6 entries found with tag Microsoft.

Demographics prediction

From Microsoft adCenter labs is a potentially quite powerful tool that predicts the demographics for a particular search term.

"You can use adCenter technology to predict a customer's age, gender, and other demographic information according to his or her online behavior-that is, from search queries and webpage views. General Distribution is the breakdown by age of MSN Search users-based on a one-month MSN Search log-regardless of search query used. Predicted Distribution is the predicted breakdown by age of MSN Search users for a single search query, based on the adLabs predictive model."

Tags: Microsoft, adCenter, demographics, statistics

Microsoft fails on security

For the second time now, Microsoft has failed a test of its virus detection capability at Live OneCare. I thought they were supposed to be concentrating on security... I mean, isn't that supposed to be one of the big selling points of Vista?

Related: Microsoft, Vista, security

Microsoft must be hurting

Profits were down last quarter, Vista sales are poor, Google are selling web apps to rival Office and there's one massive mp3 fine coming. Looks like 2007's going to be a tough year for Microsoft...

Vista? No thanks.

Microsoft is getting ready to roll out Vista and I really can't think of any good reason to upgrade.

There are 6 different versions to choose from, so it's not immediately clear to me which one is most suitable. Then there also seems to be a pretty draconian license agreement that should put most people off.

Perhaps if I bought a new machine (and actually I'd have to have the latest hardware to be able to run the beast considering its requirements) and had Vista pre-installed then I might just keep it. I think this reason, rather than anything positively attractive, is going to be why most future Vista owners will have this product. Incidentally, if you do buy a new machine but decide that you don't want Vista (or any previous incarnation of Windows) you can decline the User Agreement and get cash.

Ubuntu So, what's the alternative? Linux of course. I can recommend Ubuntu which I tried it out earlier this week. "Edgy Eft" is the name of their latest version and it's great! Have got it dual booting with XP so I can still run Windows if and when I need it. It connected to the internet and had a local version of nimisis.com running in no time at all. Ubuntu clearly deserves its award for the "Most user friendly distribution." It's stable, fast, secure (well, much more than Windows is) and free!

Tags: Microsoft, Vista, linux, Ubuntu

Free Windows Vista CD

Update: Page no longer exists!

By completing this quiz (http://www.microsoft.com/india/offers/vista/quiz.aspx), you can get a CD of Microsoft Windows Vista beta 2 sent to you for free. I'm not a Microsoft fanboy by any means but it could be interesting...

Related: Vista, Microsoft

[07:14][remarks 1]

A rejection letter from Microsoft for a place on their graduate scheme appeared on my doorstep yesterday, dated FOUR MONTHS after I was told I had got a second round interview. Am annoyed. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. I'll admit that the appeal of MS was the XBox and the possibility of working on that, but then again thinking about it the video gaming industry may not be the best thing to go into, with some other companies behaving quite disgracefully too. They do make great games though. Look at the name of the guy in the picture of this latter article. Is this a joke?