Week in Review: Microsoft's woes

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Microsoft’s woes

You’ve almost got to feel sorry for Microsoft, the week it’s seen. First, it’s in a legal battle to keep Word on shelves, after a Canadian firm sued it over an XML patent. Then, Mozilla piped up about the IE browser ballot plans – saying the changes aren’t enough.

And now pricing for the upcoming Windows 7 OS is all confused. Microsoft is still selling European versions, despite cancelling the version. And Amazon is selling the full version for a massive discount from the US price. So if Microsoft is having a bit of a bad week, its customers can at least have a good one and pick up a low-cost copy of the well-reviewed Windows 7.

A better week for...

Wikipedia is having a good week, however. The online encyclopedia posted its three billionth article this week – one about Norwegian actress and film director Beate Eriksen – and released an official app for the iPhone.

Glaswegian broadband users were given a reason to smile – and mock their North London friends – after BT moved the focus of its speedy broadband pilot to the Scottish city, after residents of Muswell Hill complained the new street cabinets were too ugly. Who cares how the street looks if it gets you 40Mbps broadband? Some people have weird priorities...

Best of the rest

Students across the UK received their A-Level results this week. And while record top grades meant it was good news for many, the number of students taking computing and ICT courses continued to slide.

The gender divide wasn’t helped either, as male students dominated both computing and ICT courses – as well as the new IT diplomas.

The EU also admitted Apple had filed a notice about exploding iPhones, so keep an eye on yours if it starts hissing at you. Actually, keep an eye on anything that starts hissing at you – it’s rarely a good sign.

If you’ve got an unexploded iPhone, you can now drop £60 on the new TomTom sat-nav software mobile. Just remember – don’t use your phone while driving. As a new police video reminds us, it’ll end very, very badly.

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