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Microsoft: 40 million Windows 8 licences sold so far, 85% launch the desktop on day one
- Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses after the operating system's first month of retail availability. Tami Reller, corporate vice president for Windows and Windows Live, revealed the number at a recent investor conference held by Credit Suisse but…
Firefox 64-bit development quietly ended for Windows
- It appears Mozilla has quietly toe-tagged 64-bit builds of its Firefox browser for Windows. In a Google Groups discussion, managing engineer Benjamin Smedberg requested coders halt development on nightly builds of its 64-bit Windows distribution.
Loophole enables anyone to get a Windows 8 license for free
- Copies of Windows 8 Pro are freely available from Microsoft’s website for anyone who wants to try out the operating system. Normally, the software would expire after 180 days, a period that is meant to allow Volume Licensing customers to…
Windows 8 user interface ripped apart by Nielsen Norman Group
- Windows 8 has once again come under fire over its questionable user interface. This time, it’s Jakob Nielsen from the Nielsen Norman Group voicing an opinion based on a recent case study conducted by the company. Simply put, Nielsen’s words…
Paul Thurott: Windows 8 sales "well below" Microsoft's projections
- Despite Microsoft's excitement at selling four million Windows 8 upgrades in four days, well-known industry blogger Paul Thurott says sales of the OS are "well below" Microsoft's internal projections. Get your salt shakers ready, but Thurott cites ones of his…
Dell's consumer sales suffer, Windows 8 touch devices encouraging
- With yesterday's report of sagging consumer PC sales, Dell said it's looking to other markets (i.e. enterprise and IT services) to help pick up the slack. Dell has talked about transitioning from consumer PCs to IT business services in the past,…
Google improves Flash sandbox, Chrome safer than ever
- Google silently rolled out an update to Chrome which featured an unusual change, apparently one worthy of an announcement on the Chrome Blog: improved Adobe Flash plug-in sandboxing. The company claims its new method of fortifying Flash makes Adobe's plug-in…
Microsoft has "no plan" to release DirectX 11.1 for Windows 7 (Updated)
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According to a reply from an engineer on Microsoft's Developer Network forum, DirectX 11.1 will be available exclusively for flavors of Windows 8 only. There are apparently no plans to release 11.1 for Windows 7 or Vista. "DirectX 11.1 is…
Internet Explorer 10 preview finally available for Windows 7
- Aside from Microsoft's unilateral decision to enable Do-Not-Track by default, the most controversial thing about Internet Explorer 10 may have been its limited platform support. Except for its first couple of previews, the browser has remained compatible only for flavors…
Elliptic Labs brings 'Minority Report' gestures to Windows 8
- A Norwegian company called Elliptic Labs is showing off a novel touch-less gesturing technology that uses ultrasound to bring Minority Report style controls to Windows 8 devices. The results are similar to what we’ve seen with Kinect and Leap Motion,…
Steven Sinofsky, head of Microsoft's Windows division leaves the company
- Steven Sinofsky who had been running the Windows division at Microsoft since 2009 has left the company, effective immediately, without clear explanation on the reasons. Sinofsky’s departure comes shortly after the launch of Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface, products that…
Tech Tip: How to Change the Start Screen Background in Windows 8
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Besides not offering a way to bypass the new Windows 8 Start screen (not without the help of third-party utilities), surprisingly Microsoft is also limiting your options when it comes to customizing its appearance. You can choose from a couple color schemes and 10 stock background images, but that's about it. We've seen some workarounds before but they are cumbersome and the results are less than optimal.
Enter Decor8. Stardock’s Windows 8 customization app removes this limitation by giving users the ability to pick any picture they want as the Start screen background.
Built-in advertising: The Windows 8 feature you haven't heard about
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The advertisements are reportedly found inside some of the applications that ship with Windows 8 under the Modern UI (Metro) user interface like Finance, News, Travel and Weather. Advertisements in free mobile apps or even trial software are perfectly understandable, but...
Windows 8, RT set to receive first critical security patches
- Microsoft’s recently launched Windows 8 operating system is set to receive its first critical security update next week. According to the company’s advance notification posting, the November edition of Patch Tuesday will include critical fixes for vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet…
Yahoo page redesign draws inspiration from Windows 8
- A great number of changes have been brewing at Yahoo, the still relatively new home of Google executive turned Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. According to sources from All Things D, the latest shake-up is a redesigned look which appears to…
StatCounter data says Windows 8 has overtaken Android in web traffic
- Data from Internet traffic analytical firm StatCounter reveals that Windows 8 has overtaken Android with regards to web traffic. It’s an impressive feat given the fact that Microsoft’s new operating system has only officially been available for less than two…
Editorial: Has Windows Search Got Any Better Over The Years? Hint: It Hasn't
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Last weekend I was feeling a bit nostalgic and fired up Windows 2000 on my home computer. Win2k has a special place in my heart. Sadly, due to planned obsolescence it's no longer possible to use this fantastic operating system with the latest software available.
Be that as it may, what annoys me even more are the "improvements" made to Windows search through the years. The search box in Windows 2000 is very powerful, there are no cute animations and there are no exclusions. It's just no-nonsense search, as you would expect it to be. I'm afraid to say, Windows search has got worse, and not better over the years, 8 included.
Windows 8, IE10 suffer multiple critical zero-day vulnerabilities
- Researchers at Vupen, a private security firm based in France, claim to have found multiple, critical vulnerabilities in Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10. The team's exploits allow hackers to remotely execute code, allowing crafty individuals to potentially gain control…
Touring Microsoft, Sony and Apple Stores on Windows 8’s Launch Day
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When Microsoft launched Windows 8 last week, it was the culmination of a long wait. For most folks, it was a rather jarring thrust into the future. For better or worse, the operating system that introduces the touch-oriented Metro UI to the Windows environment had arrived.
No one is more excited about the launch than Microsoft. The company has launched pop-up holiday stores at malls across America to promote the new OS and the Surface RT. I had a chance to check in with one at Aventura Mall in Miami, Florida.
Acer delays Windows RT offerings, fears Surface
- Shelving what it described as an "aggressive" product schedule, Acer is delaying the launch of its Windows RT offerings until Q2 of 2013. This news comes for Acer President Jim Wong who cites Microsoft's Surface tablet as the reason, in…
Microsoft sued over use of Live Tiles in Windows
- Microsoft is already facing lawsuits related to the recently-launched Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems. Surfcast, a Portland-based company OS development company has filed a complaint with a U.S. District Court in Maine, claiming that Microsoft is infringing…
Microsoft: four million Windows 8 upgrades sold in four days
- Windows 8's reception was something of a mixed bag with plenty of opinions in favor and against the new touch-centric interface that takes center stage over the classic Windows desktop. But that isn't stopping consumer adoption of the new OS,…
Microsoft revises Windows 8 Store guidelines on 'Mature' games, apps
- Microsoft created quite a stir earlier this month when it was revealed that the Windows 8 Store would block titles that received a PEGI 18 rating in Europe. Games with an ESRB rating of Adults Only (AO) were also banned…
Download of the Week: Pokki brings back Start Menu in Windows 8
- Windows 8’s touch-focused Metro interface has been met with quite a bit of resistance from longtime desktop users. But Microsoft’s not backing down. The company has made a risky but necessary bet to gain a strong foothold into the tablet…
Microsoft won't release Service Pack 2 for Windows 7
- The engineering team responsible for building and releasing service packs has reportedly been told there won’t be another service pack for Windows 7. It marks the first time in multiple releases that Microsoft won’t be issuing a second major update. …
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