Microsoft Woos Next Gen with Free Software
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Microsoft has announced a new promotional program offering free access to some of its development, design and gaming software to students worldwide. The stated goals of the program are to help spark creativity and prepare the next generation for high-tech careers. In addition, the promotion may also help develop a preference for Microsoft  among a younger generation that often leans toward open source alternatives.
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Microsoft has released software that combs through PCs and reports back on the Office files installed on the systems, completing a free tool kit designed to aid corporate users in migrating to Office 2007.
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In an era when computers get ever smaller and more portable, it seems almost a throwback, but software giant Microsoft hopes a Â£5,000 coffee table bristling with technology could be the next big step forward.
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Microsoft has released a beta of the new free e-mail program, along with new Messenger and Writer betas.
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International Business Machines Corp. plans to mount its most ambitious challenge in years to Microsoft's dominance of personal computer software, by offering free programs for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations.
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There's no doubt that 2008 will go down in history as the end of the first Microsoft era.  This year, Bill Gates will finally hang up his Microsoft mouse and leave the company he cofounded over 30 years ago.  Most people know that he's going off to spend the very large sums of money he has acquired from those Microsoft years, most of which has been used to set up the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation with $37.6 billion in assets.  But what will that really mean for free software? read more
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Hoping to whet the appetite of developers specializing in mobile and embedded devices, Microsoft on Monday made available a free technology preview of Windows XP Embedded containing Service Pack 2 (SP2) that it expects to deliver by year's end.
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Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it may  offer a free, advertising-supported version of its basic word  processing and spreadsheet software, in an apparent bid to fend  off a nascent challenge from Google Inc. in the business  software market.
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Microsoft on Thursday released a free trial copy of antispyware software it purchased last month, marking the company's entry into the fast-growing market for products that block surreptitious snooping programs, and promised monthly releases of tools to stop new malicious software.
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As part of its growing effort to thwart piracy, Microsoft is offering free photo slideshow software to customers who verify that they have a genuine copy of Windows.
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We think Microsoft has officially announced "the next generation of Windows Live." Whatever that means.â¦
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Stop milking same old cow Advice from Microsoft on designing useful and uncomplicated software? Now, there's a novel idea.â¦
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A software that 17-year-old Blake Ross started building in 2002 has got Microsoft worried. Itâs called Firefox, itâs free, and it beats the pants of Microsoftâs Internet Explorer.
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Microsoft&#39;s newest offspring is called Surface, a tabletop operating system designed to turn an ordinary table into a dynamic surface that facilitates interaction with digital content through natural gestures and touch.
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Microsoft says it is making the first Release Candidate version of the upcoming operating system available for public download.
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Microsoft on Tuesday began a free program aimed at turning local governments into "e-governments" by using computer software and the Internet to better serve citizens.
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The company reports that its free rival to Microsoft's Office suite was downloaded 100,000 times in the first week of release.