If you were sitting there staring at your Xbox 360 thinking, “Ya know, I really wish there were a way I could start getting you to take money directly out of my checking account,” your dreams are realized. Microsoft is now taking PayPal deposits to buy downloadable content.
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Man vs. Eternally Broken Xbox 360: A Novel
By 8.6.09
Being a jaded Xbox 360 owner who’s watched his console give up the ghost five times, it takes a lot for a tale of Microsoft customer service woe to move me. And yet a reader named Gower accomplished just that by sending a novel-length soliloquy about his maddening run through Xbox 360 hell. What follows is the Cliffs Notes version (grab your hankies):
Microsoft Retail Stores Prepare For Sensory Overload, Global Domination
By 7.29.09
This is old news to some of our readers, but not all: Microsoft is planning to open their own retail stores. What would such a wondrous place look like? Gizmodo has a concept Powerpoint presentation (what else?) that shows what the stores could look like.
Yahoo and Microsoft Will Tag-Team Up To Battle Google
By 7.29.09
In a schoolyard bully battle royale, Microsoft and Yahoo are joining forces to target Google, with the aim of relieving the company of its search engine dominance.
Microsoft "Laptop Hunters" Ads Changed To Omit Apple Prices
By 7.24.09
Microsoft has changed their latest “Laptop Hunters” ad after a complaint from Apple that the Mac prices cited in the ads are misleading and MacBook Pro have been lowered since the ads were produced. The cheapest model with a 15″ screen only costs $1700 now, not $2000.
Stagflation Hitting Downloadable Xbox 360 Games
By 7.23.09
Microsoft’s greatest triumph with the Xbox 360 is undoubtedly its Xbox Live service, buoyed by robust selection of downloadable games. You can buy digital versions of classic arcade titles, original Xbox games (and starting next month, Xbox 360 games), avant-garde indie gems and even some Nintendo 64 classics. Customers are so in love with the service that they haven’t even noticed that prices for downloadable games have crept up more than 15 percent since the system debuted in 2005.
Apple Tried To End Microsoft's Laptop Hunters Television Commercials
By 7.22.09
Microsoft’s series of “Laptop Hunters” ads are cute, realistic, and appeal to consumers at a time when our disposable income is limited. Apple doesn’t seem to think they’re so cute, though—the company’s lawyers apparently tried to have the ads stopped.
Kaplan GRE Test Prep Software Fails Windows Vista Exam
By 7.21.09
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.
Office 2010: The Movie – Where Bill Gates And Jerry Bruckheimer Meet
By 7.17.09
What happens when Microsoft hires a small digital ad agency to help promote the next version of Office? You get Office 2010: The Movie, an action-thriller interpretation of Microsoft Office. Does it work? You be the judge.
Google To Launch Free PC Operating System Next Year
By 7.8.09
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.
Microsoft Will 'Enhance' Gamers' Experiences With Dashboard Ads
By 7.2.09
While the Wii and PlayStation 3 give it up for free, Microsoft gets away with charging gamers $50 a year for its online service, Xbox Live, because it’s so robust and user-friendly. And yet earlier this week Microsoft revealed it was taking a step to water down that latter advantage by using Silverlight to bombard its users with ads.
By 6.26.09
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Wondering about Windows 7? PC World has put together a FAQ that will bring you up to speed on all the pre-order deals, upgrade policies, and everything else you need to start plotting your escape from Vista. [PC World]
Don't Pay For Directory Assistance
By 6.22.09
Amidst the chatter about the iPhone 3G S and iPhone cultists’ users’ hate/hate relationship with AT&T, here’s another bit of bad news for AT&T subscribers: reader Mark e-mailed to let us know that the cost of directory assistance calls will go up to $1.99 on July 1. Fortunately, when you need 411 service, you don’t have to pay for it.
MSN Calls The Hackintosh "Amazing"
By 6.19.09
MSN has a neat article about the 38 “amazing things” that you didn’t know the technology you own could do. The well-meaning writers posted about a neat tech trick, without realizing how it could be misinterpreted.
Jake Hunts For A Good Laptop
By 6.18.09
Funny or Die has a pretty funny, nsfw parody of the current Microsoft “You find it, you keep it” commercials. Jake’s in the market for a decent laptop that can meet his needs, which include a big screen, the ability to go online, and enough cash left over for some subscriptions to certain adult websites. It’s basically what the real commercial would look like in a world without TV censors.
Microsoft Goes After Internet Ad Fraudsters In Court
By 6.16.09
Microsoft feels it was tricked out of $750,000 in online ad dollars by three Vancouver residents, so it’s suing their pants off and trying to set a new precedent for throwing legal heft around in the digital advertising world.
Microsoft Gives MS Money The Old 'It's Not You, It's Me' Line
By 6.12.09
Since 1991, Microsoft Money has been there to keep track of your financial triumphs and foibles, making you fess up to your dumb impulse purchases and encouraging you to believe that your mountain of debt really will dissipate if you keep on chipping away.
Microsoft Deep-Sixes Red Ring Of Death Coffins, Makes Customers Supply Their Own Boxes
By 6.12.09
Although we received an indication in March that Microsoft was phasing out its Xbox 360 return policy of sending customers padded boxes with prepaid return envelopes, gaming blog Joystiq confirmed that Microsoft quietly made it official in late May.
