Over the next 18 months Microsoft is expected to cut anywhere between 2000 and 5000 positions in Research and Development, Legal, Human Resources, and Information Technology.  A total of 1,400 positions are due to be cut immediately.

Microsoft posted a lower than expected profit of $US4.17 billion ($NZ8 billion) in its second quarter ended December 31.

Revenue at its Windows client division fell 8% due to delayed corporate upgrades of PCs and cannibalisation of consumer notebook sales by netbooks installed with Windows XP.

Microsoft Corp’s stock fell nearly 12 percent at one point to its lowest level since 1998.

As at 30 September 2008, Microsoft employed 94,286 staff worldwide, with 56,654 based in the United States.  If 5000 jobs were to be cut this would equate to 5.3% of the total Microsoft workforce.

Microsoft employs around 150 staff in New Zealand, who are not expected to be part of the job cuts.

Source: Microsoft, National Business Review, Computerworld

Microsoft made a pre-beta release of Windows 7 available for download on its website, only to pull it down due to what they refer to as a ‘phenominal’ demand for it.

People attempting to download the pre-beta will receive the following message when going to the download site:

Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal — we’re in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We’re sorry for the delay and we’ll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience.

Microsoft stated that it is adding additional infrastructure to cope with the demand.

Lifehacker has posted direct download links to the pre-beta which appear to be functioning.

You will still need to register on the Microsoft site to receive one of the 2.5 million activation keys available.  Without the key you can still use the pre-beta for 30 days without activation.

NZTECHIE.COM will be mirroring the current 32 bit pre-beta version of Windows 7 until the next beta or release candidate is available.

Product Keys

QXV7B-K78W2-QGPR6-9FWH9-KGMM7
6JKV2-QPB8H-RQ893-FW7TM-PBJ73
GG4MQ-MGK72-HVXFW-KHCRF-KW6KY
TQ32R-WFBDM-GFHD2-QGVMH-3P9GC
4HJRK-X6Q28-HWRFY-WDYHJ-K8HDH

RELATED LINKS

Download Windows 7 Pre-Beta 32 Bit | Build 7000 (NZTECHIE Mirror)

Source: Product keys provided by Ars technica

Microsoft support and gadget discussion forums are currently littered with complaints that the 30 gigabyte version of Microsoft’s Zune media player is failing to boot, causing frustration to users everywhere.

In response to any enquiry made by PCworld, a Microsoft Spokeman made the following official statement;

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year.

The spokesman continues to elabourate that the issue should resolve itself on January 1st, but users should “…allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on.”

He continues to state that users affected by this problem may need to sync their Zune with their PC in order to refresh DRM information before being able to access subscriber content.

The article on PC World has attracted a number of user comments on the  issue, most of which appear to be of the iPod vs Zune bashing variety.  let the war begin.

RELATED LINKS

Zune fix instructions from Microsoft

Source: PC World New Zealand

Microsoft has once again extended the availability of Windows XP to OEM computer manufacturers. OEM vendors will be able to receive orders of Windows XP until May 30th 2009, as long as orders are made by the end of January.

Microsoft refers to this as a “flexible inventory program”, allowing vendors and system builders additional time to ship computers pre-installed with Windows XP.

This extension appears to be in response to the poor reception of Windows Vista in some customer regions, and other complaints from users.

Microsoft has already committed to making Windows XP available for OEM’s to install on ULCPC’s (ultra-low-cost personal computers), more commonly known as Netbooks until 2010. Microsoft will make Windows XP available on these systems until 30th June, 2010. The recent announcement has not affected Microsoft’s decision on ULCPC’s.

Whether Windows XP is still seen on these systems in 2010 may yet to be determined by Windows 7 and its resource consumption on Netbooks.

Microsoft has already stated that Windows 7 will be light enough to run on a Netbook. I imagine by the time Windows 7 comes around, your average Netbook is going to be significantly more powerful then one purchased today.

Source: PCWorld, Computerworld