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Malaysia acts on Software Piracy

Administrator — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 14:30:01 +0000

Malaysian authorities have begun raiding computer retail outlets offering pirated software amid concerns that illegal copies of Microsoft Corp.’s newest operating system, Windows Vista, are on sale.

The strategy marks a shift from crackdowns over the past year that mainly targeted companies using unlicensed software, Ahmad Dahuri Mahmud, the Domestic Trade Ministry’s deputy director general of enforcement, said Friday.

“Computer dealers often sweeten computer purchases by offering consumers free (pirated) software pre-loaded onto their personal computers,” Ahmad Dahuri told a news conference.

The current clampdown started Thursday with the arrest of a store owner in a Kuala Lumpur suburban shopping mall. Officials seized three computers with pirated versions of Windows XP from a 28-year-old suspect’s premises, Ahmad Dahuri said.

The man is expected to be charged under copyright laws that provide for maximum prison sentences of five years and a fine of up to 20,000 ringgit ($6,670 Cdn) per infringement.

Officials were also investigating claims by the public that some dealers have been loading pirated versions of beta copies — unofficial versions released for tests — of Windows Vista, Ahmad Dahuri said.

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Microsoft’s Browser Loses Market Share Despite 100 Million IE 7 Installs,

Administrator — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:24:01 +0000

While Microsoft recently publicized the 100 millionth installation of Internet Explorer 7, Web measurement firm WebSideStory has indicated that IE7 is simply replacing oolder editions of IE. IE7 has not had an impact on Firefox’s ability to increase market share.

WebSideStory indicated that Microsoft’s quotation of its numbers was correct, but didn’t tell the whole story.
Geoff Johnston, an analyst with the Web metrics company, said that the growth of IE7 “… seems to be exclusively at the expense of IE 6,” says Johnston. “It’s not eating into the Firefox share at all.”

Johnston indicated that Firefox’s share of the U.S. browser market is at 14%, and has continued to grow each of the last three months. “I thought that IE 7 might flatten Firefox’s growth, but it’s not taken a hit from IE. All the movement there has been internal, from IE 6 users upgrading.”

Source: CRN

IE7 reaches 100 Million Installations

Administrator — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 15:32:31 +0000

Tony Chor Group Program Manager reporteed that on January 8th, Microsoft had the 100 millionth IE7 installation. Chor stressed that even more important than installations is usage. According to WebSideStory as of this week, over 25% of all visitors to websites in the US were using IE7, making IE7 the second most used browser after IE6. Microsoft expects these numbers to continue to rise as it completes its final localized versions, scale up AU distribution, and with the consumer availability of Windows Vista on January 30, 2007.

Consumers who haven’t installed IE7 for Windows XP yet, can download it here. Windows Vista, which launches at the end of this month, has IE7 built in with all the same features as the XP version, plus Protected Mode.

Source: MSDN