Microsoft
Microsoft revealed today that it plans to launch the “Consumer Preview” (or as the rest of us call it “beta”) version of Windows 8 on February 29th.
When Microsoft launches its Consumer Preview of Windows 8 later this month, they will also launch the Windows Store along side it.
When Microsoft released the developer preview of Windows 8 there was a start button. Now as we get close to the anticipated beta (or consumer preview as they are calling it) there is no more Start button.
In Windows each time you login administrative shares are created for all your drives. The shares are invisible but they give full access to anyone that knows how to get at them.
Microsoft
Microsoft has been working on a new operating system for a couple of years, there have been many spoofs on YouTube but not too long ago they released the public release client which means that pretty soon Windows 8 will be out on the market.
Nokia’s Lumia 900 LTE Windows Phone is now official. Nokia’s entry handset in the US includes a 1.4GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss f2.2/28mm rear camera, and a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, and LTE, which is a first for a Windows Phone. Nokia has also added a 1-megapixel front-facing camera with an f2.4 lens, to enable video conferencing with the built-in Tango application. There’s no word on pricing, but the Lumia 900 will be available in the “coming months” exclusively on AT&T in cyan and black.
Will this be enough to make Windows Phone interesting to customers?
While it wasn’t really shocking, last week Microsoft announced that it will be pulling out of CES after the 2012 show. While people are comparing this to Apple’s pull out of Macworld a few years ago, there is one startling difference between these two situations: People care about Apple. Apple doesn’t need an association to sponsor its events, Microsoft does. I know that sounds crazy, but Microsoft needs CES.
According to The Verge, long time CES keynoter Microsoft will be backing out of CES after their appearance at CES 2012. Not only will it not be doing the keynote, which has been a staple of CES for years, but they won’t even be putting up a booth on the show floor.
Really this isn’t that surprising. CES is to Microsoft what Macworld was to Apple. People always assumed Apple would have something big to announce, and when they didn’t deliver, people were disappointed. By only holding their own events, the gained much more control. Microsoft is suffering from the same thing. Last year we all expected some tablet news, and when we didn’t get it, we started calling for Steve Ballmer’s head on a pike. Now that MS will be eschewing its need of a January product release, they can focus on releasing products when they think it is ready, not having an arbitrary deadline in early January.
Sources are telling The Daily (remember the Daily?!?!) that Microsoft is planning to launch its Office suite (word, excel, powerpoint) to the App Store. From the article:
According to sources, the tech giant is actively working on adapting its popular software suite for Apple’s tablet. With the iPad making up over 80 percent of the tablet market and millions of people worldwide using Office, that could mean big bucks for the tech giant based in Redmond, Wash.
In addition to an iPad-ready version, a new edition of Office is expected for OS X Lion sometime next year. The current version of the desktop package, Office 2011, officially supports Mac versions up to Snow Leopard. A Lion version, likely available via the Mac App Store, is widely expected. Windows, too, is due for an update, with Office 2012 currently in beta form.
Interestinly they point out that there will be a Mac version of the Office Suite sold through the Mac AppStore, with significantly lower prices than what you would be able to get them in a box store. Apparently they are aiming to match Apple’s $10 price tags for iWork apps. The question is which of the suite apps will we see where. Obviously there won’t be a limitation of what we will see on the Mac, which means we will likely see Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. However, on the iPad it is doubtful that Apple would allow a version of Outlook into the AppStore. But then again, the allowed a Gmail app, so maybe.
If you’ve been a Windows user for a while, then you know the pain of waiting for a slow Windows machine to boot. If [...]
