The search deal which was announced in July of 2009 while, seeking closure and approval from both the EC and USDOJ in early 2010.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will provide Yahoo! with the same search result listings available through Bing, and Yahoo! will innovate around those listings by integrating rich Yahoo! content, enhanced listings with conveniently organized information about key topics, and tools to tailor the experience for Yahoo! users.

Yahoo! will focus on providing a compelling and innovative search experience that allows people to find and explore the things, people and sites that matter most to them. While Microsoft will provide the underlying platform, both companies will continue to create different, compelling and evolving experiences, competing for audience, engagement and clicks.

Microsoft and Yahoo! are expected to begin the implementation process in the coming days and will involve transitioning Yahoo!’s algorithmic and paid search platforms to Microsoft, with Yahoo! becoming the exclusive relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers globally. Once the transition is complete, the companies’ unified search marketplace will deliver improved innovation for consumers, better volume and efficiency  for advertisers and better monetization opportunities for web publishers through a platform that will contain larger pool of search queries.

During the transition, Both companies will begin working closely with most partners well in advance of their planned transition to the Microsoft platform and will communicate important information to partners about the transition periodically via phone, e-mail, webinars and a newly-created Web site at www.searchalliance.com.

The companies will begin the transition of algorithmic search and have set a goal of completing that effort in at least the United States by the end of 2010. The companies also hope to make significant progress transitioning U.S. advertisers and publishers prior to the 2010 holiday season, but may wait until 2011 if they determine that the transition will be more effective after the holiday season. All global customers and partners are expected to be transitioned by early 2012.

“This breakthrough search alliance means Yahoo! can focus even more on our own innovative search experience,” said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz. “Yahoo! gets to do what we do best: combine our science and technology with compelling content to build personally relevant online experiences for our users and customers.”

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer concurred with Bartz’s assessment.

“Although we are just at the beginning of this process, we have reached an exciting milestone,” Ballmer said. “I believe that together, Microsoft and Yahoo! will promote more choice, better value and greater innovation to our customers as well as to advertisers and publishers.”

“Today, I’m proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.”

The software was build from the ground up and will provide a new look and feel. Not only has the interface changed, but also the code it is built up has changed as well.

Microsoft says that every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for search providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone.

The start screen will feature a tile interface that have the ability to be updated in real time. This will allow for a living interface that is no longer static. For instance, you could set up a “picture of the day” and have it appear as a live tile, no longer will you have to go the the web site to view the image, the idea is that you’ll be able to get to all of your information from the home screen.

The tiles are built around six core “hubs” and in each hub, will have a dedicated base of information depending on the theme. The hubs that will debut on the platform are People, Pictures, Games, Music+Video, Marketplace, and Office.

People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.

Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection.

Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.

 Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user’s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video. Users can turn their media experience into a social one with Zune Social on a PC and share their media recommendations with like-minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.

 Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.

Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world’s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents. With the additional power of Outlook Mobile, users stay productive and up to date while on the go.

Also of note, Windows Phone 7 Series devices will be touch enabled, supporting the same functionality of Windows 7 on the desktop.

Microsoft also announced a number of partners that will include Windows Phone 7 Series in their devices. AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc.

In addition, the company also said the first phones will be available before the end of the year, stating that they will be available before the holiday season of 2010.

Windows Mobile Starter Edition will be targeted at OEMs building devices for new and emerging markets. The software will be based on the current Windows Mobile 6 and come in two versions, one with Office Mobile and one without. Windows Mobile Starter Edition will also support 2G (GSM), 2.5G (EDGE, GPRS) and CDMA (Revision A, EV-DO Revision A) or TD-SCDMA. It is unclear as to whether 3G (GSM) will be supported.

The company is looking to broaden Windows Mobile licensing to a wider audience. Microsoft recently announced a partnership with MediaTek, the Taiwanese chipset vendor to drive growth in smart phone sales for emerging markets over the next 12 months. MediaTek has worked with Microsoft to couple its hardware with the Windows Mobile 6 software.

