Google Docs Ready for (Legal) Primetime? : E-Discovery Bytes
oday’s predominant word processors are Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect. MS Word is also offered as a web-based application or Saas (Software-as-a-Service). However, there is a newer type of document collaboration, where numerous people have access to the same document so that they can all contribute and monitor changes made by others. These types of applications are becoming more common. For example, Google has begun to offer its own Google Word Processor called “Google Docs” — which allows users to share and collaborate on documents.
What does it matter which type you use in your business? Here’s one comparison between the Google and Microsoft web products. But there’s much more when it comes to the battle between WORD v. GOOGLE DOCS.
via Google Docs Ready for (Legal) Primetime? : E-Discovery Bytes.
Surprise Winner in Oracle v. Google: Microsoft – PCWorld
Oracle’s suit against Google has one clear winner: Microsoft. With Google’s Android tied up in litigation, and Oracle becoming the latest villain in the open source community, Microsoft has a chance to make inroads in the mobile market and elsewhere.
Oracle is suing Google, claiming that Android infringes on Oracle copyrights and patents that are related to Java. Oracle spokeswoman Karen Tillman said in a statement:
“In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property. This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement.”
Google begs to differ. Android doesn’t use Java in Android, but instead a Java compatible technology called Dalvik. Google claims the Oracle suit is “baseless,” and will fight it.
No matter what happens with the suit, though, it hurts Google, and helps Microsoft at a time when Microsoft is particularly vulnerable in mobile. Android use has skyrocketed, jumping to 17.2% market share today compared to 1.8% a year ago. Meanwhile, Windows Mobile has become practically a footnote in mobile, dropping to 5% of the market.
Android’s success has been fueled by the large number of phone makers building smartphones based on it. Those phone makers, though, may be scared away by this suit. IDC analyst Al Hilwa told Computerworld:
via Surprise Winner in Oracle v. Google: Microsoft – PCWorld.
Microsoft issues ‘critical’ patch for shortcut bug | BBC News
Microsoft has issued a “critical” security update to fix a flaw in the way Windows handles shortcuts.
The bug allowed attackers to craft booby-trapped shortcuts that allow them to take over a target computer.
Many users set up shortcuts to get to programs and places in Windows that they use regularly.
Microsoft said it released the patch because it had seen an increase in the number of attacks on the vulnerability.
The fix will be sent out to those that automatically update their machines. It will also be available via the Windows Update site.
via BBC News – Microsoft issues ‘critical’ patch for shortcut bug.
AFP: HP dabbling with Windows 7 tablet computer
Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday said it is gauging the promise of a tablet computer that runs on Windows 7 software from Microsoft.
The word from the US-based computer giant came as speculation mounted that HP had abandoned a Windows 7 “slate” in favor of a tablet computer based on an operating system from freshly-acquired Palm.
“In reference to a Windows 7-based slate, we are in customer evaluations now and will make a determination soon on the next step,” HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak told AFP.
Customer evaluations could involve providing a prototype HP slate to businesses to get feedback and learn how they might use it.
Toshiba Libretto W100 Looks Promising for Mobile Workers – PCWorld Business Center
The new Toshiba Libretto W100 looks like an impressive system that will appeal to companies with workers in the field and on the road. It’s a handy little device (7.95 x 4.84 x 1.2 inches weighing in at 1.8 pounds) that could easily replace many organizations’ proprietary, custom-designed, hand-held systems.
And although Android is the new kid on the block for smartphones–and now, apparently, for ultra-mobile PCs (UMPC) as well–there are always compatibility issues and a learning curve to consider. It seems like every time we get proficient in one program or on one system, something bigger and better (or smaller and faster) hits the market, then lands our desk, and once again our efficiency rating takes a nose dive. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for newer and better technology, but there are some benefits to the more familiar Windows 7 operating system and its compatible Microsoft Office applications, which run on the Libretto.
Android offers a number of free and paid applications, but currently the majority are designed for the smartphone.
And although the Libretto has many custom applications as well, it can interact with Microsoft Office apps and even launch Skype video calling. Custom apps include File Browser to access folders and other applications; ReelTime, a visual history of recently opened documents; and Bulletin Board, a sort of visual project and task manager that lets you pin images, notes, reminders, and other widgets to virtual cork boards.
via Toshiba Libretto W100 Looks Promising for Mobile Workers – PCWorld Business Center.
