The fun part is that both sides can use it as ammunition: “We sold more copies in a month than you’ve sold in ten years!” or “A month later and only 5% have upgraded? Either Windows 7 sucks or you’re all stupid, or both.” Good points all around, guys.

The total share of the net commanded by Windows 7 (and by OS X, as they’re currently tied) is around 5%. Windows in its various forms makes up 95% of web traffic, a statistic I found surprising. Windows’ total proportion has gone up a touch since the 7 launch, but that’ll likely revert soon as redundant installs and such are cannibalized.

Another Xbox 360 lawsuit? Oh, yes! Datel, which makes all sorts of video game accessories, has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft because it “has taken steps to render inoperable the competing Datel memory card for no visible purpose other than to have that market entirely to themselves.”

The lawsuit is intended to “restore competition.”

Microsoft hasn’t responded to Datel’s legal eagles.

I can think of a few ways to end this post. One is to say, well, Microsoft has the right to license accessories for its hardware, and if it chooses not to allow Datel’s stuff on there, then there you go.

(The lockout worked by disallowing memory cards above a certain size from being recognized by the Xbox 360.)

The other is to say, Datel provides a much needed service by offering memory cards of a certain size; Datel wouldn’t make them if people weren’t buying ‘em.

You’ll note that you can stick any ol’ hard drive inside the PS3, so it’s not like there’s an industry-wide conspiracy against being able to add storage to your system.

Not that I’ve ever had any use for an Xbox 360 memory card.

You’ll recall that Microsoft recently banned a bunch of people from Xbox Live because they had modded their 360s. Modding is against the rules, don’t you know? Microsoft told VentureBeat not to believe the numbers being thrown around—the number most relayed is 1 million banned 360s—because it never releases numbers to anyone.

Again, the larger debate is: should you be allowed to mod your console? I think so, but that’s probably because my opinion on every single issue is, “So long as you don’t bother me in any direct way, do what you want.” You bought the hardware (the 360 itself) so if you want to whip out a soldering iron or flash its DVD drive with a custom firmware, be my guest.

At the same time, Microsoft has the right to say, “Look, Xbox Live is a service that we’re trying to keep as clean as possible. If you’re playing a game on a modded console, it’s much harder for us to ensure that the service is as clean as possible.” (Where “clean” means free from cheating, hacks, etc.) Plus, why should someone be able to play a pirated copy of Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live when everyone else paid for it? It’s not “fair,” if you will.

That a law firm is possibly looking to start a class-action lawsuit over the bans is sorta silly. The law firm may have something when it comes to Microsoft owing some of these people money for the remainder of their Xbox Live contract, but I don’t know what the EULA or TOS for Xbox Live says about service termination. If you’re banned for being a jerk, are you entitled to any money left over on the contract?

The moral of this particular story is, no, Microsoft didn’t ban “1 million” Xbox 360s.

A surefire way to avoid being banned? Don’t use your modded Xbox 360 on Xbox Live.

You’ll recall that CrunchGear broke the news regarding the leak of Microsoft Cofee, a suite of applications used by law enforcement officials for their own devices. The leak came from a popular BitTorrent site, and then spread to The Pirate Bay and all over the Internet. Needless to say, it’s “out there.” So good luck to Microsoft in trying to stop its spread.

The application suite made its way to cryptome.org, which is a site that’s “famous for privacy activism and exposing various hacking, intelligence and secrecy related information.” (Cryptome’s actually a fun site, and one I visit at least a few times per month. Check it out.) A little while goes by, and Cryptome’s host gets a take-down notice. The host complies because, well, maybe it’s not worth losing risking every single site on your server rack just to host one file that’s already floating around the Internet in perpetuity.

And that’s the beauty of this: Microsoft can try all it wants to hide Cofee, but it’s too late; it’s out there. It’s fairly pointless, especially now that The Pirate Bay has moved to a tracker-less setup.

And if you’re wondering, yes, it’s a legal requirement that for every time we write about Microsoft Cofee, we have to put a photo of a cup of coffee.

The Two-way, NPR’s news blog, has a cursory story about the help NSA provided. Usually known as a spook organization intent on spying on people, the NSA is also “charged with protecting the nation’s national security computing infrastructure from online assaults.”

“More and more, we find that protecting national security systems demands teaming with public and private institutions to raise the information assurance level of products and services more broadly,” Schaeffer said.

