Microsoft is the boy who cried wolf -- will issue IE update for Windows XP
Are you familiar with the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf? Basically, a shepherd boy watching over some sheep thought it would be funny to lie and shout "Wolf!", as a joke. Ultimately, when a wolf really does come, no one believes him and all of the sheep are slaughtered.
Apparently, Microsoft is not aware of this story. The company has been proclaiming Windows XP to be dead and no longer supported over and over again, in an attempt to get users to upgrade. Windows 8.1 has even seen an increase in usage lately, possibly as a result. Today, the company announces that it will issue an Internet Explorer security update for Windows XP. If Microsoft is crying wolf, are XP users the slaughtered sheep?
PC users struggle to keep all their software patched
The average private user PC in the UK has 76 different programs from 26 different vendors, which leaves users struggling to keep everything up to date.
Vulnerability management specialist Secunia has published a report on the state of security among PC users in the UK based on scans from Secunia Personal Software Inspector between January and March 2014.
Microsoft's Movie Moments, Windows Reading List available on Windows Phone 8.1
Movie Moments and Windows Reading List are two of Microsoft's apps for Windows 8.1. The former is part of the software giant's optional creative suite while the latter is the read-it-later tool bundled with the tiled operating system.
Following the introduction of shared apps, Microsoft is now taking advantage of this feature to make Movie Moments and Reading List available to Windows Phone 8.1 users as well. For those who are not familiar with shared apps, the feature allows developers to make their titles available across both app stores, much like Android and iOS developers can. It is effectively meant to increase the likelihood of having Windows Phone apps also available on Windows 8.1 and vice-versa.
Shocker! Windows 8.1 actually shows strong growth
I say "shocker", but with all the cards stacked in its favor -- XP users forced to look for a new OS, Windows 7 being pretty hard to get hold of, and an update designed to make Windows 8.1 more appealing to keyboard and mouse users -- if Windows 8.1 hadn’t grown market share in April then it would have been pretty much game over for the tiled OS.
Even with all that in its favor, according to NetMarketShare’s monthly Desktop OS sampling, Windows 8.x still had some stiff competition from Windows 7 which also packed on market share, taking the shine off the new OS’s achievements.
Do you abuse your keyboard and mouse when stressed? Microsoft researcher says you aren't alone
Keyboards and mice definitely take abuse. I have witnessed some horrific keyboard conditions -- full of crumbs, dust and lord-knows-what. Not to mention, have you looked in the seams of your mouse lately? There may be a build-up of grime -- yuck! Gamers in particular are known to severely beat the crap out of their input devices when playing a stressful game. Even if it isn't intentional, as a game of Quake 4 heats up, people are known to smash the keys on the keyboard and the buttons on their mouse.
If gamers are known to beat the crap out of their input devices when stressed, what is to say we all don't? In other words, whether writing a paper or editing a spreadsheet under a deadline, maybe the amount of pressure that the person uses can detect stress. Well, Microsoft researcher Mary Czerwinski and her team decided to prove that theory through experimentation. The findings are eye-opening.
Most organizations are accidental software pirates
A majority of enterprises are using software that they've unintentionally failed to pay for according to a new report by Flexera Software prepared in conjunction with IDC.
The report reveals, among other things, that 85 percent of organizations are out of compliance with their software license agreements. In addition 63 percent were audited by their software vendors in the last 18-24 months (58 percent by Microsoft, the most aggressive auditor), and 56 percent were handed bills to regularize their licenses.
Surface losing money? No worries, Nokia's mobile division is too
Microsoft has a knack for losing money with its Surface tablet lineup, and it is now poised to do the same with the new phone-making business it just acquired from Finnish maker Nokia. Devices & Services generated a negative operating profit of €326 million in Q1 CY2014 (that equates to a $450 million loss) on sales of a mere €1.929 billion. What is the definition of wanting to lose even more money, on purpose?
The not-so-insignificant-loss has been caused by lower sales of phones and smartphones, the latter of which includes (mostly) Lumia Windows Phones. Nokia has not provided any numbers on the volume of devices it may have sold or shipped during the first quarter of the year, but suffice to say the bar was not high to begin with. In Q1 2013, the Finnish maker sold only 5.6 million Windows Phones, and this business lost a lower €120 million (while also posting €836 million more in sales).
A potential game changer: Xbox One set to launch in China
Since launch, Sony’s PlayStation 4 has easily outsold Microsoft’s rival console, and even beat Sony’s own sales projections. That the Japanese console is available in more territories than its American rival is one important part of the reason for this success.