Faster Forward – Microsoft debuts free, Web-based versions of Office apps
Microsoft debuts free, Web-based versions of Office apps
Late last night, Microsoft quietly did the formerly unthinkable: It posted free versions of its flagship Microsoft Office productivity applications–Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote–on the Web.
Two things helped make that thinkable: Google’s success with its free Google Docs word-processing, speadsheet and slideshow applications, and the failure of Microsoft’s Works suite–free on most new PCs–to satisfy consumer demand. So last year, Microsoft announced that it would end Works and replace its spot in the lineup with a free Office Starter edition as well as Office Web Apps, its own answer to Google’s Web-based applications.
Office 2010′s disk-based editions, from Starter all the way up to the $499 Office Professional, and the Web-based Office Live weren’t supposed to be available to consumers until June 15. But a post on its Inside Windows Live blog last night revealed that Microsoft had other plans: Users in the U.S., Canada, Ireland or the United Kingdom can now start using Office Live at office.live.com.
via Faster Forward – Microsoft debuts free, Web-based versions of Office apps.
Microsoft Releases Dev Tools for .PST Files — Redmond Channel Partner
Microsoft today released two new open source tools to help developers take advantage of the .PST file format that's used in the Outlook e-mail client app.
The tools, released on the Microsoft CodePlex open source portal, include the .PST Data Structure View Tool and the .PST File Format Software Development Kit. Both are available under the open source Apache 2.0 license.
The first tool is mostly for educational purposes, providing a graphical user interface that shows the internal data structure of .PST files, according to Daniel Ko, a Microsoft Outlook development manager, in a Microsoft-produced video. The second tool, File Format SDK, provides a library of source code and high-level APIs that developers can use to build their own applications.
The SDK can be used to support data migration scenarios to move .PST files from one platform to another, according to Ko. It can also help facilitate searches for particular content in the .PST files, such as might be used in e-discovery software for legal purposes. Ko also explained that developers could use the SDK to check outbound e-mail content, such as might be used in corporate compliance software. He also drew a whiteboard sketch showing how photos saved in the .PST file format could be extracted and used for a cloud-based photo album, or some other type of application.
The kit currently lets developers read the data in a .PST file. However, Microsoft is working on a capability in the kit that would enable writing to .PST files too, according to Ko.
In essence, the tools will better enable third-party software developers to build e-discovery and data migration solutions for use with Outlook, according to Sheri McLeish, an information and knowledge management analyst at Forrester Research.
“What they’re enabling is easier access to those [.PST] files to scan them for issues around e-discovery potentially, or to migrate or move them to other new hardware devices or locations,” McLeish said by phone. “So it’s really an enabler and a continuing effort on the part of Microsoft to make that [.PST file format] more portable and open.”
via Microsoft Releases Dev Tools for .PST Files — Redmond Channel Partner.
Microsoft cracks down on ad click fraud | Seattle PI
- Image via CrunchBase
In anticipation of a planned announcement Wednesday regarding click fraud, Microsoft has filed at least two lawsuits against companies it believes are mixed up in the illegal manipulation of online-advertising commerce.
Microsoft on Monday implicated two established websites, RedOrbit and HelloMetro, in two fraud complaints filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. Microsoft alleges the defendants used malicious means to artificially increase the number of times that advertisements on those sites were clicked.
The defendants, Microsoft claims, used the software company’ adCenter and pubCenter platforms to surface advertisements on their websites. When a Web user clicks one of those ads, money is automatically transferred from the advertiser’s account to the ad publisher’s account.
Click-fraud perpetrators can use automated computer scripts, deploy malware, e-mail spam links or hire people to generate an inflated number of clicks on online advertisements. Such practices bring extra money to the ad publisher, and fraud is suspected when the action is hidden.
In an interestingly timed move, Microsoft filed the lawsuits two days before it announces “some significant news,” as the company has said, about click fraud trends. Seattlepi.com has learned that the announcement will provide better context for the lawsuits, though it is unclear exactly what the news will be.
A spokesperson said the announcement will also relate to a third legal filing, but Microsoft would not elaborate. Stay tuned to The Microsoft Blog on Wednesday for more information.
In the RedOrbit case (PDF), Microsoft names the company, founder Eric Ralls and 10 “John Does” as defendants. RedOrbit.com is a Tyler, Texas-based online news site that publishes articles, photos and videos about science, space, technology and health.
via Microsoft cracks down on ad click fraud.
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