Software News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US software giant Microsoft has blamed a problem during testing for a half-hour outage of its new Web search engine Bing. Full Story »

Usage of the open-source MySQL database is set to decline if Oracle succeeds in buying the software's owner, Sun Microsystems, according to new data released by analyst firm The 451 Group on Friday. Full Story »

The coming week will be a busy one for IT administrators. Microsoft plans to release six patches for December's Patch Tuesday -- three rated critical and three important. The patches will address 12 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office. Full Story »

Nokia is upping the ante against rivals such as Apple and Go ogle with its preview of the upcoming iteration of Symbian OS (V3) for touchscreen devices. The upgraded mobile operating system is expected sometime next year, together with a bunch of new devices. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. plunged ahead of the regular session Friday after the video game maker lowered its financial outlook again and said it probably won't meet its profitability goals for next year. Full Story »

Free software is all about the unexpected. Carriers hate the unexpected. Full Story »

WALTHAM, Mass. - Novell Inc., which sells computer-networking software and technology services, posted a larger quarterly loss Thursday, hurt by lower revenue and hefty charges to write down the value of certain assets. Full Story »

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Shares of chip design software maker Magma Design Automation Inc. soared after-hours Thursday as the company posted a fiscal second-quarter profit, reversing a year-ago loss, as sharply reduced expenses outpaced declining sales. Full Story »

WILSONVILLE, Ore. - Mentor Graphics Corp., a provider of electronic hardware and software design products and services, on Thursday posted a smaller fiscal third-quarter loss and said it is seeing signs of recovery in the semiconductor market. Full Story »

After creating great distress in security circles, an issue with Microsoft Windows has proven relatively minor. The problem, labeled the Black Screen of Death, was initially thought to be widespread. Indeed, British security firm Prevx posted a series of blog items suggesting that several million computers using Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 could be compromised. The company said the problem often is associated with two Windows security patches, KB915597 and KB976098. Full Story »

Adobe Systems' security response team is scrambling to fix a newly disclosed bug in its Illustrator software, even as it readies another security patch for next week. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. tumbled 17 percent in after-hours trading Thursday after the video game publisher slashed its full-year guidance for a second time, due in part to weak sales of its "Major League Baseball" titles. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Synopsys Inc. shares dropped Thursday after maker of chip testing and development software reported lower quarterly profit and sales as well as higher expenses. Full Story »

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Reports of counterfeit software, much of it tainted with computer viruses, have doubled during the past two years, according to Microsoft. Full Story »