For several weeks Microsoft has been in discussions about a possible acquisition of online auctioneer eBay, The Post has learned. ...

Sources indicate that the talks, while still active, have cooled somewhat in the last two weeks as executives considered antitrust issues.

Microsoft will complete its entry into the desktop security market next week with the general release of its Windows Live OneCare antivirus software.

OneCare, which also includes backup and PC-tuning software, has been available for free in beta form since November, but as of next Thursday customers will be able to purchase the final, supported product, according to sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

With the release of Windows Vista Beta 2, I want to announce that we will be naming the version of IE7 in Windows Vista “Internet Explorer 7+”. While all versions of IE7 are built from the same code base, there are some important differences in IE7+, most significantly the addition of Windows Vista-only features like Protected Mode, Parental Controls, and improved Network Diagnostics. These features take advantage of big changes in Windows Vista and weren’t practical to bring downlevel. The IE7+ naming gives us an easy way to refer to this version. (“The version of IE7 in Vista” doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily…)

Microsoft is retooling a PC-rating feature in Windows Vista following criticism from hardware makers and others, a situation that suggests the next-generation operating system may not yet be ready for mass consumption.

Microsoft Corp. says it plans to expand investments and projects in South Korea...

The software giant said Thursday it is investing a total of $60 million over three years to promote innovation in information technology, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said.

The Journal said that Microsoft's MSN business unit is negotiating to acquire Third Screen Media, which serves ads for large wireless sites such as those run by USA Today and The Weather Channel. The acquisition is another indication that Microsoft is avid to compete with Google, particularly when it comes to generating revenues from advertising in discreet market niches.

MSN® Spaces is the most widely used blogging service worldwide with more than 100 million unique visitors, according to data released today by comScore Networks Inc. of Reston, Va., an independent Internet audience measurement and consulting company.

comScore World Metrix’s proprietary audience report for April 2006 showed the total number of unique visitors to MSN Spaces has more than doubled in the past 12 months, from 41.65 million to 101 million.* Figures compiled by comScore Media Metrix indicate that during April 2006, nearly one in seven Internet users worldwide had visited MSN Spaces.

In his presentation, Crow showed an image with 24:1 compression that visibly contained more detail in the Windows Media Photo format than the JPEG and JPEG 2000 formats compressed at the same level.

Still, the image in the Microsoft format was somewhat distorted because of the high compression level. Typically digital cameras today use 6:1 compression, Crow said. Windows Media Photo should offer better pictures at double that level, he said. "We can do it in half the size of a JPEG file."

What do I think? It is not an accident that Microsoft and its hardball tactics have succeeded all these years. They did not happen accidentally. Like the roots of a plant searching for water, the high-tech industry itself created Microsoft in order to survive.

If Microsoft didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the third release of Windows Live™ Local, the company’s online local search and mapping service that gives people the ability to quickly find maps, directions and local search information that is layered on top of rich, immersive aerial photography. Added functionality includes real-time traffic flow and incident reporting, new social networking tools that enable users to save and share their favorite local experiences, and productivity enhancements from extending the Windows Live Local experience into Microsoft® Office Outlook® and Windows Live Messenger. The service is also expanding its beta release to the U.K. and a limited version to Canada. Windows Live Local is available at http://local.live.com. ...

New Sharing Capabilities

The following new capabilities in the online service enable the seamless sharing of localized knowledge:

• Real-time traffic flow. Customizable driving directions are now even more useful with the addition of real-time traffic flow and incident reporting provided by Traffic.com. This functionality will be available only in the U.S. release.

• Collections. Social networking functionality allows customers to create lists of favorite landmarks and locations, attach personal photos and save them to a Scratchpad. Collections can be saved, recalled later, “permalinked,” and shared with friends and community in e-mail or through their MSN® Spaces blog.

• Integration with Windows Live Messenger. Sharing maps and location information from within Windows Live Messenger chats is easier. Users begin a sharing session from the Actions menu. People sharing a chat session can see and interact with the same Windows Live Local map and benefit from a shared mapping and local search experience.

