Microsoft

Microsoft to explore buying TikTok's New Zealand operations

US President Donald Trump says the US government should get a "substantial portion" of the sales price of the US operations of TikTok and warned he will ban the service in the United States on September 15 without a sale.

The turnaround came after Trump said he was planning to ban the Chinese-owned video app's US operations as soon as Saturday after dismissing a possible sale to Microsoft.

Reuters reported last week that some investors are valuing TikTok at about $US50 billion, citing people familiar with the matter.

NHS uses tech giants to plan crisis response

The goal is to help health chiefs model the consequences of moving resources to best tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Three US tech firms are aiding the effort - Amazon, Microsoft and Palantir - as well as London-based Faculty AI.

The plan is expected to be signed off by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

"Every hospital is going to be thinking: Have we got enough ventilators? Well we need to keep ours because who knows what's going to happen - and that might not be the optimal allocation of ventilators," explained a source in one of the tech companies involved.

Microsoft and Sony strike games streaming deal

It is expected Sony will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to host its upcoming PlayStation streaming service.

Microsoft has been trialling a streaming offer of its own, under its Xbox brand.

The firms said they would also work together on semiconductors and artificial intelligence applications.

"For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas,” said Kenichio Yoshida, Sony’s chief executive.

Microsoft beats Apple for biggest market value

The software giant ended Friday with a market value of more than $851bn (£668bn) compared with Apple's $847bn.

The two firms have been vying for top place all week, with Apple remaining ahead at the end of each trading day.

But the iPhone maker, which has seen its share price plunge in recent weeks, finally lost its lead.

On Friday, Microsoft shares gained more than 0.6% to close at $110.89, while Apple shares finished at $178.60, down about 0.5%.

Microsoft confirms Outlook issues

Hundreds from around Europe have commented on the website Downdetector that they have been affected by the problem - many since Monday morning.

One common issue seems to be that sent emails remain in the drafts folder and are not being delivered to recipients.

On its website, Microsoft says the service dropped "unexpectedly" and it is working on a fix.

Not all account holders are affected.

"Intermittent connectivity is affecting customers in some European countries, which we are working to resolve as soon as possible," said a Microsoft representative.

Ransomware cyber-attack a wake-up call, Microsoft warns

The computing giant said software vulnerabilities hoarded by governments have caused "widespread damage".

The latest virus exploits a flaw in Microsoft Windows first identified by US intelligence.

There are fears of further "ransomware" attacks as people return to work on Monday.

Microsoft fixes critical “Crazy Bad” bug in Windows 10 reported by Google researchers

The bug (CVE-2017-0290), tagged as “crazy bad” by the researchers, was present in the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine, a software component that fuels various anti-malware products including MS Security Essentials and the inbuilt Windows Defender tool in different Windows versions.

You can read more in the security advisory issued by Microsoft.

Microsoft unveils new Windows 10 for schools

Windows 10S promises stronger virus protection and better battery life, and will be available on PCs costing as little as $189 (£146).

Experts said the move was designed to help Microsoft compete better with Google in the global schools market.

The firm said the products would help it reach a greater number of schools.

Microsoft and Apple have long dominated the school computing market, but they have struggled with the recent rise of Google's low-cost Chromebooks, which come loaded with the Chrome operating system and generally cost less than $300 in the US.

Microsoft finally reveals what data Windows 10 collects from your PC

Now, this is going to be changed, as Microsoft wants to be more transparent on its diagnostics data collection practices.

Till now there are three options (Basic, Enhanced, Full) for Windows 10 users to select from under its diagnostics data collection section, with no option for users to opt out of sending their data to Microsoft.

Microsoft patches serious Word bug 'targeted by scammers'

The previously undetected, or "zero-day", vulnerability had been reported over the weekend.

Then, on 10 April, cybersecurity firm Proofpoint announced it had discovered an email campaign targeting the bug that aimed to distributed Dridex malware.

Dridex is designed to infect a victim's computer and snoop on banking logins.