Watch Satya Nadella's keynote at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is delivering a keynote today at the Worldwide Partner Conference and you watch what the tech giant’s new boss has to say here.
Monday's Vision Keynote covered a wide range of topics, including Windows Phone’s shipments, forthcoming Windows devices, and there was even some hints on what to expect from Windows 9.
Watch the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference keynote here
The Vision Keynote for the WPC 2014 has ended now, and Microsoft covered a wide range of topics, and even delivered some surprising news -- Windows Phone is apparently now the fastest growing mobile operating system, with more shipments than iPhone in 24 markets.
Microsoft also talked about forthcoming Windows devices, including $99 tablets, and even had some news about the next version of its operating system, Windows 9. If you didn’t attend the conference, and would like to know more about what Microsoft revealed, you can watch the keynote here. And because it’s not live, you can even skip through all the boring bits, and the music!
Wondering what Windows 9's Start menu might look like?
We got our first glimpse of the future Windows Start menu at this year's Build Developer Conference, but since then Microsoft has kept the much requested feature well under wraps.
Over the past couple of weeks we've seen some screens purporting to be from leaked versions of the next major Windows release. They certainly look the part, but are they the real deal?
Raspberry Pi introduces an improved model -- the Model B+
We’re big fans of the Raspberry Pi here at BetaNews. The popular (not to mention super-affordable) credit card-sized ARM GNU/Linux computer was designed to bring programming back into schools but has quickly found an audience way beyond that.
The Pi is available in two variations -- the $25 Model A, which comes with just the one USB port and no Ethernet, and the more advanced $35 Model B with Ethernet and two USB ports. Today, however, there’s a third choice -- the Model B+.
Selling a smartphone? Here's how to securely wipe your personal data
As a test, Avast purchased 20 used and supposedly wiped Android phones and discovered that it was able to recover vast amounts of personal user data. My colleague Brian Fagioli reported the story here.
Google responded to the news, stating "This research looks to be based on old devices and versions (pre-Android 3.0) and does not reflect the security protections in Android versions that are used by the vast majority of users". It went on to offer users advice on how to make sure when selling an old mobile phone you aren’t also gifting your personal data to buyers.
Windows 8.x's failure will be the making of Windows 9
I know it’s a little crazy to talk about how well a future operating system will do, especially when Windows 9 hasn’t even been officially announced yet. But we do already know a fair bit about Windows 8.1’s successor and that, I think, is enough to build a reasonable case.
Windows 8.x is a flop. As much as I love it, I’m a realist. The operating system has taken 20 months to grab just 12.54 percent market share. Windows Vista, the previously used example of a failed OS, was at 19.82 percent in the same time frame. Windows 7, which followed Vista, has been a great success, and there’s every reason to think Windows 9 will do much, much better than Windows 8.x has.
Microsoft gives away almost 300 ebooks -- master Windows 8.1, Office 365, and much more
Eric Ligman, Microsoft Senior Sales Excellence Manager, has released a whole new batch of free ebooks, covering topics such as Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 7, Office 2013 and Office 365, Azure, Lync 2013, and SQL Server. There are ebooks and resource guides for all things Microsoft.
For the past few years, Ligman has been writing posts in which he has given away almost 150 free Microsoft ebooks, and now he has another 130 more titles available to download for free, in addition to all the ones previously offered. Yes, that's right -- there are now close to 300 titles available.
Patch Tuesday: Microsoft issues critical fixes for all versions of Internet Explorer
It’s Patch Tuesday, and Microsoft has issued six security bulletins including two which are rated "critical" and allow for Remote Code Execution (RCE), and three which are labeled "important" and allow for elevation of privilege inside Windows. The final patch is rated "moderate" and fixes a Denial of Service vulnerability in the Service Bus for Windows.
The patches affect all versions of Internet Explorer, as well as most versions of Windows. XP users are at risk from these vulnerabilities, but are not covered by the updates.