Now Microsoft is hoping to fight back by bringing the Xbox One to China in September. The all-in-one games and entertainment system will be the first of its kind to launch in the country, and the first foreign games console since China lifted a 14-year old ban on such devices in January.
Microsoft's Office for iPad now lets you print documents
Microsoft’s new Office for iPad apps are very good, and hugely popular. A month after release and Word is still the number one free app in the App Store, with Excel sitting at number 8, and PowerPoint at number 16. If you own an iPad, and are an Office 365 subscriber, they’re pretty much essential downloads.
At launch we were promised additional features were on their way, and today Microsoft introduces the most requested one –- the ability to print Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations.
Microsoft gives OneDrive for Business users 40 times more storage space
Free storage space is very common, and it's available from the likes of Dropbox, Google and countless others. Microsoft's OneDrive also gives users a certain amount of free online storage space, and today business users receive a massive boost -- a forty-fold increase in capacity. OneDrive for Business storage is being boosted from 25GB to 1TB per user, and the same is true for Office 365 ProPlus customers.
Microsoft is putting ever-increasing faith in the cloud, particularly for its business users. "The cloud is about breaking down walls between people and information. Not building a new set of islands in the sky", states the Office blog. There's a third announcement too: "we’ll help organizations migrate data to OneDrive for Business". It's not quite clear exactly what this entails, but it certainly sounds good for anyone who has their data hosted elsewhere.
Companies could make big savings by moving from MS Office to Google Apps
Moving to the cloud is one of the biggest trends in enterprise IT at moment, but office systems are still clinging resolutely to in-house machines even though there could be big savings to be had from moving them online.
With the launch of its new SaaS analytics application Israel-based SoftWatch offers IT managers the ability to get real-life usage data from Microsoft Office so they can see the potential benefits and return on investment available from moving to Google Apps.
Apple's iPhones are (still) a force to be reckoned with
Each month, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech releases a new report on the state of the smartphone market, revealing the performance of the top players in the most important markets across the globe. Today, the research firm treats us to the (highly-anticipated) results for Q1 2014.
The smartphone market is mostly seeing slight changes, as growth is no longer happening at the rate it once used to, with the biggest year-over-year differences confined to single digits. The side-effect is there is little room for less popular players, like Microsoft's Windows Phone, which have to fight for whatever ground the Android and iOS duopoly leaves unconquered.
Serious vulnerability affects all versions of Internet Explorer -- XP users especially at risk
In a security alert released over the weekend, Microsoft warns of a serious vulnerability in Internet Explorer that could allow hackers to remotely take over a computer.
The vulnerability makes it possible to execute code remotely and affects Internet Explorer 6 through 11, which is around a quarter of the web browser market. XP users, who no longer receive security updates from Microsoft, are going to be the most at risk from this flaw. If you know someone still on the aging OS, now is the time to give them another nudge to switch to a newer, and safer, choice.
The most popular stories on BetaNews this past week- April 20 -- April 26
After weeks of negotiations, changes to terms and all sorts of other shenanigans, Microsoft finally completed its acquisition of Nokia's Devices and services arm. Developers, and the eager average user, have now had a little time to play with Windows Phone 8.1, and Mihaita is one person who feels it is a big step in the right direction. The release of Microsoft Remote Desktop for Windows Phone 8.1 is something that will be welcomed by owners of Microsoft handsets who need to access their computers on the move.
Another release -- not software this time -- Microsoft's fiscal announcement showed that the company had $20.4 billion revenue It wasn't just Microsoft sharing financial figures this week -- Apple also revealed its latest accounts for Q2. And Microsoft joining forces with Nokia was not the only new marriage -- Microsoft and AOL also came together in a new content deal. Joe waxed lyrical about the Surface platform, suggesting that Microsoft needs to do more to promote it -- and a new campaign aims to draw in a new audience using everyone's favorite… cake! And with the Chromebook 2 being delayed, Microsoft stands a chance to gain more ground.
You've got content -- Microsoft and AOL join forces
My first computer, a Packard Bell, ran Windows 95. My father bought it for me after I begged him relentlessly. It was a huge expense that we really couldn't afford, but he came through. I sold him on it by promising to use it for schoolwork and learning. However, my true motives were far more devious -- I wanted AOL. Yes, believe it or not, the concept of talking to a girl over the Internet in a chat room was an amazing feat in 1996. This was very intriguing to a teenage nerd.
My love affair with AOL continued for a while, until broadband was introduced years later. I then promptly ditched the service for a cable modem. However, to this day, the Microsoft/AOL power-couple of the 90's still conjures nostalgic feelings. Today, AOL announces that it is teaming up with Microsoft for an all-new content deal.
© 1998-2026 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.