windows

Nokia tablet details: Keyboard cover with battery, 10.1-inch display

Nokia's rumored tablet looks closer to coming to fruition.

Nokia plans to launch its Windows RT-powered tablet early next year, according to the Verge, which has a few details on the rumored device.

The tablet will be paired up with a special keyboard cover that will have its own battery, allowing it to run as an auxiliary power supply. The keyboard cover will also come with a kickstand for the tablet, and will envelop the device like a book, according to the report. The tablet will have HDMI and USB ports, a cellular connection, and boasts a 10.1-inch … Read more

Here comes Microsoft Surface Pro, 64 bits and all

Microsoft's Windows 8 Pro version of the Surface will arrive soon, giving consumers probably one the highest performing tablets to date.

Microsoft is already dropping not-so-subtle hints that the device is coming "early in 2013." And now it appears to have made its debut at the FCC.

Let's look at what else Microsoft is saying about the 2-pound tablet that sets it apart from the current Surface RT tablet.

64-bit computing in a tablet: Surface with Windows 8 Pro is "a 64-bit tablet PC." That's not a trivial point. You get all of … Read more

Five things Microsoft must do for Windows 8 in 2013

Microsoft's ambitious Windows 8 gamble may have launched this past October, but it's 2013 that will make or break the new operating system. I have five recommendations that Microsoft should implement sooner rather than later to keep Windows 8 from going the way of Vista.

Make the case for Windows RT "That's right, it filets, it chops, it dices, slices, never stops, lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn, and it mows your lawn and it picks up the kids from school..." --Tom Waits, "Step Right Up"

Waits wasn't talking about Windows RT … Read more

iPad is left behind as rival tablets get multiuser support

When I got my Microsoft Surface two months ago, my 11-year-old asked if he could try it. "Sure," I said, and I was able to hand it over without worry that he'd be getting into my work e-mail or accidentally tweeting on my behalf. The Surface has what the iPad lacks: multiuser support.

It's not just the Surface, either. Any Windows tablet allows different users to have their own accounts. The latest version of Android, such as on the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, also offers this. Even Amazon's Kindle Fire HD has a … Read more

Day One with your new Windows laptop

Many happy holiday celebrants are opening up new laptops this month (or hybrids, desktops, and tablets). Unless it's a MacBook, the one thing nearly all those systems have in common is that they are going to run Windows 8, Microsoft's radically different new operating system.

The new OS means that the general advice I've been giving for years on what essential setup tweaks to do as soon as you unpack a new laptop needs to be updated for the Windows 8 era.

Frankly, no laptop comes right out of the box ready to perform optimally. The following … Read more

Pokki Windows 8 Start menu grabs half a million downloads

Microsoft kicked out the Start menu for Windows 8, but at least one app is proving that a lot of users still crave it.

One of many Start menu replacements on the market, Pokki for Windows 8 registered 500,000 downloads in the six weeks since Windows 8 officially debuted, according to a company blog.

Further, Stardock's Start8 program has sold thousands of copies, say the folks at Pokki. And in about 30 days, 30 different Start menu replacements have popped up.

"All of which is early proof of our original hypothesis that people need, want, and use … Read more

HTC may get into Windows tablet game

HTC is working on a pair of tablets running Microsoft's Windows RT operating system, according to Bloomberg.

HTC is mulling two tablets, a 12-inch version that is larger than most standard models, and a 7-inch version that is better able to compete with the likes of Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Apple iPad Mini, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources.

Microsoft is hoping to expand its lineup on tablets running on the Windows RT operating system, which is a stripped-down version of Windows 8 that is able to run on the more power-efficient ARM chip architecture … Read more

Microsoft: Five events that shaped 2012

In hindsight, 2012 may well be the year that marks the biggest transition in Microsoft's storied corporate history.

That statement might get some argument from Microsoft watchers, who would put the debut of Windows 95 and the retiring of co-founder Bill Gates ahead of 2012 for sea change at the company. But 2012 marked the year that Microsoft decided that basing its business on software alone isn't enough to survive in the evolving world of technology.

Now, as Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer says at every opportunity, Microsoft is about devices and services. The company is building devices, … Read more

Microsoft: Five things to look for in 2013

To most tech watchers, Microsoft is a giant software maker.

But that's not how Microsoft sees itself anymore. For the past several months, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has repeated as often as he possibly can that the tech behemoth is now a devices and services company. He was a plain as he could be in the annual letter he wrote to shareholders in October.

"This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves -- as a devices and services company." Ballmer wrote. "It impacts how we run the company, … Read more