Reports of Issues with November Security Updates   We’ve received questions about public reports that customers might be experiencing system issues with the November Security Updates (which some are referring to “Black Screen” issues). We’ve investigated these reports and found that our November Security Updates are not making changes to the system that these reports say are responsible for these issues.   While these reports weren’t brought to us directly, from our research into them, it ap

Computerworld - Microsoft's Windows ran to stay in place last month as Window 7's market share gains made up for the largest-ever declines in Windows XP and Vista, data released today by Web metrics firm Net Applications showed.   By Net Applications' numbers, Windows 7's gains were primarily at the expense of Windows XP. For each copy of Vista replaced by Windows 7 during November, more than six copies of XP were swapped for the new OS.   Meanwhile, Apple's Mac OS X lost share during Novemb

Late last week, a beta tester pointed out that Microsoft was planning to release its Office 2010 suite in June 2010, according to Fudzilla. Previously Redmond had only been quoted as saying "the first half of 2010" but more recently the company apparently posted the following message on one of the Office 2010 beta webpages: "The final version will be available to the public for purchase in June 2010." We browsed various Microsoft Office webpages, and even did a search, but we couldn't find the q

Microsoft's latest round of security patches appears to be causing some PCs to seize up and display a black screen, rending the computer useless.   The problem affects Microsoft products including Windows 7, Vista and XP operating systems, said Mel Morris , the CEO and CTO for the U.K. security company Prevx.   Prevx was alerted to the problem by users of its security software last week, Morris said. Microsoft apparently made changes to the Access Control List (ACL), a list of permissions fo

Computerworld - Microsoft late on Friday confirmed that an unpatched vulnerability exists in Windows 7, but downplayed the problem, saying most users would be protected from attack by blocking two ports at the firewall.   In a security advisory, Microsoft acknowledged that a bug in SMB (Server Message Block), a Microsoft-made network file- and print-sharing protocol, could be used by attackers to cripple Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 machines.   The zero-day vulnerability was first re

Unless you're seriously into networking (and okay, maybe you are), all the features in the new Secure Remote Connection - not to mention the pieces required to make it work - can be fairly tough to figure out. But the benefits make sense: "With this feature," writes Steven Vaughan-Nichols, "a user on any Windows 7 system can gain access to the corporate intranet's resources. In short, with the right back-end setup you can run office-only programs and get to server-based files from any Windows 7

Everyone loves a killer feature: that must-have capability or technology that prompts you to plunk down your hard-earned cash in an effort to upgrade your computing experience.   In the case of Windows, there have been precious few versions that included a truly killer feature. Windows 3.1 was a killer version because it allowed PCs to finally break (or at least reduce the impact of) the dreaded 640K barrier. Windows NT was a killer version (at least for power users) because it introduced the

Click-to-Run is a new technology Microsoft are introducing to allow you to test out Office 2010 quickly and easily, by literally streaming the app to your computer from the Internet into a virtualised space.   This technology is one piece in Microsoft’s plan to make Office 2010 easier to obtain, including Office 2010 starter, an advert-supported, crippled version being sold to OEMs   Click-to-Run is designed to sweeten the experience of trying and buying Office by avoiding a lengthy download