Windows 7 eclipses early Vista sales

Last update: November 19, 2009 - 8:51 PM

Microsoft Corp. has sold twice as many copies of Windows 7 in its first few weeks than any previous version of the operating system, CEO Steve Ballmer said. Speaking Thursday at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting in Bellevue, Wash., he described Windows 7 reception since its Oct. 22 release as "fantastic," but didn't provide sales figures. In early 2007 the software giant sold about 20 million copies of Windows Vista in its first month on the market, so that pace would indicate that Microsoft has sold about 40 million copies of Windows 7.

Pinnacle paying $1.3 billion for Birds Eye

Packaged foods company Pinnacle Foods Group is buying Birds Eye Foods, the nation's largest frozen food company, for $1.3 billion. As a result, a planned public offering of Birds Eye Foods stock will be withdrawn. Pinnacle, owned by investment company Blackstone Group, said the purchase will strengthen its financial position and array of food products. The company is one of the largest packaged food companies with products such as Duncan Hines, Swanson frozen dinners, Vlasic pickles and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup.

AOL laying off a third of its workers

The struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs -- more than a third of its workforce -- as it prepares to separate from Time Warner. AOL, which now employs about 6,900, is asking for volunteers to accept buyouts. If it falls short of the 2,500 target, it plans layoffs to reach a payroll cut of up to 2,300 positions, a third of its current total. The cuts will leave AOL at less than a quarter the size it was at its peak in 2004, when it had more than 20,000 employees.

Yahoo to put Twitter data in search results

Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently. On Thursday Yahoo began mining the short messages posted on Twitter to find fresher information about hot topics. Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. had earlier announced plans to incorporate Twitter messages into their search results, but Yahoo said it will be the first among them to include such "tweets" on its main search results. The Twitter twist is the latest sign of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo's resolve to spice up its search results even as it prepares to depend on Microsoft for most of the technology powering its search engine. That transition is scheduled to begin next year.

Google to generate YouTube video captions

Google Inc. said Thursday it is beginning to add automatic, machine-generated captions for videos on its YouTube site. The new service is intended to make online videos accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired. Google is tapping into the speech-recognition technology that it uses for its Google Voice call management service to make captions an automatic feature on YouTube.

Tyson Foods names new CEO

Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat maker, has named a new CEO to replace interim head Leland Tollett. Donnie Smith, senior group vice president of poultry and prepared foods, will take over immediately

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