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MS denies Vista downgrade fee

Martin Czernowalow
By Martin Czernowalow, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 23 Feb 2009

MS denies Vista downgrade fee

Microsoft last week rebutted allegations that it charges users to downgrade from the Windows Vista operating system to the older XP software, reports Computerworld.

Complainant Emma Alvarado, of Los Angeles, contends she was unfairly charged a $59.25 fee to downgrade a new Lenovo laptop from Vista to XP.

A clause in the Windows licence allows users in certain cases to replace newer versions of Windows with an older edition without having to buy a second licence.

Jobs to miss annual Apple meeting

Apple will hold its annual meeting this week without CEO Steve Jobs, his first absence since he reclaimed leadership of the company more than a decade ago, says Bloomberg.com.

The 25 February meeting - a day after Jobs' 54th birthday - will give shareholders the opportunity to question executives and Apple's directors, who have remained silent about the CEO's health since he went on medical leave last month.

It is also earlier in the year than usual; for the past 10 years, Apple has held the meeting in March, April or May.

iPhone apps that didn't make App Store

Apple has irked more than a few iPhone app developers by rejecting their creations for inclusion in the App Store, sometimes for reasons that seem to have little sense, according to PC World.

The company won't reveal much about its mysterious and often seemingly-arbitrary process (representatives didn't respond to multiple requests for comment), but PC World had no problem tracking down developers whose apps had been snubbed.

A 'throw shoes at Bush' app, a breast-jiggler and a naughty entry from the South Park guys are some of the iPhone apps that Apple unceremoniously denied shelf space.

Yahoo seeks senior execs

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has commissioned searches for several high-level executives amid a management shuffle at the Internet company, a person familiar with the matter said, reports Bloomberg.

The reorganisation would be Bartz's first significant shakeup to bolster Yahoo's position in the online advertising market after she took over as CEO from co-founder Jerry Yang last month.

Yahoo is seeking new ways to revive growth under Bartz, the former CEO of Autodesk. Yahoo faces a slowdown in the online advertising market at the same time as Google steps up competition in areas such as graphical-display ads. Microsoft is also going after Yahoo's employees, hiring at least three Internet-search executives since November.

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