The Internet of Things is exploding, and it's not hard to explain why it's happening now. The sensors, networking chips and other technology required to connect to the Internet devices ranging from light bulbs to smartwatches to industrial equipment have all become inexpensive.
Microsoft launched its "largest-ever open collaborative development effort" at the start of October to try to ensure that Windows 10, its next operating system, is a success.
When the chief marketing officer (CMO) makes software purchasing decisions, it's a near-certain recipe for security, performance and scalability disasters -- and it's the CIO who's likely to be asked to sort out the resulting mess. That's the view of Sheldon Monteiro, CTO of SapientNitro, a division of business and technology consultancy Sapient.
Microsoft's relationship with the open source movement has undergone an extraordinary transformation over the last few years, from a deep hostility to what can only be described as an embrace.
Ten years ago, open source advocates faced an uphill battle when they tried to implement free software in an organization, while proprietary vendors such as Microsoft spoke out publicly and fiercely against it. Barriers to implementation included worries about security, support, warranties and indemnities, and concerns that the quality of software that was freely available would be inferior to that produced on a commercial basis and licensed for a fee.
Apple recently unveiled Swift, a new language to replace Objective-C for OS X and iOS application development. Apple won't accept submissions built using Swift to the iOS or Mac App Store until the fall, when iOS 8 and the next version of OS X (Yosemite) ship, so there's still some time to learn the ins and outs of this new programming language.
Frequent updates to cloud software can cause compatibility problems – which is why Microsoft has outlined plans to help your other applications play nicely with Office 365.
Most of the time, software developers do the right thing. On those rare occasions when they don't, bad things can happen. Avoiding these common coding practices will make your work easier -- and your software more secure and scalable to boot.
The security of open source software relies on the community spotting errors -- but Heartbleed and other recent events suggest that that's not happening.
If you want to take your pick of the plum jobs of the future, you need experience in the languages that will be in demand. Learning one of these six will put you ahead of the pack.
Now that Microsoft's support for the popular Windows XP operating system has ended, you'll need to use every trick in the book to stop your machines from being compromised.
Support for open source software is 'unbundled' from the software itself. That actually makes it much easier to get the right level of support at the right price.
Microsoft pays some companies to produce Windows 8 versions of their products. Without this type of financial assistance, or various other incentives, is Windows 8 and especially Windows Phone development worth the effort?
Official Microsoft support for Windows XP has ended. However, as many as 20 per cent of business endpoints still use the popular operating system. If your company ranks among those still using XP, here's how you can protect your machines from the forthcoming onslaught of security vulnerabilities.
This isn't your parent's Microsoft Office. Recent activity culminating with the SharePoint Conference 2014 shows that Microsoft is making its Office suite more social, more integrated with both home-grown and acquired Microsoft technologies, more analytical and more cloud-friendly.