Mostly Microsoft…Good and Bad

Vista/IE market share slide, Win 7/Firefox/Chrome surge

According to data supplied by web metrics firm Net Applications, both Vista and Internet Explorer lost market share during September, while Windows 7, Firefox and Chrome all saw a surge in market share.

Microsoft in Cahoots with Twitter, Facebook

Microsoft on Wednesday announced major new initiatives with some of the world's most popular Internet services companies. The software giant will integrate Twitter micro-blogging posts into its Bing Internet search service and, at a slightly later date, provide similar functionality with public posts from the Facebook social networking service.

Windows 7 Media Center: Netflix and Internet TV

Just days before it officially launched Windows 7 around the world, Microsoft quietly updated the Windows Media Center component of that OS, dramatically increasing the availability of online content. The update takes two forms: Compatibility with Netflix "Instant Queue" streaming and the final version of Internet TV, which provides a pretty decent selection of free TV show content as well as, surprise, surprise, access to video podcasts via Zune Marketplace.

Low-cost Windows 7 laptops hit retail

At many stores on Thursday, Best Buy refreshed almost its entire stock of laptops: all running Windows 7 and all sporting new model numbers. Frys--a megastore electronics retailer with locations throughout California, Arizona, and Texas--also refreshed many of its laptops with new Windows 7 models.

Five Best Software Update Tools

Rather than wait around for your software to notify you of updates (let's face it, a lot of applications never will), these five handy tools keep an eye on your apps, alert you when an update's available, and streamline the updating process.