Redmond, Wash., -- The Redmond Vole is very thoughtfully becoming merciful towards its Windows XP. Microsoft Corp

., since the release of Vista, was keen to put XP out to pasture, thus creating a void for its Vista operating system to fill, is now showing some flexibility, has once again extended an impending deadline for Windows XP’s demise until May, the company confirmed today.

Traditionally, Microsoft has always tries to withdraw old operating systems off the market six months after the release of a new one, but consumer reaction bordering on hostile made a monkey out of Vista and a hero out of XP.

Redmond had originally assigned January 21, 2009, as the cutoff for shipping the OS. Now, these manufacturers can take delivery up to May 30.

Redmond, Wash., -- Microsoft is exerting considerable effort to fuel new investments in search marketing, by offering free assistance as an incentive. A

conducted by Microsoft adCenter team, released the results of its study examining the search marketing behaviors of more or less 400 small-business owners in the United States -- confirms that the search advertising market still has most of the way to grow among small businesses, results from a Microsoft-sponsored online survey suggest.

Surprisingly, it seems that a significant proportion of small business owners are still stuck in the “build it and they will come” mentality. The findings suggest that the small businesses surveyed, tend to invest in developing Web sites, rather than take even the simplest steps to enhance their online business presence.

Redmond, Washington -- While Microsoft continues adding up some big names from Yahoo’s search business, its own house is going through difficult times, as the company’s Live Search General Manager, Brad Goldberg is leaving Redmond to work for the Peak6 investment company, Techflash reports.

According to reports from TechFlash, Goldberg will become CEO of the online business at Chicago-based Peak6 Investments.

Microsoft confirmed the report through its public relations firm Wednesday, stating that Goldberg is leaving the company to pursue other interests, and his departure is amicable and that the company wished him well.

Redmond, Washington -- Microsoft’s Live Labs relentless efforts have finally bore some fruits, and the engineers have released the company’s first application for Apple’s popular smartphone--even before making it available on Microsoft’s own mobile platform this week-end. The move, as it would seem to suggest that Redmond has finally acknowledged the iPhone’s market dominance.

The free application, first mobile application written by Microsoft called Seadragon Mobile, which has just popped up on Apple’s App Store last week end, which allows users to quickly “deep zoom” on high-resolution images while online and is intended to demonstrate what is possible with a mobile platform.

Redmond, Washington -- As violation of valuable data continues to hit the headlines, Microsoft has tapped RSA, the security division of Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC, to help protect its enterprise customers from sensitive information leaks. The companies this week said they would incorporate their data protection products in an effort to further deepening of their long-standing relationship.

By agreeing to a deal in which the RSA Data Loss Prevention (DLP) software will be preinstalled or bundled with Microsoft’s security offerings, the two companies are betting that enterprises will want to leverage Windows 2008 to more tightly control and protect sensitive information.

San Francisco -- Software behemoth Microsoft Corp. Thursday confirmed that it has tapped former senior Yahoo Inc. executive Qi Lu, to head its struggling Online Services Group and boost its Internet search and advertising businesses, but in the process, it has lost Brian McAndrews, one of its own top advertising executives.

The software giant, who has tirelessly tried and failed to acquire Yahoo earlier this year, is looking to revamp its search-ad strategy to better compete with the industry juggernaut, Google Inc.

While announcing the appointment of Lu as the president of Microsoft’s online services group, Microsoft said that Brian McAndrews, former CEO of aQuantive, would be leaving Microsoft. McAndrews was considered as the top internal candidate for the post, which came open when Kevin Johnson left to become CEO of Juniper Networks.

New York -- Massive Inc., Microsoft Corp.’s in-game advertising subsidiary, announced a multi-year ad partnership with “Guitar Hero” and “World of Warcraft” game publisher Activision and its corporate sibling Blizzard Entertainment, a company specializing in Web-based multiplayer games, to provide ads for 18 of its titles and for Battle.net, its online game service.

In doing so, it has landed the big kahuna -- J. J. Richards to lead Massive’s overall operations.

As part of the agreement, Massive said Wednesday it will provide dynamic in-game ads for up to 18 Xbox 360 and PC titles, which means the ads change over time and can be targeted based on a gamer’s location, including the latest version of Guitar Hero: World Tour, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, AMAX Racing, and Tony Hawk.

