Articles about Microsoft

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Following the news that Windows Phone 8 Update 3 is available to developers, I updated my Nokia Lumia 920 to the latest version through my App Studio account. My colleague Alan Buckingham went through the changes this release introduces in one of his past stories. As you may known, the latest goodies will make their way to all compatible handsets once the upgrade rolls out to the public over the next couple of months.

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While Microsoft continues its onslaught to control your living room, the company has been slowly revealing features and aspects of the Xbox One. Social media and social sharing have become an expected feature for the console -- not an optional one. Today, Microsoft announces a new friends app for its upcoming gaming machine that brings people together socially.

Microsoft gaming-guru Major Nelson says, "designed around you and your friends, Xbox One will have plenty of room for all your favorite people in the brand new Friends system on Xbox One. Your Xbox 360 friends will automatically be added to your Friends list. With Xbox One you can have 1,000 friends, connect with people instantly by following them and have infinite followers yourself. You can also see all of your Xbox One and Xbox 360 friends and their activity in your Activity Feed".

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While there are some Windows Phone 8 customers out there who have only just received the GDR 2 update for their handsets, Microsoft is looking towards the future already, preparing the next iteration of its mobile operating system.

Today the company takes the first step towards pushing it out, announcing features and developer availability.

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It’s nearly a year since Microsoft released the divisive Windows 8, and this week sees the launch of Windows 8.1 -- an update to the tiled operating system that aims to fix many of the perceived wrongs of the first version, while introducing some very welcome new features.

If you’re a Windows 8 or RT user you’ll be able to download the update for free starting at 4AM PDT (that’s 12pm in the UK) on 17 October. You’ll be able to get it directly through the Windows Store.

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Steve Ballmer's departure from Microsoft will be a series of epitaphs written over the coming months. Many arm-chair pundits and analysts will scrutinize his 13-year tenure as chief executive, and you can expect him to be the scapegoat for all things wrong with Microsoft. Most assuredly, Ballmer could have done many things better, but he also contended with forces out of his control: government oversight for anti-competitive practices conducted under predecessor Bill Gates' leadership; maturing PC software market; and rise of the Internet as the new computing hub, among others.

For all Microsoft's CEO might have done wrong, he was right about something dismissed by many -- and I among them: Google. Ballmer started treating the search and information company as a competitive threat about a decade ago. Google as Microsoft competitor seemed simply nuts in 2003. How could search threaten Windows, particularly when anyone could type a new web address to change providers? Ballmer was obsessed, chasing every Google maneuver, often to a fault. Execution could have been better, but his perception was right.

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In another busy week, Microsoft continued to promote Internet Explorer 11 by showing off some of the new features that will be available to Windows 8 users. At the same time, the company released a tool that lets Windows 7 users block the update. Microsoft also announced that it would speed up the approval process for apps submitted to the Windows Store, so initial certification can be complete within five days.

Moving away from the desktop, champagne corks were popping as it was revealed that Raspberry Pi has sold 1.75 million units. After the launch of Mavericks, Mihaita was taken with his MacBook Air, and I was quite impressed with the Tesco Hudl -- although it's not going to be replacing my Nexus 7 any time soon.

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It is three years ago today that Windows Phone first saw the light of day. Microsoft's mobile operating system has now been with us for a full 36 months, when Windows Phone 7 took the baton from Windows Mobile. There isn’t much in the way of celebration from Microsoft, and the anniversary was quietly ushered in by the company's Joe Belfiore in a tweet:

Happy Bday, "MetroUI"!  3 yrs ago today WP7 launched. In just a few countries on just one chip with only a handful of apps...

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Google is doing it with Android. Apple is doing it with iOS. So why shouldn't Microsoft allow its smartphone operating system to run on tablets? Obviously, the name would have to change, likely from Windows Phone to Windows Tablet. But would such a product be the right thing for Microsoft? One rumor points in the slate direction.

