Operating systems

A Microsoft program aimed at making PCs and Internet computing more affordable through monthly payments will deliver 20 million new desktops and laptops over the next few years to people who may not otherwise have been able to afford them, an executive said.  read more »

A programmer has unlocked several still-unfinished features of Windows 7 that Microsoft Corp. has hidden from users who received the alpha build at two recent developer conferences.  read more »

Microsoft has denied paying a Nigerian contractor US$400,000 in a bid to battle Linux's movement into the government sector.  read more »

Colombia will become the second country to use the One Laptop Per Child Project's (OLPC) XO laptops running Microsoft Windows XP in schools after signing an agreement for pilot programs in two towns, Microsoft said late Monday.  read more »

Microsoft has promised that its next desktop operating system, Windows 7, will use less memory and power than Windows Vista, while slashing start-up and shutdown times.  read more »

Microsoft is giving away free software to early-stage Web start-up companies as part of a worldwide program called BizSpark launched on Wednesday.  read more »

For the second time in three months, Windows has boosted its market share, an Internet measuring company reported Monday.  read more »

As competition in the mobile phone market heats up, two companies with flagging momentum are teaming up to try to compete better with the market leaders.  read more »

Although computers running Windows Vista are significantly less likely to be infected with attack code than machines running Windows XP , the newer operating system continues to be threatened by Microsoft Corp.'s own ActiveX browser plug-in technology, according to a report issued Monday by the company.  read more »

Leaked copies of Windows 7 hit the Internet only hours after Microsoft Corp. handed out a preview build to developers last week, according to searches at several BitTorrent tracking sites.  read more »