We’ve all found ourselves doing it. Windows PC users that is, lusting after the premium-grade build quality of a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air. No matter whether you’re a Linux, Windows or OSX user you can appreciate the time and thought that goes into the uni-body build of an Apple  notebook computer.

Admittedly a proud Windows user, I’ve tried OSX on  numerous occasions to see if there was something I was missing. OSX is a mature  solid OS, but it’s no Windows. This is why I was overjoyed to hear about the  line of ultra-portable line of laptop computers from Intel and OEMs, called  Ultrabooks.

Ultrabooks are premium-priced laptops with a premium  build which are supposed to have great battery life in a smaller form factor.  While many have tried to make such a device for Windows users, few have  succeeded. Dell has succeeded.

Build and Appearance

The Dell XPS 13 carries the performance moniker “XPS”, but in a small 11-12 inch chassis. Make no mistake though, this is no netbook.  Dell managed to pack a 13-inch bonded 1366×768 Gorilla Glass display into a  compact machine and also gave it the power to serve users quickly and  efficiently.

Sticking with the display, while the 13-inch 1366×768  LED display is perfectly fine, I would have liked to have seen Dell go all out crazy and add in a higher res screen with better viewing angles. That being said, the display is perfectly fine for my purposes.

The Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook sports an aluminum body and an undercarriage made of carbon fiber. Carbon fiber was a great choice because not  only does the utrabook feel great to hold, but the carbon fiber keeps the bottom  cool, unlike the full aluminum of a Macbook Air. The island-style keyboard is spacious and has great travel. The keys are back-lit, which make the device great  for using in low light conditions.

Surrounding the keyboard, the deck of the device is  covered in a smooth rubberized material, which feels great on the palms while typing and using the trackpad. The trackpad is one of the better pointing device  on a laptop I’ve used. It’s smooth to scroll on and includes multi-finger  gesture support.

Performance

As I noted earlier, The XPS 13 ultrabook is no slouch in the performance department. Boasting a Intel Core i5-2467 M processor running at 1.6 GHz, a 128GB (or 256) SSD, 4GB of RAM and Intel HD3000 graphics, this  machine will move. Typical boot times are under 15 seconds easily and the system never lags.

Battery, Features and Misc

Battery life on the Dell XPS 13 is very good, however, the promised 8 hours by Dell falls a bit short of the actual time. I can typically go a little over 6 hours doing normal work on a fully charged battery. Going into this device with low battery life expectations, I was pleasantly surprised.

Dell made a great ultrabook, but the small device  footprint caused Dell to make some concessions on the ports packed in the  device. The device features two USB ports (one USB 3,0), a headphone jack, mini  display port and a battery LED indicator along the side. Sorry SD card fans, there’s nothing to see here.

The sound on the XPS 13 is fantastic. The volume levels  are great and with no speaker grills to behold, the sound just waffs up from beneath the keyboard giving users a quality experience.

Conclusion

My time with Dells first foray into the ultrabook  category is a fantastic one. The XPS 13 ultrabook is simply the best-looking laptop on the market, surpassing Apple’s Macbook line. The look and feel of the  device in hand is second to none. The performance is fantastic and Dell did a  fine job of not loading down Windows with a ton of bloatware. At $1099 for the  base model, I can absolutely recommend this device to those looking to jump into  the ultrabook fray.

Dell XPS 13: The Ultra Windows 7 Ultrabook was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft launched a new social network program So.cl last week. But unlike Facebook, or Twitter, this program is geared towards students and academics as a way of helping students learn.

The program originated at Microsoft’s FUSE labs so that students will have the ability to network with peers, share useful information quickly, and build their own pages that collect information from both inside and outside the classroom. In other words, this will extend the classroom, in a sense, transforming the web and social networks putting the students into the new virtual classroom.

The parameters for the “new” classroom are not limited to tech students, but include humanities and science courses. Enough variation exits so that the “social” aspect allows students to expand their reach beyond the courses or majors they are pursuing. So if a student is studying history but is interested in how and when bio-chemistry became a major player in disease control, they can find people in that bio-chemical area with similar interest.

Art, music, quantum mechanics, geography, and other specialties can bring students together to see how the different disciplines work and share interests and address issues that may not appear in the actual classroom. That is what learning is really all about.

So, So.cl is not about posting incidents on Facebook, or Twitter, but about sharing the student experience with others to advance a student’s education. In this sense, So.cl will not compete with Facebook; it is not that type of social network program. Where people on Facebook may discuss what they will be doing on the weekend, the intent of SO.cl is to discuss academic topics. If you want to talk about the “Hunger Games,” fine do it on Facebook. If you want to discuss the ethics of “Hunger Games” and how it breaches the Kantian Categorical Imperative, that is what SO.co is supposed to do.

Microsoft Launched the So.cl Social Media Program was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Windows 8 prognosis for sales: not that good. That is the latest finding from research entity Gartner. The expectation is that Windows 8 will not be the PC soul wave that will revitalize PC sales. Small wonder, since tablets, and mobile phones are the biggest challenges to the PC market.

Both HP and Dell, are hoping to see new sales growth because of the new OS. But realistically, ordinary consumers, who need Internet connections, and person-to-person communications and specific applications, are finding that the PC is not the way to go.

Good PC technology or not, good operating systems technology or not, other alternatives are making headway. Consider that ordinary people used to buy PC’s but they limited their use to specific operations, like document writing, or playing music, or sending e-mail. The rest of the PC sat there. So the tablets, and mobile phones took it to task and we are where we are.

PC Growth

Both Dell and HP are expecting growth. Consider where they are in the market place. Here is a look at the stock price.

Then compare that with the standing among other PC manufacturers.

This shows that there is still growth in the PC industry, at 1.9 percent in the first 2012 quarter. HP did show growth, not like Lenovo or ASUS. But Dell and Acer Group showed a drop in growth.

So expectations for a new push with Windows 8 are high, but that is not what analysts are projecting. For one, Windows 8 tablets are not expected to rise. For another, the Consumer Electronics show, earlier made clear that the PC is in trouble, at least as reported by those attending the show.

The distinction in Operating System use from personal to business use will be more dramatic than before because Microsoft is pushing the Azure Cloud, and that is key for business use.

Source: Gartner

Windows 8 Prognosis for Sales was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Well, We’ll just see about that. What?
When Steve Jobs came back to Apple in the late 90’s, Apple was in dire straits. So he decided to do things his way, and the “….” with everyone else. I’m sure that when his vision started to make it out to Apple, and to the various departments like the computer, the mobile phone, and the departments of other revolutionary devices, people at Apple said, “What? That’s not going to work…Why can’t we be more like Microsoft, or like …, or like …?” But Steve Jobs reply, out loud or silently must have been something like, “Well, We’ll just see about that.”

And sure enough, he took a company, on the verge of financial collapse, to become the number one business enterprise in the World.

Will Metro Work?

So on the Microsoft side, people may have been saying “Why couldn’t we be more like Apple, or like …, or like ….?” There’s been a grumbling that with all the smart people working at Microsoft, they are Number 2, 3, or 4 in innovation. Things had to change. So Microsoft offers Metro. but there is talk that the new Windows 8 Metro interface is going to bomb. In an article in Zdnet, the writer points out that there are serious deficiencies in handling Metro. And because of that, Metro will not be the driver for success that Microsoft hopes it to be. Is this another Vista?

Microsoft’s Vision

For a company that is the largest IT Company in the world, dominating in Operating systems, and office productivity tools, you would think that they would be satisfied. But they’re not. Think IBM. Microsoft does not want to sit back and be complacent. Because, in the IT world complacency does not work.

