Microsoft products fit into two different life cycle stages — mainstream support and extended support. With mainstream support, users receive free security updates, stability improvements, bug fixes and occasional new features. In the extended support phase, security updates are available for free but other fixes require paid support. Microsoft reminded Windows XP users earlier this week that XP is now in the extended phase, and it said support for the operating system and Office 2003 will be officially discontinued by April 2014. Mainstream support for Windows Vista has also officially ended as of Tuesday, along with support for Office 2007. Both Windows Vista and Office 2007 will be in the extended support phase from now until April 2017. Microsoft recommends that users with PCs running Windows XP and Office 2003 should migrate to Windows 7 and Office 2010 before support is completely cut off and systems are left vulnerable to new forms of malware.

[Via Ars Technica]

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Android users who are looking to sell their old devices should be wary of the possible consequences. McAfee identity theft researcher Robert Siciliano warned that personal data from Android devices is not completely removed after a user activates the built-in wipe option, The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday. “What’s really scary is even if you follow protocol, the data is still there,” Siciliano said. If you have a BlackBerry or Apple device, Siciliano said your data can be fully deleted by following the manufacturer’s directions. As for smartphones running the Android operating system and computers running Windows XP, Siciliano recommends that people don’t bother with selling them at all. “Put it in the back of a closet, or put it in a vise and drill holes in the hard drive, or if you live in Texas take it out into a field and shoot it,” he said. “You don’t want to sell your identity for 50 bucks.” To test the security of various platforms, Siciliano purchased 30 smartphones and computers from Craigslist. The researcher was able to access personal data from 15 of the 30 devices through his own hacking efforts and the help of a forensic expert. The data obtained included bank account information, Social Security numbers, child support documents and credit card account log-ins.

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Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against Comet Group, LLC. for creating and selling more than 94,000 counterfeit recovery discs for Windows Vista and Windows XP. Microsoft said Wednesday that the discs were sold the customers who purchased new laptops. “As detailed in the complaint filed today, Comet produced and sold thousands of counterfeit Windows CDs to unsuspecting customers in the United Kingdom,” said Microsoft’s associate general counsel, Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting David Finn said. “Comet’s actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products — and our customers deserve better, too.” Microsoft believes Comet Group created the counterfeit discs in its factory and then sold them in its retail stores. Microsoft’s full press release follows after the break.

Microsoft Takes Legal Action Against U.K. Retailer Comet
A statement from David Finn, associate general counsel, Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft.

READING, England, and REDMOND, Wash. — Jan. 4, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. today issued proceedings against Comet Group PLC for allegedly creating and selling more than 94,000 sets of counterfeit Windows Vista and Windows XP recovery CDs. The alleged counterfeits were sold to customers who had purchased Windows-loaded PCs and laptops.

“As detailed in the complaint filed today, Comet produced and sold thousands of counterfeit Windows CDs to unsuspecting customers in the United Kingdom,” said David Finn, associate general counsel, Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft. “Comet’s actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products — and our customers deserve better, too.”

The suit charges Comet with producing the counterfeits in a factory in Hampshire and then selling the media to customers from its retail outlets across the U.K.

Comet is currently owned by French retail company Kesa Electricals PLC, although it is reportedly being purchased by private equity firm OpCapita LLP later this year.

With an emphasis on education, engineering and enforcement, Microsoft seeks to protect its customers from counterfeiting and piracy — and ensure people get what they pay for. If customers ever question the legitimacy of their software, be it a shrink-wrapped product or recovery media, they are advised to visit http://www.howtotell.com to learn more and, if they have any doubt, report the suspicious software to Microsoft.

Windows 7 has surpassed XP as the most widely used operating system in the world according to new data from StatCounter. The operating system now has a 40.21% usage share of the global desktop OS market, compared to Windows XP, which has a 38.64% market share. Windows XP is trailed by Mac OS X and Linux. Microsoft first released Windows 7 in October of 2009, and its versatility and ability to run on everything from low-powered netbooks that were typically powered by Windows XP, to high-powered desktops and business machines has no doubt contributed to its success. Microsoft will release its next operating system, currently dubbed Windows 8, in late 2012.