The dominance of Microsoft Windows as a general-purpose computing platform means that the NSA has a vested interest in making it as secure as it can. The alternative is to enter into the OS development market to make GovOS, the only sanctioned operating system for use on U.S. government PCs. That’s impractical, to say the least.

Oh, and while the NSA is providing consultative services to the security models used in Microsoft operating systems, it can also surreptitiously insert backdoors to make it easier to spy on us. :)

There’s been work going on inside Microsoft for years to try to pare down the Windows system, to tame the beast so to speak. Dubbed “MinWin“, the effort aims to make a successive series of layers, with each layer depending only on the stuff immediately below it. So one layer might handle file system access and network protocols. The Internet Information Server would depend on that layer, but nothing in any of those sub-layers would depend on anything inside IIS. In a similar way, the Explorer shell and Internet Explorer can be more easily separated, so that you don’t need to have MSIE installed on every single server you run.

There are lots of changes associated with the MinWin project, and even though initial efforts are available for public viewing, the long-term payout is still quite a ways away. Some of the elements of that long-term payout include a more customizable installation footprint with an easier-to-update system, since you’d only be updating those components you’re actually using for your server; tighter system security; and enhanced system integrity, since faults in applications ought not be affecting lower level routines.

There’s an excellent write-up of MinWin at Ars Technica. It’s definitely worth a read. This quote, regarding system security, really caught my attention:

Fully two-thirds of the security patches released for Windows Server 2003 offered no actual increase in security for dedicated servers, but still required software to be installed and reboots to be performed on a near-monthly basis.

What’s ironically funny to me is that this entire initiative is, in many ways, a validation of the UNIX mentality that’s been driving Linux development since the very beginning. Microsoft has touted the superiority of it’s GUI, and the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and its snap-ins, as the best and easiest way to manage complex services. I think we can all agree, now, that that’s more than a bit of hyperbole: GUIs and the MMC make some administrative tasks easier, while simultaneously making other tasks much harder. The resurgence of command-line administration in MinWin, and the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 (original, and R2 flavors) is clear indication that a GUI is not the end-all-be-all of systems management.

Windows 7 users would be well-advised to block outgoing ports 139 and 445. Microsoft has confirmed the existence of a vulnerability that affects SMB in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 RC2. Worst case scenario: you connect to a malicious server then it crashes your PC.

The beauty here is that, in a perfect world, these ports would be blocked by default, making the exploit much less troubling. Let’s say you’re messing around on your computer, and all of a sudden Windows (or your firewall of choice) prompts you to open port 445 for a connection. So you say to yourself, “Hmm, I’m pretty sure my game of chess doesn’t need to access an SMB share to work properly, so I’m going to go ahead and deny that port-open request.”

But that’s now how the real world works.

It comes down to this: block those two ports when you’re not actively using them. No problems.

I could make some sort of snide remark about this being the first of many (maybe!) Windows 7 exploits, but let’s face it: when you’re dealing with so many lines of code, you’re bound to find a few bugs in there.

Oh, and Microsoft hasn’t said when it plans to patch the exploit. Presumably it will do so with its next big first Tuesday of the month patch day.

via Slashdot

No word on how many of those consoles were sold to replace units that had died due to the RROD, but it’s impressive nonetheless. The Xbox 360 is also the only console to show year to year growth in the EU this year. Love it or hate it, the Xbox 360 has turned into the quite the home entertainment appliance. You can read the whole press release here.

Which is just what Microsoft wants.

As of next Tuesday, November 17, you’ll be able to access Twitter and Facebook on your Xbox 360. The software update is free, like previous updates, and also includes Last.fm and Zune video compatibility. “What are you doing?” “Losing to 12-year-olds in Modern Warfare 2 over and over again! Not fun.”

The idea, I guess, is that you’ll be able let your friends know just how much fun you’re having while playing the latest game, or streaming the latest Netflix release, without having to go through the trouble of whipping out your phone or walking over to your computer. I see it as a convenience and nothing more. It may also mean that there’s nothing you can to do stop Twitter’s worldwide dominance.

This is what the Twitter interface looks like in motion:

Note that the Xbox 360 isn’t the only video game console whence you can tweet or alter your Facebook status. The PS3 and Wii come with a built-in Web browser, and a stand-alone Facebook interface for the PS3 was leaked just yesterday.

