PC Mag has a hands on preview of the newest update for XBox Live, updating the dashboard as well as adding a few new features. Definitely some cool stuff being added. I don’t like the new interface, as I’ve just gotten used to the current one!

Scheduled to debut in November, ESPN on Xbox Live (included for free with a Gold membership) will feature more than 3,500 live and on-demand sporting events streamed from ESPN3.com. The sporting content will include everything from college football and basketball to MLB to NBA to international soccer.

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Microsoft has confirmed that you do NOT need to be running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to run Internet Explorer 9. Personally, I believe that if you upgrade to IE9, you should be knowledgeable enough to stay updated with the newest Service Packs.

I want to follow up to let you know that the

The time is finally coming where you can get some hands on experience with Microsoft’s new phone operating system, Windows Phone 7. October 21st is the date that they have set to officially launch the devices.

According to sources familiar with the software giants plans, Microsoft will hold several launch events worldwide on October 21 to introduce its latest Windows Phone 7 handsets. Microsoft is planning to hold an open house event in New York City on October 11 where it plans to show off some of the new devices. Devices will hit retail shelves on October 21 in the UK, France, Germany Italy and Spain. Neowin

If you are a TechNet or MSDN subscriber, you’ll notice that you are only alloted 2 keys maximum (or 5, depending on the level of subscription) for most products, instead of the original 10. Not so bad, but even Microsoft’s own employees thought it was a system bug, rather than intentional.

However, MS made the switcheroo without first informing its subscribers of the tweak to its TechNet small print. Product keys are used by Microsoft and other software vendors to certify that a user’s copy of a particular program is genuine, and they typically require online activation.

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As part of the keynote yesterday for Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft showed off some of it’s new Bing homepage, which will debut in preview form in about a month. Animated backgrounds, deeper search results. All done with HTML5 and web coding, no Flash or Silverlight.

Those wanting a sleek, inexpensive mouse, look no further. Although it won’t be released until March, the Russian site TheVista has leaked pics of the new mouse utilizing a blue laser. And at only $20, it won’t break the bank. Hopefully, it will be available in other colors, as well!

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The more I see of Windows Phone 7, the more I can see my mistake. I’ve said that it may be an issue of too little, too late. I think I may be hugely mistaken! With all the images, videos and news lately, I’m very impressed. Netflix, HTC Sense UI, Everything! I’m going to have to eat my words, people!

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In a typical “Counting your eggs before they are hatched” situation, Microsoft is predicting that they will sell over 3 Million Kinect accessories this holiday season. While I’ve always liked the add on’s that system makers come out with (I’ve bought several on release: Sega CD, Sega 32X, Sega Power Converter… Mostly Sega!), I’ve never seen an add on sell so quickly. We’ll see, though.

We’ve also done our own research. We believe this will be the biggest launch in our history, for Xbox. We will sell more Kinect sensors than we did [systems] at Xbox 360 launch.

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The nearly decade old operating system from Microsoft is not going to get the newest version of their newest browser, Internet Explorer 9. There are many reasons for this, and it is going to anger many people that don’t want to upgrade to the new Windows 7. For some, updating from Internet Explorer 6 is a challenge, much less a whole new operating system. I still love my old DOS programs and games, but I learned to live with a UI after Windows 95 up until now. Sometimes it’s ok to let go!

Much of the talk yesterday around IE 9 was about moving the browser out of the way of the website, with features like “jump lists” and the “pinning” of websites to the desktop. These features, along with hardware acceleration using DirectX 10, would be unavailable on Windows XP. As Microsoft showed during a reviewers workshop yesterday much of Internet Explorer 9 has been rebuilt from the ground up. If this means that we don’t have to deal with the clunky IE of the past from now on, so be it. Our only lament is that a better, standards-based version of IE will never happen on XP and for now, XP isn’t going anywhere fast.

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As expected, Halo Reach was a hit on launch day. I don’t know if anyone expected these numbers, but WOW. It pulled $200 Million ($200,000,000) on launch day alone. The next few weeks will bring even more. I’ve never really been a Halo fan, but it does have quite the following! I’d like to pick it up just to give an unbiased review (well, I’m going in a bit negative already, but I’ll give it equal treatment!), but I’m probably going to rent it or borrow it to do so.

Spencer said the $200 million figure made “Reach” the biggest launch of any game or movie this year. “Halo 3” garnered more than $300 million globally in its first week. First-day global sales for “Halo 3” were not available.

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