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Microsoft announced on Monday that it has sold 400 million Windows 7 licenses to date, but that hasn’t stopped the tech giant’s share of the global operating system market from sliding. According to market watcher Net Applications’ data for June 2011, Microsoft’s global operating system market share slid to 88.29% as it continued on its slow but steady decline. The second most popular OS in the world was Apple’s OS X, which was up a nominal amount to 5.37% of the global OS market, followed by iOS with 2.63%, Java ME with 1.12% and Linux with 0.95%. Though Android devices continue to sell rapidly, Net Applications placed the OS in the No. 6 spot in June with 0.72% of the global market. Since January of this year, Apple’s OS X and iOS market shares have risen steadily while Windows continues to slide. According to Net Applications’ revised data, Windows’ OS share dropped below 90% in January of this year for the first time since it climbed above the threshold. It had been reported earlier that the OS slid under 90% last November, but Net Applications has since updated its figures to show that Windows held a 90.81% share in November 2010 and a 90.29% share in December. Two charts showcasing Net Applications’ June data follow below.

In the world of computing, no two companies have more history than Microsoft and Apple. In fact, the companys’ history is 10,124 pixels tall. From modest beginnings to IPOs, and later to global domination, Microsoft and Apple are largely responsible for computers as we know them today. Microsoft concentrated on software early and now owns the lion’s share of the global PC market, and more recently, Apple looked to mobile computing to revitalize its business and its market cap. Of course from an investor’s perspective, the stock chart at the bottom says it all, but as is remarkably evident in looking over the meandering paths these two tech titans have taken, no one knows what the future might hold. The full, extremely large infographic can be found after the break.

This infographic has been updated by its creator and the updated version is now found below.

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When it comes to Twitter, we’re just as addicted as every other poor soul who got sucked in. We’re constantly connected on our phones and computers, always checking our timelines, and we crouch in a corner and cry every time the fail whale rears its ugly head. As addictive as the service is though, Twitter is often asleep at the wheel when it comes to features. Luckily, that’s where third-party developers come into play and when it comes to Twitter apps, there are now thousands of choices across every platform imaginable. Even once you’ve found your Twitter apps of choice, however, one of the most annoying things about being addicted to Twitter is constantly seeing the same tweets as you move back and forth between your phone, PC tablet and other devices. What’s more, when you make changes to your mobile client — say, adding a new list column — you have to make the same changes all over again in your other clients. But what if there was a better way?

MetroTwit developer Pixel Tucker and Rowi developer Hidden Pineapple on Friday took the wraps off a new project they’re preparing to roll out soon. Dubbed “The Nest,” their new joint endeavor is a cloud-based backend solution that allows their respective apps to sync data across platforms — MetroTwit, of course, being a popular Windows desktop app for Twitter, and Rowi being a terrific Windows Phone app. In its first iteration, The Nest will sync two crucial types of data: column configurations and unread tweet state. Add or delete a column in one app, and the same column will be added or deleted in the other. Read tweets in one app, and you won’t have to bother reading them again in the other. Fantastic.

The Nest functionality will be added to each app in forthcoming updates, and Erik Porter of Hidden Pineapple tells us the new versions of each app should become available in the next few weeks. The team will also be developing The Nest actively, and it looks like the initial implementation is just the start. We tried to get the tight-lipped developers to reveal their future plans for this great tech, but unfortunately they wouldn’t budge. We can dream, however, and we would love to see Hidden Pineapple and Pixel Tucker allow other developers on other platforms make use of The Nest — imagine being able to sync Twitter columns, read status and other data across your Windows Phone, your personal Mac PC, your Windows PC at work and your iPad 2 tablet. Despite the fact that we couldn’t get a confirmation out of The Nest team, we see this scenario as a definite possibility moving forward and we’ll be keeping a close eye on this project. In the meantime, MetroTwit and Rowi users should get ready to see this great new functionality introduced in the coming weeks.

