'Vista capable' information was not misleading, despite recent consumer complaints, top attorney says.
Written by: Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
Thursday, April 12, 2007 07:00 AM PDT
Microsoft's top lawyer said today that he is happy with the information the company provided about its Vista operating system, and its compatibility with existing PCs, ahead of the software's launch in January.
Last week, a class-action lawsuit was brought against the software maker claiming it unfairly labeled some PCs "Windows Vista Capable" when they could only run the most basic version of the operating system and not support more advanced versions that offer some of the most heavily-promoted features such as media center and advanced graphics.
"I actually don't think there have been a lot of problems that consumers have encountered although I think there are a few lawyers and law firms that have pursued an action that are presenting such a picture," said Brad Smith, a senior vice president at Microsoft and the company's general counsel, during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo.
"I actually feel good about the information that we provided," he said.
Systems, Software Vary
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleges that "a large number" of PCs that sported "Vista Capable" labels were only capable of running the Home Basic version of Vista.
Smith disputed that claim.
"Most of the PCs are able to run the kinds of versions like our home premium version that have virtually all of the bells and whistles," he said. "Even the machines that are not able to run something like Home Premium are able to run a version that provides many if not most of the major advances that are important to consumers."
There is fairly wide gap between PCs that are "Vista Capable" versus those that are "Premium Ready," according to information on Microsoft's Web site.
"Vista Capable" requires a PC with a processor running at a clock speed of 800MHz or faster, 512MB of memory, and a DirectX 9-capable graphics processor. But "Premium Ready" calls for at least a 32-bit or 64-bit processor running at 1GHz, 1GB of memory, DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM (Windows display driver model) driver, 128MB of graphics memory, and other requirements like a 40GB hard drive, DVD-ROM drive and Internet access.
The lawsuit seeks class action status and says the size of the class likely exceeds 10,000 people
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wireless Spectrum Gets Crowded
The use of multiple radios, or wireless transmitters, will push the adoption of mobile technologies, but will require industry coordination and careful construction, an Intel executive said Monday in Beijing.
"Radios are everywhere and yet we do very little with them," said Kevin Kahn, Intel senior fellow and director of its Communications Technology Lab, in a speech at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF). "If anyone other than the geeks among us are going to use this stuff, then it means that we need ease of use."
By 2009, each mobile platform will handle six or more radios for applications such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G cellular, UWB (Ultra Wide Band), Bluetooth, digital TV and GPS (Global Positioning System).
Kahn said that the biggest problem is interference between the different radios, which exist on chips that are measured in square millimeters and sometimes use adjacent spectrum.
"Simultaneous operations are a fairly widespread problem," he said.
For example, this kind of spectrum conflict led to the Bluetooth standard being adjusted so that it Bluetooth could coexist with Wi-Fi, he said. Cooperation between different technology standards in different spectrums would be critical to their development. "We're going to have to work across the industry to put the hooks in to coordinate and provide this kind of advanced performance."
Kahn believes the solution lies in creating parallel modules for each radio standard, such as Wi-Fi and WiMax.
On the device level, the problem is solved by timing the use of the radios "so that they are never physically doing operations at the same time, even though the user never notices."
Looking to the future, Kahn said "Sixty GHz is the next chunk of unlicensed spectrum," and predicted that it would come into wide use by 2011 or 2012. He described it as likely being used for a "next generation personal area network (PAN)."
It is a "very large piece of spectrum," but "the difficult part is that 60GHz is very high frequency. Not surprisingly, building radio to run up there is more difficult. Doing that cost effectively will take a little while," Kahn said.
"Because it is so high, it tends to be very directional. We deal mostly with omnidirectional radio systems. When you get to very high frequencies, the signals in order to get good performance typically become much more directional, and we may have to use antenna steering techniques."
"Radios are everywhere and yet we do very little with them," said Kevin Kahn, Intel senior fellow and director of its Communications Technology Lab, in a speech at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF). "If anyone other than the geeks among us are going to use this stuff, then it means that we need ease of use."
By 2009, each mobile platform will handle six or more radios for applications such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G cellular, UWB (Ultra Wide Band), Bluetooth, digital TV and GPS (Global Positioning System).
Kahn said that the biggest problem is interference between the different radios, which exist on chips that are measured in square millimeters and sometimes use adjacent spectrum.
"Simultaneous operations are a fairly widespread problem," he said.
For example, this kind of spectrum conflict led to the Bluetooth standard being adjusted so that it Bluetooth could coexist with Wi-Fi, he said. Cooperation between different technology standards in different spectrums would be critical to their development. "We're going to have to work across the industry to put the hooks in to coordinate and provide this kind of advanced performance."
Kahn believes the solution lies in creating parallel modules for each radio standard, such as Wi-Fi and WiMax.
On the device level, the problem is solved by timing the use of the radios "so that they are never physically doing operations at the same time, even though the user never notices."
Looking to the future, Kahn said "Sixty GHz is the next chunk of unlicensed spectrum," and predicted that it would come into wide use by 2011 or 2012. He described it as likely being used for a "next generation personal area network (PAN)."
It is a "very large piece of spectrum," but "the difficult part is that 60GHz is very high frequency. Not surprisingly, building radio to run up there is more difficult. Doing that cost effectively will take a little while," Kahn said.
