ZDNet Must Read

• The Metro hater's guide to customizing Windows 8

  If you hate the new Metro style Start screen and want to use the Windows 8 Consumer Preview mostly with desktop apps, try my five-minute makeover.

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• For Microsoft, being underdog is the perfect antitrust defense

  By Ed Bott | May 16, 2012, 5:59am PDT

  Mozilla and Google have complained that Microsoft is competing unfairly with its decision to block their desktop browsers in Windows RT. But this isn’t 1998, and Microsoft can make a strong case in its own defense based on its own weak market share.

• Windows malware: are you safer today than you were 10 years ago?

  By Ed Bott | May 14, 2012, 5:00am PDT

  In 2002, after a series of widespread, high-profile, and highly embarrassing Windows-related security incidents, Bill Gates wrote his now famous “Trustworthy Computing” memo. So what’s happened in the intervening 10 years? Plenty. Take a trip with me down bad memory lane…

• Safari's 'disable Flash' feature does less than it promises

  By Ed Bott | May 12, 2012, 9:00am PDT

  This week Apple rolled out a new version of Safari and announced that the update will “disable out-of-date versions of Adobe Flash Player.” Too bad the actual update doesn’t do what it promises.

• When I say 'virus,' you know exactly what I mean

  By Ed Bott | May 10, 2012, 6:00pm PDT

  Discussions of malware have their own equivalent to Godwin’s Law: As the conversation grows longer, the probability that someone will derail the discussion by arguing over the meaning of ‘virus’ approaches near-certainty.

• Mozilla and Google accuse Microsoft of unfair browser competition

  By Ed Bott | May 10, 2012, 5:59am PDT

  Microsoft will restrict third-party browsers like Firefox and Chrome to the Metro sandbox in Windows 8 for ARM devices, while treating Internet Explorer 10 as an “intrinsic feature” of Windows. Mozilla and its primary backer, Google, say that’s not fair.

• What Microsoft can teach Apple about security response

  By Ed Bott | May 8, 2012, 4:43pm PDT

  Microsoft just released seven security updates to fix 23 vulnerabilities in Windows and other products. In February, Apple released a massive update that covered 51 vulnerabilities and also introduced an embarrassing security flaw. The contrast is striking.

• How much do DVD and digital media playback features really cost?

  By Ed Bott | May 7, 2012, 2:33pm PDT

  The amounts required to license digital media decoders on Windows PCs seem like chump change. But multiply those pennies times hundreds of millions of PCs, and the bill for Microsoft and its PC OEM partners could be as much as $800 million per year. Who pays, and who gets paid?

• If VLC can ship a free DVD player, why can't Microsoft?

  By Ed Bott | May 5, 2012, 12:00pm PDT

  Microsoft’s decision to remove support for playing DVD movies in Windows 8 has caused some confusion. If the VLC media player can provide DVD support for free, why can’t Microsoft? For starters, Microsoft isn’t French.

• Microsoft serves subpoenas on Google to disrupt criminal botnet

  By Ed Bott | May 4, 2012, 9:34am PDT

  New details have emerged in a massive lawsuit by Microsoft and the banking industry to take down a global botnet based on the Zeus Trojan. Ironically, the leak occurred when Google exercised its privacy policy to notify the suspects.

• Microsoft: Media Center not part of 'the future of entertainment'

  By Ed Bott | May 3, 2012, 4:45pm PDT

  A new blog post from Microsoft fills in details about how Media Center will fit in Windows 8, as an extra-cost option. And it’s pretty clear that Media Center is not part of “the future of entertainment in Windows.”