[Via istartedsomething]

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Microsoft seems to be in a bit of a pickle – it has a fancy, schmancy OS in Windows 7 but a majority of its prized business customers are still clinging onto the now nine years old Windows XP operating system. On Monday at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference, Tammi Reller, the CVP of Microsoft Windows, dropped the bomb that 74% of business PCs are still running Windows XP. The reason for this slow adoption was not provided but presumably it has to do with the poor reputation that has plagued Windows Vista and possibly its successor Windows 7, which, thought its not being adopted, has fared better than its counterpart in the reputation department. Economics may also play a part as businesses have apparently been slow to upgrade hardware with the average business computer boasting of 4.4 years of faithful service. Rather than take a pessimistic view, Microsoft is putting a positive spin on this circumstance and viewing it as an opportunity to compel businesses to jump into the latest generation hardware and software. Microsoft is pretty upbeat- according to CEO Steve Ballmer, the software giant expects to sell 350 million Windows 7 licenses in 2010 alone.

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On June 5th, Google researcher Tavis Ormandy notified Microsoft of a very serious bug in the Windows Help and Support Center of Windows XP. The report Ormandy provided to Microsoft detailed how arbitrary code could be executed by a remote attacker, and included a proof of concept exploit. Five days later, on June 10th, Ormandy released the vulnerability details to the public. The decision to divulge the exploit has sparked a debate about how such matters should be handled, and what responsibility, if any, security experts have. Orandy explains, “if I had reported the…issue without a working exploit, I would have been ignored,” he also went onto say that “responsible disclosure” was a farce, a tool used by companies to buy themselves time. “Those of us who work hard to keep networks safe are forced to work in isolation without the open collaboration with our peers,” Ormandy wrote. Security experts are weighting in on the situation with all sort of opinions. One camp is describing Orandy’s as, and engineer “going off half-cocked,” others see it as a clear shot ar Microsoft from Google. Either way, the zero-day exploit is now public knowledge and has the attention that Ormandy originally wanted. What do you think? A frustrated security engineer or a shot directly at Microsoft?

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If you’re a glutton for the punishment that Windows XP on a mobile phone likely is, then ITG has exactly what you need. The “world’s first mobile phone that runs Windows XP” is now available for pre-order from ITG’s English website. Looking rather big and boxy (is this a new trend?), the xpPhone packs some impressive specs inside its brushed aluminum frame:

• AMD Mobile CPU
• 4.8-inch, 800×480 pixel touchscreen display
• QWERTY keyboard
• 512Mb/1GB memory
• Dual hard drives: SSD (8/16/32/64GB) and HDD (30/60/80/120GB)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth
• GPS
• WiMAX (optional)
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (HSDPA/HSUPA), CDMA/CDMA2000, CMDA 1X/EV-DO, TD-SCDMA, TD-HSDPA
• 7 hours of continuous use with standard battery, 12 hours with extended battery
• Windows XP OS

The substantially-sized slider supports nearly all major 3G networks and can be configured from the ordering page to be compatible with AT&T, Vodafone or Orange. No word on pricing details or launch date for the time being, but is anyone out there thinking about taking the plunge?

[Via Pocketables]

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Aww, crap. Just when we thought we were finally going to be able to get our hands on the ASUS Eee Keyboard, an ASUS marketing executive had to go and ruin the fun. Apparently the Eee Keyboard will not be launching by the end of this month as expected, but sometime in August instead. The reason for the delay? ASUS has yet to fully work out how it is going to market the mind-numbingly cool computer, which is more or less a positive way to say that its scared that one wrong decision will jeopardize its potential for success. Regardless, we want 10 and we want them now.