That is one reason they have put in so much effort into the Windows 8 phone, and the Azure Cloud. They are trying hard to stay on top of the market. In fact, one example shows them this. They have seen, with Internet Explorer, that market saturation lasts only a short period of time. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and other browser companies have challenged the Internet Explorer, once the dominant Internet browser.

So, now Microsoft is trying a new hand at the OS. Already there will be two new major brands, Window 8, and Windows RT. Their view with the Metro Interface has to do with repeating the vision that Jobs had in the 90’s. That is, to change the way people work with computers. If it works, Microsoft will be at a crossroad about what is next for the industry, and I’m sure that there is a road of new technologies waiting to come out, but first Metro. And this can help them lead the industry, the way Apple has lead the industry for the last 10 years.

So will Windows 8 Metro be a failure? Microsoft’s answer: Well, We’ll just see about that.

Microsoft’s Answer the Metro Criticism: Well, We’ll just see about that was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Not everyone knows, but all of our brilliant Windows 7 Themes here at Everything-Microsoft also work perfectly fine on Windows 8. So if you’re looking to give your Windows 8 Desktop a bit of a refresh, be sure to go and check out our extensive gallery of Windows 8 Themes.

Today I have 4 Water Inspired themes which will work on both Windows 7 and Windows 8. There’s nothing more majestic and graceful than flowing rivers, gushing waterfalls and churning seas which is why this selection of themes will be be brilliant for any Windows 7 or Windows 8 desktop.

Blue Water Theme

Bodies of water in all their varied magnificence are seen in this free theme for Windows 7: reflecting the lights of the city, flowing under picturesque stone bridges, winding through rolling hills, and glowing with a tropical ocean blue.

Blue Water Theme

Download

Australian Shores

The best of Australian beaches and waterways are on display in this free Windows 7theme by photographer Anton Gorlin, including alpine lakes, beaches lit up with pastel sunsets, and towering hills of sand under brilliant blue skies.

Australian Shores

Download

Aqua Dynamic Theme

Churning seas, rushing rivers, and gracefully curling waves are just a few of the images you’ll get with this free Windows 7 theme. Water: powerful, serene, and dynamic, captured by our community of contributors in splendid color and form. This theme updates automatically through an RSS feed.

Aqua Dynamic theme

Download

Waterfalls Theme

Gurgling canyon creeks, rushing mountain streams, and cascading, terraced rivers: Waterfalls in all their glorious diversity are featured in this free theme for Windows 7.

Waterfalls Theme

Download

4 Water Inspired Windows 7/8 Themes was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

This has probably happened to you. You find a program that you want to download. You start the installation process and then you start to get hit with questions about adding other programs. The check boxes are already checked. The programs may be good or not, but you’re flustered because all you want is that one program. Oh Crap.

Yes indeed. Crapware was added to your system. But more than that. You buy a new PC, and guess what…it is loaded with programs that you don’t want or intend to use. You get crapware. That is annoying because the OEM that manufactures the PC is making money on the software that is pre-installed. And the odd thing is that Microsoft now has a plan to help you remove it. For $99.

.

Good right? Well think about it. The crapware is slowing down the performance of the PC. So you do want to get rid of annoyware. But why was it installed in the first place? Simple, it’s marketing. You get it and later pay a fee to keep using it. The manufacturer gets money to push it into the system, and now Microsoft can get money to remove it. If you want to get rid of it, you have to go to one of Microsoft’s 16 stores, and they will remove it for you. But that is not very convenient.

Or

You could download (sure)  a program called PC Decapifier. It is free and it will do the same thing for you.

This tool is for you to use that helps remove programs, or unnecessary startup items and icons that can slow down your PC. The software  gives you step by step guidance, and it even offers recommendations on what programs to remove. Indeed many of those programs can be removed unattended, which makes it easy and convenient to use. There is a free version for personal use, and a professional version to purchase is also available.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Remove Crapware for $99 or Free was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

We are expecting to see the Release Preview of Windows 8 sometime around the beginning of next month and with it we can expect to see plenty of new updates to the built in Metro Apps.

According to the Verge, Microsoft has started updating most of the core Metro Apps in Windows 8 which are due to be revealed alongside the Release Preview. The updated apps have been spotted in internal builds of the Release Preview and are no longer badged with the “app preview” that is to be found in the developers preview.

It’s being reported that the Mail, Calendar, Messaging, Photos, Music and Reader app have all received updates.

These apps haven’t officially been released to the Windows Store for us to update to on the consumer preview as of yet, however Microsoft have updated the app descriptions for the Photos app and Reader app.

The updated photos app can be seen above with a full screen wallpaper and smaller folder thumbnails. You can see the Reader app has been tweaked as well. Of course these are only screenshots so in reality there’s plenty more that’s been tweaked.

I do expect Microsoft to be updating these apps anyway, after all while they may appear impressive and polished in demos, once you start using them in real life you start to notice little flaws and things that are still unfinished. I’m sure Microsoft will be eager to iron these bugs out once the Release Preview makes its way out to the public.

Source:

The Verge

Updated Metro Apps Coming With Windows 8 Release Preview was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The Europeans have had fun with Microsoft. An anti-trust suit filed in Europe in the late 90′s forced Microsoft to open it’s Operating system to other browsers besides the Internet Explorer. Now with Windows 8 in the mix,  and especially with Windows 8 RT a potential anti-trust investigation is possible.

First the US Senate is poised to investigate Microsoft for its actions to see if it is in violation of the agreement it entered in the late 1990′s on its monopoly activity. (funny…it was found to be a monopoly but what happened…not much…big deal…See the CNN Summary.)

Europe in 2003 also went after Microsoft for it’s OS and media player connection. A judgement forced Microsoft to detach the media player from the OS.  And later, the “Browser” deal went into affect, which untied Internet Explorer from the Operating System, allowing other browsers to run on the OS.

Now  a new look at Microsoft is underway, because the question is a tablet a PC? The original judgement applied to PC’s and Servers, not tablets. Microsoft now has tablets in the works, and there are two variations, Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT (or ARM). There are investigations questioning how much compliance is necessary to the judgement. But one problem with this is that the ARM version, comes from a new design in Chip technology.

What is ARM?

ARM refers to devices that use technology  from ARM Holdings PLC, a company based in the United Kingdom. It develops intellectual property  for semiconductors.  But instead of manufacturing actual semiconductor chips, ARM develops the technology and then licenses its intellectual property to partner companies that produce the semiconductors, chips, and devices. So ARM partners utilize ARM technology to produce system-on-chip designs, paying ARM a license fee for the original IP, plus a royalty on every chip or wafer produced. Right now it is a technology is currently being used in 90% of smartphones, 80% of digital cameras, and 28% of all electronic devices.

Windows 8 and ARM

Microsoft will release two versions on Windows 8, one running ARM, and one without. ARM devices will feature a Metro mode, that is a tile-based, touch-optimized interface, as well as a more traditional Windows desktop mode. Now here is the important part. Apps designed for the Metro interface will be supported on both ARM and Windows 8 on x86/64, and ARM includes support for hardware-accelerated HTML5. It will offer desktop versions of the key apps in the new Office 15 like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

But the kicker is that legacy Windows apps will run under Windows 8 on PCs, but not on ARM devices. This means that developers will not be able to recode their current Windows apps for ARM, under desktop mode. And that is where the problem comes in for other software manufacturers. This is the original problem they had with Microsoft 10 years ago. Can their software run on the Microsoft platform, or are there restrictions, and are these restrictions in violation of the 2004 agreement?

That is what the Europeans will try to determine.