As with any Microsoft consumer operating system there is no easy answer. The best parts, that together would make the best OS, are scattered across a couple of products. And, Microsoft already has Windows RT which, even though it is not selling as well as the company had hoped it would (hence the $0.9 billion write-off for Surface RT), is quite competent in today's mobile landscape from a feature standpoint. Once we move past the silly one-sided preferences, it really makes little sense at first glance for Microsoft to drop its current tablet OS in favor of its smartphone OS. Windows RT is, dare I say, better. Yes, I have my flame suit on. But does that mean Windows Phone could not offer any value as a tablet OS?

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When Windows 8 advertisements first started airing on TV, Fresh Paint was often shown as a way to highlight the touch capabilities. Not only is the app a good demo, it is also fun and functional. From amateurs to professionals, anyone can easily use the app to create art and use their imaginations. However, Microsoft is not resting on its laurels and announces a new version is coming this month.

"Today I'm excited to announce that the new Fresh Paint will launch in tandem with Windows 8.1 on October 18 and that we'll also have new features coming to the Windows Phone version on October 14. Best of all, Fresh Paint will continue to be free, and everyone who updates to Windows 8.1 will get the improved experience", says Brandon LeBlanc of Microsoft.

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So… you don’t want Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7, eh? What are you going to do? Block it! Ahead of the release of the completed version of IE11, Microsoft is giving Windows 7 users the chance to avoid automatically updating. The Internet Explorer 11 Blocker Toolkit can be used to prevent the web browser from being pushed as an "important" update when it is released.

IE11 comes as an integral part of Windows 8.1 (Windows 8 users can currently only get it by upgrading) and a Release Preview of the browser was made available for Windows 7 three weeks ago. There's no official word on when the finished version of IE11 for Windows 7 will see the light of day, but it's likely to be fairly soon.

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When Microsoft is not attacking Google with cheesy videos and questionable statistics, the software giant is busy trying to use the search company's platforms for its own gain. While we still anxiously await the arrival of Office (without a 365 subscription) on Android, we do have OneNote and Outlook.com, the latter of which is receiving a big update today.

"Our goal is to provide our customers with the best possible email experience, delivering the features that you've been requesting. We've listened hard to the feedback from you and made several improvements that you asked for", says Microsoft's Steve Kafka.

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Let me preface this story by saying that, here at BetaNews, we have a policy against discussing rumors. Quite often some "leaked" information, provided by anonymous sources, turns out to be false, and we feel that it is best to report details that we know to be true, based on official sources that can be verified and our experience with various products. That said, I cannot help feeling surprised by what Nokia just revealed in one of its blog posts, after reading the rumor stories floating around the InterWebs.

Prior to any major press event Nokia usually posts a teaser showing a small part of an upcoming product, or a hint at what will be unveiled. This approach is designed to keep people interested, or to pique their interest at least, and add a shroud of mystery. But this time around the Finnish maker has released a full-blown poster which most likely features all the devices that the company will announce in Abu Dhabi, the place where its next big press event will be held.

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There’s no question that Windows is a lot safer now than it used to be, thanks to Microsoft adding features like automatic updates, SmartScreen, and Windows Defender to its operating systems. I wouldn’t fully trust the built-in protection as my sole line of defense, but installing security software is no longer the very first thing I do on a new PC.

Dennis Batchelder, Partner Group Program Manager for the Microsoft Malware Protection Center, says that Microsoft remains fully committed to protecting its consumer and business customers, and highlights some of the things the company is doing behind the scenes to keep users safe.

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When it comes to Windows 8 and the Modern UI, the single biggest knock has undoubtedly been the sparse population of the app store. In fact, the ongoing app count has become something of a meme around the internet with every milestone generating stories from various tech sites.

Microsoft can't force developers to get involved, but it can provide incentives to encourage them and today, the tech giant is doing just that.

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The Xbox One that’s currently available for pre-order is a very different beast from the system Microsoft originally announced back in May. Despite the changes that have been made to the games console/set top box, I think it’s a very promising product and one I’ll likely purchase at some point in the future.

But it’s Sony’s rival PlayStation 4 that’s going to be the big hit console this holiday season, pushing the Xbox One into a distant second place -- at least according to the findings of a new survey.

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