Update 1:52 p.m.: Microsoft has pulled its online ad for Internet Explorer 8, after complaints from viewers that it was too foul.

According to a statement from the company:

"We make a point of listening to our customers. We created the OMGIGP video as a tongue-in-cheek look at the InPrivate Browsing feature of Internet Explorer 8, using the same irreverent humor that our customers told us they liked about other components of the Internet Explorer 8 marketing campaign. While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it."

One of the commenters below, quincompoix, has posted a link to the video elsewhere if you still want to see it.

Earlier: Microsoft continues to launch online videos to promote its Web browser Internet Explorer 8. The latest features actor Dean Cain again and vomit. There is a lot of projectile puke in this video, like Monty Python levels of regurgitation.

A wife gets online after her husband has used the computer, and is so horrified by what she sees, she repeatedly spits up on the floor. He slips, falls on the floor, and she continues to spit up on him. The tag line is O.M.G.I.G.P., as in "Oh my god, I'm gonna puke."

The ad promotes Internet Explorer's privacy browsing feature, which many have dubbed a porn mode. It allows the user to browse without leaving a trail in the browser.

To check out the earlier IE8 ads, click here.

Get your hot, fresh Web browser from Firefox today.

Firefox 3.5, the latest version of the competitor to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, was released today. Developed by open-source company Mozilla in Mountain View, Calif., Firefox has revitalized competition among Web browsers since the first version came out in 2004.

Firefox first introduced tabbed browsing, which has since become commonplace. Mozilla also paved the way for other companies to develop browsers to compete with Microsoft, such as Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and Opera.

"Since then the Web has become a more interesting place," said Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox, in an interview earlier this month. "We got a secondary explosion of Web startups, then Apple put its foot in. Now there's intense collaboration and competition. We're happy to see Microsoft is not standing still."

Firefox 3.5's new features include: faster browsing, video capabilities built into the browser, location-aware browsing and a privacy-browsing mode (which many have dubbed a "porn mode"). Developers hope that the new features will spur Web developers to create more innovative applications on the Internet. As Beltzner said, think back to 2004, when most Web sites were little more than static brochures, to today's rich landscape of video and other applications.

Firefox 3.5 ias available here.

The Financial Times reports this morning that Microsoft has put its Seattle subsidiary Razorfish up for sale.

Razorfish was founded in Seattle, and Microsoft bought the digital advertising company when it acquired aQuantive, also known as Avenue A, in 2007. Razorfish had a round of layoffs in February this year; here's the story we ran on that.

According to the Financial Times, Microsoft has hired Morgan Stanley to find a buyer, and Publicis, a French marketing company, could be a candidate.

Update 11:08 a.m.: Microsoft is not commenting on the reports that Razorfish is for sale.

Kayak.com, a travel Web site, confirmed that it sent a letter to Microsoft last week complaining that thetravel Web site at Bing.com looks too much like Kayak.com.

Microsoft's travel-search component ofBing comes from Farecast, a Web travel company Microsoftacquired. Wired reported the news Wednesday.

Kayak is in discussions with Microsoft about the similarities, according to an e-mail from Robert Birge, chief marketing officer at Kayak, based in Norwalk, Conn.

Microsoft spokeswoman Whitney Burke said in a statement, "Bing Travel is based on independent development by Microsoft and Farecast.com, which Microsoft acquired in 2008. Any contrary allegations are without merit."

Check out the two screen shots and see what you think.

Legal wars have been waged over the "look and feel" of software, most notably Apple's 1988 lawsuit against Microsoft for allegedly copying the Macintosh in Windows 2.0.

Microsoft and retailers will be taking pre-orders for Windows 7 upgradesstarting today and ending July 11. The pre-order upgrades -- which are being sold at half the list price -- are available to users who are now using Windows Vista or Windows XP.

When the new operating system goes on sale in stores on Oct. 22,anyone who has pre-ordered it will be able to download it or get a disc copy then.

Shoppers can pre-order at the Microsoft store, Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, Amazon.com, Costco.com, NewEgg.com, TigerDirect.com, Office Depot, OfficeMax and SamsClub.com.

If you have any technical questions on system requirements, check Microsoft's site on the pre-order offer.

This is how much pre-orders will cost:

This how much Windows 7 will cost at full price on Oct. 22

Microsoft this morning announced prices for Windows 7, the latest version of the operating system, and cut prices by 10 percent over Windows Vista, the version it will replace.

"I think the 10 percent cut is a good start," said Richard Shim, an analyst at research firm IDC. "It takes into account the economy and some of the challenges with consumer spending."

Most sales of Windows 7 are made when a customer buys a new computer with the operating system already installed, and the computer maker pays Microsoft. Microsoft does not disclose how much it makes per copy sold installed on a computer. Shim pointed out that given these lower retail prices, Microsoft is probably also charging computer makers less per copy.

"What are the implications to [computer maker] OEM pricing for Windows 7 since the majority of the revenue comes from the [operating system] OS?" he said. "...The volumes have to improve if the [average selling prices] ASPs decline."

When Windows 7 launches on Oct. 22, this is how much boxed copies of Windows 7 will sell for at retail:

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the advertising market for traditional broadcast and print media has permanently shrunk, according to The Guardian's coverage of his speech to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

Ad revenue that went to digital is gone, he said. "I don't think we are in a recession, I think we have reset," he said, according to the story. "A recession implies recovery [to pre-recession levels] and for planning purposes I don't think we will. We have reset and won't rebound and re-grow."

Ballmer was named media person of the year at the festival. He predicted that within 10 years, all traditional content will be digital, but newspapers publishers are not making serious revenue from their digital products, according to The Guardian. He said the only company making money is Google.

He went on to say that for media businesses to succeed they have to be able to mix context and relevance that suits advertisers, rather than just replicating a print newspaper online.

Hohm, a project from Microsoft Research, went online today offering energy-saving tips for people who sign up at the site.

Homeowners canlearn how to save energy and reduce their impact on the environment by getting an energy profile and carbon-footprint analysis, and getting suggestions on how to reduce energy usage. The site also compares each home's usage to local and national averages.

Troy Batterberry, product unit manager with Hohm, says the calculations are quite complex.

"It reaches back to the utility and hands you all of your usage information, then gives targeted recommendations," he said. "These calculations are very complicated. We walk through every day of every year and model that with weather patterns to model how efficient or inefficient they are and base savings on the cost of electricity in Seattle."

Hohm also analyzes how the utility in that area generates electricity. In Seattle, for example, all the electricity comes from hydropower, so the impact on the environment is far less than an area that relies on a coal-fired power plant.

Right now Microsofthas only four utilities signed up to share data, butthey include Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy. That means if customers of either utility sign up online through Microsoft's site, the service will automatically pull historical usage data from the utility.

The company wants to appeal broadly to all homeowners but the URL sure is clunky -- www.microsoft-hohm.com. It's unclear why they were unable to secure www.hohm.com, now a site for a manufacturer of eyeleting and riveting machines based in Taiwan.

The company expects to make some money from selling search related advertising. For example, if one of the recommendations is to replace your single-paned windows with double-paned ones, the service will suggest local window installation companies that advertise through Microsoft search engine, Bing.

Eventually, Microsoft hopes to break in to selling software to utilities that would help them manage the supply of alternative energy such as wind and solar power.