Source: zdnet

A New Microsoft Anti-Trust Suit in the Making? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

If you or your business is thinking about pursuing Cloud operations, the big initial question for you is how do I know if the Cloud is the right solution for the business? So with that in mind, Microsoft has prepared a Cloud Assessment Tool that will allow you to make that assessment. This tool has four parts that can help you see what your standing is vis-a-vis the working Cloud. The steps are Cloud Drivers and Cloud Obstacles, Infrastructure management, service delivery and automation, and application management.

Section 1:  Cloud Drivers and Cloud Obstacles,

In the first section, Cloud Drivers and Cloud Obstacles, you are able identify the IT priorities and obstacles that prevent a business from reaching them. You can assess your priorities on the basis of costs, agility, and maintenance. Then you can assess the obstacles that prevent you from reaching those priorities based on security concerns, compliance issues, compatibility problems, capital expenditure, and operational budgets.

Cloud-Assessment-Tool-1

 Section 2:  Infra structure management

There are three parts in Section 2. These involve assessments in how the organization maintains its IT system, how secure and compliant it is and how well does the organization maximize the IT infrastructure.

Cloud-Assessment-Tool-2

Section 3:  Service Delivery and Automation 

Section 3 also has three parts, how the IT infrastructure scales to meet changing needs? How mature are the organization’s IT processes, and how quickly can you add new IT capabilities? By answering those questions, using the marker, you set the conditions for service delivery and automation.

Cloud-Assessment-Tool-3

Section 4:  Application Management

The last section,  application management deals with how the company deals with users and the IT operations. There are three parts to this section, communication with users, how users can request services, and measuring consumption of IT operations. By answering the questions, you can see how the users relate to your IT offerings.

Cloud-Assessment-Tool-4

 Output

The output section brings your company type, size, and location together for final analysis.

The Assessment

Once you have finished the analysis operations, it is time to present the assessment. Here is the result.

Cloud-Assessment

To perform your own operation go to the  Microsoft Cloud Assessment Tool site.

Microsoft’s Cloud Assessment Tool was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

We still have no official word on when Windows 8 will officially be released to the public, but more and more evidence appears to be pointing towards the last quarter of this year. The first wave of Intel based Tablets and Hybrids running Windows 8 are expected to hit stores by November of this year.

A source “familiar with the matter” told Cnet that Microsoft and their manufacturing partners are on a tight schedule, but November is when we should expect to start seeing these Windows 8 devices. Obviously manufacturers are reliant on Microsoft to get Windows 8 finished off in time so that they can start testing the final RTM version of it.

 ”Looking at what Windows is trying to achieve not only with a new OS, but a new OS that needs to run four to five architectures — three ARM, Intel, and AMD,”

We’ve also been told to not just expect a flurry of tablets, but that “more than 50 percent” of the designs will be hybrids which combine traditional laptops with tablets.

A mock up of HP's Windows 8 Tablet

A lot of these devices are expected to be running on Intel’s new “Clover Trail” Atom chip which is Intel’s first dual-core Atom designed chip based on its 32-nanometer process technology. It promises excellent performance coupled with excellent battery life.

Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga Hybrid

Of course plenty of these devices, more so the hybrids are expected to be running on Intel’s higher performance Sandy Bridge processors.

So all of these devices are expected to start shipping in November. This would lead us to believe that Windows 8 itself wont be available until November either. If this is the case, Microsoft are cutting it pretty close to the Holiday Shopping Period.

Is November too late for Windows 8 and Windows 8 Hybrids/Tablets? And will you be buying a new Windows 8 machine?

Let us know in the comments below

Source:

Cnet

Windows 8 Tablets and Hybrids Expected By November was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

If a business wishes to purse the Microsoft Azure Cloud technology, what features will the get for the service? Here is a summary of those accounts. Licensing of the Microsoft private cloud solutions occur on a per processor basis with unlimited virtualization rights. This licensing provision lets a company get the cloud computing benefits of scale with unlimited virtualization and lower costs consistently and predictably over time.

What criteria should you follow to determine the approach to using the Cloud?

Embracing the cloud in the organization is not a step to be taken lightly, even for sophisticated enterprises. Take the concept to heart, walk before you run. So in that capacity start by identifying the business case for the cloud or private cloud within the organization. What is driving the initiative to moving to the cloud?

From an IT perspective, do you want to make IT operations more predictable and responsive? Or perhaps it is cost efficiencies on server racks, power and cooling that you are looking at? Or is it a matter of costs related to staff throughout the life cycle?

What about organizational or regulatory compliance requirements are they driving the business case? Second, identify, within the organization applications and staff that are receptive to a platform shift. Perhaps it’s a department or group that has adopted virtualization or partitioned an application for public and private cloud deployment.

The upshot is that existing groups like these are prime candidates to adopting cloud like characteristics in their environment and taking the organization to the next step. Many organizations are starting out with Private Cloud for development and test environments, before they move their operations for other organizations to see, which would be the Public Cloud.

These scenarios and their often erratic usage profiles are ideally suited to private and provide a low risk way of exploring the technology and operational capabilities required to effectively deliver that service.

Lastly, once operational, then run book procedures which have been adopted and approved an overall plan for deployment and consolidation of new and existing services that can be built and executed upon.

Source: Technet

Using the Microsoft Azure Cloud Service was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

It’s not long now until we will get our hands on the release preview of Windows 8. Microsoft are said to be announcing the Release Preview around the beginning of June and in it one of the new features that we will be coming across is “Family Safety”

In a post over on the building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft announced the new built in parental controls that will allow parents to monitor their child’s activity on their Windows 8 machine.  ”Family Safety”  is relatively simple and straightforward for parents to set up. All they have to do is check a box saying that a new Windows account is for a child and it will be activated.

The feature will automatically generate weekly reports for parents and guardians which will include data like how long their child spends online each day, as well as details on their web searches and what sites they visit the most. It also keeps track of the games that they play the most and how long they spend on the PC.

A few of the other advanced tools allow parents to set up web filtering as well as implement restrictions on applications and games based on their age ratings. Parents can also set up timers to restrict their child from being on the PC too long as well.

All in all I think these are family safety features can only be good for parents. Up to now Windows hasn’t really had great family protection features like this in it so I’m sure plenty of parents will be happy that they can now monitor little “Timmys” web habits.

What do you think of these new family safety features?

Let us know in the comments below

Family Safety Coming In Windows 8 Release Preview was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

When new hardware or software is released, there is a period where some users with buying intentions wait for the new hardware or software to be released before they make the purchase. That’s bad for business, as hardware and software sales may suffer during this period. That’s one of the reasons why Microsoft will allow Windows 7 PC to Windows 8 Pro upgrades starting June 2.

We have already mentioned previously that Microsoft will run a promotion to avoid a drop in sales during that time period. New details have come to light, which we would like to share with out.

Consumers who buy a PC running Windows 7 from that day will have the option to go to Microsoft’s special offer site at windowsupgradeoffer.com, to redeem a code that updates the PC’s operating system to Windows 8 Pro.

It is not clear right now if all PCs that you can buy from June 2 on will have the code included, or if there will be PCs and Windows 7 versions that do not. I’d advise anyone to check with the retailer before making purchases, to make sure you get the upgrade code.

The price for the update will be $14.99, and the PC will always be upgraded to the retail flagship version Windows 8 Pro. This is different from Microsoft’s last promotion, where Vista users were only able to upgrade to the Windows 7 version closest to the one that the PC came preinstalled with.

It is also interesting to note that the offer will start around the time that Microsoft intends to release the Windows 8 Release Candidate to the public.  The operating system itself is expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2012.

