Microsoft is hoping to release SP2 for Vista and Server 2008 before it releases a Windows 7 beta later this year, reports claim.
The company has created a Knowledge Base article documenting the new updates, although details of expected features and release dates are currently thin on the ground.
It is thought, however, that several hardware manufacturers have already received advance copies of the software, expected to include Hyper-V and several security fixes.
“This article discusses a beta release of a Microsoft product. Currently, the product release notes and related information about Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2 are not available,” explains the article.
The company is expected to release a public beta of Windows 7 towards the end of this year, and many current Windows XP users are expected to wait for the new version, without upgrading to Vista in the interim. This leaves little time to rollout the updates to Vista and Server 2008 if they are to precede Windows 7.
Microsoft has recently launched a $300 million marketing campaign designed to improve disappointing Vista sales, featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
“What the brand stands for, particularly in the case of Windows Vista, has been defined by the competitors. The time is now for us to get in and start telling our story,” claimed Brad Brooks, a corporate vice president at Microsoft, last month.
Microsoft was unavailable to comment on an expected release date at the time of writing.
Google has a remote “kill switch” that can be used to disable any application running on Android devices, it has emerged.
Within a terms and service document released by the company is an admission that it has the ability to stop any instance of a program running, a feature intended for use to protect users against malicious code.
“Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement… in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion,” explains the document.
Google has said that if it has to use the switch it will attempt to refund customers who have purchased the application in question, and recoup the money from the develop.
However, despite the fact that the company has been open about the feature, it may cost it potential customers.
“I for one would never purchase or support a device that had a kill switch,” complains one poster on the Google Android discussion forum.
Earlier this year it emerged that Apple had also installed such a mechanism in version 2.0 onwards of the iPhone firmware.
“Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull,” says Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, at the time.
Microsoft will offer attendees at its Professional Developers’ Conference a sneak peek at its latest Office suite, according to reports.
Little has been heard about Microsoft’s successor to Office 2007, currently titled Office 14, beyond a potential release date of late 2009 or early 2010, which appeared as part of a Powerpoint presentation leaked onto the internet.
However, according to ZDNet, the company will be offering a glimpse at the suite next week, despite the fact that current listings for the event suggest talks about Office will be restricted to the OOXML document format.
Microsoft, as with most of its major releases, has been tight-lipped about what to expect from the new Office, though back in February Bill Gates hinted that it would feature a greater online presence.
“Outlook Web Access is not the full version of Office, but if you want to go into a kiosk or an internet café and browse and connect, it gives you plenty of functionality,” said Gates. “As we look at all the modules [in Office 14] we have in mind the equivalent of Outlook Web Access.”
This was backed by Steve Ballmer, who admitted recently: “If you are in an internet café and you want to do some light editing we need to provide for that. That’s all I’m going to say about that otherwise there’ll be no drum roll in four weeks [at the Professional Developers Conference].”
The PDC kicks off October 27, and is looking to be a jam-packed event with Microsoft set to unveil Windows 7 and Windows Cloud.
A man who killed his wife over a posting made on Facebook has been jailed for life.
Wayne Forrester told police he felt “devastated” and “humiliated” when his wife changed her status to single a few days after she had kicked him out of their marital home.
Appearing before the Old Bailey, barristers explained how Forrester was drunk, and had been taking cocaine before driving back to their home in south London and attacking his wife, stabbing her to death with a kitchen knife. He believed his wife had been having an affair.
Forrester pleaded guilty to the crime, and will now serve a minimum of 14 years.
In a prepared statement, Forrester told the court: “Emma and I had just split up. She forced me out of the house and then posted messages on an internet website telling everyone she had left me and was looking to meet other men.
“I felt that I was watching somebody else attacking Emma. It was as though I had no control of what I was doing.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has become the latest victim of internet fraud, after hackers broke into his personal bank account to steal cash.
French Cabinet spokesperson Luc Chatel admitted the attack to a French radio station, but claimed only “small amounts of cash” were taken. Chatel claimed the president reported the crime last month, and that investigations were under way.
“The swindlers will be punished,” he told French radio. “These cases are sufficiently rare that we haven’t had to really organise ourselves, but [are] sufficiently serious for us to reflect on how to improve the system.”
Experts believe the attack shows nobody is invulnerable.
“What’s interesting is how the cyber crooks managed to steal the password to access what should have been a secure account,” says Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
“This latest incident highlights the fact that no-one is safe and that everyone should take the necessary precautions to avoid ending up in the same boat as Sarkozy and so many others.”
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