Dwell On It » Microsoft

Microsoft Kinect in the wild

Tateru Nino — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:51:58 +0000

Microsoft really rather badly needed the Kinect to be a platform exclusive, I believe. The Wiimote and even the Sony Move work super well … at least when coupled with appropriate applications, and the Xbox – while still strong – has been showing some signs of flagging.

Having the Kinect as an exclusive device is something that Microsoft really needs in the gaming/media market – and it isn’t going to get it.


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Rumour control

Tateru Nino — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:51:13 +0000

Earlier this week, word got about that a couple of Linden Lab employees were saying that the Lab had received a buyout offer from Microsoft. This second- and third-hand information quickly got repeated, and was greeted with varying levels of incredulity, before starting to hit social media, blogs and the tech media some hours later.

Turns out that it was substantively true.


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Why leak?

Tateru Nino — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:04:29 +0000

The question that’s been nagging at me over the last few hours is “Why would Lab staff leak information about a buyout offer?”

Well the Lab itself is notoriously closed-mouth, but individual staffers tend to be chatterboxes, often about all sorts of things that they probably rightly shouldn’t. Why this though?

Linden Lab entertaining offers

Tateru Nino — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:21:01 +0000

People are talking about a rumour that Microsoft has made an offer on Linden Lab.

Funny as that might seem on the face of it, a small number of Linden Lab staff are today spreading the story that Linden Lab is now entertaining offers for sale, and that Microsoft has actually presented one.

Play it now – Energy Tycoon

Tateru Nino — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:37:25 +0000

Where did this come from?

While it’s not really very complete, Energy Tycoon has come quite a long way in production and polish without seeming to catch much attention.


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Addressing IPv6

Tateru Nino — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:09:40 +0000

Currently the majority of the world’s Internet runs on IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4). If you wanted to roll out broadband to a majority of homes in the USA, Australia, or indeed any country today – you couldn’t do it on IPv4. There just aren’t enough addresses to go around.


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Games For Windows Live is a blight

Tateru Nino — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 02:39:21 +0000

So, a little while ago I had my first experience with a Games For Windows Live game, that being Red Faction: Guerrilla which I’d gotten as a part of a bundle.

About three hours into that process, I realized that Games For Windows Live (GFWL) is a blight on the face of PC gaming.

Template refit

Tateru Nino — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:45:23 +0000

Well, it’s been a bit of a difficult slog, but I’ve made a slew of changes to the blog template to allow for the site to be better-rendered by a variety of browsers.

A moment of clarity

Tateru Nino — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:43:17 +0000

It’s going back a few years, but the company I was working for back then sent me to a Windows NT 4.0 launch event. A bunch of us went, though it didn’t really have a lot to do with us, but there were invitations, plus free food and swag at the venue.

New comic: Physical attributes

Tateru Nino — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:19:30 +0000

Jump to the new comic, or click the banner to begin at the first one:

Thanks for everyone who came in-world for Read more ...

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Don’t forget to wave

Tateru Nino — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:57:41 +0000

It’s taken me a while to figure out the niche for Google Wave, but I can pretty much see it now. Or at least what it is at present.


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Considering Microsoft Windows 7

Tateru Nino — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:09:12 +0000

Recently, I’ve been toying with the idea of shucking Windows XP and flirting with the idea of purchasing Windows 7. I picked up Windows XP with a new system close to the last days it was still available.

Talking the matter over with a friend, led to a conversation that went something like this:


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Cool tools – Game Booster

Tateru Nino — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:41:31 +0000

Even the best Windows-based computer rigs can get bogged down, when you want to get the most performance out of them, whether you want that performance for Second Life or for general gaming.

In your average Windows system, your RAM and your CPU cycles get nickle-and-dimed away by all sorts of background tasks and services, few or none of which you actually need at the time you want your system performing at its best.

Our goal is to win

Tateru Nino — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:43:39 +0000

When asked if Microsoft has achieved all it wanted to with the Xbox 360, Kim gave a swift “no” to OXM’s interviewer, “because the generation isn’t over, and we’re not winning yet,” he said.
”Our goal is to win, always has been” CVG

Through the console wars so far, no console vendor has actually ‘won’. Even when there’s been a clear leader, competition has been stiff, even fierce. Certainly strong enough to fuel competition moving forward into the next generation.

Patent bites Microsoft Word

Tateru Nino — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:09:22 +0000

The national law firm of McKool Smith is announcing a permanent injunction and total damages and interest of more than $290 million against software giant Microsoft Corp. in a Texas patent infringement lawsuit won by Toronto-based technology provider i4i Inc.

That permanent injunction prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML. The court is requiring Microsoft to comply with the injunction within 60 days.

Product options

Tateru Nino — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:58:53 +0000

So, lots of folks find Microsoft’s tactic of releasing multiple variations (or editions, if you prefer) of their Windows Operating System to be a wee bit on the hateful side. Windows Vista particularly was frequently referred to as suffering from “edition chaos”. Windows 7, it seems, will only have three variations.

What if Microsoft didn’t release all the variations at once, but instead spaced them out annually? Home Premium, then Professional the following year, then Ultimate the year after.

Would we like them any more then?


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

Internet Explorer marketshare

Tateru Nino — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Judging by the website stats that I have to hand, more of my readers are using Internet explorer than back in January 2007, when it was a mere 2% plus change. It’s about 20% of you these days, so that’s about an order-of-magnitude increase. There’s even some Read more ...


Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0