Windows 8 - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Microsoft's Windows 8.1 Update requirement generates confusion

  Microsoft is struggling to explain its requirement for Windows 8.1 customers to update to the latest version of the OS in order to receive bug and security patches.

• Microsoft extends deadline for Windows 8.1 Update requirement

  Microsoft is giving Windows 8.1 consumer users another 30 days to adopt the latest version of the OS before it cuts them off from receiving security updates.

• Is Windows 8 Development Worth the Trouble?

  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?

• Windows 8.1 Update, Microsoft's love letter to desktop users

  Microsoft is due to deliver the much-awaited update to Windows 8.1, and with it comes a packed goody bag of treats for laptop and PC users.

• Microsoft signals strategy shift at Build conference

  Instead of relegating desktops to a lower priority while pursuing the mobile device market, Microsoft will integrate its PC dominance into its current core strategy to become a devices and services company, opening keynotes at the company's 2014 Build developer conference suggest.

• Windows can't keep partying like it's 1999

  Microsoft partners, developers and customers may get a clearer picture this week of how the company plans to keep Windows relevant now that its rock-solid position in the market has been shaken up by competitors, shifts in technology and the lukewarm reception of recent releases.

• 7 Things You May Not Know About Microsoft Office

  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.

• Microsoft urges customers to ditch XP, Office 2003

  Microsoft has again painted a grim picture for customers who remain on Windows XP and Office 2003 after it ends support for the old OS and suite in early April, but it's unclear if the company is succeeding in its campaign to convince holdouts to upgrade.

• Nokia Here Maps app coming to Windows 8.1 devices

  Nokia's Here Maps application will be available for free in the coming days for all Windows 8.1 users, including those with devices running Windows Pro and Windows RT.

• Is Microsoft rethinking its decision to build Office for iPad?

  In appearances in September and October, Steve Ballmer said Microsoft would build native Office editions for iPads and Android tablets, but the company's marketing chief spoke with much less certainty when asked about this on Thursday.

• Can Microsoft turn around Its fortunes with Windows 8 tablets?

  After trailing iPads and Android tablets for enterprise market share in 2013, analysts predict that Windows 8-based tablets will surge from a distant third place to lead the field.

• Microsoft disavows workaround for SkyDrive problems on Windows 8.1

  Microsoft has backtracked on a suggested fix it offered repeatedly on its support forum for over two months for users having problems with SkyDrive on Windows 8.1.

• Frustrated users complain about SkyDrive problems after Windows 8.1 update

  As people have moved to Windows 8.1 in the past two months, the drumbeat of reports that the OS update has affected the SkyDrive cloud storage service has grown louder.

• Microsoft's Desktop Optimization Pack gets Win 8.1 management capabilities

  The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) suite of IT management tools has been updated with support for Windows 8.1 device and application management and Office 2013 virtualization.

• Microsoft hops on 3D printing bandwagon with Win 8.1 app

  Jumping on the trend of using printers to churn out objects, Microsoft has developed a 3D printing app for Windows 8.1, betting that this will become mainstream.