenX promoting Microsoft's Content Ads, is another partnership on Redmond's part designed to more effectively challenge Google in the online space. Just as with its July Yahoo deal, Microsoft could see partnerships as the best way to gain market share in online search and advertising.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 5:04 PM/EST
Microsoft expanded its retail foray with the Oct. 29 opening of its store in Mission Viejo, Calif., in a mall that also contains an Apple Store. Despite the massive crowds that attended the opening, time will tell whether Microsoft's strategy of aggressively challenging Apple in the retail space will succeed.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:40 PM/EST
Microsoft and Yahoo have announced a delay in their search-and-advertising partnership deal, as both sides continue to work out "finalizing the definitive agreements." Despite the agreement to have Microsoft's Bing powering Yahoo's search once the deal is complete, Yahoo is attempting to assert its online identity by rolling out new features for its front-end applications, including Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Mail.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 5:14 PM/EST
Microsoft's Technical Preview of Office Web Apps allows Windows Live subscribers to test out browser-based versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. While Word documents can only be viewed and downloaded, users can perform online edits to Excel and PowerPoint documents ... but only if those uploaded documents have certain file extensions.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 2:26 PM/EST
Microsoft has expanded the technical preview of its Office Web Apps, which allows Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents to be viewed and sometimes edited via the browser. However, users of older Office platforms may find some issues with the Excel Web App, which doesn't seem to allow certain Excel formats to be edited.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 10:20 AM/EST
Microsoft decided to pull out of sponsoring a Seth MacFarlane program that would have married "Family Guy"-style humor with Windows 7 branding, over concerns that jokes about deaf people and other topics would be too edgy for their intended audience. However, Microsoft will likely continue its branding relationship with Fox. MacFarlane, meanwhile, is looking for a new sponsor.
Monday, October 26, 2009 4:11 PM/EST
Microsoft's first retail store opened in Arizona on Oct. 22, and demonstrated that many of the elements present in the summer's early-concepts PowerPoint leak to Gizmodo found their way into the storefront final version. Much of Microsoft's retail store design seems reminiscent of both the Apple Store and big-box retailers such as Best Buy. Microsoft's retail experience will first compete in close proximity with Apple's in Mission Viejo, Calif.
Monday, October 26, 2009 2:30 PM/EST
Microsoft spent a portion of its Windows 7 launch event on Oct. 22 touting the multitouch functionality of some of its partners' PCs. Although Microsoft-powered touch screens have been in use for many years, the Windows 7-equipped devices represent a huge push by Microsoft into the consumer market. The only question is, does the public's enthusiasm for multitouch PCs actually match Microsoft's?
Friday, October 23, 2009 5:25 PM/EST
As Microsoft rolled out Windows 7 for general release on Oct. 22, Apple stepped up its anti-Windows ad campaign. During the same week, Apple also released new hardware. Although Steve Jobs' company fought to claim some mind share from Microsoft leading up to the Windows 7 launch, the sheer size of Microsoft's customer base--and the rare event of a new Windows operating system--guaranteed Redmond the lion's share of attention.
Thursday, October 22, 2009 2:03 PM/EST
Microsoft used its Windows 7 launch to brand itself as a warm and fuzzy software conglomerate, running its family-friendly ads and having 5-year-old Kylie, the star of some of those spots, introduce Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Ballmer re-emphasized that Microsoft's ultimate strategy is to create a cloud-based environment for consumers, centered on Windows 7-powered devices.
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