And while the Twitter and Facebook support will get the most attention, I think it’s the Zune HD support that’s most interesting. Say what you will about the Zune HD—Devin liked it, and I went out and bought it I was so impressed—but the idea of an instant-on, HD, 5.1 surround system movie service certainly intrigues me. Of course, its success now depends on what type of movies are released for it.

Jajaja! Major Nelson, of Xbox fame, sent his fellow Microsofties this big banner congratulating them on releasing Windows 7. One billion Achievement Points! I’ve had an Xbox 360 for three years now, and I only have around 5,000 such points. I guess I’m a failure.

These amazing numbers were mentioned to the Seattle blog Techflash during a presentation from Microsoft’s CIO Tony Scott. I have to say, while the house is amazing, $35k seems a bit steep for a tour, but remember this is for charity. Also part of the same auction, the “world’s best bologna sandwich” topped out at $500 this year. No word if you would be allowed to eat the sandwich while touring the house though.

The service takes about 40 minutes and includes a full install as well as a quick crack. Win7 Family Edition costs $11.

I haven’t actually seen any Win7 cracks – it just never came up in my searches – but this points to the possibility that either Win7 is hard to install (which I don’t believe is the case) or that the cracks are quite complex right now, similar to the old tricks you had to play with XP.

via Shanzai

Project Natal won E3 this past year. It came out of nowhere and surprised everyone. What was most shocking is how far along the system was developed. It looked almost ready for prime time, but yet the release date is seemingly far away. That’s fine but as time passes, the Wii gets a bit more stale and expectations rise.

The system has so much potential. Think about how it could change sports games, FPS, and general puzzle games. Suddenly you’re actually in the game as never before. It’s almost like Nintendo opened the door for next-gen gaming, but Microsoft could bust down the damn wall with Natal.

But not if the system is only between $50-$80 and 14 games are included like the rumor states. That’s right at the impulse buy price point - which is what MS is reportedly targeting – but also where all the novelty add-ons live. That price range shows that Microsoft wants to sell a crapton of Natals to the Wii crowd, but also doesn’t view the controller as a game changer.

It might have some sweet games that will give the Wii a run for it’s money, but unless Microsoft is taking a huge loss on each Natal sold, it’s probably nothing special. I’m not saying that an item has to expensive to be successful, but an $80 price tag on a controller that supposed to “next-gen” doesn’t exactly scream a premium product.

At $80, I expect Project Natal to be like the PowerPad: a fine accessory with a few good games, but not a must-have add-on. Now if the system were, say, $150 or more, I would have more faith in the system. The higher price shows that Microsoft stands behind the years of research and development and believes that the system is a worthy add-on to the Xbox 360.

At that price point Microsoft would have no chance in hell selling it unless there was at least one killer, mainstream game. The add-on would need the support of 3rd party companies and developers to get going, which would result in a wider variety of games. If the rumor is right, and the system is bundled with games, you can bet that, they are simple Wii Sport-ish games, which were cool about 3 years ago.

Let’s hope that Microsoft believes enough in the system to price it above the impulse buy price point. Let’s hope that the system lives up to its potential and not forced into parlor tricks but rather utilized for serious gaming too.

Also, don’t forget the prices of the Xbox 360’s current accessories. It costs $100 for a wireless adapter, $50 for a wireless controller, and $160 for a 120GB hard drive. I’m just saying, $80 doesn’t fit the pattern.

Any of you fine folks out there having trouble? I’ll see if I can scare up any info from the Zune team and post an update later. [Thanks, Aditya]

Update: My Zunepal tells me that the DRM reset tool might work, though that’s all the information he volunteered. Anybody brave enough to try it?

Own a Zune HD like Devin and I, the two hippest cats here at CrunchGear? Best to connect it to your PC right now so you can upgrade its firmware to version 4.3. Go, now!

Straight from the Zune message board:

Zune HD firmware update: Today we released the v4.3 firmware update for Zune HD players; this update adds support for upcoming 3d games and applications, as well as an auto-suggest feature for better text input, and other minor improvements. Enjoy!

Let it be known that I have installed zero applications on my Zune HD. I didn’t even know applications existed for the thing until a colleague over at Laptop Magazine pointed it out to me at a meeting several weeks ago. Simple apps, like Weather and whatnot.

