DigitMemo.com

A new Vista SP1 beta handed out to beta testers.

Mike Walker: To give you guys a sneak peek at the SP1 build. I just installed Vista SP1 with zero issues. The upgrade process seamless and took approx. an hour. There was only one concern however. My box was waiting for about 20 minutes to shut down. Other than that, all goodness.

I have noticed a huge difference in performance of my machine, it’s like someone injected an espresso into my Vista! This is my first day using so I’ll be sure to check back in to let you guys and gals know how things are going.
Some of these new features that are under the covers that screen shots will not be able to show you:

Click for more on Vista SP1 v.658 First Impressions »

Still few hours from the official release, Wired.com has managed to get the new Zune 2.

Microsoft was kind enough to drop off an 8GB and 80GB to Gadget Lab headquarters a few days ago and we’ve got all the unboxing photos for you to scope out. Scroll down to see ‘em all.

• Better building materials (glass screen instead of plastic.)
• Retooled controls (bye-bye scroll wheel, hello 4-way touchpad.)
• More native video codecs for h.264 and MPEG-4.
• Synchronization of video from your Media Center PC.
• Wi-Fi sync to a host computer.

Click for more on Zune 2 Has Landed: A First Look »

The new data centers in Chicago and Dublin are being built on an accelerated schedule; Chicago will be up and running by April.

Prepping for growth in the Internet era can be costly, as Microsoft is finding out. The software company is ponying up more than $1 billion for two new data centers near Chicago and Dublin, Ireland, Microsoft confirmed this week.

These new investments only add to the hundreds of millions of dollars Microsoft’s already spending on server farms around the world to keep pace with online competitors like Google and to make sure it has the capacity to handle a growing online world, which daily checks millions of e-mails, downloads millions of software updates, and shares millions of photos. In each data center, there might be “tens of thousands” of machines, according to Microsoft. The Chicago facility will sprawl over more than 12 acres and draw tens of megawatts of power.

Click for more on Microsoft Spending $1 Billion On New Data Centers »

@live.com Email registration is officially opened and a new live suite launched. 

Windows Live received a comprehensive, Google-like, update to attract more Windows users and convince them to take some of their online activities to Microsoft’s servers. Microsoft itself calls the new Windows Live a “free and fun upgrade for the online and Windows experiences” and promises that the new services “simplify” the digital lives of Windows users. The company claims that more than 400 million users worldwide are using Windows Live already.

Click for more on Microsoft refreshes Windows Live »

Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript and now CTO at Mozilla, and Microsoft’s Chris Wilson are in sharp disagreement over the next version of JavaScript

Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich, creator of the popular scripting language ECMAScript, better known as JavaScript, and Microsoft’s Chris Wilson, platform architect of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer platform team, are trading heated rhetoric over the proposed next version of the language. Microsoft, whose own version of JavaScript is called JScript, is quibbling with the ECMAScript Edition 4 effort, which is supported by Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser.

Click for more on Mozilla and Microsoft Battle Over JavaScript »

Microsoft installed a resource hungry search application on thousands of PCs Wednesday, bringing them to a standstill.

This happened even though administrators had configured their systems not to use the search tool. And the incident is the second in as many months where administrators thought they had locked down their machines and had obtained configuration control.

The problem starts when the search software starts to index the PC. It’s particularly bad when it happens on a server. “The admins at my place were in a flap this morning because Windows Desktop Search 3.01 had suddenly started installing itself on desktops throughout the company,” one administrator said.

Click for more on Microsoft Update Brings Thousands of PCs to Standstill »

Despite underwhelming consumers and being snubbed by enterprises, Windows Vista’s numbers keep growing

Despite underwhelming consumers and being snubbed by enterprises, Windows Vista’s numbers keep growing, with Microsoft Corp. saying Thursday that it has now shipped 88 million copies of the operating system, almost double the number of copies of XP in the same amount of time at its launch.

In late July, Microsoft said it had hit the 60 million shipment mark with Vista.

Click for more on Microsoft: 88 Million Copies of Vista Shipped »

Microsoft has announced a revenue of $13.76 billion for the quarter ending on September 30, 2007, a 27% increase over the same period of the prior year.

Microsoft’s businesses of Client, Microsoft Business Division, and Server and Tools grew combined revenue in excess of 20%, and experienced robust demand for Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Server, and SQL Server. “Customer demand for Windows Vista this quarter continued to build with double-digit growth in multi-year agreements by businesses and with the vast majority of consumers purchasing premium editions,” said Kevin Johnson, president of the Platform and Services Division at Microsoft.

Interesting Quarter Notes:

• The fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999
• Operating income = $5.92 billion, net income = $4.29 billion, diluted earnings per share = $0.45
• Microsoft’s largest acquisition occured, aQuantive was purchased for $6 billion
• Halo 3 achieved the biggest entertainment launch day in history

Microsoft beat out Google on Wednesday in a battle to invest in socializing Web site Facebook, agreeing to pay $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in the Web phenomenon.

Microsoft also clinched exclusive rights to sell ads on Facebook outside of the United States as part of the investment that valued Facebook at $15 billion — on par with the market capitalizations of retailer Gap Inc and hotel chain Marriott International Inc.

Analysts said Microsoft paid a steep price on a bet that the three-year-old company would be able to transform itself into a hub for all sorts of Web activity.

Click for more on Microsoft beats Google to Facebook stake »

Something as small as swapping the video card or updating a device driver can trigger a total Vista deactivation.

Put simply, your copy of Windows will stop working with very little notice (three days) and your PC will go into “reduced functionality” mode, where you can’t do anything but use the web browser for half an hour.

You’ll then need to reapply to Microsoft to get a new activation code.

How can this crazy situation occur? Read on for the sorry tale.

Click for more on WARNING: device driver updates causing Vista to deactivate »