It is not clear yet if eligible customers can redeem the code right away, or if they have to wait until Windows 8 gets released before they can do so. We will keep you in the loop when additional information are released by Microsoft.

Windows 7 PC to Windows 8 Pro Update To Cost $14.99 was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft is expected to bring out the next version of its operating system sometime in the 3rd quarter of this year. That said, there are a lot of expectations about what it will contain, how it will work, and whether it will live up to its hype as the biggest change in Microsoft’s family of OS’s since Windows NT more than 15 years ago. Indeed, the model is changing because of the new types of computers that have entered the market place, the mobile phone system, and the tablet PC system. They have changed the landscape considerably. In the middle of this is whether Windows 8 and Windows RT and the new touch-centric Metro interface will be available. So, the question is, which has the most promise?

Windows 8

These tablets and convertibles will run the full-blown Windows 8 operating system. So what do they have in store?  The tablets come from device vendors such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Acer and they will use Intel’s ”Clover Trail” Atom processor. Some convertibles will also tap higher-performance Ivy Bridge processors. And, of course, chips from Advanced Micro Devices.  Furthermore, the breadth of compatibility with existing Windows applications combined with the ability to use Metro mode or revert to a more traditional Windows interface to run older applications can help make this a solid product. Plus, Windows 8 Pro will be more corporate-enterprise friendly, including features like PC management, domain connectivity, and remote desktop operations. But there is an expected downside. Price. These devices are expected  to be pricey, at least when compared to Windows RT devices.

Windows RT

Given the change in technology that Microsoft is pushing, it is no surprise that they would also use a different chip to run the operating system. So Windows 8 on ARM (WoA) — officially renamed to Windows RT by Microsoft — will run on processors coming from Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Texas Instruments. This is the first time a mainstream Windows operating system will be powered by chips from these ARM silicon suppliers in addition to those of Intel and AMD. Intel will run the others.

Is this good or bad? Well for the most part  the good side will be price, battery life, and size. These devices will likely be inexpensive, have a good battery life feature, and be thin and light. And, it will come with Microsoft Office, whereas if you purchase the Windows 8, Intel based OS, you will have to purchase Office separately. More than that, consider that ARM will not runWindows 7, and older, stuff. So if you need to run any existing x86/64 software, then it will be best served with Windows 8 on x86/64.

All in all, you have two clear choices to consider. Take your pick

Source: Microsoft Blog

Windows 8 or Windows RT Take Your Pick was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

With Cloud technology becoming more vibrant and popular, it would be inevitable the Microsoft would offer certifications to IT professionals to handle the technology. There are four certifications that Microsoft is offering,  These certifications are in these areas Infrastructure Management, Software Development,Services Management, and Database Management.

Infrastructure Management

Microsoft private cloud solutions are built on Windows Server and System Center technology.  IT administrators, will be able to move from a traditional data center operations to a cloud optimized IT service.  This means that as a Windows Server administrator, one will need to rebuild your skill set to include operations  for the hosted data center. This way your skills will allow you to work in standardized environments, with standardized applications. Moreover,  IT cloud operators will be monitoring, provisioning, and managing the data center with Microsoft System Center.

Azure-Cloud

Software Development

Software development has entered into a new environment as Cloud operations can give new technology operations to businesses. This means that as a developer of both cloud and hybrid software solutions, one will  need to understand how applications are designed, developed, and deployed for Platform As A Service (PaaS). Here the focus is two pronged, one on innovation and the other on integration. This will allow developers to work more closely with business units to help them increase productivity. So with this technology, the certification can help you expand your skills to include identity and access control, through Windows Communication Foundation, and HTML5.

Services Management

One of the new services offered to support the Cloud is Office 365. This is a technology allows IT operators to move from an on-premise deployment model to a public cloud model. So one needs to develop a planning, design, and infrastructure skill set to migrate, deploy, and administer an Office 365 solution.

DataBase Management

Cloud operations will also change your database deployments. So as you move from your role as database administrator to a data professional or business intelligence (BI) expert in a cloud environment, the skill set that you operate with also has to change and improve to handle different elements of the new technology. So in this way, being able to architect a cloud strategy and identify data to move to cloud storage will be important skills as you work with SQL Azure cloud-based relational database services.

 

MCSE - Cloud

 

Certification Steps

1) MCSA: Windows Server 2008

2) Exam: 70-247 Configuring and Deploying with Cloud System Center 2012

3) Exam 70-246 Monitoring and Operating with Cloud System Center 2012

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft Cloud Certifications was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Introduced last year as Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Microsoft Window’s new OS already boasted 300 new innovative features and gave users a taste of what to expect from the full release.

Microsoft officials revealed that the new operating system powered by 32-bit and 64-bit x 86 chips will be released in two varieties – Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. The new operating system, as Microsoft further revealed in their press conference, is designed for tech aficionados and professionals who are on the lookout for revolutionary software that can be used with various platforms. The new Windows operating system is set to do just that as it is compatible with platforms such as computers, tablets, phones, and even the Xbox.

Some of the cool features are the touch keyboards and snap multi-tasking, which will allow you to use multiple apps simultaneously in a single screen. Moreover, these apps can be switched, resized, and placed on the Start menu or your desktop.

The 5 Coolest Windows 8 Features

With all its cool new features, it is really difficult to tell which features will stand out. But for the sake of giving you a preview or taste of what is to come, here is a list of 5 of the most notable features of the Windows 8 OS.

The all-new Metro User Interface – Most often referred to as the Metro UI

This feature has already been present in Windows phones and used by Xbox Live users since 2010. By including this feature in the new Windows software, it will replace the Start menu, giving your laptop or desktop a phone-app feel to it. This is where snap multi-tasking comes in, as you can open each tile and view different apps simultaneously. Moreover, you can also use Windows 7 apps on your Windows 8 operating system, although you have to use a different built-in user interface in order to access the Windows 7 apps. For those who are worried if the new Metro UI is mouse and keyboard compatible—Microsoft officials have assured users that it is.

The Task Manager

The Task Manager on the Windows 8 OS has been simplified for easy navigation. This decision to simplify the Task Manager came after studies revealed that 85 percent of Windows users use the task manager to perform even the simplest task of shutting down an unresponsive application. Therefore, instead of finding a series of windows and tabs to do a task, all you need to do is click a certain application to accomplish the task. There is a word of warning, though; be careful since there will be no prompt to ask you to save your files. If you want more information about certain components of your system, you can just click the “More Details” button to give you more comprehensive data.

The Windows Store

This looks like the Mac app store, and requires a Windows Live ID, which you can get through your Hotmail or Windows Live Messenger account. This will allow you to access new apps and display your own.

SkyDrive

This is the cloud-storage service of Windows 8, which can store all types of files and automatically circulate them in various platforms. The SkyDrive feature can be used either as a standalone app or part of the Metro UI. As a standalone application, SkyDrive will let you access files easily; while as part of the Metro UI, it will enable you to easily send files and pictures through mail.

The Refresh and Reset Features

This feature will allow you to partially reinstall the Windows OS without worrying about losing your files and applications. Based on the Windows Image Manager, the Refresh feature allows you to replace damaged files while preserving other components which are not damaged saving you both time and effort.
Other Notable Windows 8 Features

Aside from the five features listed above, there are other features Windows 8 have that are worth waiting for such as charms, the control panel, enhanced copy features, and many more.

Charms allow you to arrange and organize the settings of various apps which can be dragged, dropped, or swiped. The control panel, on the other hand, can be personalized or customized according to your taste; while the enhanced copy features allow you to easily copy files on different apps simultaneously. When Microsoft introduces Windows 8 to the market later this year, you will find even more interesting features, giving you the ultimate PC experience.

