Windows

Skype to adopt 'Metro' design, says report

Skype may be taking new look and feel cues from the Windows 8 interface formerly known as Metro.

New client versions of Skype are in the works with a few notable enhancements, The Verge reports. One such is a new UI that borrows from the Windows 8 interface. Skype is now testing this change, but could take it a few steps further in future releases, according to The Verge.

Also reportedly new to Skype: a video messaging feature that lets users send prerecorded videos, which their contacts can then view when they hop online.

In 2008, Microsoft beta tested a … Read more

Adobe: Next Photoshop won't support Windows XP

Apparently 11 years was long enough.

Microsoft released Windows XP in 2001, and Adobe said today that the current CS6 version of Photoshop will be the last one to support the operating system.

"The Photoshop team would like to provide advanced notice that Photoshop CS6 (13.0) will be the last major version of Photoshop to support Windows XP," Adobe Product Manager Tom Hogarty said in a blog post.

The reason, he said, is that modern performance-sensitive software requires modern hardware graphics interfaces that Windows XP lacks, in particular a way to tap into the power of graphics … Read more

Bypass the Windows 8 Start screen with RetroUI

Still not crazy about the Windows 8 Start screen? A new app helps you avoid it entirely by taking you directly to the desktop.

Sold by a company named Thinix, RetroUI breezes right past the Windows 8 Start screen to deliver you to the desktop. You can still choose to open the Start screen and other Windows 8 UI features, or you can disable them entirely so that the Charms bar, hot corners, and other Win 8 elements are inaccessible.

The software costs $4.95. But you can try before you buy via a 14-day fully functional trial version. And … Read more

Microsoft planning fall update to Kinect for Windows

Microsoft has provided a fall update to its Kinect for Windows roadmap.

Microsoft plans to release an update to the Kinect for Windows runtime and software development kit (SDK) on October 8. A September 4 post to the "Kinect for Windows" blog mentions some of the new features slated to be part of that update:

Expanded sensor data access—including color camera settings and extended depth data More tools and samples, such as "a new sample that demonstrates a 'best in class' UI based on the Kinect for Windows Human Interface Guidelines" Support for Windows 8 desktop applications, … Read more

Windows 7 overtakes XP as Mac OS X passes Vista

Windows 7 has overtaken Windows XP as the world's most popular desktop operating system, marking the end of the venerable OS' reign over the PC world.

Windows 7's market share stands at 42.76 percent compared with Windows XP's 42.5 percent, according to figures from Web-tracking company Net Applications for the month of August.

Microsoft has seen Windows 7's share rise by roughly 1 percentage point month-on-month for around the past year -- about the same level of decline seen in Windows XP -- while Vista's share has remained static at around 6 percent … Read more

Microsoft's best Windows 8 apps

Microsoft's Windows 8 apps are a decidedly mixed bag so far. But one group of apps shows how the new environment can shine with the right software.

I haven't been too impressed with many of the apps Microsoft has created for Windows 8. Some, such as Music and Video, are designed mostly to get you to buy stuff from the company, offering only minimal support for playing your own songs and videos.

Others apps, such as Mail, People, and Messaging, aren't bad but still seem half-baked and in need of further refinements. Mail, for example, still doesn'… Read more

Microsoft Surface street art ads pop up in NYC

Microsoft seems to be taking to the streets to promote its upcoming Surface tablet.

Eagle-eyed residents of New York City have discovered new street artwork gracing the walls of certain buildings, as reported by The Verge. The colorful art depicts the word Surface in a tablet-shaped rectangle with a keyboard below.

A Facebook user named Surface Evangelist posted one photo of the artwork appearing on an unnamed street, while a Twitter user named Amanda uploaded another photo of a billboard-sized Surface ad on a building near East 2nd Street.

CNET contacted Microsoft, but the company said it's not commenting … Read more

Microsoft squares off with new logo

Microsoft has a brand-new logo to go with all the brand-spankin' new products it's got coming this fall.

The new design uses the long-standing Windows logo as its starting point, but gone are the wavy edges of that older look. The graphic element of the new logo is one squared-away image: the colors remain the same, and in the same order, but now they're enclosed in a square box. Equilateral sides, 90-degree angles, ta-da!

Overall, the updated logo is both the colorful graphic at the left and the newly refonted "Microsoft" to the right.

The change … Read more

Students who buy a new PC can score a free Xbox

Students trudging back to school can soften the blow with a free Xbox console and a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8, as long as they buy a new PC.

Several PC vendors have cooked up the deal to attract students who need to buy a new computer. Here's how it works:

Buy a new PC for $699 or more from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy, Newegg, or the Microsoft Store. You'll have to show some proof that you're a student currently enrolled, either through a school e-mail address or ID number. You then get your free Xbox … Read more