I think a hands-on would be appropriate when Microsoft launches, I don’t know, a Twitter or Facebook app, if it ever does.

Flickr

It was one of the most sought after applications on the Internet until it was leaked earlier today. And now that it’s out there—and it is all over the place, easily findable by anyone able to use a search engine—we can all move on with our lives. Yes, Microsoft COFEE, the law enforcement tool that mystified so many of us (including Gizmodo~! and Ars Technica~!), is now available to download. If only there were a “bay” of some sort where, I don’t know, pirates hang out…

I’m not mentioning any names, nor will there be any screenshots, but the resourceful among you will be able to find the application. Not that it’ll do you any good, since this is how Microsoft describes COFEE, which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor:

With COFEE, law enforcement agencies without on-the-scene computer forensics capabilities can now more easily, reliably, and cost-effectively collect volatile live evidence. An officer with even minimal computer experience can be tutored—in less than 10 minutes—to use a pre-configured COFEE device. This enables the officer to take advantage of the same common digital forensics tools used by experts to gather important volatile evidence, while doing little more than simply inserting a USB device into the computer.

To reiterate: you have absolutely no use for the program. It’s not something like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro, an expensive application that you download for the hell of it on the off-chance you need to put Dave Meltzer’s face on Brett Hart’s body as part of a message board thread. No, COFEE is 100 percent useless to you.

Given that, what makes COFEE so mysterious, so special? The sole reason is because it’s never been available before (unless, of course, you’re a law enforcement official). People get a thrill by having something they’re not meant to have, and that effect is magnified online where you have chat rooms and message boards filled with people who get all excited over the idea of having some super-secret piece of software that was never meant to reside on their hard drive.

So that’s that then; Microsoft COFEE is out there. It’s not too big, either, at around 15MB. I’ve kept this post as cryptic as possible primarily to work y’all, and to put over COFEE as the most amazing thing to have never been leaked onto the Internet… until now~!

Flickr

Microsoft’s research division is hitting the streets and hanging with the college crowd recently. This nationwide tour is showing off some sick technology in an effort that’s probably, although I don’t know for sure, aimed at making Microsoft look cool and hip to upcoming talent. The demos should do just that too. Think Tom Cruises’s person computer from Minority Report combined with Tony Stark’s toys from Iron Man.

Like iStartedSomething points out, some of this demo could be staged. It’s not that hard to follow a script to “simulate” a tech demo. But we’ve seen some fantastic stuff from Microsoft’s back rooms recently with the Courier, all those mice concepts, and a pressure-sensitive keyboard. I wonder what else is hidden? [via SlashGear]

Short Version: As ergonomic mice go, Microsoft’s wireless offering provides plenty of relief from repetitive stress injuries without deviating too far from the familiar form factor found in standard mice. And with an MSRP of $80 (and available for even cheaper online), it’s priced competitively with other specialty mice.

Features

• Unique slanted ergonomic design keeps your hand in a more natural position
• Four-way scrolling, customizable buttons
• Six-month battery life
• MSRP of $79.95

Pros

• Great natural hand placement
• Quick learning curve
• Long battery life

Cons

• Wireless range is a bit limited
• Awkward side button and scroll wheel placement
• Uses standard AA batteries instead of rechargeable ones

Review

Anyone who’s had the displeasure of dealing with a computer-related repetitive stress injury will tell you that even the simplest of tasks (like moving a mouse around) can become excruciatingly painful. And while there are plenty of ergonomic mice on the market, they’re often expensive, oddly-shaped, or both.

Microsoft’s take on the ergonomic mouse strikes a delicate balance between usability and relief. It’s a bit taller than an average mouse, and its sloped design forces your hand into a more natural “handshake” position which works wonders to relieve inflammation of the tendons running along the underside of your wrist.

Since it’s laid out like a regular mouse, though, the learning curve is all but nonexistent. I was up and running in no time – much faster than with any of the trackballs or joystick-style ergonomic mice that I’ve tried in the past.

The two main buttons make up most of the surface on the top of the mouse, which allows you to click with your entire index or middle fingers, and a large groove on the left hand side of the mouse provides a comfortable saddle for your thumb. The scroll wheel is downright amazing in that it simply rolls back and forth with no resistance whatsoever, almost as though it’s somehow lubricated.

