Microsoft Windows - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Windows 8: The InfoWorld Deep Dive report

  It's not the Windows you know and love. Microsoft has revealed a "reimagined" Windows -- code-named Windows 8 -- that boasts a very different, tile-centric user interface called Metro taken from Windows Phone that is touch-savvy, runs on ARM processors as well as Intel x86 chips, takes fewer system resources so it can run on a wider variety of hardware platforms, and works on both tablets and traditional keyboard-and-mouse PCs. It's not mobile versus desktop, it's mobile and desktop together.

• Beauty and the geek: Windows Phone 'Mango' vs. Android

  Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango," Microsoft's answer to Apple's iOS and Google's Android, draws you in immediately with its simple but sexy interface. It's very easy to get into messaging -- both traditional email and IM and newfangled Twitter and Facebook -- and launch widgets to track the weather or see your stocks. The colorful Windows Phone UI makes iOS look a bit dowdy, almost computerlike, and it really shows what a mess the Android Franken-interface is.

• Windows XP to Windows 8: Don't go there

  A majority of enterprises have migrated to Windows 7 or are planning to do so. But for Windows XP holdouts ready to side-step Windows 7 for the upcoming Windows 8 OS, you are risking a gap in support, stresses research firm Gartner in a new "first take" analysis of Windows 8 migration in the enterprise.

• 10 best new features of Windows Server 8

  Microsoft claims 300 new and improved features in Windows Server 8, but after a few days in Redmond watching demos and stepping through lab sessions, we wonder whether the marketing guys accidentally left off a zero. It's hard to name a Windows Server feature that hasn't been tweaked, streamlined, wizardized, or completely revamped. Whatever grudge you may hold against Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 8 will almost certainly make amends.

• Windows 8: What it's really all about

  Now we know. Microsoft's president for Windows, Steven Sinofsky, today revealed a "reimagined" Windows, which boasts a very different, tile-based user interface called Metro based on Windows Phone that is touch-savvy, runs on ARM processors as well as Intel x86 chips, and yet will also work on traditional keyboard-and-mouse PCs and run anything that runs on Windows 7. The new version, code-named Windows 8, is now in developer preview, with no release date yet set.

• Windows 8: Microsoft finally raises the curtain

  Microsoft has been teasing us for months with drips of promises for what the next version of Windows -- code-named Windows 8 -- will offer. It's said that Windows 8 and its radically different user interface will run on both Intel and ARM chips; thus, it will be available not just for traditional desktop and laptop PCs but for iPad-style tablets. Microsoft has said Windows 8 will not run on smartphones, which will use Windows Phone 7 instead. However, the Win8 UI seems to be based on that of Windows Phone.

• 4 simple steps to bulletproof laptop security

  Security: You either have it you don't. It's a matter of degrees or, as the experts prefer to think of it, layers. The more varieties of security you have, the better the odds your goods can be protected successfully from intrusion or theft.

• Tasmania extends ICT hardware panel

  The Tasmanian Government has extended its whole of government ICT hardware panel for two years and is seeking to add additional suppliers to the arrangement which commenced in April 2009.

• Windows Small Business Server 2011 shines

  Many small businesses have relied on Microsoft's Small Business Server (SBS) family of servers to get their feet wet with their first server and network. Introduced back in 1997 as BackOffice Small Business Server 4.0, SBS has matured into a tightly integrated platform of the most important services a small company needs: file and printer functions, email, calendar and contact sharing, and document collaboration. While it is limited in the maximum number of concurrent user connections, SBS doesn't shirk core services, providing enterprise-grade features at a price point almost every small business can afford.

• Microsoft Windows after 25 years: A visual history

  Windows has come a long way since 1985. Where will it go next?

• Micro Focus moving mainframe apps to Windows

  With technology being introduced Monday, Micro Focus is offering assistance in migrating Cobol, CICS, and DB2 applications to Microsoft Windows via a managed code version of Micro Focus's mainframe and application modernization technology.

• Clock winding down on Windows XP SP2

  July 13, 2010. It is less than a month away, and it is the date that Microsoft will end support for Windows XP SP2. That means that Microsoft will no longer be testing newly discovered vulnerabilities to determine if Windows XP SP2 is affected, nor will it be developing any more patches or updates in support of Windows XP SP2. You have T-minus 29 days and counting to install SP3, or make the move to a newer OS, like Windows 7.

• Microsoft Windows Live refresh streamlines communication

  Microsoft unveiled a major refresh of the Windows Live Essentials suite. The video overview focuses primarily on the improved photo editing, management, and sharing features - which do seem fairly impressive. But, small and medium business customers will be much more impressed with the expanded features and functionality of Windows Live Mail.

• Researcher reveals Safari zero-day bug

  Apple's Safari browser contains a critical, unpatched bug that attackers can use to infect Windows PCs with malicious code, researchers at US-CERT and other security firms said today.

• Windows 7 SP1 means end of XP downgrade rights

  The clock is ticking on the demise of some downgrade rights for Windows 7, an analyst said Thursday.