San Francisco -- With the speculative Yahoo deal to strengthen Microsoft’s Internet search offerings now fallen apart at best, Microsoft it seems that is exploring other steps avenues to revitalize its Windows Live Search. The software major is in the process of re-branding, and according to web rumors has allegedly already acquired the domain Kumo.com last week and since then has been also securing all the other variants of Kumo (.net, .jp, .fr and so on).

Group Marketing Manager David Beaupariant is amongst other Microsoft officials proposing that Live services need to be better organized. Microsoft registered the Kumo.com domain name last week, a move that sparked speculation Microsoft is considering re-branding Live Search and currently pointing to Microsoft test servers.

San Francisco -- Just a year after it re-launched the commercial subscription edition of its anti-malware service for individual Windows users -- The Redmond Vole, on Wednesday said it is changing its strategy for offering PC antivirus software, and intends to discontinue its “Windows Live OneCare” subscription-based consumer security suite, instead, the company said it plans to release its free security software, code-named “Morro,” in an effort to persuade more users to secure their PCs against spyware, viruses and other forms of “malware.”

The new service Morro -- will be obtainable in the second half of 2009 and will protect against viruses, spyware, rootkits, and Trojans, the company said in a statement.

The Redmond Company said the service is built around the current anti-malware engine used as part of the Live OneCare service, though with a smaller footprint. “Morro is designed to work with smaller, less powerful computers, which should make it appeal to a wide group of consumers.”

Washington -- In a move that could herald of major changes in the software marketplace, in an attempt to curb down on its duplication, Microsoft last week opened an online store in the U.S, making it the fourth country that offers downloads directly from Microsoft.

Even though many of Microsoft’s products are liberally available to download from pirate networks and often advertised in spam emails, Microsoft has finally pinned a death knell for the practice of selling software on computer discs which buyers install on their machines, the Redmond, Washington-based software giant has opened a Microsoft Store on the Internet.

Steve Ballmer suggested that an online store was in the works a couple of weeks ago during a speech to developers in Australia, but forgot to mention that consumers would have to pay premium if they wanted to help save the planet.

San Francisco -- The Redmond, Wash., software giant Microsoft, reinforced its battle for Internet popularity on Thursday by beefing up its Windows Live suite of online applications with the addition of new communications and social networking tools, with plans to build bridges to Twitter, Flickr and other popular websites.

Microsoft intends to place Windows Live with its widely-used e-mail and messaging services as the center for an increasing number of Internet applications and incorporate new features similar to those found on popular social networks.

An investor in the popular social networking site Facebook Inc., Microsoft has hundreds of millions of e-mail and instant-messaging users. But, like Yahoo, it has yet to tap the underlying social networks that connect those users.

Seattle -- Microsoft was grossly mocked at when it launched Live Search Cashback program back in May, a program that offers incentives to Web surfers who click and buy products from participating Microsoft vendor partners through the Live Search site, the company said Thursday. “Surely, Money has the power to perform wonders!”

On Thursday, Microsoft touted that its Live Search Cashback initiative has seen a 30 percent jump in the number of products listed on the Web site, which is now drawing 4.5 million unique users and 68 million search queries per month.

The company is indicating to a comScore study it commissioned that reports that, among key retail categories in the second quarter, Microsoft had nearly 12% of the commercial transactions on websites in the U.S. and about 13% of total U.S. online spending.

Seattle -- Old foes mending their differences to achieve a common goal: compete with Google the Goliath! In its latest attempts to boost its dwindling share of the online search market, Microsoft Corp. on Monday said that it has reached a Web search deal with Sun Microsystems Inc., under which the software maker will bundle its search technology and other content alongside Sun’s widely used Java application environment.

Under the terms of the deal being announced Monday, users of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser who download Sun’s Java Runtime Environment (JRE) will be provided with an option to also download Microsoft’s MSN Search Toolbar, this will give users direct one-click access to Microsoft’s Live Search site as well as other features from the MSN network, including news, sports, and entertainment content.

