Windows 8

Microsoft on Monday began taking orders for the $14.99 Windows 8 upgrade promised to customers who purchased a new Windows 7-powered PC in the last 11 weeks. People who bought an eligible Windows 7 machine starting June 2 can now file an online form to queue up for the Oct. 26 delivery of the upgrade. Continue Reading →

Microsoft has ditched the 30-day grace period, a trademark of Windows 7, in the retail copies of Windows 8, mandating that users provide a product key during setup. The change runs counter to previous practice by the Redmond, Wash. developer. With Windows 7, for example, users could run the OS for 30 days before activating Continue Reading →

Microsoft and its OEM partners haven’t been particularly forthcoming on how much the first round of Windows 8 tablets are going to cost, but one Lenovo executive just gave us a hint. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, David Schmoock, Senior VP of Lenovo’s North American division, said that full-on Windows 8 tablets would ring Continue Reading →

As expected, Microsoft announced Wednesday that Windows 8 is now available for download for its paying MSDN and TechNet Professional subscribers. The company, however, is also making a 90-day evaluation version available to all developers (or anybody else who wants to give the Windows 8 RTM a try) without the need to pay for a Continue Reading →

Microsoft and Nokia have just announced plans for a Sept. 5 event in New York to talk about the latest in their joint phone efforts. That puts their event the week before what is expected to be Apple’s announcement of the next iPhone. Nokia is also holding its Nokia World event in Finland on Sept. Continue Reading →

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley has been hearing rumblings that Microsoft is rethinking its traditional strategy of walloping users with giant software upgrades and is instead “attempting to move toward something more like what Apple does, with point releases.” Foley writes that this new strategy could manifest itself as early as next year when Microsoft releases Continue Reading →

Making good on promises to make its SkyDrive cloud storage service ecumenical across clients, Microsoft has added a new Android app. It also updated user interface to mimic the “tiled” look of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system. The company announced the SkyDrive facelift, which will take place over the next 24 hours, on its Continue Reading →

There have been rumors circulating for some time now that Microsoft is planning to load its Windows 8 operating system onto the next-generation Xbox console. A development kit that sold on eBay the other day seems to lends more credibility to this rumor. A few days ago a PC appeared for sale on eBay claiming Continue Reading →

Windows RT – based on Windows 8 – is the first desktop operating from Microsoft that has been developed from the ground up for touch-screen devices i.e. tablets. It replaces the traditional desktop interface in favor of a Windows Phone-like start screen, made for touch-input apps, a Windows Store for downloading them, multi-touch gestures and Continue Reading →

Looks like Surface didn’t scare everyone off like Microsoft said it might, because today the company announced some official Windows 8 partners. From the sound of it, we’ll see devices from Dell and Samsung all running the operating system. Lenovo is also on board, but we’ve already heard about the ARM-based convertible RT tablet it’s Continue Reading →