Microsoft - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• After 2012 launch splash, Windows 8 faces enterprise skepticism

  Among the raft of recent and upcoming Microsoft upgrades, Windows 8 towers in importance but its chances for success remain cloudy among enterprise customers.

• Enterprise IT is on the losing end of Microsoft's CAL price hike

  Microsoft's recent increase in the price of its user client-access licenses (CAL) is a 'lose-lose' deal for enterprise customers but will likely yield a major revenue boost for the vendor.

• 4 smokin' hot startups: The next tech boom

  Social networks are dead, and smart VC money is pouring into enterprise startups like Shoutlet, Asana, Narrative Science, and Delphix

• Microsoft: What it did right and wrong in 2012

  At the time of writing, Windows 8 could be the biggest thing Microsoft has done wrong -- ever. But it could also wind up being one of the best things it has ever done.

• Worst security snafus of 2012

  The first half of 2012 was pretty bad - from the embarrassing hack of a conversation between the FBI and Scotland Yard to a plethora of data breaches - and the second half wasn't much better, with events including Symantec's antivirus update mess and periodic attacks from hactivists at Anonymous.

• Tablet smackdown: iPad vs Surface RT in the enterprise

  IPads are already making their way into businesses via bring-your-own-device efforts with Microsoft Surface RT tablets hoping to follow suit as employees lobby for their favorite devices. But which one makes more sense from an IT perspective?

• In a symbolic shift, IBM's India workforce likely exceeds U.S.

  It has been widely expected over the past year or two that IBM's India workforce was on track to exceed its U.S. workforce, if it hadn't exceeded it already.

• Cloud security not really slowing IT adoption

  Cloud security has been discussed ad nauseum for years, and it's often cited as the biggest barrier to enterprise cloud adoption. Such conversations are misguided and ignore the larger challenge of cloud adoption: accommodating developers.

• Microsoft's Sinofsky, by the numbers

  Microsoft is best known for Windows, and or the past six years, Steven Sinofsky has been best known as the man behind Windows. Even the numbers tell a story.

• The TV is the new tablet: How gesture-based computing is evolving

  Few people watch television alone today, even when they're by themselves. Most are gravitating toward the multi-screen experience, in which viewers keep a smartphone, tablet or laptop close by so they can access the Web while they watch TV. But as televisions become smarter and gesture-based computing evolves, viewers may be able to mount and control everything they need on the living room wall.

• Chrome experiments: A foundation for future browser apps

  The battle for dominance between the major browsers continues on desktop, pad, and mobile platforms and, according to [Net Applications' Net Market Share, as of October all versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer combined had just over 54 per cent of the desktop market having gained about 2.2 per cent since December, 2011. Firefox, over the same period, lost 1.84 per cent (currently at just under 20%) while the other big contender, Google's Chrome, currently stands at just less than 19 per cent having lost 0.56 per cent in the same 10-month period.

• What Obama's re-election may mean for technology

  The US presidential election result leaves President Barack Obama in the White House and maintains the balance of power in Congress. In many longstanding technology debates, policy experts see little movement forward, although lawmakers may look for compromises on a handful of issues.

• IT employment will finish year in the black

  If there is one word that has defined this year, it's "uncertainty." It has been hanging over almost every economic and job growth analysis related to IT. Blame the elections, the fiscal cliff and Europe.

• Stop working and start innovating:<br /> It can pay off

  Savvy IT departments that set aside time for employee creativity say the payoffs include happier workers, increased productivity and sometimes even revenue.

• Microsoft Build: Wooing Windows 8 developers

  At its conference this week, Microsoft pulled out all the stops to convince developers why they should build Windows 8 apps.