software giant

Microsoft may not have acquired Yahoo's search business, but it has acquired what some may consider the next best thing. The software giant announced Thursday that it has hired Dr. Qi Lu, Yahoo's former vice president of engineering for search and advertising technology, to run its online-services group and focus on search advertising.

Microsoft has rolled out the beta release of its second service pack for Windows Vista professionals who want to test the upgrade before final release.

"Beginning Thursday Dec. 4th, we will be making the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2 beta available to everyone through a customer preview program," said Mike Nash, the head of Windows product management at Microsoft. "It will launch on TechNet and be available to anyone interested in trying out this service pack."

Not For Everyone

Microsoft has rolled out a partnership with eBay to give consumers instant cash rebates. But the software giant is still reeling from a major outage that left Black Friday shoppers frustrated with its program.

Microsoft announced the cashback concept in May, hoping for an edge in the search-engine wars through ad-funded cash rebates for customers who find and purchase products using Live Search. The program partners with brands like eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears and Zappos.com, and includes more than 10 million product offers from more than 700 merchants.

Microsoft has rolled out a partnership with eBay to give consumers instant cash rebates. But the software giant is still reeling from a major outage that left Black Friday shoppers frustrated with its program.

Microsoft announced the cashback concept in May, hoping for an edge in the search-engine wars through ad-funded cash rebates for customers who find and purchase products using Live Search. The program partners with brands like eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears and Zappos.com, and includes more than 10 million product offers from more than 700 merchants.

The Web's rumor mill kicked into overdrive during the weekend, with speculation that Microsoft is preparing to rebrand its Live Search service. Several sites noted that the software giant has taken control of a domain that could be the new Live Search -- Kumo.com.

The question of whether Live Search will become Kumo is being debated among those who follow the attempts by Microsoft to better position its search engine. According to LiveSide.net, "Kumo means 'cloud' or 'spider' in Japanese."

Possible New Interface

McAfee and Symantec could be affected as Microsoft moves to provide free antivirus software. If the software, code-named Morro, successfully protects against viruses, analysts said, it could mean an exodus from well-known security brands.

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a security offering focused on protecting against malware. The software giant is addressing what it sees as a growing need for a security solution that meets the unique needs of emerging markets and smaller PC form factors.

McAfee and Symantec could be affected as Microsoft moves to provide free antivirus software. If the software, code-named Morro, successfully protects against viruses, analysts said, it could mean an exodus from well-known security brands.

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a security offering focused on protecting against malware. The software giant is addressing what it sees as a growing need for a security solution that meets the unique needs of emerging markets and smaller PC form factors.

Microsoft says it has realized several key metrics it set for the Live Search cashback program it launched in May. The program was designed to help merchants maximize their advertising investments and drive more sales by providing consumers with a cash incentive to buy online.

Under the program, the money that participating merchants would otherwise pay to Microsoft for online advertising is instead passed to online purchasers. Microsoft's payoff is the additional search-advertising traffic the program generates.

If an ancient writer was alive today, he might post something like this to his Twitter account: "Hell hath no fury like a software giant scorned."

For much of the year, it looked like a proposed advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo would bring vitally needed liquidity of about $800 million to Yahoo. The economic downturn hit Yahoo particularly hard, with online advertisers moving away from banner ads to Google's more cost-effective text-based ads.

If an ancient writer was alive today, he might post something like this to his Twitter account: "Hell hath no fury like a software giant scorned."

For much of the year, it looked like a proposed advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo would bring vitally needed liquidity of about $800 million to Yahoo. The economic downturn hit Yahoo particularly hard, with online advertisers moving away from banner ads to Google's more cost-effective text-based ads.