5 Things that will be Different in Windows 8 was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft normally start a special promotional offer coming up to the release of their new operating system to try stop users from holding off on buying computers until its launched. Microsoft offered a free upgrade to Windows 7 for all Windows Vista users who purchased new machines that came running Windows Vista in the months leading up to the release of Windows 7.

While we are yet to hear of an official offer from Microsoft, PC World have received some information from their sources with regards to a similar promotional offer for Windows 8.

Apparently Microsoft will be offering anyone who purchases a Windows machine running Windows 7 a reduced price to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro. When customers make their purchase, they will receive special promotional coupons which will entitle them to Windows 8 Pro at a special price, but it won’t be for free.

The below image is apparently the promotional flyer that Microsoft have been sending around to their retailers and partners.

What makes me curious about this offer though is the fact that the upgrade is to Windows 8 Pro. Most users won’t actually have a need for Windows 8 Pro. It’s more aimed at businesses and tech enthusiasts with features like  includes encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity.

Surely it would make more sense for Microsoft to offer similar upgrades like they did with Windows 7. ie. Windows Vista Home Premium -> Windows 7 Home Premium etc.. It seems odd that they’re trying to get all Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro even though many users will have no need for it.

Of course, this upgrade offer isn’t set in stone, and until we receive official word on it from Microsoft, we can’t be certain that it’s going to work like this.

Microsoft are expected to announce this upgrade offer around the 2nd of  June, along side the announcement of the Windows 8 Release Candidate. Microsoft will be aiming to make the most of the back to schools season with this offer because Windows 8 probably won’t be released until after this window.

It will be interesting to see what the offer is that Microsoft come up with.

What do you think it will be?

Let us know in the comments

Source:

PC World

Details of Microsoft Windows 8 Upgrade Offer For Windows 7 Users Emerge was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The new R2 Nokia Lumia 800 is an upgraded version of the N9, and several of its most loved features carried over to the R2. Its sleek charcoal exterior resembles its predecessor and its polycarbonate shell is remarkably scratch resistant. An expertly crafted Gorilla Glass screen is arguably the best we’ve seen yet and incredibly snug. The phone’s light sensors are tucked away behind the convex glass, which leaves its front panel smooth and undisturbed. Only the Nokia logo, Windows Phone symbol and earpiece stand in the way.

Design Elements

The device’s left side is left untouched, while the right side contains the lock/power button, volume and camera controls. Forget the traditional plastic components, this phone’s side buttons are made of metal. The R2′s speaker is precisely drilled into its bottom and is home to the device’s microphone. A 3.5mm jack sits atop the phone with a MicroUSB port next to it. Simply push one side to open the flap to pop out the micro SIM slot.

The overall design of the device is absolutely stunning. It truly is a beautiful phone. However, it does come with a few flaws, some of which are quite noteworthy. The fragility of the MicroUSB port’s plastic flap is a major concern. As a matter of fact, we accidentally bent it while trying to close it! It didn’t take much to do so either. Of course, the same exact thing happened with the N9, so it’s really not breaking news. If you decide to buy this phone, just be careful. Fortunately, the flap can be replaced, but we can only imagine there will be quite a wait for spares.

Shortcomings

The device also lacks a notification LED, which was a bit irritating. A dim clock was always visible with the N9, as well as a notification area. However, the R2 is completely void of his feature. Besides having to switch on the device to even see any of your notifications, there’s yet another flaw: if you drain the phone of its charge, it won’t have enough juice to notify you that it’s charging after you plug it in. Basically, you have to guess when the phone will be done charging and ready for use.

Processor

The Nokia Lumia 800 comes with a Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, the same one that powers the Titan. The only difference is that Nokia chose to clock its Lumia at 1.4GHz rather than 1.5GHz. In reality, it doesn’t really make much of a difference. The everyday user shouldn’t come across any problems. There were times we experienced a little lag while trying to open Nokia Music or Nokia Drive and some intensive apps caused a little vibration. The Titan was really no different in this regard.

Battery

Even though the Lumia battery is 1450mAh, whereas the Titan’s is 1750mAh, its compact and efficient display makes up for the difference. In the end, the two are on the same level. Heavy users who like to take a lot of photos, or read books on their device will probably drain the batter by the end of the day. Lighter use, such as phone calls, a little music and email will allow for a battery life of a day or so. The Lumia 800 lasted 2 hours 40 minutes in the WPBench battery test.

The Nokia brand has been building phones for quite some time, so both call quality and reception are quite good. While you won’t get HSPA+, the phone will easily pick up a HSDPA or 3G connection when possible. It’s important to note that the Lumia is not capable of internet tethering by either cable or WiFi.

Conclusion

All in all, the Lumia 800 is an adequate smartphone whose hardware works harmoniously with the Windows Phone Os. A few different factors determine whether or not the phone is the best choice for you.

First of all, you need to decide if you are you a Windows Phone kind of person. If super high resolution screens, high MP cameras, mass USB storage and other such features are what you’re after, you may want to go with an Android or maybe an iOS. The most advanced stuff is simply not available on Redmond’s operating system. However, if it’s a simple, sophisticated and thoughtfully designed phone you’re after, the R2 Nokia Lumia 800 is an ideal choice.

Review of the R2 Nokia Lumia 800 was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft a few days ago announced a name change for its Windows Live product series which we have covered here on Everything Microsoft. When you look at the new names for the products, you will notice that they have been simplified across the board.  Instead of logging in with your Windows Live ID or Passport, you know log in with your Microsoft account. This is just one of the examples, and I suggest you check out Robert’s article on the change for a full overview.

Yesterday evening Microsoft started to email Azure customers about another upcoming name change.

Dear Customer,

In the coming weeks, we will update the Windows Azure Service names that appear in the usage records you download. These are only name changes – your prices for Windows Azure are not impacted. The table below summarizes the changes:

It basically states that Microsoft will drop the Azure name from the product line, again simplifying the product line in the progress. For the majority of Azure products, you simply remove Windows Azure from the name to end up with the new name, and the same is true for AppFabric product names.

It is likely that this will be causing some confusion in the beginning. According to Microsoft, everything else product-related remains as is.

Microsoft Renames Azure Services was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Imagine playing poker on a tablet. You can see your cards, and your opponent, who is sitting opposite from you can see his. But you cannot see his cards, and he cannot see your cards. The idea behind this projection is simple, and you’ve seen it before. Tilt your laptop, and the image fades, to the point that you can’t see it. Behind this is an LCD science that says that you can manipulate the pixels and distribute their appearance in different ways.

Clever.

Imagine watching two TV shows concurrently? Or multiplayer Halo without the split screen . Or even more intriguing is the ability for stereo 3D displays without glasses. (Watch out Avatar) Check out the images below as examples – they’re in JPS format, which can be opened as JPEG by regular image viewing software, but viewed with the actual demo effect with a 3D (stereo)-capable display device like 3D glasses.

So with this new technology in the mill, imagine what it can do for the tablet or laptop or tablet. Microsoft will be able to change the appearance of the interface by rotating the device. This can change the entire view that comes from a unidirectional image. Now the interface will be multifaceted.

Take it a step further. This may be the technology that separates their Windows 8 phone from the iPhone and other similar devices. Because no matter what you say, the Windows 8 phone is a step child of the iPhone. And Microsoft has been pushing to improve the appearance, the speed, the ease of use of their phone. But that is nickels and dimes. Well, now they may have a fifty dollar bill in the shelf that will make a big difference in changing the technology of these compact devices; and ultimately their market share.