WZor says the end is in sight for Windows 8.1, and Windows 9 is on its way
The problem with running rumors -- something we rarely do on BetaNews -- is in most cases they are entirely made up. We will occasionally cover claims by trusted Microsoft watchers like Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley because they usually come from a knowledgeable source.
Russian leaker WZor knows a lot about Windows too, and although the group's website has been down since an ex-Microsoft employee was charged with stealing secrets (and early builds of Windows 7 and Windows 8), that hasn’t entirely stemmed the flow of leaks. A post from WZor on the Russian-language Ru-Board makes some interesting claims regarding both Windows 8.1 and its successor.
Do Android users really need malware protection?
Adrian Ludwig, lead engineer for Android security at Google, spoke to journalists prior to Google's I/O developers' conference and said that Android users who install antivirus and other security apps on their devices are no better off than those who don’t. The risk of potentially harmful applications is "significantly overstated" he believes, and there’s no need for anyone to install any form of third party protection.
"I think ... paying for a product that you will probably never actually receive protection from is not a rational reduction of risk -- but people buy things for lots of reasons", he said. Security expert Graham Cluley, who worked for Sophos for 14 years, disagrees. In a blog post he says Ludwig is "wrong, wrong, wrong". Two very opposing views. So who’s right?
Best iOS apps this week
Twenty-fifth in a series. The App Store saw some excellent releases this week, including two expensive games (by App Store standards) which are well worth the asking price, a powerful email client, a fun, modern day take on an old arcade classic, a superb journaling tool, and an app which can help you take back control of your digital identity.
In other news, all three Infinity Blade games are on sale this holiday weekend. The original Infinity Blade is now $0.99, Infinity Blade 2 is $1.99 and Infinity Blade 3 is priced at $2.99. If you don’t have any or all of these games, now is your chance to right that wrong.
Windows 8.1 update woes? A fix is on the way
Take a look at the monthly market share stats for Windows and you’ll see a good proportion of Windows 8.x users are still on the original version of the tiled OS. For some it’s a matter of choice, for others it’s because they simply can’t update to Windows 8.1.
A large number of users have experienced the dreaded Blue Screen of Death when attempting to perform the update to Windows 8.1, which has resulted in them being unable to complete the process. Fortunately, Microsoft has a fix to address the issue.
Almost 1 in 5 websites now blocked by censorship filters in the UK
Browse the web in the UK, and sooner or later there’s a good chance you’ll stumble across a website that’s been blocked. Sites like The Pirate Bay, Fenopy and H33t are no longer viewable due to court orders preventing access, and other sites -- many perfectly legitimate -- are being blocked by censorship filters.
It’s not exactly like living in China, but according to a new project by the Open Rights Group, ISPs are currently blocking 19 percent of tested websites.
Windows 8.x goes into reverse gear -- loses market share as both Windows 7 and XP show growth
I’ll be honest, although Windows 8.x losing market share is a shocking state of affairs -- and a new low for an operating system which has struggled since launch -- it’s something that’s been coming for a while. Windows 8 has been dropping share since Windows 8.1 arrived, and Windows 8.1 has been growing at such a glacial pace it was only a matter of time before the losses outweighed the gains, and that’s exactly what happened in June according to NetMarketShare.
In a month where Windows 7 and Windows XP -- the OS that refuses to die -- both gained market share, "new Windows" shifted into reverse gear and began shedding users.
The majority of smartphone users have something to hide from their partners
Software company IObit commissioned a survey into the personal content stored on smartphones, and found a lot of users have something on their devices they would rather others -- and in particular their partners -- didn’t see.
The survey, which was conducted among 5,000 international smartphone users, revealed some fascinating details, including that 81 percent of people feel SMS messages on their smartphones should be private, and a third of respondents want to actually conceal part of their SMS logs -- especially from their significant others. Of course, it’s not just text messages that users want to hide.
Wayne's Bio
Wayne Williams is BetaNews' managing editor. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for over 20 years now. He’s written for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a fair few of them in his time also. If you like what you read, you can Buy Me a Coffee!
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