Microsoft will introduce the Windows Mobile 7 Series of devices during a press conference held by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at Mobile World Congress 2010.

We will have all the latest news coming from Mobile World Congress 2010, including CEO Steve Ballmer’s press conference highlights and more.

In January, the company announced its pricing structure for Office 2010. The professional edition, $499 boxed, in all Office 2010 will be released in at least five different versions, including a free version that includes Microsoft Word and Excel. However, the free version of Office 2010 comes with its limitations and includes advertisements. The Office 2010 editions will consist of Starter, Home and Student, Home and Business, Professional and Professional Academic.

Also, Microsoft also revealed that customers who purchase Office 2007 between march 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010 will receive a free upgrade copy to Office 2010.

Microsoft is calling the update Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7, this update  will be delivered worldwide via the Windows Genuine web site on February 16, 2010 and then as an optional update “Important” update on Windows Update on February 23, 2010. The update affects all versions of Windows 7, but will be delivered to customers using Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate first since those versions are the versions that experience the most piracy.

Windows Activation Technologies Update will patch over 70 new activation hacks that have arisen since last year. If a system has been activated illegally using such a method, this update will disable the offending code, trigger the built-in activation code in Windows 7, and then constantly monitor the system looking for new bypass attempts.

Windows Activation Technologies Update examines the licensing files in Windows 7 to determine whether any have been tampered with. If not, nothing happens, and the update wont change any thing.

If files have been tampered with, the update will retrieve known good from known good file store and patch them. The update will then automatically reconnect back to the activation and validation servers at Microsoft (or, in a corporation, internally) every 90 days to check for new signatures, much the same way as anti-virus software works.

Occasionally, an activation hack may prevent the Windows Activation Technologies Update from replacing tampered files. In such a case, the update will run a check every 7 days until it is able to patch the tampered files.

"Every single indication we have regarding the reports we’ve seen are simply Windows 7 reporting the state of the battery using this new feature and we’re simply seeing batteries that are not performing above the designated threshold," read that February 8 posting on the Engineering Windows 7 blog. "It should stand to reason that some customers would be surprised to see this warning after upgrading a PC that was previously operating fine. Essentially the battery was degrading but it was not evident to the customer until Windows 7 made this information available."

"Microsoft has been made aware that some computers running Windows 7 receive a warning that the battery needs to be replaced when the battery is new or in good health," according to a Microsoft spokesperson. "In conjunction with our hardware partners, we are investigating this issue."

Also, the February 8 posting on the Engineering Windows 7 blog suggested that OEM engineers had concurred with Microsoft on the issue stating: "Our OEM partners have utilized their telemetry (call center, support forums, etc.) and have let us know that they are seeing no activity beyond what they expect. It is worth noting that PC manufacturers work through battery issues with customers and have a clear view of what is to be expected both in general and with respect to specific models, timelines and batteries."

In separate conversations with OEMs made it seem as though the investigations are still ongoing.

Some customers are reporting that different battery run times depending on their model, usage, and PC settings. Microsoft’s hardware partners are continuing to work with the company to investigate the issues reported.

As mentioned in our previous article last week, the Windows 7-related battery criticism extends back to June 2009 on the TechNet forum, with the issue apparently occurring on a number of laptop models.

"Upgrading to Windows 7 my 6-cell battery that used to last about 2 hours when unplugged when I had Vista now lasts less than 10 minutes," wrote one poster on Feb. 5.

"After I upgraded my Toshiba Satellite P-305 from Vista to Windows 7, my battery life went down to about 25 minutes, and asked me to replace my battery," wrote another on the same date. "I bought a 9-cell replacement battery but the message persists and the new battery will not hold a charge."

Some commenters on TechNet suggested that the battery-life issues could be related to a buggy driver, something that Microsoft’s engineering team attempted to dispel in its Feb. 8 blog posting: "While the information regarding battery status is provided read-only to the operating system through ACPI, we performed a thorough code-review and verified that there exists no code that is capable of modifying battery status information."

