Consumerist
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windows 7
5 Legal Ways To Get Windows 7 For Under $120
Windows 7, Microsoft's big bucket of bugfixes, hits stores tomorrow. If you had enough foresight to take advantage of Microsoft's public beta and pre-order discounts earlier this year, you may already have a cheap version of the new OS. If not, here are a few ways to pick up Windows 7 now, without having to hand over $120, the lowest official price for an upgrade. More »
10:57 AM on Wed Oct 21 2009
By Marc Perton
31,240 views, 98 commentsMost discussed rbb: Where did you find that price at Academic Superstore. Windows 7 Ultimate is $319 or 219 for the upgrade... more »
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troubleshooting
Dell Support Tech Accidentally Gives Away Free Advice
Our reader humphrmi recently managed to avoid shelling out unnecessary bucks for paid technical support from Dell. His secret? Listening very carefully to the support rep, who inadvertently gave away the info he was trying to get humphrmi to pay for. Which is good, since that information was only one sentence long. More » -
operating systems
Windows 7 May Be Worth The Upgrade
If, like every other frustrated Windows customer in the past couple of years, you've been clinging desperately to your works-just-fine copy of XP while Vista scratches at the window like a 'Salem's Lot kid, you may be able to finally unclench this fall. That's when Windows 7 comes out, and Wired offers 7 reasons why it might actually be worth moving over to. More » -
windows
Kaplan GRE Test Prep Software Fails Windows Vista Exam
If I were still preparing to take the GRE, I would start by purchasing study guides from a company that seems to have a grasp of basic logic. That company would not be Kaplan. See, Kaplan assumes that none of their customers are using Windows Vista. You know, the latest commercial release of the world's dominant home computer operating system. At least, that would explain why their practice test software doesn't work on computers running Vista, and their tech support staff don't seem terribly concerned. More » -
computers
Google To Launch Free PC Operating System Next Year
Tired of Windows, don't like fine-tuning Ubuntu, can't afford buying into the Apple ecosystem? Google has just announced they're releasing an open source computer operating system called Chrome OS next year. More » -
vista
Texas Bans Vista For State Gov
The malignment of Windows Vista has reached a new height: A Texas lawmaker added a provision to the state budget that would effectively ban Vista from being purchased by any state government agency. More » -
microsoft
Microsoft "Vista Capable" Lawsuit Won't Be Class Action
Last week, a U.S. federal court judge denied class action status to the Microsoft "Vista Capable" lawsuit, on the grounds that "the plaintiffs could not demonstrate that their claims were common to the entire class of consumers who bought computers marked with the 'Windows Vista Capable' but without the 'Premium Ready' label." More » -
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Lifehacker has instructions on how to turn your XBOX 360 into a Netflix player.
Yay.
You will need:- An Xbox 360
- Windows Vista with Vista Media Center (it's included by default in Vista Home Premium and Ultimate)
- A Netflix subscription
- The freeware vmcNetflix plug-in
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windows
Microsoft And The $1,632 Copy Of Vista
Microsoft charged Bill $1,632 for a single Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade license. Each time Bill, an IT Manager, tried to his enter his payment details through Windows Live Marketplace he was told that Microsoft could not be contacted, and to "please try again later." What Microsoft really meant was, "Ha! Got your money! How 'bout some more?!" More » -
backlash
Creative Backs Down, Reinstates Spurned Developer
Creative Labs heard your chest-beating across the internet and decided to reinstate spurned developer Daniel_K less than a week after booting him from their forums. Unlike Creative, Daniel_K issued drivers that allowed Creative sound cards to work properly under Vista, and even enabled previously crippled features. The drivers were downloaded over 100,000 times. The company thanked the developer by accusing him of "enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, [in] effect, stealing our goods." Even though he has been reinstated, Daniel_K is still pissed. More » -
backlash
Creative Sparks Customer Revolt When It Tries To Silence Third-Party Programmer
Creative's executive team will be coming in to quite a mess Monday morning, thanks to its VP of Screw Ups, Phil O'Shaughnessy. Friday morning, he posted a warning on the Creative customer forums that told programmer Daniel_K to stop writing his own drivers for their X-Fi sound cards. The cards still won't work on Vista over a year after the OS was released, because Creative hasn't released drivers for them—but by Mr. O'Shaughnessy's account, Daniel_K is "stealing" from Creative by making the cards work. Then the weekend happened. More » -
class actions
Walmart Hated "Vista Home Basic" And Thought It Should Not Exist
Computerworld has posted some excerpts from internal Microsoft emails that seem to imply that Walmart was not happy with "Vista Home Basic." More » -
A couple of weeks ago we wrote about the Windows Vista hearing, where Microsoft executives were shown to have complained internally about the misleading "Vista Capable" campaign. The judge has granted the case class action status. [Computerworld]
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vista
Even Microsoft Execs Hated On "Vista Capable" Labeling
Microsoft's "Vista Capable" program was so misleading that even Microsoft executives complained about it according to emails revealed last week in court. The emails were read aloud at a hearing to determine class-action status for a related lawsuit against the company. One corporate vice president wrote, ""I PERSONALLY got burnt. ... Are we seeing this from a lot of customers? ... I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine." The co-president of another division wrote, "We really botched this. ... You guys have to do a better job with our customers." More » -
The free Microsoft Vista offer reported by Lifehacker yesterday is now off the table due to high demand. [Computerworld] (Thanks, Melinda!)
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changes
Not Everyone Loves Vista, XP To Remain Available Until June, 2008
It seems people aren't taking to Vista as quickly as Microsoft would have liked. The result? XP will remain available through June 30, 2008. More »
vista
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