Whither Winpads?

ZDnet’s Mary Jo Foley tries her hand at translating from Ballmerese into English: She thinks the Windows-based slates that are due this year are a stopgap measure while Microsoft gets a serious response to the iPad together for release next year. Sounds logical…

Inside Internet Explorer 8 Privacy

The Wall Street Journal’s privacy series (call it “Cookiegate”) continues with a fascinating look at Internet Explorer 8. According to reporter Nick Wingfield, IE’s designers initially wanted anti-third-party-cookie settings to be the default, but Microsoft executives involved in online advertising smashed that notion.

BlackBerry Event Live Coverage

Quick reminder: RIM’s BlackBerry event–which will feature its new phone and OS (I hope, I hope)–starts in a bit over 24 hours. I’ll be providing live coverage from New York–join me!

Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Beyond

They’re some of the most-used software in history. Some of them were written by legendary techies, such as Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak. They’re a tradition that’s lasted for decades and shows no sign of ending. And yet they get no respect–in part because very few people stop to give them much thought at all.

I speak of the little games that come with operating systems–Windows Solitaire being the most obvious example–and it’s time they got their day in the sun. Benj Edwards has rounded up twenty of them, including ones you’ve played (I still miss Windows Reversi) and ones I suspect you’ve never heard about (Gorillas?).

View The Great Operating System Games slideshow.

The Great Operating System Games

Since the dawn of computers, games have been an entertaining way to demonstrate a system’s capabilities. Manufacturers like DEC distributed them as early as the 1960s: They were as powerful sales tools with universal appeal. The tradition continued with some of the earliest PCs. Simple (but often addictive) games are bundled with operating systems to this day.

Here’s a look at notable games that have shipped with OSes through the ages–including ones written by a few of the most famous programmers of all time.