Microsoft elaborated on its purchase options for the release of Windows Vista, to be released publicly in less than two weeks. Among the options are online upgrades to higher tiers, a family discount, or online purchase and direct download via Windows Marketplace.

"With the consumer launch of Windows Vista so close, we're excited to announce three new ways to make the purchase and upgrade experience easier than ever," said Brad Brooks, general manager of Windows Client Marketing at Microsoft.

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It now appears as if security companies and Microsoft have settled their differences and will work together on the consumer launch of Windows Vista. Several leading manufacturers have committed to launch Vista-compatible versions of their software by January 30.

At least two of the companies who had earlier chastised Microsoft over Vista security, McAfee and Symantec, were among those listed as committing to Vista compatibility. Others included CA, Kaspersky, Panda Software, and Trend Micro, among others.

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Last week's discovery of a non-critical bug affecting the old 32-bit Windows API, which BetaNews reported on at the time, was picked up by The New York Times this morning, although its severity was substantially elevated in the process. Under the headline "Flaws Are Detected in Microsoft's Vista," the message box problem was touted as triggering "an early crisis of confidence in the quality of its Windows Vista operating system."

Yet tests of the flaw conducted by BetaNews suggest that, while the bug can crash Windows XP, its roots in the Win32 API dating back to Windows 3.1, coupled with the fact that the source code for the proof-of-concept appears to be straight ANSI C, directly contradict the Times' implication that the bug somehow afflicts Internet Explorer 7.0.

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Microsoft issued its second firmware update for its Zune music device on Tuesday, offering stability and performance improvements. In addition, the company updated the device to make it compatible with Microsoft's next-generation operating system, Windows Vista. The update is now available from the Zune Web site.

The company had originally scheduled to make such functionality available in conjunction with the consumer release of the OS in January, however the company received some criticism for not offering compatibility out of the box. "It is plumbing stuff, but it is stuff customers will notice and appreciate," Zune marketing director Jason Reindorp said recently of the update.

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Microsoft is fighting back against those attempting to distribute a cracked version of Windows Vista. It has issued an update that detects whether a copy is attempting to bypass the activation system by mixing files from the test and final versions, it said Thursday.

Such a version is currently available on DVD, Microsoft says. When the copy is detected, Microsoft will alert the user, and then give them 30 days to activate the software, or it will be placed in reduced functionality mode.

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Customers who have purchased an HP Pavilion or Digital Entertainment Center PC, or a Compaq Pavilion PC -- all desktop models only -- on or after October 26, with Windows XP pre-installed, will be eligible for upgrade kits for corresponding editions of Windows Vista next month, HP announced this morning

The upgrade plan addresses the "coupon" problem that PC vendors are facing this season: having to sell computers to customers with the promise of their being able to run a "full Vista experience" they can't yet see for themselves.

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A Microsoft-sponsored study says that Windows Vista will generate some $70 billion in revenue and create up to 100,000 jobs in the first year of its release. The report also indicates that adoption of the next-generation OS is expected to be rapid and widespread.

Research firm IDC authored the study, and it follows a similar commissioned study from September that said Vista would create 50,000 jobs across six European countries in its first year. The new operating system was made available to business customers in November, and is scheduled for consumer availability on January 30.

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UPDATED 11:00 pm December 8, 2006: Cori Hartje, Director of Microsoft's Genuine Software Initiative, issued the following statement to BetaNews regarding the activation crack:

"We are actively monitoring these types of piracy and counterfeit situations, and will take action on any Key Management Service (KMS) or Multiple Activation Key (MAK) keys that have been reported as stolen or abused. Microsoft will continue to make investments under the Genuine Software Initiative (GSI) and is committed to engineering world-class anti-counterfeiting technologies in order to make piracy harder and protect customers and channel partners from the various risks associated with counterfeit software."

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A white paper published this morning by hardware analysis firm iSuppli, based on its studies of Microsoft Windows Vista running on multiple grades of computer hardware, has concluded that the software publisher's stated minimum requirements for the system -- which include an 800 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, and a 35 GB hard drive -- may not be nearly enough.

"Despite Microsoft's claims that Vista can run on such trailing-edge systems," writes Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms research, "iSuppli believes the reality is quite different."

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While many may have not understood exactly what the Windows Presentation Foundation meant for Vista, a new application from Microsoft to visualize RSS feeds may provide a glimpse into the future.

Several WPF features are shown off in the example, including 3D animation functionality, data binding and data visualization, While the current version uses the RSS folder in IE7, future versions would allow for feed management within the software

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Microsoft's oft-maligned and much-delayed next-generation operating system is no longer just a talking point for the Redmond company, it's now a reality - at least for businesses.

At an event at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City, CEO Steve Ballmer announced the business availability of Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange Server 2007. In addition, several other business-centric applications were also launched on Thursday.

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The Justice Department will not be going after Microsoft for any antitrust concerns with Windows Vista or Internet Explorer 7. The government agency said Tuesday in a report that it could find no issues in either product. In addition, it said the technical committee in conjunction with Microsoft was offering an application to help competitors make their programs Vista-ready.

This would allow competing Web browsers, as well as e-mail, IM, and media clients to seamlessly become the default applications within the operating system. The report also indicated that the company was making progress on required documentation, although concern remained that the project was not remaining on-track.

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Microsoft recently partnered with Dell to create a special edition PC to commemorate the launch of Windows Vista. Only a few of the computers have been produced, and there are no plans to sell it, the company says. Among the specifications are a Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX graphics card, 4GB of SDRAM, 1TB of hard drive space, a DVD+/-RW DL disc drive, dual television tuners, a 30" widescreen monitor, and surround sound capabilities.

The PC has a rating of 5.2 on Vista's Windows Experience Index. One of the PCs was raffled off at Microsoft's internal launch party, with another going to charity. The number of PCs produced, or the plans for the other machines was not announced.

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Those early adopters who bought a Microsoft Zune on Tuesday were greeted with an embarrassing incompatibility when they tried to install it on to their computers running Windows Vista: it doesn't work with Redmond's latest operating system.

"This operating system is currently not supported by Zune," says an error message when attempting to install the device. Zune's official Web site confirms the issue saying that Vista "is not supported at this time" and "to check back for updates."

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Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment plans to continue its delivery of dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray movies early next year with the release of 4 new titles on January 23. The studio previously announced plans to ship its first 50GB Blu-ray titles on November 21 - just after the launch of Sony's PlayStation 3.

"Casanova," "Chicago," "The Guardian" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" will debut after the holidays at a cost of $34.99 USD each. Because they utilize Blu-ray's full storage capacity, Buena Vista says the titles will contain a host of special features, including alternate endings, making of featurettes, as well as improved menus and Web connectivity for connecting to live events held by the studio.

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