Windows 8

Microsoft's Surface Pro pops on Best Buy

Microsoft's Surface Pro has made its first appearance on a retailer's site other than Microsoft's.

That would be big box retailer Best Buy, which is already boasting that the new Microsoft tablet will go on sale at midnight February 8 at a store in Union Square in New York City.

Best Buy lists the two available models, 64GB and 128GB, priced at $899 and $999, respectively. Neither product comes with the $129 Type Cover, which is a 5.75 mm-thick mechanical keyboard.

Microsoft is also offering a $119 Touch Cover pressure-response keyboard.

The tablet comes with 4GB … Read more

Windows 8 iPad killers: Round 1

The iPad-killing Windows 8 tablet-laptop has arrived. Problem is, most aren't ready to dispatch the iPad -- or the MacBook Air for that matter -- yet.

So far, reviewers of shape-shifting Windows 8 tablets have not been kind. Otherwise known as "detachables," the devices can take the form of a standalone tablet or attach to a keyboard base to become a close facsimile of a full-fledged laptop. … Read more

Windows 8 ekes out 2.2 percent market share

Windows 8 may not be setting the PC landscape on fire, but at least it's heating up some gains in market share.

The latest flavor of Windows scored a market share of 2.26 percent in January, as recorded by Web tracker Net Applications. That showed a slow but steady rise from 1.72 percent in December and 1.09 percent in November.

Windows 8 has been floating around for a while as beta and preview editions became available, but the official release debuted at the end of October.

January's numbers showed Windows 8 in fifth place among … Read more

Windows 8 $40 upgrade deal ends today

Those of you still mulling over a move to Windows 8 have less than a day to score the upgrade before the price shoots up.

The Windows 8 Pro upgrade is still available for $39.99 for Windows 7, Vista, and XP users. Even further, Windows 7 users who bought their PC after June 2 of 2012 can grab Windows 8 Pro for just $14.99.

Starting February 1, the upgrade price jumps to $119.99 for the standard version of Windows 8 and $199.99 for the Pro edition. Only qualifying students will be able to grab a discount of $69.99 for Windows 8 Pro.… Read more

Surface Pro to launch at Best Buy in NYC on February 8

Following the pattern it set with its Surface RT launch in October 2012, Microsoft is planning to launch its Surface Pro devices just before midnight the day before they'll be commercially available.

On Friday, February 8, Microsoft is holding a private evening reception for select guests before the event, and then holding the formal launch just before midnight, February 9, at the Best Buy in Union Square in New York City. The invited guests will be among the first people eligible to buy the new Surface Pros -- or, as Microsoft calls them officially, the "Surface Windows 8 … Read more

Students to get Windows 8 upgrade discount

As Microsoft's ridiculously low price for upgrading older Windows systems to Windows 8 comes to a close tomorrow, the company has revealed a plan to let students upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for less than half the standard rate.

Microsoft's been running a deal since the Windows 8 launch in October where people who wanted to upgrade Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 to Windows 8 could pay only $39.99, but that deal will end tomorrow. As of February 1, upgrading an older Windows computer to Windows 8 will run you $119.99 for the standard edition, … Read more

Get your cheap Windows 8 upgrade now

Anyone even considering Windows 8 should grab the upgrade special now before it expires this week.

Users of Windows 7, Vista, and XP can purchase the upgrade to the new operating system for just $39.99 per PC. Those of you who bought Windows 7 after June 2 last year can score Windows 8 for just $14.99. And that's for the Pro version.

After January 31, the upgrade price skyrockets to $119.99 for the regular edition and $199.99 for the Pro version.

However, Windows 7 users who bought their computer between June 2 of last year … Read more

Acer: Windows 8 still not successful

Acer hasn't been doing well lately, and the company is pointing a finger at weak demand for Windows 8.

"Windows 8 itself is still not successful," Acer president Jim Wong told Bloomberg in an interview published yesterday. "The whole market didn't come back to growth after the Windows 8 launch, that's a simple way to judge if it is successful or not."

Acer was stung by an annual loss in 2011 and will post another loss for 2012, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last week, the company announced a $120 million write-off … Read more

Microsoft said to be testing Windows RT Outlook client

File this one in the "sources said" folder, but I've now heard from three of my contacts that Microsoft has completed and is testing internally a version of Outlook that runs on Windows RT-based devices.

This "Outlook RT" would run on Microsoft's ARM-based Surface RT devices, as well as any/all other ARM-based Windows RT tablets and PCs.

Here's the catch, though: According to two of these three sources, when/whether Microsoft will make Office RT commercially available is not yet decided. This might not ever happen, these sources stressed.

Again, according to … Read more

Microsoft Q2: By the numbers

Microsoft has issued its first earnings scorecard since the introduction of the Windows 8 operating system and of Surface, its first branded tablet computer. The company's fiscal second-quarter report also opens the latest window -- no pun intended -- onto the pace of decline of PC shipments as more people switch over to smartphones and tablets.

Here are some of the highlights by the numbers:

Revenue: $21.5 billion Net income: $6.38 billion Windows: $5.88 billion, up 24 percent year-over year. (That number includes revenue deferrals tied to an earlier upgrade offer as well as presales. On … Read more