[Via Pocket-Lint]

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Microsoft confirmed on Friday the rumored May release of Windows 7 RC1. The release candidate version of Microsoft’s upcoming OS will be available on April 30th to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, with a broader public availability slated for May 5th. RC1 adds several new features to Windows 7 including remote media streaming, Windows XP mode and some slick new eye candy. Also the remote media streaming, if it works as well as promised, might just give services like Orb a run for their money. Associate your Windows Media player library with your Windows Live ID and you can stream your media across the Internet from any remote PC. Sweet! Before you get too excited, this is Microsoft we’re talking about so both computers must be running the same version of Windows Media player. This cool new feature will not work from Mac or Linux machines, so take note if your personal arsenal of computers includes any.

Windows 7 will also include a new XP Mode meant to assist businesses as they transition from Windows XP to Windows 7. XP Mode will utilize Windows Virtual PC to provide a full-fledged Windows XP virtual environment which, theoretically, will allow users to run all those legacy Windows XP applications without issue. Last but not least, Windows 7 RC1 will see some eye candy in the form of stunning background graphics. Microsoft has been slowly adding new background images throughout the development process and now the public will get its first look at Microsoft’s sense of style. All you folks still running Windows XP with its default green rolling hills background might just be pleasantly surprised.

[Via Giz]

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Asus most definitely came to CES today packing heat and without a doubt, one of its most impressive announcements was the Eee Keyboard. We want it and we want it now. The Eee Keyboard stuffs a PC with respectable netbook-like specs into, you guessed it, a keyboard. Flat Mac-like keys and a 5-inch touchscreen display sit atop a very thin keyboard frame with a host of connections on the back – connections you potentially don’t even need, we might add. Asus’ new take on the all-in-one features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n along with wireless HDMI and Bluetooth 2.0 meaning that short of a power cord, users can connect wirelessly to any and all required peripherals including a high definition display or HDTV. We’ll take things in a different direction – imagine carrying this puppy around with a pocket projector and having access to a full PC with a sizable projected display anywhere and everywhere you go. Specs on this innovative little piece of kit are as follows:

• Self-contained PC / keyboard combo with integrated 5-inch touchscreen display
• OS: Windows XP Home Edition
• 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor
• 1GB of DDR2 DRAM
• 16GB or 32GB SSD
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Ultra Wideband HDMI
• USB 2.0 x2, VGA, HDMI, headphone and mic ports
• Weight: 2 lbs

Pricing and projected availability are still a bit of a mystery, though Asus CEO Johnny Shih claims it will be available in the next three to six months, so we’ll be waiting with bated breath. Hit the jump for two more shots.

[Via Giz]

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Well hello there Mr. Shen. If anyone was wondering what Asus had up its collective sleeve in the coming months (through 2010 actually), CEO Jerry Shen just sat down with Laptop and seriously broke it down. He wasn’t shy at all in talking about where the company is now and where it’s headed. Here are some highlights from the hour-long interview:

• First and foremost among the interesting morsels taken from the Shen interview, Asus will be skipping Vista entirely and jumping right from XP to Windows 7. Burn!
• Asus has currently sold about 4 million Eee PCs and it’s hoping to hit the 5 million mark before 2009 rolls around. Ambitious.
• The all-in-one Eee Top will start shipping very soon. Ok, well we already knew that.
• The Eee Stick gaming controller will soon be released along with compatible games. It will be offered as part of a bundle and as a stand alone accessory at a price point south of $100.
• Next year, Asus will offer an Eee PC that hits the $250 price mark – in the first half of 2009 in fact. Two new models will be announced at CES this coming January.
• Last but most certainly not least, Shen claims that Asus will release a touchscreen Eee PC rocking Windows 7 sometime in 2H 2009! You hear that Microsoft? Time to get the lead out…

[Via Engadget]

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After launching a mere week ago, Dell Mini’s were arriving on doorsteps everywhere Friday. As expected, it did not take very long for one of you eager, early adopters to put together an unboxing video. This time it is a reader over at Gotta Be Mobile who posted 12 minutes of brand spanking new Mini 9 goodness. What can we say, we’re suckers for shiny new ultra-portables.

[Via Gotta Be Mobile]

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