Microsoft confirms it will replace some Xbox units

Microsoft is planning to replace an unspecified number of Xbox 360 units with new 250GB Xbox 360 S consoles.
Yesterday, Twitter user @lovedecake posted an image of an e-mail he apparently had received from "Xbox Customer Support." That e-mail cited an issue with a recent Xbox 360 firmware update that was "preventing a very small number of Xbox 360 owners from playing retail game discs." A Xbox support staffer tweeted a confirmation to @lovedecake that verified the e-mail.
Earlier reports asserted the issue was related to the most recent firmware update for a group of Xbox 360 testers that allows for an extra gigabyte of space on game discs. However, Microsoft confirmed to CNET today that the issue actually relates to an earlier firmware update that was released to all Xbox users. The company would not specify which one.
"Following a recent update to our system software, we have become aware of an issue that is preventing a very small number of Xbox 360 owners from playing retail game discs," a Microsoft representative told CNET today in an e-mailed statement. "This issue manifests itself as a unique 'disc unreadable' or 'disc unsupported' error on the screen and is unrelated to our recent public beta.
"We are also able to detect this issue over Xbox Live and are proactively reaching out to customers that may be impacted to replace their console," the rep continued. "Any Xbox 360 owners receiving this error are encouraged to contact us so we can verify if the console has been impacted."
Microsoft is requiring affected customers to "start a repair request," verifying key information, including their console serial number, to ensure the respective device is one impacted by the update. Once that's complete, users will need to send their Xbox 360 consoles back to Microsoft to get a new Xbox 360 S.
Though it might not be the best scenario for an upgrade, consumers would be getting the latest version of the Xbox 360 on the market. The device comes with a black finish and the aforementioned 250GB hard drive. It's also smaller than its predecessor.
To further sweeten the pot for affected users, the e-mail posted by @lovedecake states that Microsoft will also offer a free 12-month subscription to Xbox Live. Microsoft's console offer is valid through the end of September, the e-mail states.

Windows 7 almost five times more secure than XP

Windows 7 is four to five times less vulnerable to malware infections than is Windows XP.
Those are the findings of Microsoft's latest Security Intelligence Report (PDF), which detailed in depth the state of software vulnerabilities, exploits, security breaches, and malware in 2010.
Overall, the study found that infection rates for newer Microsoft operating systems with the latest service packs are consistently lower than those for older OSes, giving Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 the highest marks for security.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Looking at the number of reported infections per 1,000 computers, Microsoft found that Windows 7 64-bit had the lowest number at 2.5, while the 32-bit version had 3.8.
Windows XP with SP3 came in with 15.9 infections per 1,000, while XP with SP2 had the highest number at 19.3. Breaking down the numbers, Microsoft's stats mean that Windows 7 is around four to five times more secure than XP.
Windows Vista's infection rate was considerably lower than that for XP but still turned out to be double that for Windows 7.
Drilling down further, the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista are less infection-prone than are their 32-bit counterparts, which Microsoft attributes to a couple of factors.
First, the 64-bit versions of both systems may appeal to more tech-savvy users, presumably ones that would better know how to secure their computers. But second, Windows 64-bit offers a feature called Kernel Patch Protection, which protects the Windows kernel from unauthorized changes.
Analyzing server-based operating systems, Windows Server 2003, which offers both 32-bit and 64-bit editions, had 5.8 infections per 1,000. Windows Server 2008 R2, which comes only in a 64-bit flavor, had 3.6 infections.
Security holes in applications versus those in operating systems or Web browsers accounted for most of the vulnerabilities last year, according to Microsoft. However, the total number of holes found in applications fell 22.2 percent from 2009. But exploits that take advantage of Java vulnerabilities rose dramatically in last year's third quarter, surpassing every other category, the report noted.

Microsoft uses Facebook 'likes' to battle Google

Microsoft will launch a new feature in Bing Search, baking in recommendations from Facebook friends, to make results more relevant.
The new feature, to debut tomorrow, will elevate results that have received a thumbs up "like" from a friend on Facebook. So if a user is searching for a Thai restaurant in San Francisco, for example, a particular spot that received kudos from that person's Facebook posse will climb in the results.
Microsoft, which likes to call Bing a "decision engine" to distinguish from Google, wants Bing to mimic the real world, where people often seek advice from friends before making decisions. And while recommendation sites such as Yelp offer utility, they don't include insights from trusted friends.

