Consumer software and hardware

Microsoft pins Hotmail, Outlook outage on hot data center

Outlook and Hotmail users can blame the recent outage on an overheated data center, Microsoft says.

On Tuesday at around 1:30 p.m. PT, the two online e-mail services suffered a service disruption, rendering them inaccessible to many users. Microsoft started to bring them back online the rest of the day and on into Wednesday. But access wasn't fully restored until 5:43 a.m. yesterday, according to the company.

Microsoft's status page confirmed that the problem was repaired but offered no details as to the cause. Now the company has revealed the source of the glitch … Read more

Microsoft offers students three months free of Office 365

Microsoft is dangling a new offer to get students to try its Office 365 University software.

As of today, students with a qualifying .edu e-mail address can register to receive three months free of Office 365 University and an extra 20GB of space for their SkyDrive online storage. Share the offer on Facebook and you'll get an additional three free months of Office 365.

Geared for college students and teachers, a license for Office 365 University costs $79.99 for four years and is good for up to two PCs or Macs. The educational suite includes the same applications … Read more

Microsoft to patch critical holes in IE, Office, Silverlight

Windows users will get the usual round of security patches from Microsoft next Tuesday.

Among the seven fixes due to roll out March 12, four are rated critical, which means they address flaws that could let an attacker execute malware on a remote PC by steering a user to a malicious Web site or e-mail link.

The patch for Internet Explorer is designed to shore up all versions from IE6 to IE10 across all iterations of Windows from XP to Windows 8 and RT. The patch for Microsoft's Silverlight, a browser plug-in that can display online videos and other … Read more

Windows 8 touch-screen laptop price cuts coming

Expect to see significant price cuts on Windows 8 touch-screen laptops if Microsoft's expected Windows 8 discount on licensing fees for PC makers is implemented.

Those price cuts could range between 10 percent and 20 percent, according to a report in Digitimes, which cites sources at Taiwan's retailers.

Those same sources indicated that touch-screen laptops now account for about 10 percent of sales, but this could jump to 20 percent in some cases with discounts from Microsoft.

Reports Tuesday in Digitimes and the Wall Street Journal indicated that Microsoft will lower the price of Windows 8 for PC … Read more

Microsoft cuts Windows 8 OEM prices to spur demand -- WSJ

Microsoft is aiming to amp up demand for Windows 8 notebooks by offering manufacturers a discount on the operating system, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

Based on comments from "people familiar with the situation," the Journal yesterday said that Microsoft is trimming OEM (original equipment manufacturer) prices for Windows 8 and Office 2012. The goal is to encourage device makers to develop smaller, touch-based laptops designed for the latest Windows version.

Sales of Windows 8 computers have been weak since the OS debuted last October. Conventional desktops and most laptops still lack the touch screens needed to … Read more

Office 2013 licenses can now be transferred to another PC

Office 2013 users can now legally transfer their license if they buy a new computer or their current one breaks down.

In the face of user concerns over its previous policy, Microsoft today amended its Office 2013 license agreement. Now Office 2013 customers can move the software and license to another PC once every 90 days.

Effective immediately, the agreement covers Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, Office Professional 2013, and all of the standalone Office 2013 applications.

Microsoft's previous policy for Office 2013 limited users to a perpetual license good for only one PC. … Read more

Kinect looks to replace your mouse with your fists

Microsoft's Kinect might eventually reduce your reliance on the mouse.

At Microsoft's TechFest this week at its headquarters in Redmond, Microsoft is showing off an update to its software development kit that will allow developers to add more hand-gesture functionality to their programs. According to The Verge, which tried out the hand detection, the technology allows users to pinch-to-zoom with their hands and pan around the screen. All of that is done by simply waving and clenching their hands in front of the Kinect.

Microsoft's Kinect was first delivered to gamers by connecting it to the Xbox … Read more

Sorry, PC makers. Shipments will likely fall this year, IDC says

This year isn't looking much brighter for PC makers than last, IDC said today as it cut its expectations for 2013 computer shipments.

The tech research firm said it expects computer shipments to drop 1.3 percent this year, worse than its prior view for a 2.8 percent rise. And that decline comes after a 3.7 percent slide in 2012.

"Disappointing holiday sales, an underwhelming reception to Windows 8, and continuing economic malaise that further crimped IT budgets marked the face of the market during the second half of 2012, leading to a year-on-year decline of … Read more

Microsoft's little-screen, big-screen interactive future

Giant interactive surfaces will complement the more mobile variety of today. That's how Microsoft sees the future.

Walk up to a massive interactive screen with a Surface tablet, tap it, and, voila, now you're working on the big screen. Or project your Windows phone screen onto a larger surface.

The point of "Microsoft's Future Vision: Live, Work, Play" (see below), a concept video that describes how we'll live in five to ten years, is that there is fluid interaction between touch surfaces and devices of all sizes.

The video debuted as the company opened … Read more