With its decision to block Windows Phone users from accessing Google Maps, Google isn't the first browser maker to block users from accessing content with a competitive product. Microsoft has done the same in the distant and not-so-distant past. But that's still no excuse for what looks like nothing other than a petty, short-sighted move on Google's part.   Back in 2001, Microsoft was slammed for making MSN.com incompatible with browsers other than IE. Microsoft officials said the problem wasn

It's unexciting. Boring, really. That's what detractors of Microsoft's Windows 8 are saying. And those comments are showing up at the register, as retailers are also blaming slower than expected sales on a weak market.     It's a sign of the times. At one point a new operating system got people to buy new computers. But those days may be behind us. As 2013 approaches, consumers seem to be more into hardware instead of software. And that means tablets and mobile devices. Not the platforms t

Microsoft will release critical Windows 8 and Windows RT security updates for Internet Explorer 10 as part of its latest series of software updates.     Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will release seven updates in total for the December edition of its monthly Patch Tuesday security update cycle. Five of seven updates are ranked as 'critical' and could lead to remote code execution, Microsoft said. One of the two other updates could also have led to remote code execution, but is rat

As I've noted in this blog several times over the past couple years, I have become a devoted Google Chrome user because Internet Explorer 9 on my Windows 7 PC is not up to snuff.     Yes, I have tried just about everything imaginable to fix this. I've disabled all add-ons. I've reinstalled the browser. I've called in the big guns from Microsoft, ZDNet and other shops to try to provide help. Nothing made IE9 running on Windows 7 on my UL30A laptop from ASUS run acceptably. In spite of all of

Who is Julie Larson-Green? Meet the new head of Windows     I don't know the back story here, but here's what I do know: Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky is leaving Microsoft, effective immediately -- just days after launching his babies, Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface. And the new head of Windows is Julie Larson-Green.   As my CNET colleague Jay Greene reported, Microsoft is saying Sinofsky's departure was mutually agreed upon. Sinofsky is leaving to pursue other unspecified inter

The company says the decision was mutual. But reported disputes between Sinofsky and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer may have strained the relationship.     Former Windows President Steven Sinofsky (Credit: Microsoft)   Steven Sinofsky, the Microsoft executive who turned its Windows franchise around and just led the effort to release Windows 8, is leaving the company, effective immediately. Sinofsky, a controversial figure at the company, was the subject of a recent CNET profil

Microsoft formally launched its Windows 8 operating system today, sabering the champagne bottle (so to speak) on one of its two cash cow software platforms. (The other is the Office productivity suite.)     The event, which was live-streamed on the Web, featured chief executive Steve Ballmer, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky, Windows program management chief Julie Larson-Green and Windows client and ecosystem chief Michael Angiulo. Heavy on pomp and light on substance, the presentation noneth

So Microsoft has gone and done it.     The company has sold operating systems for other companies' computers for more than 30 years. Sticking to the software and letting other people deal with the hardware side is what made Microsoft the multinational behemoth that dominated the computing landscape through the 1990s and much of the 2000s. MS-DOS; 16-bit Windows 1, 2, and 3; the hybrid Windows 95 family; and the 32-bit (and, later, 64-bit) Windows NT family that is still with us to this day: