Mavfan has a very old Hotmail account. It’s positively ancient in Internet years, existing since 2001. He was happy to just let the account forward to his wife’s Gmail address until it was hacked and began to send dirty spam messages to everyone the couple has ever e-mailed since 2001. It was time to put a stop to that nonsense, so he set out to shut down the account. Hotmail just won’t let him go. [More]
Windows Phone 8 To Turn Brand New Devices Into Obsolete Relics
By June 20, 2012
Smartphones that use the Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system haven’t exactly made a dent in the market share enjoyed by iPhone and Android devices. And yet, Microsoft has refused to throw in the towel, hoping to entice new users with today’s introduction of Windows Phone 8. Alas, if you’re one of the few people who have been holding on to your Windows Phone for when the new OS came out, you’re out of luck. [More]
Electronics Retailer Charging 6.8% Tax To Customers Who Shop Using Internet Explorer 7
By June 15, 2012
While most of you are surely using the latest customized version of Firefox or Chrome to read this post, there are still a handful of people who not only continue to browse the Internet with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but with outdated versions of IE. Thus, one Australian electronics retailer Kogan has decided to impose a tax on customers who apparently refuse to upgrade their browsers. [More]
Xbox Twitter Support Has No Problem Implying You Have A Small Penis
By June 12, 2012
Usually when you make a crude joke to a mega-corporation’s Twitter account, it goes ignored or responded to with a robotic, “Thanks for your support!” kind of message. But at least one person at Microsoft has a sense of humor when it comes to sassy Twitterers. [More]
‘Do Not Track’ Browser Option Will Remain Opt-In Only
By June 7, 2012
Last week, Microsoft got some deserved praise from privacy advocates — and much “harumph”-ing from online advertisers — when it announced that its next iteration of Internet Explorer would go out with Do Not Track as the default privacy setting. Unfortunately, that plan appears to have been scuttled, not by Microsoft, but by the authors of the Do Not Track specifications draft. [More]
No, Microsoft Techs Are Not Proactively Calling You About Your Error Messages
By May 22, 2012
Software crashes. And sometimes when it does, you get the option of sending an error report to the developer. You’ll never hear back, because that’s not the purpose of the report. But that hasn’t stopped scammers from pretending they are Microsoft techs responding to your crash reports. [More]
Microsoft Confirms $99 Xbox 360 For Those Who Love Pricey Monthly Subscriptions
By May 7, 2012
Last week, it was rumored that Microsoft would be slashing the price on its Xbox 360 game console to a mere $99 with the asterisk that you also sign up for two years of its Xbox Live Gold online service. The company officially announced the offer today, and confirmed just how huge that asterisk is. [More]
Microsoft: The Person Using Your Stolen Xbox Totally Didn't Commit Any Fraud
By May 1, 2012
Ashlee’s house was robbed last Thanksgiving, and the culprits were never caught. They replaced the stolen items, and life went on. Until her Xbox Live account signed on using another console. The same console that had been stolen, whereabouts now unknown. Maybe the identity or location of the person now using Ashlee’s Xbox could provide valuable insights into who robbed their house five months ago. Microsoft wasn’t interested in helping, and determined that the new owner’s use of her account and attempt to use it to buy points weren’t fraudulent. Well, that’s good to hear! [More]
Audit Finds That Foxconn Workers Are Laboring Under Crappy Conditions
By March 30, 2012
While it turned out that monologuist Mike Daisey made up a bunch of stuff about working conditions at Foxconn, that doesn’t mean that things there are all sunshine and roses. A recent labor audit found the giant Chinese manufacturer has working conditions that need a whole heck of a lot of improvement. [More]
Alleged Thief Picked Billionaire Microsoft Co-Founder To Defraud
By March 27, 2012
Maybe stealing from someone super rich seemed like a good idea at the time, but using the credit card of the co-founder of Microsoft? Someone’s bound to notice that. The FBI says a U.S. soldier changed the address on a bank account belonging to Paul Allen and then had a debit card sent to his home. [More]
Microsoft Tells Man He Didn't Win Windows Phone Challenge "Just Because"
By March 26, 2012
Microsoft Patents System That Would Let You Pay To Skip Commercials
By March 20, 2012
It used to be that streaming a show online meant you had to deal with a minimum number of ads. But those online ad breaks are now growing longer and longer, and you usually don’t have a method for fast-forwarding past them. That’s why Microsoft has patented a system that would allow you to skip ads — for a price. [More]
Xbox Live Bans User For Getting Hacked
By February 2, 2012
After his Xbox Live account was stolen, Josh had to file a Better Business Bureau complaint in order to make MIcrosoft pay attention to him and restore his account access. After three months, he was delighted to log back in to his account, but surprised to learn that he had been banned for a “code of conduct violation.” What did his account do to get banned? It was trying to steal other accounts. Imagine that. [More]
Microsoft Ad Attacks Google For Only Caring About Money
By February 1, 2012
Once upon a time, a lot of people viewed Microsoft as the epitome of corporate omnipresence, as many of us wrote our 11-part fantasy series in Word, checked our Hotmail accounts while surfing the web on Internet Explorer, probably on a computer running Windows. But now we have Google Docs, Gmail, and Chrome, and Microsoft is taking out full-page ads warning consumers of how this other company is the one to be reviled. [More]
Report: Next Xbox Coming In 2013, Will Be 6 Times More Powerful Than 360
By January 25, 2012
Microsoft is reportedly prepping its follow-up to the Xbox 360, with plans to start mass-producing the console’s components by the end of the year and release it in October or November of 2013. [More]
Kinect For Windows Doesn't Mean You'll Be Playing Dance Central 2 On Your PC
By January 12, 2012
When Microsoft announced earlier this week that it would be selling Kinect for Windows starting in February, a number of people envisioned a near future where they would be moving the cells around on their Excel spreadsheet by waving their hands, or finally getting quality motion controls for PC games that have never been ported to the Xbox 360. But neither of these situations is really what Kinect for Windows is about. [More]