Bing search results that include recommendations from Facebook friends

(Credit: Microsoft)

"We're trying to infuse this idea of emotion into the decision engine," Bing director Stefan Weitz said. What's more, Microsoft is deepening its relationship with Facebook, creating a bulwark against Google, which dominates Web search. The Facebook partnership offers Bing searchers something they can't get on Google.
"They don't have access to the Facebook firehose," Weitz said.
Google continues to dominate search with 65.4 percent share in April according to ComScore, compared to just 14.1 percent for Bing and 15.9 percent for Yahoo, which uses Bing's search technology. The closest social recommendation offering from Google is its "+1" feature that gives users the ability to effectively "like" search results.
Microsoft estimates that roughly 3.5 million sites have "like" buttons. What's more, the company says more than 30 billion pieces of content - everything from news stories and blog posts to music links and photo albums - are shared each month. The companies didn't share data about how often users "like" products and services, the cornerstone of the new Bing feature.
The social recommendations will be most obvious in searches for products and services. Hotels, stores, and goods, such as electronics and clothes, will all rise in search results if user's friends have clicked the "like" icon in Facebook. When those results pop up, they'll include a line that a specific friend liked the product or service along with a tiny thumbnail photo from their Facebook profile.
Bing will also elevate news articles in results if a Facebook friend posted a link to the piece on their wall. And when users look broadly in a product category, such as "thin laptops," review sites that focus on the category and have been liked by friends will surface in results.
The feature only works when a user is logged into both Facebook and Bing at the same time. Microsoft said that more than 60 percent of Facebook users have a Facebook tab open in their browser while online.

Report: First Windows 7 service pack sent to OEMs

The first service pack for Windows 7 has been sent to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), according to a post on TechNet by Microsoft's Russian Windows Visualization team.
Microsoft launched the first release candidate for Windows 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 in late October of last year, saying that it would be the only RC prior to the software being finalized and made available to manufacturers. The company also promised that SP1 would arrive in the hands of users in the "first half" of 2011.
Blog Winrumors, which reported the news earlier today, weighs in, saying that while SP1 is indeed going out to OEMs, it may be a while longer before consumers get their hands on it.
A Microsoft spokesperson told CNET, "we have nothing to share at this time but will keep you posted."
SP1 packs together a round of hotfixes, as well as an updated remote desktop client that makes use of RemoteFX. Besides bringing a boost to 3D applications, RemoteFX helps IT admins deploy Windows 7 through virtual machines using the technology, which it picked up with its acquisition of Calista Technologies back in 2008. Other SP1 adds include dynamic memory support for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, and all previous Windows security fixes.
Earlier this week, Microsoft released KB 976902 through its Windows Update software before having the knowledge base article to explain what the update was for. Security expert Brian Krebs dug a little deeper and found out it was an update to the Windows stack to get the OS ready for future updates, something the company did ahead of the SP1 beta back in July.

Windows 8 on ARM

All signs point to the next version of Windows running on ARM, the emerging global silicon standard for smartphones and tablets. But don't get too excited--it won't happen until 2012 at the earliest and just as likely not until 2013.

Unless Windows 7 tablets like the Archos 9 take the world by storm--not likely--consumers will have to wait for Windows 8.

(Credit: CNET Reviews)

For now, let's call the next major release from Redmond Windows 8--though I'm hearing that Microsoft will call it something else. More importantly, I'm also hearing that Windows 8 isn't due until the fourth quarter of 2012, at the earliest.

So that means tablets running Windows 8 won't appear until 2013. Microsoft could do something in the interim with a technology such as a future version of Windows CE but that's not the Windows we all know and love.

A lot can happen in two years and a lot of that on tablets and smart devices running on Google's and Apple's operating systems--not Windows. "Time after time in the high tech industry you see these companies that are successful in one market can't make the leap into the next phase because they're so busy serving their installed base," said Linley Gwennap of the Linley Group, a chip consulting firm.

Granted, that installed base is still the envy of the tech world: both Microsoft and Intel have a plum position serving a global computer market measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

But that doesn't mean both of those companies are going to lead the next computing revolution, or even evolution. Many consumers look at the iPad and see a device that represents the future of personal computing. While they don't know--or care--that it runs on a power-frugal ARM processor and slimmed-down version of Apple's OS X, both of those technologies are the foundation for its appeal.

And that future began last April when the iPad was released. "Apple is one of those companies that is really good at bringing out the next product that obsoletes their previous products," Gwennap said. That is a crucial point. Apple is bold enough to entertain the possibility of ultimately cannibalizing its own MacBook product line (it's not hard to imagine next-generation iPads that increasingly impinge on the feature set of the MacBook Air) with the iPad because it knows it has to create new markets to be successful.

Not to rain too much on the Windows-on-ARM parade, but Windows on other platforms--such as outside of Intel's x86--has not fared well, either. Full-featured versions of Windows--what used to be called Windows NT--ran on PowerPC, MIPS, and Alpha processors. However, support for all three platforms was phased out. While certainly ARM holds more promise for Microsoft than DEC's Alpha technology ever did, it doesn't mean that Windows will necessarily be successful on ARM.

And that chance for success gets dimmer every month that Microsoft doesn't bring out a fully optimized version of Windows for tablets. So, the prospect of Windows 8 in 2012 will stick out as a symbol of WinTel's complacency. And how much bigger does Apple (which President Obama cited today in a news conference as an American success story) need to get before it begins to eclipse both of those companies, combined? We should know by 2012.