Wonderful though the scroll wheel may be, its actual placement makes it awkward to use as a third mouse button. I’ve historically used middle mice buttons to open new tabs in browser windows, but pressing the Microsoft mouse’s scroll wheel takes too much straining so I’ve been relegated to holding down the CTRL key on my keyboard instead. The wheel is positioned too far back on the mouse’s body to easily click downward with an index finger.

The wireless mouse uses two standard AA batteries to communicate with a USB receiver. Battery life is rated at over six months (I haven’t had the mouse long enough to actually verify that claim yet), but the receiver needs to be placed within a few feet of the mouse in order to avoid intermittent signal drops. Thankfully, the USB cable attached to the receiver is nice and long, allowing you to position it nearby.

There are also two programmable buttons located between the thumb and index finger, but they’re so hard to effectively manipulate that most users will likely forgo using them altogether. They’re just out of thumb’s reach and placed too far back to be clicked by the index finger quickly enough to make the effort worthwhile.

Aside from those few minor quibbles, though, the actual experience of using the mouse for straightforward tasks is outstanding. After just a single day your wrist will feel much better and by the end of the first week, you’ll likely notice that the pain has gone away completely.

Product Page: Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000

Cumulative Year To Date Sales Worldwide

Total Worldwide sales to date for the Wii are sitting just under 55 million consoles sold, while the Xbox 360 and PS3 are at 32.7M and 25.7M, respectively. The year-to-date worldwide sales are a bit different, with the Wii outselling both its competitors at 11M, and the PS3 and 360 at 6.6M and 5.9M. Where the sales figures get interesting are when we compare the number of pre-price-cut console sales, with that of sales post-price-cut.

Before Sony cut the price of the PS3, the Xbox 360 sold 4.53M units worldwide YTD, compared to Sony’s 4.12M YTD. Since then, the PS3 has outsold the 360 by 1.1M units (thanks to the PS3 Slim, most likely). What’s even more interesting, as you can see in the graph below, is that Sony’s biggest surge in sales happened two full weeks after Sony’s price reduction – right after the price reduction in the Xbox 360. The Wii also benefited from their small decrease in price as their sales went from hovering around 175K a week to over 350K the week after the price drop, to now what is nearly 400k a week. So why the marked difference in effectiveness between the three, and why did sales increase for the PS3 only after Xbox’s announcement?

Weekly Sales Worldwide (Sep-Oct)

The answer to the first part of the question is quite simple. The Nintendo Wii has outsold the other two consoles since its debut. It appeals to a broader user base, and the recent price break made it that much more accessible to those who don’t have a console. More importantly, its broad user base is different than that of the 360 and PS3’s. Although the Nintendo Wii is not as advanced as the other two consoles, (on a specs basis) its motion sensor technology coupled with the success of titles such as Wii Fit brand the Wii as not only a video game console, but a fitness and lifestyle enhancer. This difference, along with the decrease in price, is why the Wii is again outselling both of its competitors.

The difference in the effectiveness of price-cuts for the PS3 and the 360 is a bit more complicated. These devices, for the most part, appeal to the same demographic: those who buy a console primarily as a gaming platform. However, the biggest difference between the two consoles is that the PS3 features a Blu-Ray player. It seems that the PS3’s price cut, making it the same price as the 360 Elite, caused consumers to flock to the system which will let them play their precious Blu-ray discs.

The surge in sales for the PS3 didn’t happen until after the Xbox’s price announcement for a simple reason: Microsoft had been saying that a price drop was imminent and consumers were waiting to compare the two deals. Unfortunately for Microsoft, by gradually phasing out the traditional Xbox Pro model and only leaving their bare-bones Arcade model (it doesn’t have a built-in harddrive) and their higher priced Elite, the PS3 became a more enticing deal for many consumers. Had Microsoft cut the price of their Elite to below that of the PS3, or better yet, priced the Xbox 360 Pro at $199 (the price of the Arcade SKU) instead of phasing it out, then they might have seen the same growth in sales that the PS3 has, and could possibly have taken some sales away from the Nintendo Wii.

While all three makers have seen a higher demand for consoles since the price drops, the PS3 is the clear-cut winner thus far. They have surpassed the 360 in worldwide YTD sales, and if they have a strong end of the year, could possibly take the number two spot in YTD sales in the US, where they have historically struggled.

Sales numbers and graphs were collected from VGChartz. For more information on how they gathered their sales figures, click here.