Microsoft has released a new beta of the map function inside its Bing “decision engine.” After only a few minutes with the Bing Maps beta, just like Microsoft promises, I was able to make a decision: Enough already.

Maybe I am non-creative, not enough of a consumer, or not whoever it is that Bing has in mind, but I think this user interface is a disaster. All I want is a map.

(This is a negative review of Bing’s new maps. Want something happier? Read this).

I don’t need a weather forecast. I don’t need a Wikipedia link. I certainly don’t need time-wasting panoramic photography or a bunch of seemingly random photos somehow related to the location. Nor do I need links to mapping applications on other sites.

I also don’t need links to “Popular Categories” like “Apartments,” “Banks,” and “Taverns, Bars & Cocktail Lounges.” I don’t care “What’s Nearby” and won’t click on that, either.

The entire jumble I’ve just described can be found on a Bing Maps beta page. It’s almost like the map is a second thought for Microsoft, after trying to get me to waste time and/or spend money before I even leave my office.

It’s like the product team had a meeting, brainstormed every possible way to “add value” to their maps, and implemented all of them. Hint: Sometimes the less you do, the more value you create.

There are things on the page that I like, well, one thing: Current traffic. Click on that link and traffic conditions appear overlaid on the map. However, the traffic display isn’t nearly as complete as what Google presents on its maps.

Bing has added so much stuff to their beta map service that it’s like they forgot about the map. Sure, the map is there, looks pretty, and does take up most of the page. Still, there is so much extraneous stuff in the sidebar that it distracts from why I am there: Maps and directions.

When I use online mapping on a PC, it’s not because I am a tourist. Generally, I have a specific destination in mind and want to see where I am going before I get in the car. Once in the vehicle, my new Garmin nuvi 1490T GPS takes over and I generally follow its directions.

Once at the location, I use Google Maps on the iPhone to help me get around, and other Google services to help me find things, if a need develops.

Compare and contrast the Bing Maps beta display with Google Maps. The latter is quite barren, just as I like it. When I go to GoogIe Maps it is because I want a map–and that’s what Google gives me. It also gives me reasonably-reliable traffic conditions down to the level of major local streets.

Google Maps are simply a thing of beauty that does a job and gets out of the way. Bing Maps are a cluttered mess. I will not be revisiting Bing Maps and see little reason why a business map user would stay as long as I did to write this piece.

Put simply: Bing is trying too hard. Microsoft is also confusing what Google Earth does, in presenting photos and other information, with what business users need in online mapping.

It’s not often that the two most popular operating systems get major updates so close to each other, so we couldn’t resist throwing them into a cage match together. Already we can hear some of you screaming that Snow Leopard isn’t a major update–we know this one’s personal! But is Windows 7 nothing more than “Vista done right”?

Microsoft’s severe stumble with Vista aside, Windows 7 clearly positions the operating system for the future, with a new look that integrates heavily with the new features. Snow Leopard, too, is geared toward the future, saving you space on your hard drive and including some useful new tricks that Microsoft still lacks.

The judges for this Prizefight hardly shy away from telling you what they think about software, webware, and the operating systems you need to get to all those goodies. Now, everybody’s got their opinion on the great Apple versus Microsoft debate, but for a few minutes, suspend your disbelief as they explain which operating system is better and why.

And so yesterday Microsoft with its Bing search engine and Google with its, er, Google search engine decided separately and individually to forge a deal with Twitter to search for “tweets” in real time.

It’s completely unclear what money, if any, passed between Google and Twitter and Bing and Twitter.
It’s obviously a marriage of convenience.

Although Microsoft was the first to unveil the initiative at the Web 2.0 conference and Google announced its initiative later in the day, representatives from the bigger search engine told ABC News that it was just a coincidence and that the deal had been months in the making.

And so very soon now you’ll be able to use either Bing or Google to search for such tweet like phrases as “I’m boiling the kettle”, or “I’m washing my skivvies” or “I’m searching for boiling the kettle on Google”.

Microsoft is testing a new feature called “Bing & Ping” for its Bing search engine that allows people to share search results on social networks Facebook and Twitter.

According to a post on the Bing community site by Nicholas Kerr, a Bing marketing manager, Bing & Ping is a “potential new feature” for Bing that allows people to click on links below a search result to post the information on social-networking sites or e-mail it to friends.

Kerr illustrated what the feature does with an example of using the Bing “Instant Answers” feature to check the score of a sports game. Under the results for the search requested is a box that includes several links to “Facebook,” “Twitter,” “Email” or “Copy” the information, much like how Web sites already allow people to share news stories and blog posts via social-networking sites by clicking on links to those sites.

By clicking on one of the links, the information will then post on a person’s Facebook site or Twitter, or into an e-mail message.

As described, however, the feature will not extend to Microsoft’s own Windows Live set of services and instant-messaging client, an omission some people noted in comments responding to the blog post. It also seemed an unusual move for Microsoft, which tends to prioritize its own technology over competitors’ offerings when introducing new features to its existing products.

“What about sending an IM?” asked one user who called himself “Ali.” “I think it’s great that you’re embracing all the other Web services out there, but how can Microsoft expect other Web sites/businesses to embrace their online services when Microsoft’s own properties often don’t. Be great to see a little more integration.”

Kerr’s blog post did not say when and if the feature would indeed be a part of the search engine, but advised people to become a fan of Bing on its Facebook page, where the company plans to post an invitation to test the feature.

He also did not respond publicly in the post to comments about if Microsoft would consider integrating the feature into its Windows Live services.

Microsoft introduced Bing as a rebranding and update of its Live Search engine in June, and so far the engine has gotten positive reviews and has helped Microsoft increase its share against Google in number of search-engine queries. Early numbers have shown Bing is taking more share away from Yahoo’s search engine than Google’s, which remains the dominant favorite for most search queries.

Not long after Bing’s release, Microsoft and Yahoo struck a deal in which Yahoo will give up its own search engine research and business to use Bing as the underlying engine for Yahoo Search.

Software giant Microsoft Corp is apologising for altering a photo on its Web site to change the race of one of the people shown in the picture.
A photo on the Seattle-based company’s US Web site shows two men, one Asian and one black, and a white woman seated at a conference room table.

But on the Web site of Microsoft’s Polish business unit, the black man’s head has been replaced with that of a white man. The colour of his hand remains unchanged.

The photo editing sparked criticism online. Some bloggers said Poland’s ethnic homogeneity may have played a role in changing the photo.

“We are looking into the details of this situation,” Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos said in a statement Tuesday.

“We apologise and are in the process of pulling down the image.”