Microsoft Round Up: Win7 Users Grumble, Bing Up, More

12.02.2010
This was not a banner week for Microsoft darling Windows 7. The new OS has been cruising along with solid buzz and to back it up, but user complaints on two fronts - misreported battery life and a stability update causing disruptions - provided a reality check.

Microsoft was quick to that these were major issues (which was, in turn, ), but the strong negativity from the user community was a first for Windows 7.

Microsoft also delivered a on Tuesday with a record 13 security updates patching dozens of vulnerabilities in Windows. Unfortunately, a side effect of the giant patch was that some Windows XP machines were crippled with the notorious BSOD (blue screen of death), according . Microsoft stopped serving the Windows patch blamed for the blue screens.

[ For complete coverage on Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system -- including hands-on reviews, video tutorials and advice on enterprise rollouts -- see CIO.com's . ]

But there were also high points this week for Redmond: CEO Steve Ballmer is scheduled to discuss Microsoft's plan for Windows Mobile 7 and "Windows phones" on Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. In addition, new that more enterprises are using Internet Explorer 8 (and ditching Internet Explorer 6) than earlier research had indicated.

Search engine Bing also had a good week. It gained half a percentage point of U.S. search market share in January to reach 11.3 percent, according to market researcher comScore.