Those experiencing power issues with Windows 7 despite a new battery are encouraged to reach out to the engineering team either through the TechNet forum, via the Engineering Windows 7 blog or else the Microsoft Answers Forum.

"We are investigating this issue in conjunction with our hardware partners," a Microsoft statement reads. "The warning received in Windows 7 uses firmware information to determine if battery replacement is needed. We are working with our partners to determine the root cause and will update with information and guidance as it becomes available."

According to the complaints, some laptops running Windows XP or Windows Vista suddenly exhibited much poorer battery life once upgraded or migrated to Windows 7 than usual. Some people also claim that the battery life issue is irreversible, stating: Once it happens, even reverting to Windows XP or Windows Vista does not fix the issues.

However, Microsoft says it is most likely a software issue: it suspects that the part of Windows 7 that probes the system for battery life is simply misfiring and causing the system to believe that is running out of battery life much earlier than is really the case.

While looking through the forum, it appears that the problems affect a wide range of notebooks from companies such as Acer, Dell, HP, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.

"Internet Explorer was one of the vectors" used in the attacks that Google disclosed earlier this week, Microsoft said in a statement. "To date, Microsoft has not seen widespread customer impact, rather only targeted and limited attacks exploiting IE 6," the statement said.

The vulnerability affects Internet Explorer (IE) 6, 7 and 8 on Windows 7, Windows Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008 R2, as well as IE 6 Service Pack 1 on Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Microsoft noted in an advisory posted Thursday afternoon.

Source code was stolen from some of the 30 Silicon Valley companies targeted in the attacks, according to sources. "It could also be possible to display specially crafted Web content using banner advertisements or other methods to deliver Web content to affected systems," Microsoft said in the statement.

Microsoft is working on a fix but could not say whether it would address the issue as part of its next Patch Tuesday scheduled for February 9 or before.

Keeping the IE Internet zone security setting on "high" will protect users from the vulnerability by prompting before running ActiveX Controls and Active Scripting, Microsoft said. Customers should also enable Data Execution Prevention (DEP), which helps mitigate online attacks, the company said. DEP is enabled by default in IE 8 but must be manually turned on in earlier versions.

As many of you know, the company will be releasing the final product sometime in the first quarter of 2010. The Office 2010 beta is generating record interest and use, surpassing the previous Office 2007 beta download rate. In just seven weeks, more than two million people around the world have downloaded and are using the Office 2010 beta. To get a better appreciation for that number, it’s a rate of more than 40,000 downloads per day.

Office 2010 will be offered in four versions, to make it easier to choose a version of Office that’s best for you – Office Home and Business, Office Professional, Office Home and Student, and Office Professional Academic. Here’s a chart that outlines the features and pricing for each version.

In addition, the company will be offering a “Family Pack” for Office Home and Student, this offering will be a limited time offer as was the Family Pack for Windows 7 Home Premium. The Office Home and Student Family Pack will allow users to install the product on up to 3 PCs in the home.

Also, Purchase rights for Office Home and Business, Office Professional, and Office Professional Academic boxed product allow for usage on two of your PCs. Lastly, the Product Key Card is valid for a single installation of the product.

A new feature of Office Outlook 2010 is the Social Connector, which will be available early next year, The Outlook Social Connector brings business and social networking to the work force. People already spend a large portion of their day in Outlook, with most people receiving over 93 e-mail messages per day. Outlook Social Connector lets them connect with people faster, without switching programs or changing their routine.

The Outlook Social Connector will enable both business and social networking by integrating with SharePoint 2010 at beta and Windows Live at launch. For developers starting today, the Outlook Social Connector SDK is also available for download on MSDN. The SDK can be used to easily build connectors to third-party social networks. 

You may download the Office 2010 beta in either 32-bit or 64-bit, to download the beta, you will need to have Java installed on your PC.

Download: Office 2010 Public Beta