Software, Windows 7 | featured news

Microsoft plans to restrict the number of computer hardware makers that initially can make tablets using its Windows operating system, requiring five select chip makers to pair up with one development partner each.

Microsoft Corp reported a dip in quarterly sales of its core Windows operating system, mirroring a recent downturn in personal computers and sending its shares down slightly.

In the nature of Microsoft product updates, Window 7 is entering its middle years. Generally, Microsoft comes out with a new update to Windows every three years and Windows 7 is currently 18 months into its game. In that time Microsoft has sold 350M licenses to the operating system making it perhaps the fastest selling software of all time.

Pwn2Own, the annual three-day browser hackathon, has already claimed its first two victims: IE8 on Windows 7 64-bit, and Safari 5 on Mac OS X.

Microsoft Corp is set to report a dip in earnings on Thursday, a year after the launch of its Windows 7 operating system blew away Wall Street estimates, as sales of personal computers lag expectations and Apple Inc's iPad eats away at the fringes of its core market.

Microsoft's profit climbed 48% as the software giant benefited from a strong response to the Windows 7 operating system.

When Microsoft released Windows XP in October of 2001, the software got upbeat reviews and sold briskly. But I doubt if even XP's biggest boosters would have predicted just how long-running a hit it would be. Nine years later, it's still the the world's favorite operating system.

Microsoft Corp posted a bigger-than-expected 60 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Windows 7, and said it expected business technology spending to recover this year.

Microsoft says it is pleased with the demand for Windows 7 as it reports an 18% fall in quarterly profits.

As for gaming, however, Windows 7's release feels almost funereal. Read the reviews and you'll learn all about the streamlined taskbar, the smarter security system that leaves you alone, the slick new touch-based input features, and the friendlier approach to media-hub device management.