413 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
413 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
technology
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microsoft
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7614408
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-----
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# Microsoft's 10 worst products
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## Despite enjoying huge success with Windows 7 and the Xbox 360, there are
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several other products that Microsoft would probably rather forget about...
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![PlaysForSure][1]
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Image 1 of 10
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PlaysForSure
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![Windows Mobile][2]
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Image 1 of 10
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Windows Mobile
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![Microsoft Zune][3]
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Image 1 of 10
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Microsoft Zune
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![Microsoft Bob][4]
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Image 1 of 10
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Microsoft Bob
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![Microsoft UMPC Origami][5]
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Image 1 of 10
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Microsoft's UMPC
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![Windows Me][6]
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Image 1 of 10
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Windows Me
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![Microsoft Mira Smart Display][7]
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Image 1 of 10
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Microsoft Mira Smart Display
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![Microsoft Clippy][8]
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Image 1 of 10
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Microsoft Clippy
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![IE6][9]
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Image 1 of 10
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Interenet Explorer 6
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![Windows Vista][10]
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Image 1 of 10
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Windows Vista
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1:55PM BST 21 Apr 2010
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[Comments][11]
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**10. PlaysForSure **
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Launched in 2004, at the height of the music industry's fears about piracy and
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illegal filesharing, the PlaysForSure format was Microsoft's attempt at a
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useful digital rights-management offering. Microsoft certified dozens of
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portable media players, network-attached receivers and mobile phones to
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support PlaysForSure music, and added the encryption to songs purchased from
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the MSN Music Store. Unfortunately, when it launched the Zune in 2006,
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Microsoft's attempt to take on the iPod didn't support the PlaysForSure
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format, leaving people with hundreds of songs they couldn't use on their new
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MP3 player. It was something of an own-goal for Microsoft, and highlighted the
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folly of DRM encryption.
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**9. Windows Mobile **
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Microsoft's attempts to replicate its desktop computing success on mobile
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devices has proved something of a mixed bag. While the platform has
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undoubtedly offered much in the way of power and functionality, allowing users
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to get their emails on the go and edit documents on the move, the tired
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graphics, nested menus and clunky performance have blighted the brand's
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reputation. Indeed, mobile phone makers such as HTC have built a business on
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their ability to successfully 'disguise' the Windows Mobile OS, by overlaying
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the platform with their own user-friendly 'skin'. Even Steve Ballmer,
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Microsoft's chief executive, admitted the company had "screwed up" with its
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mobile operating system. Thankfully, Microsoft has gone back to the drawing
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board for Windows Phone 7 Series, its next-generation operating system. The
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entire platform has been reimagined for the mobile generation and features
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tight integration with social-networking sites, the ability to easily share
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content with friends, and a new look and feel that distances the operating
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system from the desktop.
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**8. Zune **
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## Related Articles
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* [We work less hard than 15 years ago][12]
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08 Sep 2010
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* [Microsoft offers to fix your PC][13]
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20 Apr 2010
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* [Microsoft in 'sexting' row over Kin advert][14]
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16 Apr 2010
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* [Microsoft accused of using teenage 'slave labour'][15]
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16 Apr 2010
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The launch of the Zune in 2006 was Microsoft's attempt to take on Apple's all-
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conquering iPod. Things haven't quite gone according to plan; during its first
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week of launch, sales of the first-generation Zune were dwarfed by those of
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the five-year-old iPod, while Microsoft's decision to offer the first-gen Zune
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in a fetching shade of poo brown also drew sniggers from the technology
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community. Despite an intense marketing campaign, and vast improvements to the
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device line-up in recent years, the Zune is still only available in the US and
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Canada. That said, more recent versions have won plaudits for their ease of
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use, the well-stocked and competitively priced Zune Marketplace for music,
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movie and TV show downloads, and an impressive list of features, including
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wireless syncing and so-called "social" features that allow Zune users to
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share songs with one another.
