Articles about Windows 8

In case you have not yet had your fill of Microsoft Office news then here is one more tidbit for you. The productivity suite, which launched yesterday, is now available in the Windows Store, which is really the Windows 8 Store, since it is not available on any other platform. Before you get too excited, let me temper your enthusiasm.

Yes, we already knew there was not going to be a "Modern UI" version of the latest Office -- known collectively, and confusingly, as Office 2013/Office 365/Office 15. Still, the debut in the Windows Store strikes one as an especially lame attempt. You see, FINDING the app in the store, does not mean you can GET it in the store.

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Microsoft is no stranger to controversy, even attracting negative attention when it comes to the advertised storage of its own Surface tablet lineup. The interwebs buzzed after the company admitted the shortcomings of Surface RT, which only comes with 16GB of user-accessible storage in 32GB trim, and now the same issue is raising its head all over again with Surface Pro, just days before the big launch.

As most knowledgeable Windows users will concede, Microsoft's latest consumer operating system does take up quite a bit of storage space due to its fully-fledged nature. For example, on my personal computer running Windows 8 Pro 64-bit, the "Windows" folder by itself uses just over 16GB. So it's not overly difficult to imagine Windows 8 Pro will take up a lot of Surface Pro's free space. Of course this is something that educated pundits surely know (or at least they should).

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Thirteenth in a series. Microsoft released the company's fiscal second-quarter results on January 24 and to the surprise of many the company's Windows division did well despite PC shipments being down during the same period.

Windows Store has recovered from last week's low number of new store apps. This week, 928 new apps were listed in the operating system's US store, an increase of more than 31 percent over last week. Free apps, on the other hand, only increased by 136 this week while paid apps made a huge jump to 5,801 from 5,011 the week before.

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Running Android on Windows is not a new concept. It has been possible for sometime now, but it required the use of something like Virtual Box, or rival virtual machines. Now version 4.0.3, known more familiarly as Ice Cream Sandwich, has been ported to both Windows 7 and Windows 8. It runs natively, no virtual anything needed.

This is not exactly for everyone. For one thing, there is no Google Play Store, although the developers are working to add this rather important feature. For now you can side-load apps using the APK file.

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All signs pointed to another disappointing quarter for Microsoft's Windows division. But, instead, with fiscal second-quarter results announced today, revenue rose 24 percent year over year. Meanwhile, PC shipments are down 6.4 percent during same time period, according to IDC, which doesn't seemingly reconcile with Windows OEM revenue rising 17 percent. What's up with that?

There is sense behind the numbers, which forebode potential trouble ahead the next couple quarters, unless PC shipments pick up or Microsoft hits a big home run with Surface Pro, which goes on sale February 9. Simply stated: The company got big lift by selling cheap Windows Pro upgrades, something that ends January 31. OEM increase is byproduct of PC makers stocking the shelves with new models. Neither is sustainable, raising question: Will Windows 8 be a one-hit wonder? Meaning: One quarter of sales greatness?

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Late this afternoon, Microsoft answered a question oft-asked by investors this month: What's up with Windows 8? The new operating system, which launched October 26, was supposed to lift sagging PC sales and demonstrate the capability to successfully compete with so-called post-PC platforms like Android and iOS. Now we know more. Windows & Windows Live revenue passed Business, making the OS division most-valuable again.

For fiscal second quarter, ended December 31, Microsoft revenue was $21.46 billion, up 3 percent year over year. Operating income: $7.77 billion, a 3 percent decrease. Net income was $6.38 billion, or 76 cents a share.

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Windows 8's new Start screen evokes many emotions from customers, with most falling on either the love or hate side with almost no middle ground. However, one thing that can be agreed on is that the screen has no shortage of information. Users are bombarded with messages from Facebook, email, weather and countless other endlessly updating tiles. Now Microsoft has added one more to the perhaps overloaded mix.

Today the company announced it is pushing an update to the SkyDrive app for Windows 8 that will bring the live tile features to the cloud storage and sharing platform.

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When Microsoft launched its portable music player Zune in 2006 few thought it would be a serious contender to Apple’s iPod. The fact that it was a US-only release spoke volumes. It was a product the firm simply didn’t have enough confidence in for a global launch.