Because, while Microsoft, may be dominant in OS, and Office Apps, it get over the hurdle that it is an IBM wanna be, not an Apple wanna be. This may turn the tables where other companies may want to be a Microsoft wanna be.

Source: Technet Blogs

Dual Images on the Same Laptop From Microsoft Research was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

There’s been a few quiet murmurs on the web recently that Microsoft could be offering their Xbox 360 console for a reduced price of $99. Well today it turns out that this is true. You can now pick up an Xbox 360 for $99 from Microsoft, however there is a few catches.

First off, in order to avail of this offer you have to sign up for a 2 year Xbox Live Gold Membership which works out at $14.99 a month which will mean that over the 2 years it will have cost you $460.

Still this isn’t a bad deal if you’re an avid Xbox Live Gamer and felt that you would be purchasing Xbox Live membership anyway. After all, you are saving nearly $200 on the price of the console itself.

Here’s the next catch however, the offer is only available on the 4GB model of the Xbox 360 which also has no hard drive, hence it has very limited storage.

However this does mean that Microsoft could be working this so that the next generation Xbox 720 (name not confirmed) is poised to be released once those 2 year contracts are coming to an end, if not before.

Finally, there’s one more little catch with this offer. It’s only available in Microsoft stores in the US.

Now you might not think that this is much of an issue, but Microsoft only have a  mere 21 stores across the US, 5 of them being in California. To see if there’s one near you have a look at this link

So as you can see, as with most offers, there’s always plenty of little snags but if you were thinking of getting an Xbox and planning on playing online a lot then this could be a great deal for you.

What do you think?

Is this the bargain of the century? Or a deal with too many catches for you?

Let us know in the comments

Microsoft Offers $99 Xbox 360 – If You Can Find One was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

All the major PC manufacturers are currently hard at work designing completely new hardware including tablets, ultrabooks and hybrids to launch alongside Windows 8 later on this year. Because Windows 8 has given Windows such a radical overhaul Microsoft need their PC partners to launch completely new hardware to take advantage of it more than ever.

HP had promised to deliver a Windows 7 powered slate to the masses when Microsoft launched Windows 7, but that project got delayed, pushed back and cancelled before HP quietly released a tablet for businesses that didn’t really gain much traction. So this time around I’m sure they’re hoping to do a bit better.

Neowin is reporting from their trusted sources that HP are hard at work on an x86 tablet that will be thinner than the iPad as well as having an impressive 8-10hrs of battery life . It will weigh in at 0.68kg and couple that with a 10.1in screen and you’ve got yourself a nice piece of hardware right there.

The below slide is said to be a rendered image of what this new tablet will in fact look like.

HP are aiming this at the business side of things, as a result it won’t be an ARM processor since ARM based tablets won’t support legacy Windows applications.

Neowin are insisting that this is an official HP slide and it is a genuine mock up design for the new tablet as well as those specifications.

If these details and more importantly that tablet design turn out to be true, HP could have quite an appealing tablet here and will certainly be a good alternative to the iPad. It’ll be very interesting to see all the new hardware that comes out with Windows 8, manufacturers need to be careful though, they need to make sure that they will all be available immediately alongside the launch of Windows 8 in order to get some momentum going.

What do you think of this tablet mock up?

Let us know in the comments

Source:

Neowin

HP’s Windows 8 Business Tablet Details Leaked was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

These images that you can add to your collection of landscape wallpapers are a true thing of beauty.

Ann Marie Bone is a freelance artist with a passion for vibrant colors as these images show. A graduate from Nottingham University in 1983,  she lives in Dovedale, in the Peak District of Derbyshire, where she claims  is a constant inspiration for her many nature paintings.

But that is not the only kind of art she paints. She does other subjects from pets to portraits and all sorts of landscapes. She also can take a favorite photograph that you would like her to turn into a painting; she can do that.

Her specialty is in unique images, and she will listen to someone’s ideas for a painting and what type of color color scheme to use. She’s open to that. And if you like one of her paintings but would like to change certain items, she can customize the image for you.

These ten images are part of a larger collection.

[Show as slideshow]

12►

Here is Blue Lagoon, BlueBell Woods, Endless Days, End of the Rainbow, Fervent Forest, Fishing Trip, Force of Nature, Secret Sunset, Sunset tree, and Twisted Blossom.

Her focus is mainly on oils and acrylic on canvas, but working with a wide variety of sizes. However, she can also paint in water colors and do pencil drawings which are framed to order.

Budget limitations can be worked around when she can provide information on the options available in your price range.

She is also a member of the worldwide arts website Deviant Art which has over 14 million members. Her landscapes are usually among the most popular for the month under the Landscape category of Traditional Painting and the site gives her motivation to paint. People can visit her Deviant Art profile at annmbone.deviantart.com.

You can download the collection by clicking the link below.

Landscape Wallpapers from annmbone

Download

Beautiful Landscape Wallpapers from Annmbone was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

If you are using Windows Media Center regularly on XP, Vista or Windows 7, you may now want to take note that changes are coming to the media player in Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 8.

According to a recent blog post on the Building Windows 8 blog, Windows Media Center will only be available as a (paid) feature upgrade on Windows 8.

Windows 8 (regular) and Windows 8 Pro users will notice that Windows Media Center is not included in their operating systems by default, even if they have upgraded to Windows 8 from a system where they had access to the software.

That in itself may be a big issue for users who made use of the software to record TV shows, playback their video collection, view photos, listen to music, or who have been using some of the plug-ins to integrate third party services like Netflix into the media player.

The main reason for the move are licensing fees, that Microsoft partners were worried about.

Our partners have shared clear concerns over the costs associated with codec licensing for traditional media playback, especially as Windows 8 enables an unprecedented variety of form factors. Windows has addressed these concerns in the past by limiting availability of these experiences to specialized “media” or “premium” editions.

As a result, Windows Media Center is made available as an upgrade to Windows 8 customers via the Add Features to Windows 8 control panel applet (formerly Windows Anytime Upgrade).

Windows Media Player will remain available on both editions, but without DVD playback support. Yes, you read that right. If you want to play DVDs on Windows 8, you either have to add Media Center to the OS, or use a third party solution like VLC for that job.

It is also interesting to note at this point, that the upgrades are named differently. Windows 8 Pro users need to acquire and install the Windows 8 Media Center Pack for their operating system, while Windows 8 (regular) users the Windows 8 Pro Pack. Both will end up with Windows 8 Pro with Media Center.

Microsoft has not revealed any pricing information yet, but it is likely that the upgrade for regular Windows 8 users will be pricey, as it will upgrade the operating system to Windows 8 Pro in the process.

Windows Media Player on the other hand won’t receive DVD playback capabilities after the upgrade, so that DVDs can only be viewed in Windows Media Center on the computer or a connected device.

Windows Media Center Available Only As Paid Upgrade On Windows 8 was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

We’ve heard rumours before that Microsoft were gearing up the ditch the Windows Live brand and integrate the suite directly into Windows 8. In a recent post over on the building Windows 8 blog Microsoft have announced just that.

When Microsoft originally launched the Windows Live suite of apps back in 2005, the aim was to have these apps separate from the operating system and they would be closely linked with the cloud as well as being regularly updated. However now Microsoft have changed tactics completely as they attempt to create a unified ecosystem to provide users with a seamless experience.

All of their Windows services will now be combined under a single Microsoft account. Currently with the Windows 8 consumer preview you log in with your Windows Live ID. From now on this shall be known as your Microsoft account. This is what you will use for accessing pretty much all your services including SkyDrive, Messenger and Hotmail.

