Bing to be integrated into Windows 8.1 for web and local searches
The upcoming release of Windows 8.1 has been the subject of countless column inches over recent weeks with the main focus being on the return of the Start button. But changes are also afoot for searching, with Bing being tightly integrated into the operating system to provide a rich and flexible search experience.
The Bing development team is working closely with the Windows team to produce a utility that can be used to search globally and locally. Windows' integrated search tool has evolved over the years into something that can be used to search not only files but also shortcuts.
Microsoft officially confirms what we already know about Windows 8.1
Antoine Leblond, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Windows Program Management, has today made an official announcement on the Windows Blog detailing some of the many changes we can expect to see in Windows 8.1.
There are no massive surprises in the reveal, which is titled "Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1". We’ve already seen and covered most of them previously. But it is good to finally get an official peek behind the curtain.
Has software version numbering spiralled out of control?
Software versioning has changed a great deal over the years. It used to be that version 1 of an application would be released and it would be followed in around a year's time by version 2. You might well find that updates would be released in the interim -- versions 1.1 and 1.2 for example -- but it didn't take long for things to start to get more complicated.
Minor versioning changes became more and more common, so you might well encounter versions such as 1.2.13. In many respects this was a good thing. It was easy to compare the version of an application you had installed with whatever the latest version was.
Rejoice! The Start button WILL return in Windows 8.1
Ringo Starr admits he gets frustrated that all people ever want to talk to him about is The Beatles. The developers of Windows 8 must feel similarly annoyed that despite all the changes in the new OS, all anyone wants to talk about is the Start button.
Windows 8 gets a lot of things right, and a lot of things wrong, but the lack of a Start button and menu in the desktop is the one thing that seems to unite all the haters. It’s symbolic of how badly Microsoft judged our attachment to the status quo in its rush to embrace the future. Fortunately with Windows 8.1 Microsoft gets a chance to fix things and give us the OS we should have had in the first place.
Microsoft celebrates as Office 365 hits 1 million users in 100 days
Just over three months after its release, Microsoft is celebrating a million sales of Office 365 Home Premium. Going a long way to prove detractors of software subscriptions wrong, Microsoft's latest version of its office suite has managed to maintain average sales of more than one unit per second.
With a subscription costing $99.99 per year, Microsoft has clearly pocketed a healthy profit with this release, but the fact that the software can be installed on up to five machines may actually mean that sales figures are perhaps not as high as they could have been.
Xbox One to cost £600 in the UK -- says Amazon
Although Microsoft has yet to officially reveal the price of its next generation games console, Amazon has decided to set the figure at £599.99 on its pre-order page.
This is considerably higher than most people would have expected -- closer to £400 would have been a reasonable guess -- and dwarfs the launch price of the Xbox 360 which cost gamers £209.99 for the core system back in December 2005.
Monster 256GB Microsoft Surface Pro surfaces in Japan
On Wednesday, Microsoft's Japanese arm revealed that on June 6 the Surface Pro tablet will finally be available in the land of the rising sun. The fondleslab is set to arrive in two different trims with 128 GB and 256 GB of internal storage, the latter of which is offered for the first time on the Surface Pro.
The 64 GB Surface Pro will not be available in the local market, likely due to the fact that users can access just 23 GB of storage (practically less than half of the advertised capacity). Microsoft took heavy fire for this caveat, which it appears to avoid in Japan. Prospective buyers can also grab Touch Covers with different design themes, a move that the company carried over from other supported markets.
Microsoft scales Mount Everest
Google gets a lot of attention for its Street View adventures -- it's travelled from the Great Barrier Reef to the Grand Canyon -- but Microsoft is not taking this lying down. The software giant has teamed up with David Breashears and his non-profit, GlacierWorks, to scale the heights of the Himalayas.
The IE10 team, Microsoft Research, and the developers at Pixel Lab have come together to create a multi-touch experience that allows users to explore the work of David Breashears, who has spent considerable time exploring and photographing the world's tallest mountain chain.
Dear Linux, I'm leaving you -- for Windows 8
Microsoft Windows 8 is the best desktop operating system. Period. No Linux distribution or OS X can compare. I say this as a Linux user and lover.
When it comes to computing, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Microsoft Windows. Windows 95 was the operating system of my first-ever computer -- we could not afford a computer before then. As time marched on, I found myself dual-booting Windows and Linux on my future computers, with most of my time being spent in Linux. That is, until a few years ago when I exclusively ran various Linux distributions as the sole OS on my computer.
Microsoft has a huge Windows 8 app problem
A few days ago, cloud-based PC management service Soluto released a study into the habits of 10,848 Windows 8 users, and found that consumers really aren’t running apps all that regularly on the new operating system.
According to Soluto, "on average, a Windows 8 user will launch a Metro app 1.52 times a day. Tablet users launch the most Metro apps at 2.71 times per day".
Microsoft: Compliant YouTube Windows Phone 8 app coming, meanwhile take the dreadful old version back
Following a cease and desist letter sent by Google little over a week ago, today, Microsoft reaches out to me and announces a new update for its homebrew YouTube Windows Phone 8 app. You might want to contain that burning desire to hit the "Update" button though.
"Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks", says the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation. This comes two days after the passing of the deadline to remove the app from the Windows Phone Store.
Remotely access your PC with Splashtop 2 for Windows Phone 8
Remote control apps are increasingly versatile, allowing smartphone and tablet users to access and manage computers from the workplace, a holiday resort or the couch in my case. For Windows Phone 8 users the most popular choice is PC Remote but, late-yesterday, another app hit the Store.
"Many Windows Phone users have asked for Splashtop", says Splashtop CEO Mark Lee. "We are excited to partner with Nokia and Microsoft to optimize and deliver the best-in-class Splashtop experience for Windows Phone 8". The app allows folks to remotely access Linux, OS X and Windows-based computers straight from the tiled operating system. Let's take a look at the features.
Internet Explorer Q&A: The 'browser you loved to hate' is making a comeback
Internet Explorer’s tight integration into Windows 8, coupled with the fact that IE10 is actually pretty good, means the veteran browser is enjoying something of a resurgence these days. Humorous advertising poking fun at the browser’s past (while distancing itself from it) has also encouraged many ex-users to take a fresh look.
I chatted with Internet Explorer’s Marketing Manager Rebecca Wolff about the "Browser you loved to hate" campaign, asked her what major changes we can expect to see in IE11, and found out why embracing web standards is now a major priority for Microsoft.
By taking on Apple, Microsoft marketing finally nails it
I recently wrote about some strange but awesome Windows 8 ads geared towards the Japanese market. It appeared that people across the internet were pretty down on them as the ads didn’t say anything about the OS. My point in the article was to show that there are different types of advertising and sometimes companies need to get our attention in some pretty unusual ways.
I’ve been very critical of Microsoft’s advertising approach with Windows 8 and especially Surface. Although the company has increased the frequency of its advertising and is advertising more of its products, there was one area in particular where it was lacking: a strong focus on features against competitor products. None of this was more apparent than its approach with Windows 8 and Windows tablets. I previously wrote,
Internet Explorer uses its ongoing Vine series to tease future WebGL support
The leaked builds of Windows 8.1 provided a pretty strong clue that Microsoft intends to support WebGL in Internet Explorer 11, but so far the software giant has stayed silent on such matters.
However, a new Vine clip -- part of an on-going series titled "Not your Father’s Browser" -- drops a pretty big hint that WebGL (Web Graphics Library) support is definitely on its way.
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