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It isn’t even December over yet, but Microsoft’s Bing search engine is already announcing its top ten most searched topics of 2009, as well as the two celebrities that were binged more than actress Megan Fox.

The new Microsoft “decision engine” has only been in service since June, but Bing has apparently analyzed billions of search queries in order to create a list of the ten most searched topics of the year, Bing’s version of “trending topics.” Six of the top ten searches referred to specific individuals while only one search term referred to a website or company.

As you’ve probably guessed, we’re talking about Twitter, whose rapid ascent into the mainstream garnered it the honor of being the #2 most searched topic on Bing.

So who or what was #1? Here are the top ten Bing searches of 2009, in reverse order:

The Top 10

10. Jaycee Dugard (kidnapped in 1991 and finally found in August of this year, the story was national news)

9. Billy Mays (famous pitchman who passed away in June)

8. Jon and Kate Gosselin (former stars of Jon and Kate Plus 8, the public destruction of their marriage was a big topic of interest)

7. Cash for Clunkers (a U.S. government program to replace less fuel efficient vehicles with newer, more fuel-economic cars)

6. Patrick Swayze (famous actor who passed away in September)

5. Farrah Fawcett (famous actress and pop culture icon who passed away in June)

4. Stock Market

3. Swine Flu

2. Twitter

And the number one searched term of 2009:

1. Michael Jackson

Social Media Has Captured the Public’s Attention

It’s not a shocker that any of these topics made the top ten Bing searches of 2009. There was an outpouring of interest in each and every one of these people or things. Still, Twitter being more searched than the stock market, Swine Flu, and every major public icon except Michael Jackson is an impressive feat that speaks to the mainstream reach Twitter now enjoys.

Bing also decided to release the top three most search living celebrities. While the inclusion of Transformers actress Megan Fox (#3) and Twilight () actor Robert Pattinson (#2) didn’t surprise us, we were a bit shocked to find that celebrity blogger Perez Hilton was the most searched living celebrity on Bing in 2009. No matter what you think of Perez, he proves that blogs have acquired incredible reach and captured the attention of the world.

What do you think of Bing’s top ten searches of 2009? Does anything about this list surprise you? Are you shocked something didn’t make the list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Microsoft has decided to capitalize on the popularity of Windows Live Messenger in China, launching a new service called MSN Juku, which they call a “local innovation developed by MSN China.”

The service, however, is a lot like Twitter: It lets users connect with their other Live Messenger contacts and post 140-character messages. There’re a couple of important visual differences between this service and Twitter; old messages scroll to the right, for example, just like in another Twitter clone, Plurk. But it’s still a microblogging service, and one local media report actually called it a knock-off of Plurk, which is also quite popular in Asia.

Juku, which is currently in beta, brings several other innovations to the table; it lets users play games and win prizes, something that sounds like science fiction when it comes to the traditionally feature-shy Twitter. However, at this point, Microsoft hasn’t announced any plans to internationalize the service and perhaps position it as a direct competitor to Twitter.

The NPD Group has some figures now from the Windows 7 launch, and are reporting that the new Microsoft operating system is selling well — or at least, much better than Vista did at its launch. In the first few days of sales, Windows 7 units in the U.S. moved 234 percent faster than Vista did in its equivalent launch window.

Of course, in many ways the bar wasn’t set too high. Still, Microsoft must be feeling relieved at the good sales clip for what is still, after all, its core business.

Unfortunately, thanks to pre-sales discounts and general lack of promotional effort behind the Ultimate version, revenue growth wasn’t quite as impressive. Looking strictly at dollar sales, Windows 7 is up 82% over than the equivalent time period for Vista.

The NPD reported the top-selling versions of the software and their average prices for the week ending October 24 as follows:

1. Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade / $76
2. Windows 7 Pro Upgrade / $147
3. Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack 3 User Upgrade / $149

In a tough economic time for packaged software, Windows 7 appears to be faring fairly well. The PC hardware sales picture wasn’t nearly as rosy, however. Although total PC sales were up 49 percent in year-over-year sales and a full 95 percent over the previous week, the overall growth rate was not as high as during the Vista launch window, which saw a 68% jump in year-over-year and 170% gain over the week prior to Vista’s launch. Vista had a slight advantage with its January release however, which typically shows a larger PC sales footprint than the month of October.

The world’s largest software giant Microsoft Corp. unveils the second test version of Internet Explorer 8 which is complete with features update on the Web browser, most commonly used. This second test version is beta 2. Although the internet Explorer enjoys a market share of almost 75%, the new version has come up with new features. This version being aimed at a larger customer base will enable convenience, flexibility and complete security. A part of the market share of Internet Explorer was taken away by Mozilla’s Firefox, so Microsoft is on the way to bring up more updates on Internet Explorer.

•The beta 2 version will have features similar to the ones found in Firefox 3 and will include a “smart” address bar too so that users can be directed to the unique website addresses.

•This version will also have a mode called “InPrivate Browsing” so that the temporary and the previous internet files and also the cookies are not stored on a user’s PC.

•Also the version is having feature which will allow a user to obstruct the content coming from the third-party site. This enhanced capability will block the third party from tracking the user’s online behaviour.

•The other features known as “Activities” will also be included in this version which will allow the user to use information such as the address existing on one page along with other service like the online mapping without even coming out from the original site.

The official launch date of Internet Explorer 8 has not been declared by Microsoft as yet.

Windows 7 is not even out the door yet and rumors are already circulating about the next version of Microsoft’s OS, Windows 8.

According to Microsoft employee Robert Morgan, future iterations of Windows, including Windows 8, could support a 128-bit architecture. Two weeks ago his now defunct LinkedIn profile disclosed that he had been working on “research and development projects including 128-bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan”

Further to this, Morgan’s profile also let slip that Microsoft are hoping to form a number of future relationships with major players such as IBM, Intel, AMD and others in the run up to 128-bit support. (Keep in mind that 64-bit computing is just now going mainstream.)

An interview with Robert Morgan, who has been with the company since 2002, is expected to appear on Windows 8 News within the coming days, hopefully shedding more light on what to expect from the next version of Windows, codenamed Chirdori.

After Bing, I guess
Windows Live has a new project in mind and that’s connecting 
windows live & hotmail users from around the world.

You can connect to Windows Live Planet with your
windows live ID or Hotmail ID. The site allows you to connect with friends instantly, find suitable match for you and what with your online live messenger buddies. Live Planet is integrated with Live messenger toolbar, you can chat using this with your live messenger friends.

There are Similar Features like Status Updates and Find Friends and a Scribble Pad. Although the Interface Sucks…

You can import friends from other social networks including Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn, Hi5 and Tagged to your planet in live planet. Also you could search for friends using various criteria and add them to your network.

You can check the site @ windowsliveplanet.com