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Microsoft has in Japan, combined Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Live OneCare in one eye-popping hot pink box.
As a special promotion for the Japanese market, an upgrade version of Windows Vista Home Premium is bundled with a year’s subscription of Windows Live OneCare and a copy of a Vista tips and tricks book. The pink flowers are called sakura (cherry blossoms) and this is being released for the Sakura or ‘Cherry Blossom’ season, which is a BIG event in Japan.
Image: Box Shot
View: istartedsomething

University of Pennsylvania tech staffers are advising faculty and students not to upgrade to the new service pack for Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system.
Windows Vista SP1 Is having a tough time getting into the Ivy League.
University of Pennsylvania tech staffers are advising faculty and students not to upgrade their computers to the new service pack for Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Windows Vista operating system.
The school’s Information Systems & Computing department said it will support Vista SP1 on new systems where it’s preinstalled, but added that it “strongly recommends that all other users adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude,” according to a newly published department bulletin.
Penn’s ISC department advised “continuing to use previous versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista until after the initial bugs in SP1 are identified and fixed.”
Vista SP1 users have reported numerous glitches since the operating system became widely available on Tuesday. [Informationweek]

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MicroTechXP wishes you happy Easter from all of our staff. We hope that you all had a merry day and found all your eggs in your egg hunts! Here is a couple just for you.

In what may be an unprecedented decision, Microsoft said Thursday that it plans to lower the retail prices for several flavors of Windows Vista.
For those in the U.S., Microsoft is cutting prices only on the higher-end versions of Vista, and only for the upgrade version used to move from an earlier copy of Vista. The suggested price for Vista Ultimate drops to $219 from $299, while Home Premium falls to $129, from $159.
Other developed markets will also see price cuts, while in emerging markets, Microsoft is eliminating the distinction between full and upgrade versions of Home Basic and Home Premium as it attempts to convince more users there to use genuine software.
Analysts were surprised by Microsoft’s move, are you? One of my complaints about Vista is the price, finally they are doing something about it, no matter how small the cut. [PCWizKid]

While we chew on that incoming Metal Gear Solid 4 80GB PS3 (with DualShock 3) in the States, Europe has a pair of SKUs of its own to look forward to. Sony’s hitting with a “movie bundle” on March 19th that includes Spider-Man 3, 300 and Casino Royale on Blu-ray, along with a 40GB PS3, all for the regular €399 price. If you can wait until March 29th, for the same price you can nab a 40 gigger bundled with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Both bundles promise to be quite appealing, but apparently neither come packing HD cables, which could be a bit of a hangup for those ready to make the Blu-ray plunge. [Engadget]

With the silver PlayStation 3 console scheduled for release in Japan during the month of March, Sony Computer Entertainment America has come forward announcing that their is no plans to bring the console to North America. This will probably come to no surprise to most of us, considering Japan seems to always get the bountiful colors of consoles made available only to them.

Though there are some places where you can get your PlayStation 3 customized here in North America whether it be online or someone you know, we feel maybe Sony should start acknowledging our desire for different colored consoles.

If something changes with this, we’ll let you know as quickly as possible. Sorry for those who were anticipating the possibility of release here in NA. [PSU]

According to reports from IGN, Sony Japan will soon be giving the Playstation 3 its own version of the Playstation 2: Greatest Hits called Playstation 3 the Best. IGN’s source, an unnamed Japanese online retailer, is listing Resistance: Fall of Man, FolksSoul,  Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Gundam: Target in Sight, and Ridge Racer 7 as the first five titles available. They’ll be going for 3,800 yen which translates to about $35 US. The first line up of games should hit retail stores on March 19. No official word yet from Sony Japan on the subject but I expect we’ll hear something soon, hopefully followed swiftly by an announcement of a similar nature for the US.

News Source: PS3 Games For Cheap in Japan @ IGN

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has issued a statement confirming that the company has no plans to release a 120GB PlayStation 3 console in the United Kingdom.
The announcement comes following a slew of Internet rumours claiming that the North American branch of the electronics giant plans to discontinue the 80GB PS3 in favour of a higher end model.
However, speaking to Gamesindustry.biz this week, a spokesperson for SCEE stated, “We do not currently have any plans to release a 120GB PlayStation 3 in the UK.”
Despite this, speculation is rife that preparation on the introduction of a 120GB model is imminent, as reported yesterday via Internet blog website, Ars Technica. [PSU]

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you had a great year and if you did not you have next year to look forward too! As this year comes to a close, I wish you a good one and a good next year!

Happy Holidays from MicroTechXP! We wish you stay safe and get lots of presents on Christmas! What are you guys going to be doing today/tomorrow? Post here in the comments or visit the MicroTechXP Forum Discussion to diccuss this!