And now we’re faced with a similar launch strategy for Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro. Yesterday the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation announced the delayed slate will be "available for purchase on Feb. 9, 2013, in the United States and Canada at all Microsoft retail stores, microsoftstore.com, Staples and Best Buy in the US, as well as from a number of locations in Canada". And the rest of the world? There’s no word.

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Nearly three months ago, Microsoft debuted the Surface RT tablet alongside its brand new operating system, Windows 8. Things have not been all-rosy since that fateful day in late October, and rumors of both failure and success run rampant. But all the while the company kept what is, perhaps, its trump card in hand -- the Surface Pro.

This is the tablet that Microsoft expects to be the big player, the one that will win over business users. Now we finally have some details about what to expect.

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Windows 8 special pricing expires on January 31, but it is not the only Microsoft special offer that goes away on that day. The company kicked Media Center somewhat to the curb with the new operating system. It no longer comes as a part of Windows, but requires the Pro version and a special add-on pack that will be sold for $9.99. To boot, there are no new features included. Media Center remains unchanged from Windows 7.

Still, there is a small but very dedicated group of followers who love Media Center, and for good reason. If you own an HTPC (home theater PC) then Microsoft's solution remains one of the best options available and, if you act before the end of this month, you can grab that $9.99 media pack for free.

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If you’ve upgraded to Windows 8 and discovered you’re not a fan of the new Start screen then the chances are you’ve already installed one of the many free tools which can give your system a more Windows 7-like appearance. If not, though, IObit has just released StartMenu8 1.0, a simple program which may be able to help.

Just install StartMenu8 1.0 and by default the program will launch along with Windows, skipping the Start Screen and jumping directly to the desktop. StartMenu8 1.0 will disable the Windows 8 “hot corners”, too.

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We knew this day would come. That Microsoft would get back to generating Windows revenue rather than lifting market share. Windows 8 pricing is set, and you will pay big bucks to upgrade after January 31. I suppose the cynical mind would see today's pricing announcement as a last push to get procrastinators off their butts before the deal disappears with the wind. Last-minute stampede means more license sales -- 60 million currently -- for Microsoft to declare in the not-so-distant future.

Starting February 1, Windows 8 Pro Upgrade will cost $199.99 -- that's up from as low as $39.99 right now. Microsoft will also, finally, sell Windows 8 (non-pro), which will cost $119.99. With respect to Windows 7 at launch, the prices are the same. But for anyone with 40 bucks on the brain, Windows 8 Pro will cost 400 percent more in just two weeks. The $39.99 price is for anyone downloading direct from Microsoft. A costlier, $69.99 upgrade with DVD media also is available -- just 186 percent increase from that one.

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Twelfth in a series. It's slow week for new application releases for Windows 8. The number of new apps in the US Windows Store is 635, down from 961 the week before. While I would not - yet - say that this is a sign of things slowing down, it is definitely something that I'll pay attention on in the coming weeks.

The total number of apps in the US store this week is 25,384 of which 20,373 are free to install and 5,011 paid; that is a ratio of 4:1 in favor of free apps.

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Windows 8 users fall into two simple categories. There are those that miss the old way of working and don’t really care too much about the tiled Start screen, and those users who have embraced Microsoft’s new operating system and don’t understand why people are still wittering on about the Start button and menu.

The truth, however, is a large proportion of users do want the Start button and menu back, initially at least, and thanks to third party software they can fulfill that desire fairly easily. There’s no shortage of freeware solutions, ranging from my personal favorite hack, Ex7ForW8, to ViStart 8.0, and we’re now beginning to get an idea of just how popular they are.

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My friend and colleague Joe Wilcox has a long history of quitting tech. He famously declared his independence from Apple and a month ago said he was done with Facebook. Yesterday he announced he was quitting the PC, and switching to using a Google Nexus 10 as his primary computing device. He says the journey will be tumultuous, I say why do it then?

The truth is, the transition for Joe probably won’t be that difficult. He currently uses a Chromebook as his PC and has embraced the cloud. He is a PC user, but he’s not a real PC user. A real PC user can’t just switch to a tablet and after a few weeks be happy with the change. I love my iPad, and I loved Surface for the short time I had it. But a tablet could never be a replacement for my desktop system.

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