"Because it is so high, it tends to be very directional. We deal mostly with omnidirectional radio systems. When you get to very high frequencies, the signals in order to get good performance typically become much more directional, and we may have to use antenna steering techniques."
IRS Warns of Tax Phishing Scheme
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers to be wary of e-mail messages that provide links to supposedly free tax-filing services endorsed by the agency.
The warning comes just before the IRS income tax filing deadline Tuesday. The IRS warned taxpayers of e-mails sent by Web sites "masquerading" as members of the Free File Alliance, a program allowing some taxpayers to file online for free. The only place to access the Free File program is on the IRS.gov site, the IRS said in a statement.
The IRS is investigating allegations that some Web sites claiming to be Free File partners are taking taxpayers' personal information, then depositing the returns into different bank accounts, the IRS said in a news release. The scam is a form of a phishing scam, in which fake e-mails purporting to be from banks or online retailers ask recipients for account numbers and other personal information.
After taxpayers complete their forms, the fake Free Filing site changes the bank account number that the tax refund goes to, said Paul Henry, vice president of technology at Secure Computing Corp., a cybersecurity products vendor.
"They're literally hijacking your tax return," Henry said.
In another scam, Henry got an e-mail recently saying he could speed up his tax return by depositing it into his credit card account. The e-mail asked for his credit card number and his personal identification number.
Henry expects tax scams will be prominent this week, as more people look to file taxes online than ever before. Then, after the tax filing deadline passes, he predicted there will be phishing e-mails claiming to be from the IRS, saying the recipient's filing had an error or the recipient is owed more of a refund than was claimed.
"That typically runs all the way through June," Henry said. "It's a long tax phishing season again this year."
In addition, scammers could take advantage of Microsoft DNS (Domain Name System) server vulnerability, announced last week, to redirect Web browsers from legitimate sites to phishing or other scam sites, Henry said. Taxpayers and other people doing business online should be especially careful that they're going to legitimate sites, he said.
Last week, the Computer & Communications Industry Association warned taxpayers of Web sites with IRS in the domain name that aren't affiliated with the U.S. government. Some commercial sites may be charging taxpayers for services they can get free at IRS.gov, the trade group said.
Henry gave this advice to taxpayers:
-- The IRS typically does not communicate by e-mail. If you have questions about an e-mail you received, don't click on the link or paste the link in a browser. Instead, call the IRS. "The IRS does not have every citizens' e-mail address," he said. "The IRS typically works only through mail."
-- Don't visit tax advice sites not associated with the IRS. Some sites say they offer free advice or free filing services, then charge customers.
-- Make sure computer security software is up to date.
The IRS noted that Free File is available for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of US$52,000 or less. Ninety-five million of the 136 million U.S. taxpayers qualify for Free File.
The warning comes just before the IRS income tax filing deadline Tuesday. The IRS warned taxpayers of e-mails sent by Web sites "masquerading" as members of the Free File Alliance, a program allowing some taxpayers to file online for free. The only place to access the Free File program is on the IRS.gov site, the IRS said in a statement.
The IRS is investigating allegations that some Web sites claiming to be Free File partners are taking taxpayers' personal information, then depositing the returns into different bank accounts, the IRS said in a news release. The scam is a form of a phishing scam, in which fake e-mails purporting to be from banks or online retailers ask recipients for account numbers and other personal information.
After taxpayers complete their forms, the fake Free Filing site changes the bank account number that the tax refund goes to, said Paul Henry, vice president of technology at Secure Computing Corp., a cybersecurity products vendor.
"They're literally hijacking your tax return," Henry said.
In another scam, Henry got an e-mail recently saying he could speed up his tax return by depositing it into his credit card account. The e-mail asked for his credit card number and his personal identification number.
Henry expects tax scams will be prominent this week, as more people look to file taxes online than ever before. Then, after the tax filing deadline passes, he predicted there will be phishing e-mails claiming to be from the IRS, saying the recipient's filing had an error or the recipient is owed more of a refund than was claimed.
"That typically runs all the way through June," Henry said. "It's a long tax phishing season again this year."
In addition, scammers could take advantage of Microsoft DNS (Domain Name System) server vulnerability, announced last week, to redirect Web browsers from legitimate sites to phishing or other scam sites, Henry said. Taxpayers and other people doing business online should be especially careful that they're going to legitimate sites, he said.
Last week, the Computer & Communications Industry Association warned taxpayers of Web sites with IRS in the domain name that aren't affiliated with the U.S. government. Some commercial sites may be charging taxpayers for services they can get free at IRS.gov, the trade group said.
Henry gave this advice to taxpayers:
-- The IRS typically does not communicate by e-mail. If you have questions about an e-mail you received, don't click on the link or paste the link in a browser. Instead, call the IRS. "The IRS does not have every citizens' e-mail address," he said. "The IRS typically works only through mail."
-- Don't visit tax advice sites not associated with the IRS. Some sites say they offer free advice or free filing services, then charge customers.
-- Make sure computer security software is up to date.
The IRS noted that Free File is available for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of US$52,000 or less. Ninety-five million of the 136 million U.S. taxpayers qualify for Free File.
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