By eradicating the Windows Live branding Microsoft are solving a couple of problems. First off nobody who wasn’t somewhat tech savvy had any idea what the Live brand was all about. Secondly Microsoft will be including all of these Live services in Windows 8. They’ll be built into it directly and be tightly linked with the cloud instead of the user having to download them as an additional extra.

Because all of your Windows services will be linked to this one Microsoft account, it means you’ll get a more unified experience from machine to machine. Once you log in with your Microsoft account into Windows 8, you’ll immediately be logged into these services too, regardless of what machine you use.

Here’s a chart of all the Windows Services:

This is certainly a big step for Microsoft, they’re making a leap into trying to create one big ecosystem in an attempt to make everything easier for the consumer, and I say it will make things much easier for their branding department!

What do you think of Microsoft dropping the Windows Live ID? Is it a good or a bad thing?

Let us know in the comments below

Source:

Building Windows 8

Microsoft Ditching Windows Live Name With Windows 8 was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The success of Nokia Lumia 800 prompted Nokia to launch the Nokia Lumia 900, an updated version with a larger display. Apart from the size of the display, there is very little to differentiate between the two. The Lumia 900 incorporates most features that are the hallmark of a successful smartphone. The design uses unibody polycarbonate to give the Lumia 900 a clean and slick appearance. This handset weighs 5.64 ounces and its dimensions are 5.03 x 2.7 x 0.45 inches. The slim built and the light weight makes the handling of this handset quite simple. The distinctive look of the Lumia 900 is unique and quite attractive.
Buttons

The Nokia Lumia 900 has three Windows Phone buttons perfectly spaced out just below the handset’s display. The spacing eliminates any chance of accidentally pressing the wrong buttons, as can be the case with closely spaced buttons. The 1.3 MP front facing camera can be found on the top left corner of the phone just above the display. This is helps a lot while making video calls or taking snapshots of yourself.

Larger Display

Nokia Lumia 900 comes with a bigger screen than the Lumia 800. As opposed to the 3.7 inch AMOLED display of the Lumia 800, the Lumia 900 handset comes with a 4.3 inch capacitive AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The handset’s high quality screen is protected by the tough Corning Gorilla Glass. This layer of extra tough glass protects the screen from undesired scratches and cracks. Nokia Lumia 900 comes with a Lithium Ion 1830 mAh battery and offers up to 7 hours of talk time, up to 300 hours of standby time and music playback of up to 60 hours.

Camera

Nokia Lumia 900 has a neon colored, single piece polycarbonate shell that encloses the impressively designed handset along with the 4.3 inch AMOLED touch screen and the handset’s antennae. The phone has an extra layer of protection due to the use of the ClearBlack glass which also adds an element of mystery to the phone. The back side of the handset sports the main camera which has an 8 MP resolution. The camera uses Carl Zeiss optical lens to provide the best clarity for photos and videos shot using the phone camera. The handset offers a photographer friendly LED flash which enables the clicking of pictures, recording of videos and making video calls in areas with insufficient lighting.
WiFi

Just like the Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 900 enables high speed internet access using its WiFi capabilities. The starting screen of the Lumia 900 is preloaded with the Mobile version of the Internet Explorer 9 to offer mobile browsing. The support for cutting edge web technologies like HTML5 lets you enjoy high speed internet, interesting apps and entertaining videos to make the best use of the stunning display quality on the screen. The quick access to the Bing search engine lets you get started with your web searches without wasting any time. Lumia 900 also offers email support for a variety of email service providers like Gmail, Hotmail, Windows Live, Nokia email, Yahoo Mail or other third party email providers which allow access to email using POP, IMAP and SMTP. The utility software available on the Nokia Lumia 900 helps you access and edit documents in a variety of formats like PDF, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, etc.

Social Networking

Nokia Lumia 900 allows you to use multimedia and text messaging along with other instant messaging services and has features to enable integration with a variety of social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. The handset also includes a music player which is built in and has access to Zune music service. This lets you search for and download your favorite music numbers straight to your mobile phone. Access to the internet and the integrated FM radio allows you to tune in to receive the latest news or enjoy your favorite radio stations. Alternatively, if you are a gaming fan, you can use the Nokia Lumia 900 to play Xbox Live games.

GPS

Rounding out the features of the Nokia Lumia 900 is the inbuilt GPS and A-GPS antennae, which can be used by mapping applications like Nokia Maps and Bing Maps which come preloaded with the handset. These applications can be used to find a particular place or to guide you while driving around. The Lumia 900 handset might look slim and elegant but it is also packed with useful features that will make your handset an indispensible accessory.

What’s New with the Nokia Lumia 900? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Today is officially the first day of the Summer! That’s if you live in the Northern Hemisphere of course, otherwise I guess it means you’ve entered the first day of your Winter…

However since it’s the first of May, it means that Smashing Magazine have released another brilliant collection of Wallpapers for the month. This month we’ve got 22 various different wallpapers which try to capture the essence of the month of May.

As usual these wallpapers all come with calendars over layed which is quite handy. All you have to do is quickly glance at your desktop and you’ve got a calendar there.

These wallpapers were submitted to Smashing Magazine by artists all over the world and it’s well worth having a look at some of their work.

I’ve added a gallery of all the wallpapers below, but if you want to download them I recommend that you go to Smashing Magazines post where you will find the various image resolutions as well as a non-calendar version of the wallpapers. They also give all the appropriate credit to the artists which is important.

[Show as slideshow]

123►

So what’s your favourite wallpaper this month? For me it has to be this one.

Why? Because as I write this it has been pouring rain all day, very appropriate for the first day of Summer.

Source:

Smashing Magazine

Some Smashing May Wallpapers was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Imagine…You open your home PC…but instead of running your office suite, or your internet connection, you look at your home appliances…start your coffee, run the microwave oven, start your TV. And your devices are running on a Home Operating System. Unreal? Not possible?
Well, Microsoft is now testing a home-automation OS.

From Microsoft’s Research paper on the topic:
“Network devices for the home such as remotely controllable locks, lights, thermostats, cameras, and motion sensors are now readily available and inexpensive. In theory, this enables scenarios like remotely monitoring cameras from a smartphone or customizing climate control based on occupancy patterns. However, in practice today, such smart home scenarios are limited to expert hobbyists and the rich because of the high overhead of managing and extending current technology.”

So Microsoft is putting in play their own brand of home OS to address the issues that would be difficult or expensive or too unique to be worth applying to the home.

Testing

While in theory there may be users that are attentive to the innovation, Microsoft has made the move to see how far the theory can actually go. So Microsoft has put the HomeOS in 12 real homes over the past four to eight months. Moreover, 42 students have built new applications and added additional devices to support it, as well. The basis is the HomeOS program.

HomeOS
HomeOS is a centralized home-automation operating system that can handle many different kinds of devices from TVs, to smartphones, to lights. The prototype operating system is built on the .Net Framework and all of the proposed drivers and apps are also .Net-based.

The Results

Just when the results of the program will be made public is not known, if ever. Because the results would have to show that such an OS would make the home environment better than it is now. But that is a subjective notion.

HomeOS A Microsoft Operating System for the Home was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

How can a company grow with the Azure Cloud as its base environment? Many companies had some doubts but decided that to reduce costs and make their products available to the market quicker, they had to change how they operated. Here are some companies that changed their style and had good results to show for it.

APPpoint

Unifying how front and back-office processes are managed, APPpoint wanted to make apps on the cloud more applicable to their customers and potential ones. They developed AppsOnAzure where Azure oriented applications can be used by companies for their own internal resources. They created the foundation that other companies can use to streamline them to fit their own business.

