glitches

A compatibility glitch with the latest versions of Windows has thrust the spotlight onto a little-known product from Microsoft's Dynamics line for midsize businesses.

Microsoft said on Tuesday that it was delaying the availability of Windows XP Service Pack 3 and halting automatic updates to Vista Service Pack 1 because of problems with Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System.

Just what is Dynamics RMS?

It's software that enables specialty retailers to handle cash register functions, process payments, and automate purchasing, inventory and other back-end processes, said Michael Griffiths, the group product manager for the retail part of the Dynamics … Read more

Microsoft confirmed Tuesday that it has stopped automatic updates of Vista to Service Pack 1 in the wake of a newly discovered glitch.

The problem, which has also halted the availability of Windows XP Service Pack 3, prevents Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System from working with either operating system update.

"We are temporarily holding any additional automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1," Microsoft said in response to an inquiry from CNET News.com. The company said it will continue to make Vista SP1 available for manual download. Microsoft had just started pushing out the Vista service pack last week … Read more

Microsoft on Tuesday said it is delaying the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 because of a newly uncovered glitch.

The software maker said there is a "compatibility issue" between the XP service pack and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, a retail chain management program for small and midsize businesses.

Microsoft finalized the code for Windows XP SP3 last week and had planned to make it broadly available starting Tuesday.

"In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Microsoft Download … Read more

Some users of the customizable My Yahoo portal were unable to see prices for their lists of company stocks for a few days, but the Internet company said the problem has been fixed.

The problem afflicted only a small fraction of users, less than 0.5 percent, the company said, and was fixed Thursday. Those who were affected should consider upgrading to the newer My Yahoo version, said spokeswoman Stephanie Arnaldy.

Meanwhile, Google revamped its finance page Thursday, responding to requests to "make it easier to follow the latest news affecting the market as well as those (stories) that … Read more

Many Gmail users had problems with the Google e-mail service's ability to communicate with e-mail software Wednesday.

Numerous people on a Gmail Help forum reported problems tapping into Gmail with IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) technology, which lets people with desktop e-mail software such as Thunderbird or Microsoft Entourage to do so.

Google acknowledged the problem but said it's fixed. "Gmail users had difficulty accessing some features in Gmail for about a half hour today. The issue is now resolved," the company said in a statement Wednesday.

"We take issues like this very seriously, and … Read more

Glitches continue to trouble Citigroup, as the financial-services company said Monday that some credit card customers were unable to access their accounts via the Web.

Reuters reported that an undisclosed number of Citicard owners could not access the card's online account service. This is the second such malfunction of one of Citigroup's sites in a week. Citibank saw intermittent outages to its Web site last Tuesday.

Reuters was not able to determine when the outage began.

The company issued a statement to the news service: "This is a temporary interruption and we anticipate that the site will … Read more

Citibank, the country's largest bank, saw intermittent outages to its Web site Tuesday that prevented an unknown number of customers from accessing their accounts.

"Earlier today we experienced an issue that has resulted in intermittent customer access to Citibank.com," the company said in a statement. "As we are addressing this issue, some users are experiencing slow response times. We hope to be operating normally shortly.

A customer service representative of the bank, a division of financial services powerhouse Citigroup, said the issue began this morning and that the glitch has prevented customers from paying bills … Read more

Netflix has extended an apology, in the form of a discount, to customers in the wake of an 11-hour site outage.

On Monday, the Web's leading movie-rental service suffered its second extended outage in the past nine months. This time, the glitch led to customers receiving their DVDs a day late. For those who were inconvenienced, Netflix is crediting their account 5 percent.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused," Netflix told customers via e-mail. "We will issue a (5 percent) credit to your account in the next few days."

Netflix has declined … Read more

Update 1:33 p.m. PDT: Netflix has apparently fixed the site's recommendations and ratings.

Netflix customers saw only minor glitches a day after the movie rental service suffered an 11-hour Web site outage because of an undisclosed systems malfunction.

Customers were unable to access ratings and recommendations on Tuesday, according to Steve Swasey, a spokesman for the company. The company, however, appeared to have fixed the problems by the afternoon.

"This is part of the site that we haven't been able to get back online yet," Swasey said earlier in the day. "Otherwise the … Read more