Beyond Binary

'Moonlight' heads to beta

Ina Fried — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:01:00 GMT

Microsoft and Novell said Tuesday they are nearly ready with a beta version of Moonlight--a Firefox add-on that allows Silverlight content to play on Linux PCs.

The software is being announced as the companies tout the second anniversary of their peace deal.

Work on Moonlight began in May 2007 ...

'WSJ' calls Microsoft antivirus tool 'spyware'

Ina Fried — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:40:00 GMT

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News)

There's a lot of ways to look at Microsoft's decision to abandon OneCare and come up with free antivirus software.

But I had to do a double take Tuesday night when I saw the Wall Street Journal headline on the decision: "Microsoft plans ...

Will Microsoft's antivirus move draw antitrust fire?

Ina Fried — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:17:00 GMT

Microsoft's decision to offer free antivirus software puts rivals such as McAfee and Symantec in a tough position.

To be sure, those two--and other rivals--will be able to tout products that offer a broader range of features than Microsoft plans to deliver with "Morro" next year. At the same ...

Microsoft to discontinue Office subscription version

Ina Fried — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:17:00 GMT

Microsoft's decision to discontinue OneCare in favor of a new free antivirus product also means an end to Equipt, a $69-per-year subscription version of Office and OneCare that the company had been selling on the shelves of Circuit City.

A box shot of the Equipt product, which only briefly

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IBM to buy Transitive

Ina Fried — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:48:00 GMT

Transitive, the company best known for powering the emulation layer that helped ease Apple's transition to Intel chips, announced Tuesday that it is being bought by IBM.

In addition to helping Apple create Rosetta, Transitive eased a number of different architecture transitions in the tech world, including SGI's move from MIPS to Itanium processors ...

Microsoft chopping Zune prices

Ina Fried — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:10:00 GMT

With the economy tanking and the holidays looming, Microsoft is hoping to salvage some Zune sales by chopping prices.

(Credit: Microsoft)

The software maker plans to announce on Wednesday a price cut for its flash-based models. The 4GB version will drop to $99, the 8GB model will drop by $10 ...

Wall-E checks out Microsoft's telescope

Ina Fried — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:25:00 GMT

The latest celebrity tour guide of the universe is Wall-E, the animated robot and star of the Disney/Pixar movie, which came out on DVD on Tuesday.

(Credit: Microsoft; CNET News)

Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope has a new celebrity tour guide: Wall-E.

One of the features of the telescope software ...

Microsoft in patent battle over Visual Studio

Ina Fried — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:25:00 GMT

Aiming to head off further legal action against its customers, Microsoft is asking a federal court to declare that its Visual Studio product doesn't violate patents from WebXchange.

In a suit filed last week in San Francisco, Microsoft seeks a declaration that WebXchange's patents are invalid, unenforceable, or ...

Transmeta finds a buyer

Ina Fried — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:17:00 GMT

Transmeta, a company that once hoped to rival Intel and Advanced Micro Devices to power portable computers, announced Monday that it would sell itself to Novafora for $255.6 million in cash.

Novafora said it hopes to use Transmeta's people and technology in its video processing chips.

"Transmeta's ...

Office Web Apps won't work offline

Ina Fried — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:26:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft's forthcoming Office Web Applications will allow users to create and edit spreadhseets, presentations and Word documents through a browser--but only so long as there is an active Internet connection.

In an interview Monday, Microsoft senior vice president Chris Capossela said that, at least initially, the browser based

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