windows 8

Microsoft has sold 4 million copies of Windows 8 since launch

REDMOND, Wash. -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company has sold 4 million copies of Windows 8 to consumers since the operating system debuted on Friday.

Ballmer made the announcement today at the start of the Build conference, a show Microsoft is hosting on its campus for more than 2,000 developers. Microsoft is hoping to convince developers to create applications for its new operating system and the Windows Phone 8 operating system that debuted yesterday.

"In a sense, what these launches really do is the kick off the golden age of opportunity for you as developers," … Read more

Microsoft opens the Windows Store. Will app makers walk in?

Within a year, the newly launched Windows 8 will likely be powering almost 400 million PCs and tablet computers.

Microsoft has built an application marketplace, the Windows Store, right into its new operating system. It's a place for consumers to find software programs to make their new machines more productive, more useful, and more fun.

But even though Microsoft announced the Windows Store more than a year ago to developers, the marketplace has about 5,000 applications for users in the United States, a few thousand more globally. If the opportunity is so big, why are the offerings so … Read more

Windows RT missing your favorite apps? Try these

For all its speedy touch-screen goodness, one of the biggest drawbacks of Windows 8 RT is that it doesn't let you install third-party programs through its desktop screen. Unlike the standard version of Windows 8, RT restricts you to first-party programs (made by Microsoft) through its desktop, but gives you free rein to install whatever you want through the Windows Store. The problem is that at this point the Windows Store is just too thin to make up for the loss of several popular third-party programs. Fortunately, we did a little research and found a few alternative apps that … Read more

Will Windows 8 bring Windows Phone into focus?

After months of teasing, Windows Phone 8 finally takes center stage. Whether Microsoft's mobile efforts will have some staying power or be doomed to a short run still remains to be seen.

Just days after the large, splashy launch of Windows 8 in Manhattan, Microsoft is holding a similar event for its Windows Phone 8 platform. Also on hand were key partners, such as HTC, Nokia, and Samsung Electronics, which all had phones ready to show off.

At stake for Microsoft is its future in the world of technology and consumer electronics. While the traditional Windows software remains the … Read more

Windows 8 is like a bad blind date, Google search suggests

Google "Windows 8 is" followed by a space or a letter, and you'll find some nasty suggestions for Microsoft's new OS.

Typing Windows 8 followed by a space comes up with such phrases as "Windows 8 is awful," "Windows 8 is horrible," and "Windows 8 is terrible," with only one compliment -- "Windows 8 is awesome."

Extend your search to include a letter after "Windows 8 is," and the pattern continues. A few positive suggestions pop up, calling the OS excellent, fast, and stable. But most … Read more

Poll shows tepid interest in Windows 8

A new poll suggests that Windows 8 may be hampered by scant consumer interest.

Microsoft bills Windows 8 -- a world away from the familiar surroundings of Windows 7 -- as a "reimagining" of the PC operating system. It may indeed be that, considering Windows 8's touch capabilities and app ecosphere. But whether consumers will take to the new OS remains to be seen.

A survey of nearly 1,200 U.S. adults by the Associated Press and market researcher GfK found that 52 percent of respondents had not heard of Windows 8 and that 61 percent … Read more

Microsoft app syncs Windows 8, Windows Phone 8

Microsoft has released a Windows Phone 8 companion app for its new desktop operating systems, Windows 8 and Windows RT.

The app, apparently published just before Windows Phone 8 gets fully detailed on Monday, makes it possible to synchronise photos, videos and music between Microsoft's mobile and desktop devices.

According to the listing information, the app's functionality gets embedded in various Windows 8 features — for example, the user does not need to fire up the app in order to pull photos from their Windows Phone 8 device into their desktop Photos app.

Microsoft officially launched Windows 8 on … Read more

Microsoft's picture-password ad: Intriguing or confusing?

I was watching the San Francisco Giants bring art and joy to Detroit's huddled masses last night, when Microsoft ran an ad before my eyes.

It showed, well, people touching the screens of their laptops and drawing strange circles and lines all over what seemed like family pictures.

Why were they doing this? Was this some code? Was Microsoft declaring its artistic credentials? Was that cat being targeted by a sniper?

But no. For a caption informed me that this was Windows 8's picture password.

And yet, because I am less than attentive when waiting for the Giants … Read more

Like Apple, Microsoft wants to explain its cool hardware tech

With the Surface, Microsoft has become a purveyor of cool hardware. And, like Apple, Microsoft wants to explain it you.

The newest video (below) illustrates, among other things, how the touch-cover glass and the screen are fused together into one piece; why the integrated kickstand is important; and little things like how the camera in the back matches the tilt of the screen in its kickstand position.

It's the latest in a series of videos Microsoft has been posting to describe the design effort that went into the Surface.

Other videos include the Making of the Touch Cover for Surface … Read more