New York -- Ever since the departure of a series of high-profile ad exec, including the loss of Kevin Johnson, President of Platforms and Services, and Digital Sales GM Lisa Utzschneider, Microsoft trying to organize all of its myriad digital media assets for clients, Microsoft has lured former Time Inc. sales and marketing veteran Robin Domeniconi to serve as the new VP, U.S., Microsoft Advertising.

Domeniconi’s attachment with print media makes her a somewhat unexpected hire.

Beginning January 1, Domeniconi will assume take the title VP-U.S. advertising sales for the Redmond, Wash.-based software company, she replaces Mike Hard, who left the company over the summer. She will be reporting directly to VP of global sales and marketing Bill Shaughnessy. He had been handling both U.S. and global ad sales efforts since Hard’s departure.

San Francisco -- In a bid to win over future business, software heavyweight Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced a new “BizSpark” project in an effort to help a bunch of fledgling Internet startups and entrepreneurs to use Microsoft technology when launching new companies by providing them with free access to software, tech support and introductions to its business partners around the world.

BizSpark is a global project intended to “accelerate the success of entrepreneurs and early-stage startups” that have been in business for less than three years with less than $1m in annual revenue, using, of course, Microsoft technology, according to the Redmond, Washington-based software colossus.

Mumbai -- Software behemoth Microsoft Corp. has launched its much awaited Live Search Maps for India on Monday. The company, along with the introduction of various navigational features, it also offers users access to detailed listings and street maps for nine major Cities, business listings across 29 major Cities, in addition to providing access to highway networks to 20,000 cities and towns. Microsoft’s Live Map search is powered by the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform, and with map data from Navteq and the Goverment of India.

“Live Search Maps will be accessible on the PC and the mobile, thus ensuring that users get the information they need anytime.”

Live Search Maps for India is on Microsoft’s Live Search Service, thereby allowing users to search for geographical information, places of general interest and business listings both on the PC and Mobile at http://maps.live.co.in and http://m.live.co.in.

In the run-up to its Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft on Friday has launched yet another hybrid product-research lab -- a new initiative to empower the developer community hear about and experience early developer tools that the software giant is working on.

The newly formed DevLabs joins Microsoft’s growing list of online portal where Microsoft plans to share some “early thinking,” which includes Live Labs, Office Labs, adCenter Labs, Startup Labs and allow developers help shape the direction of projects, wrote S. “Soma” Somasegar, the senior vice president of Microsoft's Developer Division, blogged about the new initiative, which focuses on innovation in the developer ranks.

Miami -- Software behemoth Microsoft Corp. has chosen Telefonica, the largest telecommunications provider in Latin America, as an exclusive carrier to provide Voice over IP (VoIP) services to Windows Live Messenger customers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, the United States and Venezuela, the companies jointly said Friday.

Telefonica, which has the largest telecommunications network in Latin America, has branded the service “Voype” has been chosen from a flock of several operators to be Microsoft’s sole provider of Voice over IP (Voype) services in the region.

It will be available in Venezuela beginning Monday, Microsoft said.

Los Angeles -- Microsoft Corp., the world’s biggest software maker, on Thursday said the variety of its software offerings helped its fiscal first-quarter profit edged up 2 percent, sustained through economic uncertainty that beats analysts’ projections as demand for Office and the Xbox video-game console held up amid the economic slowdown.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 47 cents per share on $14.8 billion in revenue. Microsoft posted 48 cents per share.

In the three-month period that ended on Sept. 30, Microsoft’s first-quarter earnings rose 2 percent to $4.37 billion, or 48 cents a share, from 4.29 billion dollars, or 45 cents a share, in the same period last year, the company said today in a statement.

Beijing -- PC owners in China are resentful over Microsoft’s launch of “Windows Genuine Advantage” service, targeting Chinese computer users to ensure they buy genuine software, which turns users’ desktop backgrounds black if the PC’s software cannot be validated, according to the China Daily.

Bloggers in the People’s Republic have swamped blogs and bulletin boards slamming Microsoft to protest against the software maker’s anti-piracy tool that darkens screens if it detects unlicensed copies of Windows, besides, it also violates their right to privacy -- with one lawyer even reporting the firm to security officials for “hacking”.