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**7. Microsoft Bob **
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In 1995, the home computing revolution was in full swing, with Windows 95
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proving hugely popular with consumers. But Bill Gates worried that computing
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newbies might still find the Windows OS confusing and off-putting, and
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encouraged his company to come up with a solution. That solution was Microsoft
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Bob, a non-technical computing interface designed to replace the Program
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Manager. Bob included a word processor and a finance tool, while the user
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interface resembled the inside of the house, with various rooms representing
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different applications. Users could decorate each room, adding and removing
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objects, opting for chintzy florals or minimalist splendour. It quickly became
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apparent to the Microsoft bigwigs that the house analogy didn't work, and that
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in some cases, Bob made life more confusing for computer users rather than
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simpler. Microsoft Bob was quietly put out to pasture in 1998; the greatest
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surprise was that he had limped on for so long.
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**6. Microsoft Ultra Mobile PC **
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Microsoft's admirable attempt to launch a range of mobile personal computers
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never really got off the ground. The clunky, inelegant devices relied on
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fiddly stylus input, while battery life meant you could never stray too far
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from a plug point. In many ways, Microsoft was ahead of its time, fostering
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the idea of mobile computing before the technology was really there to support
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it. UMPCs have been superseded by netbooks and ultra-portable laptops, while
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new tablet-style devices such as Apple's iPad could mean the UMPC is consigned
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to history. Microsoft hasn't given up on the idea entirely, though; it's
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rumoured to be building it's own touch-screen, dual-display device, the
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Courier, which could blow competitors out of the water.
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**5. Windows Me **
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Poor old Windows Millennium Edition, caught between two stools. The launch of
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Windows Me seemed curious at the time - it hit shops about eight months after
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Windows 2000 (the operating system that millions of Windows 98 users rushed to
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upgrade to) and barely had time to find its feet before Windows XP went on
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sale in 2001. The operating system failed to set the world alight - many users
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criticised it for being unstable and unreliable, frequently freezing and
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crashing, while a problem with System Restore often meant malware was
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reinstalled on the machine after a user had deleted it. PC World called
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Windows Me the "Mistake Edition", and its short shelf life and small user base
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seems to confirm that it was little more than a stopgap as Microsoft moved on
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to bigger and better things.
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**4. Microsoft Mira **
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It seemed like a good idea at the time - a so-called Smart Display that could
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connect wirelessly to a desktop PC, allowing users to tap out emails or
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letters without being tied to their desk. Code-named Mira, the Smart Display
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was a battery-powered LCD monitor with a touch-screen interface. Users could
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type on it using a handwriting-recognition program or an on-screen virtual
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keyboard. Companies such as Fujitsu, ViewSonic and LG threw their weight
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behind the project, but it failed to resonate with consumers. One of the main
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problems was the fact that the display had to be tethered to a PC - they were
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not computers in their own right. And they were expensive, with the LCD
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displays costing almost twice as much as Microsoft had estimated, meaning it
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was cheaper for consumers to buy a fully functional notebook rather than a
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Smart Display. Mira's lack of success served only to show how much of a
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struggle Microsoft was finding the move from desktop computers to mobile
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machines.
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**3. Microsoft Office Assistant **
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The Windows operating system was most people's only experience of home or
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office computing, and Microsoft took its responsibility to aid the masses very
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seriously indeed. The Microsoft Office Assistant, though, was its hand-holding
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nadir. The Assistant is better known as Clippy the Paper clip, an annoying
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animation that would pop up almost as soon as you created a new Word document.
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"It looks like you're typing a letter," Clippy would postulate at the first
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sign of a keystroke. "Would you like help with that?" No, cried a million
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computer users, as they bashed their keyboards in tearful frustration at the
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paper clip's constant, unhelpful interjections. Microsoft wisely switched off
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Clippy by default in Windows XP, but not before the little paper clip had
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**[passed in to popular culture][16]**.
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**2. Internet Explorer 6 **
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For millions of computer users, Internet Explorer 6 was their gateway to the
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web. The browser, released in 2001, was easy to use, and had some nifty new
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features. Unfortunately, it also had some serious security flaws, so much so
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that in 2004, the United States advised computer users to use any other
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browser in order to avoid the thousands of Trojans, viruses and malware
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programs being written for the platform. Until relatively recently, IE6
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remained the world's most-used web browser, thanks in part to the fact that so
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much early software was built to work on the platform - in 2006, it accounted
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for 90 per cent of the global browser market. Some businesses continue to
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install IE6 on their office computers to support older websites and legacy
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systems, and despite campaigns such as **[Bring Down IE6][17]**, the browser
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shows no signs of fading away. Microsoft has done a good job of moving users
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to new and improved versions of Internet Explorer, but IE6 remains a vice-like
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grip over some parts of the web.
