Computer Software

The other day I had a vision of the death of Microsoft. It came just hours after I placed a curse upon the huge company for, oh, the ten-thousandth time. The occasion for my latest malediction was the discovery that Microsoft had dispensed with the "backward compatibility" of its Word application. As a result, a document created in, say, Office 2007 and e-mailed for my perusal won't open in the Word 97 program on my home computer as anything but gibberish. Microsoft's goal obviously is to coerce me to upgrade to the new version of Office, which would cost me as much as $400, take up an enormous amount of my hard drive space and undoubtedly consume obscene quantities of my computing power.

Tom McCauley didn't plan on making house calls when he started in the music business. As a recording engineer, McCauley made a good living working out of the many commercial studios that had grown up throughout the Los Angeles area to serve the music, film and television industries. But with the advent of software that allows high-end recording from a personal computer, the 53-year-old Sherman Oaks resident has traded the quasi-industrial atmosphere of the commercial studio for his customers' garages or living rooms.

The order by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was unprecedented in scope: All personal computers sold in the country as of July 1 would have to include government-sponsored Internet filtering software. But just how the plan, which would potentially affect hundreds of millions of computer users, would be carried out remains unclear.

Microsoft Corp. is going back in time to promote its new Windows 7 operating system. Taking its inspiration from Texaco Star Theater, a Milton Berle-hosted 1950s variety show that was television's first big hit, the computer giant is teaming with "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane to sponsor a 30-minute show to air on the Fox network next month. The show will run without commercials, and promises to feature "unique Windows 7-branded programming that blends seamlessly with show content."

Google Inc. said Sony Corp. would install the company's Chrome Web browser on some of its personal computers. The Internet giant described the arrangement as a test of a channel to "make Chrome accessible to even more people." A Sony spokesman in San Diego didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. Tokyo-based Sony predicted in May that it would sell 6.2 million units of its Vaio computer in the year ending in March 2010, up from 5.8 million in the previous year.

Almost no one found Microsoft Corp.'s last attempt at a new operating system, Windows Vista, very entertaining. So when it came time for the software giant to create the sequel, it hoped a little Hollywood touch would bring audiences back to its screens. Jonathan Wiedemann, the former managing director of Propaganda Films, which made groundbreaking MTV videos as well as films such as "Wild at Heart" and "Madonna: Truth or Dare," has for the last three years been leading a team responsible for a key feature on the Windows 7 operating system, the much-hyped upgrade to Vista that Microsoft will begin selling today.

Microsoft Corp. said Monday it would begin selling Web-based programs to smaller customers, countering a challenge from Google Inc. The company would begin testing online editions of its Exchange and SharePoint Server programs for companies with fewer than 5,000 employees, Senior Vice President Chris Capossela said. Blockbuster Inc. and Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. are already customers for a service designed for larger companies, he said.

After criticism for allegedly blocking a popular software program for watching video online, Comcast Corp. pledged Thursday not to discriminate against specific technology as it tries to keep increasing amounts of data flowing through its cable networks. But the move may not be enough to keep Comcast, the country's largest cable company, from being disciplined by federal regulators or to resolve a complicated debate about how Internet providers can manage their online traffic.

Microsoft Corp. has won a battle to have a key document format adopted as a global standard, improving its chances of winning government contracts and dealing a blow to supporters of a rival format. The OpenDoc Society, which had argued that Microsoft's Office Open XML format was unripe for ratification by the International Organization for Standardization, published the results showing Microsoft's win on its website.

When the new iPhone goes on sale Friday, Apple Inc. will also launch an online software store peddling a potpourri of programs such as games, pedometers, tip calculators and language translators for the device. The company hopes that by enabling buyers to transform the phone into a personalized electronic Swiss Army knife of sorts, it can boost sales. "We live in a post-modern world of fragmented preferences," said Shiv Bakhshi, an analyst at research firm IDC.