operating systems

Designing Windows 8 for virtually any device from smartphone to PC, Microsoft says it's had a key goal in mind for all hardware platforms--energy efficiency.

With laptops and mobile devices slurping up battery power and desktops and servers chewing up electricity, Microsoft has wanted to ensure that any device running Windows 8 can tap into better power management.

"Very small changes done well in Windows can result in very large positive environmental impact because of our scale," Pat Stemen, a program manager on Microsoft's Kernel team, said in the latest Building Windows 8 blog. "In … Read more

Windows XP continues to shed market share but still won't give up its crown as the most used operating system.

Eyeing the OS market in October, Net Applications pegged the total share for XP at 48 percent, the first time the 10-year-old OS has dipped below 50 percent specifically among desktop platforms. That's down from 50.5 percent in September and 52.5 percent in August.

Since Windows 7 made its official debut more than two years ago, XP has gradually dropped in usage from 72 percent in August 2009 to its current share. On a natural upswing, … Read more

Hewlett Packard reaffirmed its commitment to the computer business yesterday, bringing to a close three months of dramatic upheaval.

Since August, when HP and then-CEO Leo Apotheker outlined a plan to "explore strategic alternatives" for its Personal Systems Group, HP shaved roughly 20 percent off the price of its stock, damaged its supplier relationships, bewildered consumers and analysts, and, ultimately, ousted Apotheker and replaced him with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.… Read more

The Mac still owns a tiny market share compared with Windows, but it's one that's slowly been inching up.

In the U.S., Apple held 6.45 percent of all personal computers last month, according to new data from Net Applications, a gain from 6.03 percent from August. The growth from the prior month isn't a surprise, though, since Apple typically enjoys a boost in September thanks to what Net Applications calls "the Back-to-School Bump."

But the latest number also shows a slow but steady rise over the past couple of years from October … Read more

China-based Alibaba Group is planning to launch an English version of its Aliyun mobile operating system, Reuters reports.

The English version of Aliyun will be available later this month, according to the news service, which was on-hand during an Alibaba press conference earlier today in Hangzhou, China. The company also told reporters that it's currently in negotiations with hardware vendors to bundle its operating system with their devices.

Alibaba launched its mobile operating system in China in July. The platform, which was developed by the company's Alibaba Cloud Computing group, relies heavily upon the cloud, offering cloud-based e-mail, … Read more

Samsung has no plans to acquire WebOS, the company's CEO Gee-Sung Choi said at the IFA conference in Berlin.

According to Bloomberg, which published his comments today, the executive said that his company will "never" attempt to acquire HP's WebOS operating system, adding that "it's not right that acquiring an operating system is becoming a fashion" nowadays.

Last month, HP made the surprising decision to discontinue its mobile hardware, including the TouchPad tablet, and focus its efforts on software and solutions. It hasn't necessarily turned its back on WebOS, but the platform'… Read more

An Asia-based report surfaced today that claims Intel will temporarily halt development of its MeeGo operating system for tablets and smartphones due to lack of interest. Intel, however, says it's still committed.

The DigiTimes report claimed that Intel plans to "temporarily discontinue development of its MeeGo OS due to a lack of enthusiasm for the platform from handset and tablet PC vendors."

Instead, Intel will focus on hardware that is paired with either Android or Windows Phone in 2012, according to the report, citing industry sources.

"We remain committed to MeeGo and open source, and will … Read more

Windows 8 will usher in yet another revision to the file management system used by millions of people.

A blog post today by Microsoft Director of Program Management Alex Simons details at great length the future of the new Explorer interface, and lessons learned from previous versions.

One fascinating aspect brought up from Microsoft collecting hundreds of millions of anonymous usage reports (from Windows users) is that despite having over 200 commands in Explorer, "the top 10 commands represent 81.8% of total usage" (such as paste, properties, copy, and delete). Many commands go unused.

Microsoft found that the context menu from right-clicking an object is usually the main method of entering commands at 54.5 percent, with keyboard shortcuts coming in second at 32.2 percent.

It was found that the command bar--the most visible feature of Vista and 7's Explorer menu--contains two of the top 10 commands used overall in Explorer, and was only used a measly 10.9 percent during file management sessions. Therein lies the opportunity for change, Simons said. … Read more

As promised, Nokia took the wraps off its latest update to the Symbian operating system today.

Dubbed Symbian Belle, the OS brings a number of interface improvements, new apps, and enhanced feature support. On the UI front, you now get six instead of three customizable home screens, and widgets can now be resized to your liking. In addition, the company has added Toggle widgets, so you can more easily complete tasks, such as turning on/off wireless connections and changing profiles.

In Belle, the status bar now incorporates a pull-down notifications tray, and the lock screen provides more information, such … Read more