Darren Straight's Blog

ICT Enthusiast and photographer.

By - Darren Straight

Alcatel sues Microsoft over patent infringements

Alcatel, the French manufacturer of telecommunications gear, has filed two separate complaints against Microsoft in a Texas court, claiming that Microsoft has infringed on seven Alcatel patents. The court documents do not give examples of Microsoft’s alleged bad behavior, but we can get some idea of what’s at stake by looking at the cited patents. The patents are 6,339,830; 6,874,090;

By - Darren Straight

Zune Software Download Available Now!

Hey Everyone, The Zune Software is currently up on Zune.net. You can find the software here. System Requirements Windows XP Home or Pro with SP2, Windows XP Tablet PC SP2, or Windows XP Media Center 2005 with Rollup Update 2 and Oct. 2006 Rollup Update. 1.5 GHz processor or better Broadband Internet connection Video Requirements: 64MB of RAM Via: Live-tr

By - Darren Straight

Photosynth Tech Preview is Live

It’s been just a few short months since the Microsoft Live Labs Team announced Photosynth at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston and boy have they been busy! Today they are very happy to announce the first public release of their Photosynth Technology Preview. And hey as the Team thought you might have some questions about this release they’ve provided you with some Questions and Answers

By - Darren Straight

Microsoft Windows Vista Released to Manufacturing

As Microsoft Windows Vista (Build 6000.16386 “061101-2205”) is released to manufacturing (RTM) today a significant milestone for Microsoft and its partners anticipation is building around that all-important question: How good is it really?Microsoft says Windows Vista is its most heavily tested operating system ever, with deep investments made to ensure greater security, reliability and usability. But after all the time,

By - Darren Straight

Microsoft to offer Windows Live Services to Hutch

Hutchison Essar and Microsoft Corp. have announced a broad scale mobile services alliance in India. The two companies have agreed in principle to work together to provide mobile search and other key Windows Live services to Hutch’s subscriber base of over 21 million. Under the agreement, Hutch customers in India will be able to search for and access mobile content

By - Darren Straight

Microsoft Launches the VHD Test Drive Program

Microsoft has announced the VHD Test Drive Program, which provides customers with an enhanced server-based software evaluation experience that’s faster and less expensive, better supported and more flexible. The VHD Test Drive program is a first for Microsoft software and the more than 7,000 software vendors who can now deliver pre-configured mainstream applications within Windows Server-based virtual machines to their

By - Darren Straight

Microsoft and Novell Agree to Make Software Compatible!

Well I’m watching the Live Webcast of Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmers announcement now and wow it looks like the partnership between Microsoft and Novell (Linux) as reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, is True!  If you haven’t opened up the Live Webcast yet then what are you wating for, it’s great listening to Steve Ballmer and all the other Executives of Microsoft and Novell talk

By - Darren Straight

Steve Ballmer to Deliver Industry Announcement – 2nd Nov 2006

Less than 15 minutes now until, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will deliver an Industry announcement during a press conference today in San Francisco. Could this be about the Microsoft – Novell (Linux) partnership, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, I guess we will find out soon! Live Web Cast 56K 100K 300K

By - Darren Straight

Download now: The 2007 iPod Buyers’ Guide, by iLounge.com

The 2007 iPod Buyers’ Guide, by iLounge.com. Which is the world’s most popular iPod and accessory buyers’ guide is back for its third year running, better than ever! At 180 pages, this is the largest Buyers’ Guide ever, and jam-packed with everything you need to get the iPod and accessories you want for the holidays! But What’s inside? Over 20

By - Darren Straight

Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP Released

Microsoft Corp. today released to the public Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP, a significant milestone for music fans and the digital entertainment experience on Windows. This latest version of Windows Media Player offers consumers a test-drive of the breakthrough capabilities in Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista, including enhanced search and media management technologies, a visually