Windows Vista

Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows Vista operating system spurred a 67% increase in personal computer sales at U.S. retail stores in its first week on the market, according to research firm Current Analysis Inc. Hewlett-Packard Co. was the top PC seller by units during the week that ended Saturday, with its share rising from about 33% to more than 50%, according to the report. Gateway Inc. was the No. 2 seller. Dell Inc.

You don't need to touch Windows 8 on a tablet to recognize that things are very different in the next version of Microsoft's operating system. On Wednesday, at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Microsoft released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, making it available as a free download worldwide and showing it off on tablets and PCs in Spain. The Consumer Preview release offers a closer look at what Windows 8 will actually look and behave like when the retail version is released later on this year.

Windows Vista, the new computer operating system that Microsoft Corp. is touting as its most secure ever, contains a programming flaw that might let hackers gain full control of vulnerable computers. Microsoft and independent security researchers, however, tried to play down the risk from the flaw, which was posted on a Russian site recently and was apparently the first affecting the version of Vista released to larger businesses in late November. The Redmond, Wash.

For Microsoft Corp.'s earnings, a new set of Windows made a huge difference. Boosted by the arrival of its Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft had a 14% rise in sales in its fiscal second quarter that ended Dec. 31, the software giant said Thursday. That helped make for a 60% jump in profit to $6.7 billion, or 74 cents a share, compared with a year earlier when the Redmond, Wash., company had net income of $4.17 billion, or 47 cents. Revenue increased to $19 billion from $16.6 billion.

Days after a beaming Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates unveiled his much-vaunted Windows Vista software at a retail price of $400 for the premium version, Latin American street vendors were hawking pirated copies for less than $10. At a sidewalk stall in Mexico City's grimy historic center, vendor Jose Luis offloaded cut-price copies of the software that cost Microsoft $6 billion to bring to market. The world's biggest software maker rolled out Vista in 70 countries Jan.

Most people think of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle as a slim piece of hardware the size of a very thin paperback book. In fact, Kindle is also a piece of software that displays digital books on any device Amazon chooses. On Thursday, the Seattle online retailing giant unveiled a Kindle version for computers. The application was part of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system launch event Thursday in New York. Expected to be released in November, the program will also run on Microsoft's earlier operating systems, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Apple Inc. is warning users of its iTunes software about compatibility problems with Microsoft Corp.'s new operating system and has recommended against a switch to Windows Vista until a fix is complete. "Although iTunes 7.0.

* Microsoft Corp. said the next version of its flagship Windows operating system, code-named Longhorn, would be called Windows Vista. A test version is to be released by Aug. 3.

Microsoft Corp. said its Windows Vista operating system would cost as much as comparable Windows XP editions, from $199 for Vista Home Basic to $399 for the Home Ultimate edition. Upgrades from XP will range from $99 to $259. The company expects most consumers to buy the $239 Home Premium edition. It also expects strong sales from Windows Vista Business, the equivalent of Windows XP Professional. Redmond, Wash.

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer indicated that Windows Vista could face further delays beyond a planned January retail release as the company gets feedback from a test version released Tuesday. The release date could be moved by "a few weeks," Ballmer said at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. said today its net income fell 18 percent in the last quarter, largely because it deferred revenue to let summertime PC buyers get free upgrades to Windows 7, which launched Thursday. Investors looked past that accounting decision, noting that if it had counted its deferred Windows revenue, Microsoft's earnings would have increased 8 percent from last year. Microsoft shares jumped $2.64, 10 percent, to $29.23 in morning trading, hitting a 52-week high.

Can Windows 7 repair Microsoft Corp.'s reputation and trigger enough sales to pull the technology sector out of its financial funk? That seemed to be the overriding question Thursday as Microsoft officially took the wraps off its latest operating system, much of which was already public knowledge, with more than 8 million testers having used it since January. In the past, thousands of technology companies could count on each release of a new Windows operating system to deliver its own economic stimulus: Millions of consumers would rush out to buy faster computers and companies would splurge on more powerful computer systems.

Most people think of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle as a slim piece of hardware the size of a very thin paperback book. In fact, Kindle is also a piece of software that displays digital books on any device Amazon chooses. On Thursday, the Seattle online retailing giant unveiled a Kindle version for computers. The application was part of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system launch event Thursday in New York. Expected to be released in November, the program will also run on Microsoft's earlier operating systems, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

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.

The improvements to Microsoft Corp.'s next version of Windows may be incremental, but they could go a long way toward improving the software giant's reputation. Microsoft on Wednesday released to programmers a trial version of Windows 7, the follow-up to the Windows Vista operating system, which bruised the company with bad reviews and disappointing sales. A version of Windows 7 for consumers to test on their personal computers is expected Friday.

It can take a lot of time to master video games: Microsoft Corp. needed seven years. The world's biggest software company on Thursday reported its largest-ever quarterly profit for its division that makes the Xbox console and such games as the smash hit "Halo 3." Strong demand for "Halo" put Microsoft's entertainment division into the black with a $165-million profit, reversing a year-earlier loss of $142 million.

Microsoft Corp. prematurely posted information about its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system on one of its websites, the company said. On a help page under development, the company disclosed information about a plan to release eight editions of the operating system Microsoft has since taken down the site and declined to confirm the information. From Reuters * Dell Inc.

Microsoft Corp.'s long-awaited release of the upgrade to its Windows operating system will probably be delayed again by at least three months, research group Gartner Inc. said. The research note said the new Windows Vista operating system was too complex to be able to meet Microsoft's targeted November release for volume license customers and January launch for retail consumers.

Google Inc. asked a federal judge Monday to extend the consent decree that settled the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. in order to address competition concerns involving the Windows Vista operating system. Google told the judge overseeing the 2002 consent decree that even though Microsoft had agreed to modify Vista to address the concerns, "more may need to be done to provide a truly unbiased choice of desktop search products."

Microsoft Corp. said Monday that it sold more than 20 million Windows Vista licenses in the first month after the operating system's general debut Jan. 30. The world's biggest software maker said the pace of Vista adoption was more than twice the rate of its predecessor, Windows XP, which had sold 17 million licenses after its first two months of release. "It's a little bit better than what we were expecting," said Bill Mannion, a director in the Windows marketing group.