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**1. Windows Vista **
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Launched in January 2007, Windows Vista was to be the computer operating
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system for the internet generation. It was designed to make it easier to share
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media and files between computers at home, featured a swizzy new graphical
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user interface and desktop "widgets" for at-a-glance weather updates and news
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headlines, and improved security and stability. For many early adopters,
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though, Windows Vista was nothing but a headache. Many users found that their
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printers, digital cameras and MP3 players didn't work with the operating
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system, because manufacturers had not had enough time to create and publish
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new drivers; those with older computers complained about how processor-hungry
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Vista was, making it almost impossible to use on anything but the newest,
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fastest computers; while others complained bitterly about the number of pop-
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ups and dialog boxes that formed part of the new User Access Control security
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feature. Microsoft's reputation for building solid desktop computing software
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was dealt a severe blow by the fallout from Vista. Executives at the company
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have acknowledged that the launch had been less than perfect, and although a
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number of problems were resolved by subsequent service packs, the lingering
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sense of disappointment remained. The successful launch of Windows 7 late last
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year went some way towards repairing that damage; lessons had clearly been
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learned, and Microsoft worked more closely with manufacturers to ensure the
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upgrade process was as seamless as possible.
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[X][18] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][19]
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* Share: [Share][18] [ ][20] [ ][21]
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[Tweet][22]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/7614408/Microsofts-10-worst-
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products.html
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Telegraph
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## [Microsoft][23]
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* ### [Technology »][24]
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* ### [Technology News »][25]
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* ### [Bill Gates »][26]
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In technology
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[![Kinect interface for the Xbox 360 will cost 129.99 with bundled Kinect
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Adventures launch title][27] ][28]
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### [Microsoft Kinect review][28]
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[![Bill Gates, and his wife Melinda, cuddle babies on a visit to
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Mozambique.][29] ][30]
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### [How Bill Gates indulges himself][30]
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[![Windows Mobile][31] ][32]
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### [Microsoft's 10 worst products][32]
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[![The Telegraph on Twitter][33]][34]
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### [Follow us on Twitter][34]
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[X][18] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][19]
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Share:
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* [ ][18]
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* [ ][20]
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* [ ][21]
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* [Tweet][22]
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* Advertisement
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![][35]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][36] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][37]
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Advertisement
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sponsored features
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Technology Most Viewed
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* TODAY
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* PAST WEEK
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* PAST MONTH
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1. [Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, slaughters his own food][38]
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2. [Mark Zuckerberg: children should be allowed to use Facebook][39]
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3. [US develop software to analyse metaphors][40]
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4. [Stuxnet virus: US refuses to deny involvement][41]
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5. [Nook ereader impresses the US but might never come to Britain][42]
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1. [Reiss website crashes as shoppers rush to buy Kate's dress][43]
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2. [Newspaper publishes name of footballer with gagging order][44]
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3. [Tweets about super-injunction footballer spike after attempts to gag
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Twitter][45]
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4. [Max Clifford: Ryan Giggs 'affair' may never have come out without
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injunction][46]
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5. [Ryan Giggs unmasked as gagging order footballer][47]
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1. [Mr Men Google doodles celebrate 76th birthday of creator Roger
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Hargreaves][48]
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2. [Meet the woman allergic to electricity][49]
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3. [Jeremy Clarkson texts Jemima Khan over 'nightmare' super-injunction
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claims on Twitter][50]
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4. [Wikipedia users name celebrities with gagging orders][51]
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5. [Alarm over EU 'Great Firewall' proposal][52]
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[EDITOR'S CHOICE »][53]
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### [Gil Scott-Heron: 'A voice for Shakespeare'][54]
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[![Gil Scott-Heron][55]][54]
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Composer, musician, poet and author whose writing provided a vivid commentary
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on the black American experience.
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### [Beekeeping diary: the new colonies arrive][56]
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### [Spectacular light show dazzles Sydney][57]
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### [WS Gilbert: a knight for our times][58]
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### [The Telegraph's Matt is Hay Festival star][59]
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Advertisement
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* [Cars][60]
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* [IT Jobs][61]
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* [Events][62]
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