Integration With Microsoft Office Outlook

Also being released today is Windows Live Local Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook. This add-in introduces Windows Live Local mapping capabilities to the Outlook Calendar, enabling Outlook users to find and print maps and directions to meeting locations from within Outlook. It also allows them to better manage their travel schedule by extending meeting times to accommodate travel time and automatically send links with mapping information about meeting locations to other people within Outlook Calendar requests. This add-in is available for users of Outlook running on Windows® XP and Outlook 2003 and can be downloaded free of charge from http://outlook.local.live.com.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission on Monday turned down Microsoft's appeal of the decision, which included a fine of 32.5 billion won ($34 million). The U.S. software maker also has appealed to the Seoul High Court.

The U.S. software firm aims to hit the market before the Indian festival of lights, or Diwali, when many companies pay annual bonuses to workers. The festival is on October 21, this year.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the industry’s first pay-as-you-go personal computing offerings powered by Microsoft® FlexGo™ technology, enabling more-flexible Microsoft Windows®-based PC purchasing options for customers in emerging markets. Customers can get a full featured Windows-enabled PC with low entry costs that they can access using prepaid cards or through a monthly subscription.

The pay-as-you-go business model makes PCs more accessible by dramatically reducing the entry cost and enabling customers to pay for their computer as they use it, through the purchase of prepaid cards. Market trials are starting first in emerging markets where inadequate access to consumer credit, unpredictable income and high entry costs prevent many consumers from purchasing a computer. The FlexGo technology supports Microsoft’s global commitment to help people realize their potential through the benefits of personal computers. ...

Microsoft’s innovative business approach brings together leading partners spanning the hardware, telecommunications, retail and financial services industries to make pay-as-you-go personal computing a reality for the first time, and expand subscription computing to a wider audience. The company recently completed a successful year-long market trial of pay-as-you-go offerings in Brazil with leading national retailer Magazine Luiza. Partners including Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), HSBC Bank Brasil S.A., Infineon Technologies AG, Intel Corporation, Lenovo, Phoenix Technologies Ltd., Transmeta Corp. and more, will join Microsoft for the next round of pay-as-you-go and subscription trials in Brazil, China, Hungary, India, Mexico, Russia, Slovenia and Vietnam. Together with the International Finance Corp. (the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group), Microsoft is exploring ways to enable its financial partners to underwrite PC purchases and prepaid cards on the most affordable terms for lower-income consumers. Microsoft’s FlexGo technology will create new and profitable opportunities for Microsoft’s global hardware partners as well as for local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), banks, telecommunications providers and retailers in emerging markets.

Via one set of trials, after making an initial down payment on a midrange PC, users will be able to buy time and make payments on their PC using prepaid cards, similar to those sold by cell-phone makers in various countries. Users will pay for the time they use their PCs, much the way individuals do now in Internet cafes. An alert on users' desktops will show them how much computing time they have available before they need to add more credit.

Three hundred Best Buy for Business small business experts have achieved the [Microsoft Certified Professional] certification to date, and the company's goal is 900 by December, Best Buy and Microsoft announced May 18. Best Buy For Business solution centers, found in about 115 of Best Buy's 940 North American outlets, are "stores within a store" catering to small business customers.

Microsoft is in talks to buy application virtualisation software vendor Softricity of Boston, USA CRN has learned.

"It's coming down to the final stretches," said one source close to Microsoft who is familiar with the discussions. "It's not a done deal yet but it's just last minute haggling kind of stuff."

Amid signs of sagging employee morale, Microsoft Corp. on Thursday presented a plan to overhaul its performance-review process, increase stock awards, boost on-campus perks and address a wide range of additional concerns.

Even the towels are back.

The plan, dubbed "myMicrosoft," would improve training for managers, clarify internal career paths and increase child care and tuition benefits. New services on the Redmond campus will include dry-cleaning, convenience stores, grocery delivery and upgraded dining options -- such as Wolfgang Puck takeout.