Initial sales of Microsoft’s Windows 7 software outperformed those of Vista’s first few days on the U.S. market, according to the latest analysis from The NPD Group.

Windows 7 software unit sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher than Vista’s first few days of sales. A combination of early discounts on pre-sales and a lack of promotional activity for the Ultimate version resulted in dollar sales that were 82 percent higher than Vista.

Windows XP is, in a sense, like a horror movie franchise that the studio just won’t let die.  Microsoft has said it will deliver XP licenses up until May 30th, 2009, even though January 31st of the same year was supposed to represent a death date of sorts.

Go to a retailer like Target early some morning, and you’ll likely find a group of non-employees waiting to be let in.  When the doors open, a race to the electronics department ensues, and the cashiers get busy.  So since gamers are so willing to spend money, two new reports take a look at where their interests lie.

A lot of eyes may be fixed on Windows 7, but Microsoft hasn’t given up on Vista just yet.  An executive recently spoke out in defense of the operating system, saying that customers’ reactions are improving.

In an earlier article about Apple’s domination of the American Customer Service Index (ACSI), it was touched upon that the overall dissatisfaction with Windows Vista may have been a key factor in propelling Apple up the charts.

I have not seen a Taiwanese equivalent to the ACSI, but it is pretty evident that some people in Taiwan aren’t real fond of Vista either.

A whole lot of people (your humble author included) have been hanging onto old computers, hoping they’ll last until Windows 7 is released.  At a conference yesterday, a late 2009 launch was confirmed, and interesting multi-touch abilities were demonstrated.

Microsoft’s CEO admits what thousands of techies have thought of the company for years: they toss stuff into the user community and need a couple of additional releases to make it work.

Vista is crap, according to a number of users; Google gives over 20,000 results for that exact phrase.  And thanks to Vista, two Gartner analysts have gone so far as to say that Windows is collapsing.

Installation processes for a Vista Service Pack 1 prerequisite caused some people to experience endless rebooting.

Several of the big Internet companies – Google, Yahoo, and eBay – have lost important employees in the last week or so.  And if it seemed like Microsoft was going to skate through, it’s not – Vista blogger Nick White is leaving.

There are a few things that we all know are banned from eBay: alcohol, guns, dead bodies.  And it seems we can add "hacked computers" to the list, as the auction site recently cracked down on a mildly famous example.

You can almost imagine some skinny guy standing in front of large crowd. 

The crowd yells, "Let XP live!"  The skinny guy fidgets, and responds, "Um, we need more feedback." 

Yes, this is Microsoft PR at its best, folks.

The corporation that caused 1,000 yawns has delivered all sorts of surprises as of late.  First was the whole we-want-to-acquire-Yahoo thing.  Now Microsoft is (sort of) releasing Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista.

Imagine that a company built a car out of foam.  Not a working car, of course – just a full-scale model.  And then that company started trumpeting stuff about having no safety-related recalls.  Well, Microsoft is proud to announce that Vista has fewer security vulnerabilities than its competitors.

Microsoft Vista has suffered one embarrassing blow after another: people were shunning it, people were returning to XP, and so on.  It seems that Vista is gradually gaining ground, however, and according to a new study, people are somewhat pleased with the results.

Technology reseller CDW said a survey of businesses found 35 percent of respondents have some kind of movement to Windows Vista underway.

Sometimes a report with some important conclusion will come our way, we’ll see what company it’s from, and we’ll then reach for the saltshaker.  Things don’t get much more authoritative than the UK government, however, and this entity has once again advised British schools not to use Microsoft Vista.

At the top of nearly every tech list you can think of, there sits Google, and we’re sure this gets to one or two of the folks at Microsoft.  They probably didn’t desire a mention in a list called "The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007," though, and Windows Vista actually wound up being number one.

An updated version of Yahoo Messenger arrived in a pre-beta preview for Vista users, who can install it in parallel with their existing Yahoo Messenger client.

Not too long after Hotchkis Sport Suspension released sway bars for the Toyota Matrix, the Matrix community discovered that they had a tendency to crack.  Hotchkis was great about replacing the bars, but many owners nonetheless waited to buy from a redesigned second batch.  Now, businesses that aren’t fond of Vista may just hold onto XP until 2010.

With Microsoft buying a portion of Facebook, it’s only appropriate that tonight’s Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget is a Facebook one.

In my years of retail work, I’ve encountered tough guys, wicked old ladies, and thousands of screaming children.  Yet the scariest creatures are often the mothers of those children, and Steve Ballmer may have seen a hint of that when one woman confronted him over Windows Vista.