Items tagged with Microsoft
With Windows 10 already installed on more than 75 million systems, you could be forgiven for expecting that the operating system’s success would lead to an uptick in sales of PCs. In fact, PC sales are continuing to decline and this year’s PC shipments is expected to land about 9 percent lower. But it’s not all bad...
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Microsoft has a lot of exciting things in store for its Xbox One console, and if you want an early taste of what the Redmond giant is cooking up, you need only join the Xbox One Preview program. Sounds easy enough, right? Unfortunately it's an invite-only affair, and it looks like Microsoft is cutting back the number...
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All of the controversy surrounding Windows 10 hasn’t stopped PC users from upgrading to the operating system at a furious pace. Over the past month, we’ve heard speculation that installs had surpassed the 25 million mark, with some estimates as high as 67 million. But the only official figure from Microsoft was...
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A new version of Microsoft's popular productivity suite is nearing release for Windows users. Yes, we're talking about Office 2016, which incidentally was released to the Mac OS X platform early last month, ending a nearly five-year drought (prior to Office 2016, the last Office release for Mac was in 2011).
Citing a source "close to Microsoft,"
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Microsoft is building a slick new keyboard cover for its Surface Pro tablet. The new keyboard prototype has an e-ink strip above the function keys, giving users a second touchscreen for launching apps, writing notes, or even drawing images. The DisplayCover is still a prototype, but as you can see in the video below...
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You may not take digital assistants seriously just yet, but Microsoft does and it wants you start relying on its version right now. The company loaded Cortana onto Windows 10, which became available late last month, and has long been planning to put Cortana on competitors’ platforms. Cortana for Android leaked last month, but now Cortana Beta
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Lawyers in Moscow raised privacy concerns about Windows 10 this week, echoing complaints in the U.S. about the flagship operating system’s perceived data collection practices. The complaint by Russian lawyers comes shortly after the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office sent Microsoft a request for information about...
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Microsoft introduced its “fitness” Band late last year in an attempt to tap into the growing wearables market. Supplies were incredibly constrained at launch and it took Microsoft a few months to get production numbers up to a comfortable level.
Once production was humming along, the discounts started piling on...
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Do you remember what you were doing two decades ago? Depending on your age, you might have been waiting in a long line for Windows 95. Yes, there were lines to purchase Windows 95, the revolutionary operating system that launched at midnight on August 24, 1995, 20 years ago to the day.
Codenamed Chicago, Windows 95...
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If you’re a Windows 10 user that just so happens to have a penchant for hitting up torrent sites (mainly for unscrupulous purposes), you made be surprised to find out that you may being discriminated against. That’s right, following news stories that Windows 10 is sending data data to Microsoft, some torrent trackers...
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Well in advance of the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft painted a pretty picture of its newest OS. It's supposed to "transform" the way we do things, allowing us to be more creative. "A more human way to do." That's all fine and dandy, but with Windows 10 having been available for close to a month now, it's clear that...
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With Windows 10 (and the right hardware), you can skip the traditional password or even a fingerprint scanner and have the OS log you in simply by scanning your face. It’s an intriguing new feature and Microsoft has been touting it as a secure, convenient way to log in. The face scanning tool is part of Windows Hello...
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All eyes are going to be on Apple next month, as the company is scheduled to announce its next generation iPhone 6S/6S Plus smartphones along with new iPads (and possibly a next generation Apple TV). But attention will shift in October, as Microsoft is set to launch its Surface Pro 4 along with the long-awaited...
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Siri isn’t yet on Mac OS X, but Cortana is, thanks to PC virtualization software Parallels Desktop 11. Launched today, the new version of the software is expected to be as much as 50 percent faster than previous iterations and features Cortana, Microsoft’s digital, personal assistant.
Parallels Desktop lets users...
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There’s no question that Sony’s PlayStation 4 is walking away from the Xbox One in the console sales race this generation. This is despite the fact that Sony has held the line on pricing, keeping its 500GB console at the $399 price point, while Microsoft effectively instituted a $100 price cut by ditching the Kinect...
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Windows Insiders are a big reason why Microsoft was able to get Windows 10 out the door on time and address numerous issues with the operating system that might have not otherwise been identified by internal testers. With Windows 10 now in the hands of millions of customers, Microsoft is now moving forward with newer...
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Amid all the praise Windows 10 is receiving around the web, there is one thing that's at the center of most complaints -- automatic updates. Windows 10 Home users generally don't have a choice in the matter, the updates are mandatory and sent out automatically. For some people with limited bandwidth, that policy is...
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If you need proof that a new Surface Pro is on the way, look no further than a new round of price cuts that Microsoft has bestowed upon its aging tablet. The model that is receiving attention in particular today is the Surface Pro 3 with the Intel Core i5 processor and 128GB solid state drive (SSD).
The tablet usually retails for $999,
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Sometimes I wonder if we should cook up a TMZ-style column explicitly for reporting on all the drama that transpires between AMD and NVIDIA. Today we’ve witnessed one of the first shots fired from one of those camps, on what’s poised to be a very heated battleground over the next several years: DirectX 12.
Over the...
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Although Microsoft says it didn’t intend to take over the Internet with its viral “Gears of War” commercial in 2006, the company is clearly hoping to recreate some of that hoopla with its reimagined ad this week. The company just released an ad for Gears of War: Ultimate Edition that features the same “Mad World” song...
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It looks like Microsoft has gotten a handle on the problems that were plaguing the App Store in Windows 10.
Earlier this month, users began reporting some downright weird problems, including a mail client that wouldn’t allow users to open certain emails. Other users reported problems with downloading apps in the...
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It's time for another dose of skepticism, because more information has been brought to light over how much data is being sent to Microsoft with its latest operating system. According to an anonymous source on a Czech website (translation available here), key-logged information and even file search results are sent...
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