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Since 2002 when Microsoft introduced Windows XP, its signature operating system has proved to have more stamina than anybody would have originally thought. Despite missteps in Vista, that OS still managed to introduce useful new features, and set the stage for Windows 7.

This chart provides a rundown of some of the major features introduced in each Windows iteration, as well as a quick look at the minimum hardware requirements for XP, Vista, and 7. Keep in mind that Windows 7 is still in its testing phase, though it's not expected that other major features will debut before it'… Read more

Although it's touted as a program launcher, we found this free program to be more of a way to group programs and other items in one place on the desktop. Toolbox isn't for the novice, though, if only because of the knowledge required to understand all of its settings and options.

Toolbox has a busy user interface that features menu options at the top of a small window, and two tabs--one for creating toolboxes and another for application settings. You can go the easy route and add a desktop Toolbox with preset components like My Computer and the … Read more

The first official release candidate for Windows 7 includes impressive new features like XP Mode and remote streaming media, as well as smaller tweaks to make the OS work better than it did in beta. Click through to see what's different.

The best thing to happen to Microsoft's public relations in years, Windows 7 is more than just spin. The latest official update to what some are calling the largest shareware trial period ever introduces more than mere bug fixes as the operating system upgrades from beta to release candidate. The Windows 7 Release Candidate does contain several major and minor changes, but the overall experience remains largely unchanged.

What's most important to you about the release candidate will depend on your perspective. Certainly, one of the biggest new features makes Windows Media Player useful again: you can now … Read more

Microsoft impressed many with its Windows 7 beta, and the new Windows 7 Release Candidate looks even better. More than mere bug fixes, the Windows 7 Release Candidate improves on device management and search-term highlighting, and includes support for a virtual XP mode to run older programs. Preview what's new in this First Look video, and don't miss the hand's on review.

The latest Ubuntu release--code named Jaunty Jackalope--boots faster, shuts down faster, and includes numerous improvements that help it become even easier to use than before. If you like open-source software like Firefox, you owe it to yourself to see what an open-source operating system can do.

New features include Exchange-server support for e-mail client Evolution, a revamped program for disc burning, improved multiple-monitor support, a new notification pop-up style, and the ability to create customized hot keys. You can read the full list of changes here.

Microsoft has a new advertising campaign and, as Gordon Haff of the CNET Blog Network argues, this one has the potential to nail Apple to the wall.

Even as Microsoft tells the open-source world to stop competing with it on price and instead focus on value, Microsoft is blitzing Apple with a new advertisement suggesting that your next laptop purchase should be all about cost.

Microsoft needs something. As recent data from Net Applications suggests, Apple is eating into Microsoft's market share in the operating-system market, even as Firefox chews into Microsoft in the browser market.

The more market … Read more

A download page for Microsoft's Windows 7 Release Candidate was prematurely posted by the company and has since been removed, according to a statement issued Thursday by the software giant.

Windows 7, Microsoft's next version of its operating system, is in the process of undergoing its final draft, or release candidate (RC). And although the software giant has been silent on when it expected to roll out its RC and industry reports have previously speculated April, the posting of the premature RC page gave a May 2009 timeframe, according to a report in Ars Technica, which has screen … Read more

Attorneys representing defunct music service SpiralFrog have notified investors not to expect any returns. Whatever money comes from liquidating assets will go to a group that loaned the company an "amount exceeding $34 million."

In a letter dated March 17, 2009, the law firm Rattet, Pasternak & Gordon-Oliver delivered that message to an undisclosed number of SpiralFrog investors. A copy of the letter, seen by CNET News, says the group that loaned the money was issued senior secured notes, which gives members of the group priority in any funds collected from the sale of assets.

"In that … Read more