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Updates - techy.Bytes

Old Zune Gets New Zune Features

October 3rd 2007 12:54
After announcing the Zune 2 line of MP3/movie players Microsoft has also announced that all the new features of the Zune 2 line (minus the extra storage ^_^) will also be going to the original Zune by way of a software update.

Zune 2
First Zune 2 Shots



Despite a faulty start (much like the original Xbox) it would seem that bringing its software business model to the Zune (Windows 98 had been recieving updates years after XP was released) may help it win some customers and positive PR.

Keeping things easy on old consumers has helped Microsoft dominate the desktop operating business, it's now only a matter of time before we find out how well it applies to MP3 players.
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Posted By: Ahmed - Category: gadgets, entertainment, Microsoft, Updates
   


Firefox is Proof Open Source is Failing

September 16th 2007 09:12
The general consensus is that the open source isn't gaining traction is because Microsoft is doing what it needs to from a business standpoint to buy out/take hostage the consumer. However the massive popularity of Firefox is proof enough that this simply can't be the case.

When it comes down to it all you just have to look at it in perspective. Every Windows machine ships with a copy of Internet Explorer for free, yet consumers are actively finding and download Firefox. What of Word Processing software? People pay money for Microsoft Office, and it sure isn't cheap, it doesn't even necessarily come with every Windows PC and additional components will invariably cost more (such as Excel, PowerPoint, etc).


Yet we have 'Open Office' which is the Open Source communities answer to Microsoft Office. Totally free and comes with everything Microsoft Office does, not to mention has basically copied Microsoft Offices interface meaning there is nothing alien about moving between one and the other.

Common arguments such as 'Microsoft is willing to break laws and pay fines' or 'dump products' is absolute rubbish, the Open Source community is so full of itself that they have all but forgotten that good products is what sells and that laying blame on Microsoft is not going to make any real progress. Microsoft competes, if that means 'dumping' then so be it.

If Linux is free and the Chinese people may use Linux simply because it’s free Microsoft has every right in the world to say 'hey what the hey, I'm going to sell Windows for $3 in China to effectively compete with Linux. I’ll also invest heavily in the IT industry in China so that Chinas software industry can grow and thrive'. Not just Microsoft, many companies invest in developing nations, they invest to compete, it’s a game of chicken, the more you invest the bigger the turn back but the bigger the risk. Who benefits from all this rabid investing most? The Chinese people.

Microsoft Research and Development Lab in China
Microsoft Has Invested Heavily in China's Software Industry

Is dumping so wrong? That the Chinese in their whacko market get access to $3 Windows others pay $300 for? It's just the way things work, the way different economies work. Microsoft wants to establish a foothold in China because China is developing into a major software developer. In the same way IBM has always been investing millions of dollars in Linux Microsoft is investing millions in its own software, as a company must do.

So what of Microsoft 'cheating'? If Microsoft’s cheating (assuming its happening) is directly affecting Open Source softwares ability to compete then Firefox should have bombed. Like most other Open Source applications it should have started with massive hype and just ended there. Yet it didn't, why? Because it's a damned good piece of software, one of the few that can effectively compete with something you might want to pay for.
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Microsoft Updates Windows PCs Without User Consent

September 14th 2007 14:37
Depending on which end of the fence you're on you can see this as yet another evil attempt by Microsoft to take over the world or that Microsoft is simply tired of having users stuff up their operating system because they don't update. On the other hand it could just as well be have been a lazy programmer forgetting to include there is an update being downloaded.

The 'update' itself is small and centers around the actual Windows Update feature. While people have already started accusing Microsoft of acting immorally I believe the reasoning behind it is simple. First of all, Microsoft is under no obligation to inform users it has upgraded the software but it does so anyway. Secondly, the reason for this update seems to have been centered around the update software itself and nothing else.

Why would Microsoft do this update without even asking users to consent? Perhaps because there is some sort of generel transition going on with the update servers that recquire all Windows computers auto updates be patched to comply, even if a user does not wish to have updates now that migt not be the case in the future and should the need arise when there are no update servers compatible with the system then all it can lead to is negative rep for Microsoft.
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Posted By: Ahmed - Category: Windows, Updates
   




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