Items tagged with MSDN
Sheesh, when is it going to end? As if it wasn't enough that Microsoft annoyed millions of Windows fans with its latest OS (which it is now trying to correct), or that it seemed to care little about its loyal Xbox fanbase during the entire Xbone debacle - now, the company's decided to shutter one of its most popular services: TechNet. TechNet was the perfect solution for those who wanted to evaluate Microsoft's impressive software portfolio without having to commit to an outright purchase. "Evaluate" is a loose term here, however, as the licenses given were in fact full-fledged. Many who required multiple licenses of Windows, for example, took advantage of TechNet because it proved cheaper for...
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On the Building Windows 8 blog today, Windows 8 team lead Steven Sinofsky told readers that Windows 8 has been Released to Manufacturing (RTM). What that means is that the OS has been frozen and passed all internal certifications. Bug fixes and feature update development will continue apace, but Build 9200 is complete and apparently has been for at least a week. Here's what happens next. Availability to those with MSDN and TechNet subscriptions will start on August 15 while those with Microsoft Software Assurance licenses will be able to download the enterprise version of the product starting August 16. On September 1, Volume License customers will be able to buy it. At some point, it'll leak...
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Reducing mobile power consumption has been a top priority of the PC industry for years. Much of the work in this area has focused on hardware, but a recent post from Microsoft's IE blog raises the question of whether or not browser choice can make a difference in battery life*. It's not a question people would've considered for most of the past decade, but the advent of smartphones, hardware-accelerated browsers, and even netbooks have changed the way people prioritize battery life as a must-have feature. Microsoft tested Chrome 10, Firefox 4, IE9, Opera 11, and Safari 5 in the following scenarios: Windows 7 without any browsers running (provides baseline). Browsers navigated to about:blank (power...
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Although we know Windows XP SP3 isn't going to be feature-laden, it does offer, according to tests, a noticeable speed increase. And on Monday Microsoft increased the beta coverage of SP3 by making it available to MSDN and Technet subscribers.Microsoft late Monday expanded its beta test of Windows XP Service Pack 3 to subscribers of its MSDN and TechNet programs, releasing what is being called a "near-final release candidate." The move is likely harbinger of a public beta, as the latest SP3 code will be in the hands of far more than the 15,000 who originally were given access in mid-November.As we know, SP3 is a rollup of all previously released XP updates consisting, according to Microsoft of...
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