Microsoft is warning users about a critical security flaw that affects all versions of Windows. The flaw involves .ink files, which are the shortcuts that are displayed on the desktop. Hackers are creating malicious .ink files and distributing them via USB drives and other methods including peer to peer networks. To become infected all the more »

For netbooks, it’s obvious that Windows Vista is not the optimal operating system. Many people choose to downgrade to Windows XP as it runs faster and better than Vista when on those tiny computers. It also doesn’t come with the reputation that Vista received in its early days as a highly incompatible OS. But now more »

Microsoft’s latest security patch has left XP users with BSOD’s and unusable systems. The company’s support forums have been flooded with complaints from angry users since the release of MS10-015. “I updated 11 Windows XP updates today and restarted my PC like it asked me to,” said a user identified as “tansenroy” who kicked off more »

If you followed technology news closely a couple of months ago, you might have heard a blip about the xpPhone. In theory its a minicomputer that runs XP. Now whether or not this is a good idea, video proof has now shown us that is now closer than ever to production. The phone has impressive more »

Perhaps in an effort to make it easier for users to upgrade to Windows 7 from XP or Vista, Microsoft has released an official upgrade chart — and to put it simply, the chart seems a little overwhelming at first glance. Diving in, to try and make some sense so you can make sure you more »

The writer at PCWorld was asked to take a look at a computer that was running sluggishly and experiencing odd behavior. He discovered two things-that its anti-virus program was out of date and Windows Updates had been turned off. The result? A severe malware infestation:

I got the machine patched and updated and ran an AV scan right after disconnecting it from the Internet. Thirty-two viruses came up in the form of Trojans, Rootkits and Spyware. After rebooting, the same pop ups and slow behavior continued. I ran the scan again, and only six incidents of malware showed up. Cleaned those and ran antispyware and picked up a few more. Even initiated a boot-time scan the next go around and picked up even more!

It seems that every time he rebooted the system new malware infestations showed up! Apparently some malware has become so smart that when its deleted it simply reinstalls itself automatically. Scary stuff. The writer eventually had to reinstall Windows XP to get rid of the bad stuff once and for all.

What makes this story even more troublesome is that the computer in question was part of a SOHO network. Many types of malware are network aware and eagerly spread to other computers it finds networked to the one it initially infects. This can wreak real havoc for business and organizations. The moral of the story?

Never let your anti-virus get out of date, and never completely turn off Windows Updates.

Interestingly enough, XP was supposed to die by May 30 of this year, yet reports indicate that Microsoft is going to allow HP to continue using XP in their computers until April 30, 2010. With all the hype surrounding the news Windows 7, it seems odd that Microsoft would still let XP float around, but more »

Microsoft has confirmed that users of the new Windows 7 will be able to downgrade to either Vista or XP. Downgrade rights will be open through the company’s PC partners, including HP. This will allow users that are more comfortable with Vista or XP to downgrade their operating system at no cost. Large businesses may more »

Sorry XP fans, Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 7 and all future versions of Windows will be little more than minor revisions of Vista, the OS everyone either loves or hates, with little middle ground in between. They claim this will help insure that every app that works on Vista will work on Windows 7. more »

As many of you already know, Microsoft had announced during CES that it was publicly opening up the beta of Windows 7. Given that, I could not wait to download, install, and begin to check it out. After all, I did have a spare partition that was just begging for an operating system. I have not been a big Vista user, so some of the comparisons are hard for me to make, I can say that (as compared to Windows XP) it seems to run very nicely. I have it installed on an Asus Eee PC 1000h that is mostly stock except for the 2GB of RAM. Keep reading to check out a bunch of different screenshots in the gallery below.