As reported on C-Net News yesterday, Microsoft is getting ready to fight Google on the enterprise search products front.  In Boston, Kevin Turner, Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer, addressed the 2006 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference , saying "Enterprise search is our business, it's our house and Google is not going to take that business." This comes in response to the growing popularity and availability of Google's search appliances, though the company has not yet...

This week we burn through some tech news, including (but not limited to) the EU slaps Microsoft with a ton of fines, the house votes to crack down on internet gambling and it turns out a majority of podcast listeners are Star Trek fans (is that true gang?). Also Microsoft makes an "iPod killer" called the Zune to which we (or at least Kristin) responds with a resounding "meh". In gaming news we discuss a Sony "anti-used game" patent, inform you that Oblivion h...

Well, 819 of you have voted, and the results are pretty clear; most are pretty jazzed about the upcoming release of Windows Vista with 658 of you either saying you were excited about the release, or saying you intended to upgrade when you upgrade your computer. Here are the complete results: Q: What is your current impression of Windows Vista?    Will upgrade to it when I get a new PC probably.   366  (44.69%)  &nb...

TechWeb columnist Alexander Wolfe has done a run-down of his top ten hits and misses with Windows Vista Beta 2.  While certain of his "Hits" like how seemingly overwhelmed he was by the coolness of Aero Glass are chuckle-worthy for anyone who's used to skinning their entire desktop, he does have a few good points tucked away. My favorites are his critiques on the install process and overall system performance for code that is so close to release. What would you consider t...

Stardock Corporation Launches New Web Site Stardock Corporation, a Microsoft Gold Partner and the world's leading provider of desktop customization software for Windows, re-launched itself into the marketplace today with a new web site aimed at driving traffic, increasing sales of its popular Windows software applications and further promoting its new interactive entertainment publishing division. The new web site can be found at www.stardock.com. "This new web design is an integra...

Jensen Harris, a Microsoft UI developer, announced on his blog today that the third and final theme for Office 2007 has been finalized.  So now, in addition to the black and blue themes seen so far in the public beta builds, they've added silver.  On top of the new color scheme, several minor changes have been made to the "Northwest" corner of the UI, with further improvements promised before release early next year. ...

Today, AOL will be launching its new AIM Pro service, targeting the corporate market with features such as enhanced security and online meeting services. The new service will be available for free and offer WebEx and Microsoft Outlook integration to further entice corporate users away from more traditional offerings such as Lotus Sametime from IBM .  In the future, AOL will also offer premium packages for a fee that include management consoles, logging and other regulatory complianc...

CNet News is reporting today that Microsoft announced the acquisition of Winternals Software , makers of the popular Sysinternals system utility tool.  Microsoft hopes to add the Winternals staff to further strengthen its operating system development team. While no information on price has been discussed, part of the deal that was revealed is that Winternals co-founder Mark Russinovich has been named a technical fellow.   Despite Microsoft acquiring the Sysinternals tool...

Are you a gadget junkie and love building little utilities to sit on your desktop?  Do you have an unabashed love for all things Google ?  Do you want $5,000?  Well, if you said yes to any of those questions then man does Google have the contest for you! Late last month, the Google Desktop team released the Google Desktop SDK for people interested in building applications that hook into their desktop search utility, and part of that kit was a Gadget Designer.  In honor ...

After a week of rumors, AMD today announced that it has plans to purchase graphics card maker ATI and merge the two companies.  The value of the transaction is reported to be in the neighborhood of $5.4 billion (USD).  This marks a significant departure for AMD from its past business practices of focusing exclusively on building processors.  In addition to the merger deal, AMD announced that it would be cutting prices on its current processor line by nearly 50% in reaction t...

Microsoft today announced the beta launch of the new Windows Live Gallery site.  Windows Live Gallery will be the central site for users to find gadgets, MSN messenger utilities and extensions to personalize the various Windows Live services that are to launch along side of Windows Vista early next year. To see a video preview, go here .

From the creators of the Kazaa file sharing utility and Skype , Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, comes a new video distribution system.  Still in the early stages, the "Venice Project" was announced on Sunday in a BusinessWeek.com article .  What sets this effort apart from previous ones is that Zenstrom and Friis are reportedly courting major television networks to use the service as their primary online distribution method.  This would put them in indirect competition...

Another week, another poll.  Last week's poll asked what new content you would most like to see come to WinCustomize.com.  Due to technical difficulties, many of you were unable to vote, and we only saw 105 total votes in the 7 days the poll was up.  For those of you who were able to cast your ballot, here's how it all turned out: What new content would you like to see on WinCustomize.com?   Tutorials 46 43.8%   Co...

Earlier this month, the annual Shareware Industry Conference announced the top shareware titles of 2006.  Stardock walked away with the People's Choice Award for "Best Vertical Market Program or Utility" and was nominated for "Best Desktop Enhancement" in the closed-voting Shareware Industry Award. The Peoples Choice Award is voted on by the users of shareware titles on sites such as CNET, Simtel and Tucows.  WindowBlinds was also nominated for Best Desktop Enhancement in 2004. ...

Tired of getting countless messages in your inbox telling you you've won the Nigerian lotto, or that certain parts of your anatomy could be made to wow your friends and family?  Many of us spend hours a week managing junk email, deleting it, updating filters and just generally grumbling about all the stupid stuff that makes it to our inboxes.  Well, there's one computer artist out there who managed to make a purse out of a sow's ear. Alex Dragulescu, a Romanian-born computer artist, no...