11 year old Brendan spent over ?1000, unnoticed my his mother, who blames not having online banking and being busy dealing with letters about bouncing direct debits for not realising what what happening with her account. It wasn?t until she contacted the bank due to her card being declined that it came to light Brendan had cleared her out.

Neither Microsoft or Barclays accept liability over the amount paid out on costumes, weapons and games by the youngster, and his mother plans to seek legal advice.

As Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 share much of the same codebase (on x64 versions in particular) the service pack applies to both operating systems. There are features and fixes though that are specific to each operating system..

Headline Windows 7 related changes..

• Federation services improvement ? namely those supporting WS-federation passive profile protocol.
• Improved HDMI and audio performance ? general issues related to performance now fixed.
• Printing Behaviour ? specifically XPS documents

Headline Windows Server 2008 R2 related changes..

• Dynamic Memory ? HYPERV related improvement allowing more effective use of memory between Virtual machines. Memory can be pooled and dynamically applied to VMs as required without any service interruption. This new feature allows around 20 – 25% more consolidation of VM?s due to the memory enhancements (assuming the rest of your resource can cope).
• Remote FX ? This is a new set of user experience capabilities allowing for an improved and more media rich user experience through remote and session applications. Remote FX can be delivered through a number of thin and thick clients, things like Silverlight and flash can be delivered much better using this new technology. Remote FX also adds USB support for mainstream items like drives, cameras and PDA?s.
• Direct Access ? This isn?t a new feature as it was already included in Windows 2008 but a number of improvements have been made that make the technology a little more scalable.

There?s much more of course but I?d be blogging all day so I?ll leave it there, you get the idea. Anyway, with Service Pack 2 already underway (currently at over 100 updates post SP1).. by the time i finish we?ll be looking at the next service pack.

The New York Times has reported that Ballmer will show off several devices made by Dell, Samsung and several other manufacturers. But the most intriguing rumour is in regards to a new layered interface for Windows 7. An insider said the following: "people familiar with this device said it will run the Windows 7 operating system when in landscape mode, but will also have a layered interface that will appear when the keyboard is hidden and the device is held in a portrait mode. "

The rumoured Samsung device is said to be the size of the iPad but not as thin as it will have a unique slide out keyboard. This will contrast the iPad that only has a virtual keyboard.

There is also mention of Steve Ballmer Will be showing off Windows 8. But no hints have been made as to what we may see from W8 if it is shown off. So, the rumour mill has aimed high for Microsoft, let see if they can live up to it.

Microsoft?s original sales predictions were for around 3 million sold by Christmas. But their current figures indicate they will go well beyond before the years end. Microsoft’s Don Mattrick said earlier this month, that the company hoped to sell 5 million worldwide. Which looks like it might be doable.

In related news, analysts have concluded that the stock shortages announced by Sony and Microsoft are likely to be a hoax. Analyst Michael Pachter believes the companies are trying to build up hype around their products. The UK has not seen any shortages of either consoles.

Zheng claims these fees are adding AU$1 for every app bought. The user is unaware of the charge until they check their credit card bill. The issue seems to be caused by the use of Microsoft?s Asia Pacific HO in Singapore to process purchases, thus making the transactions an international one.

If you look at the Android market, app purchases are converted to local currencies by Google, the users credit card provider then determines the exchange rate. iDevice users pay about AU$0.20 on a US$0.99 app and AU$1 on a US$2.99 app. Around 7 billion apps have been download from the App Store as of 20/10/10, so those small extra charges mount up to a sizable windfall for Apple.

WP7 user in Australia have been advised to use carrier billing rather than credit card. Zheng has asked Microsoft for a response, but is still waiting. It?s not the first time Microsoft has been criticised for billing issues. Aussies were again paying more. Nearly 20% more than US users for Xbox Live Microsoft points,  the currency of the online gaming service.

Thestreet has reported that Microsoft sold 40,000 units in the day it was released through AT&T and T-mobile in the US. A market research source who tracks phone sales has come up with the numbers. Microsoft however, estimated that they would sell 3.5 million devices in the last quarter of this year but the current numbers are far from on track for this.

In the US the sales seem to be almost as weak as the sales were for the Microsoft Kin, which only sold 10,000 units. However these sales figures don?t include the 87,000 units allocated to every Microsoft employee or the 25,000 that Dell are swapping their Blackberry?s for.

It might not be a great first day, but there?s still time and Christmas is hurtling towards us. Plus the US has Black Friday to come. But with claims from Google that they sell 200,000 Androids a day and that Apple sell 260,000 iPhones a day, Microsoft have allot of catching up to do.

Ont he 7th of November it was announced that Kinect had been successfully hacked. It was inevitable that a hack would eventually be found. But no one really banked on it being found so soon, just three days after it?s release in the US.

Microsoft was disgruntled to say the least when they learned Adafruit was offering a reward. A reward that was raised from $1000 to $2000 in response to Microsoft’s negative reaction. Microsoft said, when speaking with CNET that: ?Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products, With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant."

Senior editor for Make magazine and a part investor in the reward, Phillip Torrone said the reason for putting up a reward is because "Its amazing hardware that shouldn’t just be locked up for Xbox 360. Its ‘radar camera’ being able to get video and distance as a sensor input from commodity hardware is huge."

As with the Wii remote, Torrone believes the Kinect could offer allot to education and robotics.

A YouTube post shows the desktop control of Kinect, though it shows control of the motor which is said to be the easiest component to control. So, what will Microsoft do now.

Reuters.com reported that Ballmer plan?s to sell as much as 75 million shares before the end of the year. Could this be an indication of a plan to leave Microsoft?

Ballmer has denied the rumours that he may be leaving in a quote on Microsoft’s website: "I am excited about our new products and the potential for our technology to change people’s lives, and I remain fully committed to Microsoft and its success."

Even after Friday?s whopping sale, Ballmer still holds about 359 million shares in the company. Which is about 4.2%, his stocks are currently worth about $9.6 billion at $26.85 each. This is the first time in 7 years that Ballmer has sold any stocks, and he plans to sell up to 18% by the end of the year.

Executives of public companies can not sell their stocks before or after quarterly earning announcements, all sales must also be publicly disclosed. Ballmer insists that this is a purely financial move, which sghould save him $100 million in taxes this year.

It would be a huge blow to Microsoft if Ballmer were to leave, but may open the way to Steven Sinofsky.

According to computerworld.com Microsoft now claim that Windows Phone 7 "requires up to 20% fewer steps to perform common tasks," which is based on internal research. This claim backs up the concept that WP7 platform is a "glance and go" OS, not a "stop and stare".

So, you can see where the will be going with their advertising campaign for WP7. WP7, the most efficient mobile OS out there. With a budget of nearly $500 million, we can expect a WP7 battering from the media.