July 2 - 1:50pm EDT   A number of prospective buyers are upset at the absence of a cheaper upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate, accounts suggest. While those moving to Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional may be eligible for Microsoft's discount program, a copy of Ultimate is currently only available at the full $220 price, even if a person already owns Vista Ultimate. "Vista Ultimate owners have already been ripped off once in paying for basically worthless 'Extras,'" says corporate IT worker Lindsey Mundy. "Now to rub salt in the wound, MS is leaving them out...for some reason best only known to them, when offering a reasonable upgrade price for Windows 7." [full story]

June 16 - 5:55pm EDT   CodeWeavers has released an update to its Windows virtualization software, CrossOver Mac 8.0. The latest version now supports a number of new programs including Internet Explorer 7 and Quicken 2009. Performance has been improved while running Microsoft Office 2007, particularly with Outlook. The company attributes a significant portion of the expanded compatibility to the growing Wine Project, an initiative that is working to allow Windows-coded programs to work on other operating systems. [full story]

June 10 - 4:30pm EDT   Econo-Keys recently announced the addition of its EK-76-TP mobile keyboard that flips over to reveal a touchpad. While not completely functional, as users would be hard-pressed to use both the keyboard and touchpad simultaneously, the EK-76-TP is ultra-portable, measuring in at about 9 by 3.5 by 0.4 inches. The keyboard sports a USB interface and is compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems. [full story]

June 10 - 9:20am EDT   Virgin Mobile USA on Wednesday announced it will soon offer a pre-paid 3G Internet access service called Broadband2Go. Users will need to buy a Novatel MC760 USB modem, which will access the web via Sprint's EV-DO Revisoin A network. The modem plugs into the USB ports on Mac, Windows, or Linux computers and has an internal dual-band diversity antenna with an option for an external antenna for better performance in remote areas. There is also a microSDHC slot in the modem that allows users to add as much as 16GB of storage. [full story]

June 5 - 1:10pm EDT   In advance of Windows 7's October 22nd release date, Best Buy has begun circulating an internal memo on upgrade options. At the core of the retailer's plans is the Technology Guarantee, which will provide buyers of Vista PCs and software packages with a free copy of Windows 7. The option will only apply for the Home Premium, Business or Ultimate editions of Vista however, and only between June 26th and October 22nd. [full story]

May 26 - 12:45pm EDT   Microsoft has posted 64- and 32-bit versions of Service Pack 2, a major update for Windows Vista and Server 2008. The downloads measure 577 and 348MB respectively, and include all of the key Windows updates produced since the debut of Service Pack 1. New devices and hardware platforms are also said to be supported, such as Bluetooth 2.1, 64-bit VIA CPUs and Blu-ray data recording. [full story]

May 17 - 11:40pm EDT   CentrumXP has released supposed leaked images of the Windows 7 retail boxes, according to ars technica. The boxes appear to be a combination of XP and Vista boxes, an indication of Microsoft's aim to make Windows 7 a culmination of the best parts of its predecessors. [full story]

May 15 - 11:05am EDT   Microsoft has drawn criticism over the timing of a new security patch, targeting the company's PowerPoint presentation software. Windows users can now download update MS09-017, which addresses a zero-day vulnerability known to have been used in real-world attacks. The patch is moreover said to reduce the vulnerability of Office and PowerPoint in general, by removing a mostly irrelevant PowerPoint 4 converter. The creation of PowerPoint 4 files has not been supported since Office XP. [full story]

May 7 - 5:05pm EDT   Despite a rumored Acer Android-powered handset coming this fall and the release of a number of Tempo smartphones in other markets, Acer will not bring any of these portable devices to the US market in 2009. Instead, Acer spokespeople say the company will introduce smartphones in 2010, according to a Thursday GearLog report. [full story]

May 1 - 1:15pm EDT   Windows 7 may eventually be capable of running on ARM processors, suggests the company's CEO, Warren East. The operating system is expected to become common on netbooks, a consequence not only of new features such as touch support but lower system requirements than Windows Vista. Windows has so far, however, been almost exclusively limited to processors based on Intel architecture, blocking ARM's mobile-oriented CPUs. [full story]

May 1 - 11:25am EDT   After months of teasing with images and preliminary specs of its MacBook Air-fighting Eee PC Seashell netbook, ASUS has officially released specs for the portable PC. It sports a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 with the faster 667MHz system bus, 1GB of RAM and a 10-inch, 1024x600 display with an anti-glare coating. The optical drive-free netbook weighs just 2.2lbs and earns its name from the glossy exterior that acts as a scratch-resistant protective shell. [full story]

May 1 - 9:50am EDT   Acer's recently introduced 11.6-inch Aspire One netbook has received a full spec sheet thanks the model's appearance on the company's German web page. Called the Acer Aspire One 751, it now appears powered by Intel's 1.33GHz Atom Z520 CPU along with a maximum of 2GB of RAM rather than the 1.6GHz model of before. The largest netbook in Acer's lineup also sports a 1366x768 resolution and offers Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and triband UMTS/HSPA 3G as options. [full story]

April 22 - 3:20pm EDT   While Intel's new GN40 graphics chipset for the Atom N280 CPU is, in theory, capable of playing back 1080p HD video, in practice it does not, thanks to the limitations placed upon it by Windows XP. As confirmed by Chinese website HKEPC, which reviewed a GN40-equipped ASUS EeePC 1004DN netbook with Windows XP, the configuration was not working properly in decoding 1080p video. This is due to XP only having DirectX Video Acceleration 1.0 (DXVA 1.0) available, whereas the GN40 requires DXVA 2.0 and DirectX 10. As virtually all netbooks ship with XP, the GN40's HD video playback ability goes largely wasted on the new system. [full story]

April 20 - 11:30pm EDT   Microsoft appears to be working on the next version of Windows to follow Windows 7, as indicated by a post on the company's careers site. A Lead Software Development Engineer in Test is sought to work on the existing projects for 7, such as cluster support and reworking the core engine. "We will also soon be starting major improvements for Windows 8," the listing reads. The operating system is said to "revolutionize file access in branch offices." [full story]

April 14 - 4:35pm EDT   REAL has posted REALbasic 2009 Release 2, the latest version of its cross-platform development suite. The software is capable of operating on Mac, Windows and Linux systems, and in its two higher-end editions can compile for any of the three platforms. The updated code is said to include 70 basic improvements and 18 new features, such as official support for the Community Edition of MySQL. Windows apps created with the software can now control others that support COM automation. [full story]