Tag: microsoft
Microsoft Wants Firefox To Make Bing Its Default Search Engine
The report also notes that there’s also a potentially more juicy opportunity coming up for Microsoft if it really wants to get serious about pushing Bing. Apple’s Safari browser, which is the main web browser on Apple devices, will have its Google contract expire next year. Despite throwing shade constantly, Google really benefits from the deal it currently has with Apple, and Microsoft could sweep in and try to get Bing to become the main browser on iPhones.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Microsoft Will Take Nearly a Year To Finish Patching New 0-Day Secure Boot Bug
Microsoft says that the vulnerability can be exploited by an attacker with either physical access to a system or administrator rights on a system. It can affect physical PCs and virtual machines with Secure Boot enabled. We highlight the new fix partly because, unlike many high-priority Windows fixes, the update will be disabled by default for at least a few months after it’s installed and partly because it will eventually render current Windows boot media unbootable. The fix requires changes to the Windows boot manager that can’t be reversed once they’ve been enabled. Additionally, once the fixes have been enabled, your PC will no longer be able to boot from older bootable media that doesn’t include the fixes. On the lengthy list of affected media: Windows install media like DVDs and USB drives created from Microsoft’s ISO files; custom Windows install images maintained by IT departments; full system backups; network boot drives including those used by IT departments to troubleshoot machines and deploy new Windows images; stripped-down boot drives that use Windows PE; and the recovery media sold with OEM PCs.
Not wanting to suddenly render any users’ systems unbootable, Microsoft will be rolling the update out in phases over the next few months. The initial version of the patch requires substantial user intervention to enable — you first need to install May’s security updates, then use a five-step process to manually apply and verify a pair of “revocation files” that update your system’s hidden EFI boot partition and your registry. These will make it so that older, vulnerable versions of the bootloader will no longer be trusted by PCs. A second update will follow in July that won’t enable the patch by default but will make it easier to enable. A third update in “first quarter 2024” will enable the fix by default and render older boot media unbootable on all patched Windows PCs. Microsoft says it is “looking for opportunities to accelerate this schedule,” though it’s unclear what that would entail.
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UK slaps additional restrictions on the Microsoft x Activision Blizzard King deal
Following the controversial rejection of the Activision Blizzard x Microsoft merger from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the institution has imposed additional restrictions on the deal going forward.
This restriction largerly revolves around the newfound necesity for Microsoft to recieve written consent from the CMA before acquiring an Interest in Activision or any of its subsidiaries, acquiring an Interest in an enterprise holding an Interest in Activision, or holding an option to acquire an interest a company mentioned prior.
In basic terms, the CMA has demanded that any future move to acquire any aspect of Activision by Microsoft must first recieve its explciity approval. The official interim order where this was first announced states that this was done to halt any pre-emptive action from either Activision or Microsoft.
Google Reveals Search Engine AI Updates In Battle With Microsoft
Google has announced that rolling out generative artificial intelligence (AI) to its core search engine. The announcement follows Microsoft’s announcement…
The post Google Reveals Search Engine AI Updates In Battle With Microsoft appeared first on TechRound.
Microsoft insists it wants to bring Xbox ‘Quick Resume’ to PC gaming
Roanne Sones, Microsoft’s head of Xbox devices, reiterated the company’s resolve towards introducing features like Quick Resume to PC gaming at an event celebrating the full unveiling of the Asus ROG Ally – the Windows-based handheld ships on June 13 for $700. Microsoft previously explained why implementing Quick Resume on…
Will Bing and Edge become the center of the Microsoft universe?
Microsoft has long failed in Internet search and browsing. The company has spent plenty of time, money, marketing and development resources to catch up — to no avail.
In search, Google has a stranglehold with 85% of the worldwide search market share in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 9% for Bing. In browsing, Edge fares even worse: it accounts for a 5% market share compared to 64% for Chrome and 20% for Safari. That’s a far cry from 2003, when Internet Explorer had a 95% market share.
Google brings AI to search as it vies with Microsoft
Microsoft Bets That Fusion Power Is Closer Than Many Think
Fusion powers the sun and stars, and has the potential to provide nearly limitless amounts of carbon-free power if someone can harness it on earth. The International Atomic Energy Agency expects electricity from fusion to be produced in the second half of the century. Helion is building a prototype that it says will demonstrate the ability to produce electricity through fusion next year. “The goal is not to make the world’s coolest technology demo,” Mr. Altman said in an interview. “The goal is to power the world and to do it extremely cheaply.” Mr. Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI — the artificial-intelligence startup behind the viral chatbot ChatGPT — said having a first customer is critical for keeping Helion grounded in the realities of business, including working with clients, utilities and electric-grid operators.
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