If you happen to inhabit the same deadly underground hacking world (forum) as the creator of the "Conficker" virus that's been wreaking havoc on PCs since last October and even left France vulnerable to aerial invasion, you might be in luck.

Microsoft has put up a $250,000 reward for information leading the the capture of the creator of the worm/virus, hoping that some of the man's internet friends might be a bit keen on grassing him up and bringing him to justice in return for more than enough money to buy a gaming rig and a Vaio P for on-the-go.

"People who write this malware have to be held accountable," George Stathakopulos from Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group said, rather worryingly, adding that "whoever wrote this caused significant pain to our customers and we are sending a message that we will do everything we can to help with your arrest."

Arrest. Then trial. Then EXECUTION by lethal injection.

Meanwhile, on the side of RIGHT and JUST and HONOURABLE, Microsoft has revealed it's planning a move into the retail world - and will be opening a worldwide chain of shops to flog PCs and software.

We cannot wait to go inside a Microsoft Store. It'll be like an Apple store, only with geekier, more dishevelled staff and much more swearing at crashed display machines.

(Via BBC)

Oh dear. It's the move that everyone was hoping Microsoft wasn't going to make, but it looks like it's going to make it. Seems that Windows 7 will come in a bunch of versions - much like Vista - titled Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate.

The news surfaced in a screenshot on a Chinese blog depicting Beta build 7025. Most people are running 7000 - which is the version currently (but not for much longer) available to the public.

Microsoft's forthcoming OS has been getting rave reviews from all corners of the internet - even those traditionally very pro-Apple. I'm a big fan myself - I've got it installed on a laptop that struggled with Vista, and it runs like a dream. It remains to be seen exactly how cut-down the 'Home' versions will end up being, and if unlike Vista, the Ultimate edition is worth the extra cash.

UPDATE: This has been CONFIRMED by Microsoft. Six versions will arrive.

(via Engadget, image courtesy of regular commenter Leon)

Related posts: Microsoft extends availability of Windows 7 beta | Windows 7 public beta available NOW

Did you have trouble picking up the Windows 7 beta over the weekend? I sure did. I didn't manage to get my hands on it till last night, when I finally got it burnt to DVD and installed on a spare laptop.

In light of the massive demand, Microsoft has wisely decided to drop the 2.5 million downloads limit, and is instead letting you download it as many times as you want within the next two weeks - until the 24th January. Every time you download, you'll be given a CD key.

As a result of not getting my hands on the OS till last night, I'm still formulating my first thoughts. So far, though, I like what I've seen very much. It's very responsive, and usable. It seems to fix almost everything people didn't like about Vista and improve a bunch of other features, too. Full thoughts later in the week.

Get Windows 7 (via Lifehacker)

Related posts: Windows 7 public beta available NOW | Windows 7 hits public beta on Friday - here's how to give it a try

Thought you might like a heads-up that the Windows 7 beta is available for download right now. I'm pleasantly surprised, I was expecting more like sometime this evening. Of course, you can't get near the download page right now, because it's so busy. Don't worry, within an hour, it'll be all over Bittorrent.

A quick recap, for those of you who didn't see this post. Windows 7 is Microsoft's new OS, and they're looking at a release somewhere in the second half of this year. This is a public beta, which means that it's unsupported. If it screws up your PC, then you've got to fix it, so unless you're happy mucking about with PC innards, don't install it.

Download Windows 7 Beta (via Ars Technica)

Related posts: CES 2009: Windows 7 hits public beta on Friday - here's how to give it a try | Merry Christmas extremely bored men - Windows 7 beta hits the torrent sites

As of this Friday - the 9th January, Microsoft is going to release a beta version of its new operating system - Windows 7 - to the first 2.5 million people to download it. The new OS is eagerly anticipated, which Microsoft must be pleased about, given that Vista has been a PR disaster.

Windows 7 promises a tonne of improvements to Windows' basic functionality. It's quicker, less bloated and more secure than Windows Vista - which suffered from bloat and compatibility issues on release. Although it's dramatically improved since, many users are refusing to upgrade from XP, and Microsoft continues to trickle users away to OS X.