Microsoft

Microsoft's pre-E3 Xbox One reveal event in Redmond, Wash., wasn't a presentation targeted at gamers. In fact, most gamers hated it. Why? Because Microsoft used the opportunity to boast about the Xbox One's live TV integration and the seamless experience it will supposedly provide.

That mantra won't fly at E3 2013 in Los Angeles, where the priority is always games. The company teased with some details about what the Xbox One's gaming future will look like, but as of now it's still mostly unknown.

Here's a preview of what Microsoft needs to accomplish … Read more

Microsoft's strategy for its Xbox One console might rely on help from broadcasters, according to a new report.

Microsoft has been in talks with satellite TV broadcaster Sky in the U.K. to bring its Xbox One to the company's customers, MCVUK reported on Thursday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the deal. It's possible that the Xbox One will be a companion set-top box that sits atop Sky's service, those sources said. The Xbox One could be sold at a heavily reduced cost, according to the site's sources.

However, a Sky representative … Read more

Working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Microsoft on Wednesday moved to disrupt a massive cybercrime ring allegedly responsible for stealing online banking information and personal identities, leading to more than $500 million in losses.

In what the company described as its "most aggressive botnet operation to date," Microsoft acted on a court ordered civil seizure warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina to take down 1,462 Citadel botnets. The company wasn't able to shut down all of the botnets using the Citadel malware.

"However, we do expect … Read more

For all the complaining about Windows 8's lack of a Start button (much of it coming from me), the tech media has largely ignored an even bigger feature Microsoft unceremoniously pulled from the OS.

And not only pulled, but also slapped with a price tag.

I'm talking about Windows Media Center, the thoroughly awesome software that makes a Windows PC a great companion for TV -- or just a great TV, depending on how you use it.

Windows Media Center (hereafter WMC) made its debut as a specialized version of Windows XP, but was later incorporated into most versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. Offering a gorgeous 10-foot (i.e., TV-friendly) interface for your music, photos, videos, and, with the addition of a tuner, TV shows, WMC quickly amassed a small but rabid following.… Read more

With the public preview builds of Windows 8.1 due out later this month, a number of users are wondering how Microsoft plans to handle the upgrade.

At TechEd North America, officials shared some details on that topic in a session entitled "Windows RT in the Enterprise."

Microsoft officials have said previously that the company plans to deliver the public preview of Windows 8.1, codenamed "Blue," via the Windows Store on June 26.

Microsoft Senior Product Marketing Manager Michael Niehaus reiterated that message in the RT in the Enterprise session on Tuesday. When the 8.… Read more

Microsoft is offering people a peek at Windows 8.1 in action courtesy of a new video.

Posted Wednesday on YouTube, and embedded into a Microsoft blog, the tour conducted by Jensen Harris, Microsoft's director of program management for Windows User Experience, shows off key enhancements to the Start screen, the All Apps screen, and the search tool.

The video kicks off with a glimpse of the new lock screen, which can now display a collage of photos gathered from your PC and your SkyDrive account. The tour then segues to the Start screen where you can now shrink … Read more

Microsoft will be offering a free version of Office in the smaller versions of tablets running its operating system, a new report claims.

According to The Verge, which quoted Windows CFO Tami Reller at Computex on Wednesday, Microsoft will allow vendors to bundle Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote into 7- and 8-inch tablets running Windows 8. Outlook 2013 will not be bundled with the device, despite the fact that Windows RT 8.1, the latest version of that software, will come with Outlook RT.

Like other tablet makers, Microsoft is trying to make a push for the smaller side of … Read more

Consumers who own tablets running Microsoft's Windows RT operating system will get a new version of the software giant's widely used e-mail program, Outlook 2013 RT, later this year.

At the Computex computer trade show in Taiwan, Microsoft said Wednesday that the e-mail program will be included as part of the Windows 8.1 update announced last month. Outlook 2013 RT will be available as a free update for tablets running Windows RT, the scaled-down version of Windows 8, and will be included in Windows RT devices going forward.

When Microsoft rolled out Windows RT last year, it … Read more

Intel doesn't make tablets, but maybe it should.

At a Computex keynote speech Monday, the company showed a decidedly thin, Microsoft Surface-like tablet packing a quad-core Bay Trail processor.

Bay Trail is Intel's redesigned Atom chip, offering performance that gets a lot closer to the chipmaker's mainstream laptop processors than the Atom of old.

"Four cores, out-of-order execution, HD 4000 graphics...all day battery life," Intel said during the demonstration.

The reference design tablet is made by BYD Electronic (International), according to an Intel spokesperson. BYD also makes HP's Slate 7 Android tablet.

The … Read more