Quosal
Quosal is software platform for quote and proposal preparation, delivery and management. When Quosal decided to use Cloud operations, they were able increase their client base by 50% and avoiding $300,000 in implementation costs within 2 years after moving to the cloud. Their SQL server system became available to clients as a way to control their costs while maintain their own data environment needs.

Sneaky Games

This is a small company with 22 people, used a hosted infrastructure to deliver its games to customers but there were problems with it so Sneaky Games turned to the Windows Azure platform, to host its games on the cloud service in Microsoft data centers. This allowed the company to achieve new levels of scalability critical to its success in the social media space and can scale up or scale down its infrastructure in minutes. They also avoided having additional costs coming from hiring more IT personnel to maintain its computer infrastructure; instead they dedicated its resources to developing compelling games and quickly offered them to players.

These companies are proof that their expectations for growth turned the corner when the began to use the Cloud for implementing their own business operations. Faster deployment, reduced costs, and reliable infrastructure service were just some of the reasons they moved to the Azure Cloud.

How Companies use the Microsoft Azure Cloud to be more Productive was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Cofounder of Apple Inc., Steve Wozniak (aka “The Woz”), just raves about Windows Phone in an interview on aNewDomain. Wozniak seems to really love the intuitive UI and beautiful apps on the platform. His main concern was the lack of apps. While Windows Phone does have over 80,000 apps and growing, there are a number of high priority apps still in development or not currently in the Marketplace.

Overall, Wozniak seems to really love his device (Lumia 900) and had nothing but praise for the Microsoft mobile operating system. Here are a few choice quotes I picked from the audio, which you can listen to here.

“Just for looks and beauty I definitely favor the Windows 7 Phone over Android.”

“Specially compared to Android, it’s just no contest.”

“I’m just shocked, I haven’t seen anything yet that isn’t more beautiful than the other platforms”

“It’s makes me feel ‘Oh my gosh, I’m with a friend not a tool’”

“I just really like the experience and I’ll be carrying the Windows Phone with me almost everywhere”

Note: Steve Wozniak has noted since that his primary phone will continue to be an iPhone. After all, did anyone expect anything else from the man who partnered with Jobs to create the company that produces the device?

Apple Cofounder, Steve Wozniak, Raves on Windows Phone was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft’s Bing team has released a Windows 7 desktop app for their search engine Bing. The app features the daily, and usually spectacular, Bing wallpapers, which can be automatically used as your desktop wallpaper each day as well as the Bing search bar, which can be situated in the middle of the desktop or docked at the top of the screen.

The Bing search bar will disappear up into the top of the screen when the user clicks on something else or when the user has a window or program open.

For Google search users this may be a hard sell, but if you use Bing as your default search engine of choice then it may be worth your while. If nothing else, you can always use the app as a Bing desktop wallpaper rotator.

You can download the Bing desktop app here.

Microsoft Releases Bing Desktop App for Windows 7 was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

According to The Verge, Microsoft will be showcasing a replacement for the Zune music brand at the E3 2012 show this year. The service is codenamed “Woodstock” and is said to integrate with Facebook allowing users to share tracks and group playlists.

The report states that the service will be available cross-platform, which includes: Xbox, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, iOS, Android and will be available via the web as well. A feature similar to iTunes match is also rumored, essentially scanning the users music collection and matching their music with the appropriate track in the “Woodstock” catalog.

Basically, it sounds like the Zune brand will be going away, but the service will be expanding to include more devices, features and services. It’s a shame that Microsoft is killing off the Zune name, but we’ve known this was coming for quite a long time, so it’s not all that surprising. Hopefully this fresh start and integration into so many more devices will help Microsoft gain traction with their music service.

Microsoft to Reveal Zune Successor at E3 2012? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

In an effort “to help pave the way for new store features and new apps in the months ahead”, Microsoft is making some changes to the Marketplace for Windows Phone.

In a post on the Windows Phone blog, Mazhar Mohammed explains the changes which have already begun as well as some which are coming in the weeks ahead:

The Zune PC Software & the Marketplace

The most significant change is Microsoft’s decision to remove Marketplace accessibility from the Zune PC software. Currently, there are a few different ways to search for and download apps for Windows Phone: the Zune PC software, the web Marketplace and the Marketplace on the device itself. As of last night, the Marketplace will no longer be an option for Windows Phone users. Microsoft’s reasoning for this change is that users, or the majority, simply do not use the local software for this practice, so they are focusing their resources on the two options that most users tend to use.

Note: The Zune HD app Marketplace will still be accessed through the Zune PC software.

Note II: If you must have the Marketplace functionality in the Zune PC software, check this out.

Windows Phone 7.5 & the Marketplace

Most users have been running Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone update, Mango (aka7.5), for quite some time, but there are those who have yet to update for one reason or another. For these people, Microsoft will be forcing their update by making it impossible to download new apps from the Marketplace unless their device is running at least v7.5. Microsoft explains their reasoning:

Marketplace is growing fast. It now has over 80,000 apps overall and is available in 54 (soon to be 63) countries around the world. Requiring Windows Phone 7.5 is part of a larger effort aimed at improving Marketplace performance and security, and paving the way for even faster growth and more new features.

While these changes may be a little shocking to some who don’t want Windows Phone 7.5 or currently use the PC software to browse the Marketplace, these changes make sense for most Windows Phone users and will help Microsoft to continue streamlining Windows Phone while the marketshare continues to increase.

Microsoft Drops Marketplace from Zune PC Software was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft has given its cloud storage service a big update this week, which also conveniently coincides with Google releasing their own Google Drive cloud storage service. Microsoft improved and released new apps for the service and it’s now got apps available on Windows, Mac OS X, Windows Phone and iOS.

However, this update also means that new SkyDrive users will only be offered 7GB instead of the 25GB Microsoft were giving out.

But there still seems to be a way for users to upgrade to the 25GB account for free.

Just log into your SkyDrive account at http://skydrive.live.com/

Then click on Manage Storage down the bottom left. You should now see the screen below

All you have to do then is hit the Free Upgrade!  button and just like that you’ve earned yourself 25GB of free online storage, brilliant!

If you’ve been using SkyDrive for a while, and you’ve been storing more than 4GB, then your account has probably automatically upgraded you already.

This seems to work for anyone who already has a Windows Live account, I never logged into my SkyDrive account until today and it worked fine for me. However I’m not sure it will work if you try to create a new Windows Live ID, maybe someone can let us know in the comments?

Get Yourself 25GB Of Free SkyDrive Storage! was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The Microsoft Azure Cloud is making an impact on a lot of companies. Here is how three companies found that the Azure cloud technology was just the right system for them to use.

Credenza

Start with 30 customers, and in one year go to 600. Can’t be done? Well Credenza says it can.

This software firm specializes in providing customer service with Microsoft Outlook. The service added features to Outlook with tools for logging phone calls, opening client-related documents, and tracking billable time among other services. While the service was doing well, it was not climbing up the ladder of market attainment. There were just too many limitations on their product. But that was when they decided to change their focus from a client app to a cloud app.

The result? Their app became affordable and scalable. And they did climb up the ladder of market attainment. They went from 30 customers to 600 in one year.

And that was not all. Now the Credenza business model could be adjusted and re-written to take advantage of the growth opportunity afforded by the Azure cloud.

DesignerCity

Another firm, interested in pushing the digital touch technology, made use of the Azure cloud to push its products to their customers faster than before with the result of a scalable solution that has been successful.

Since DesignerCity builds multiple applications for the Web, from education to finance, from retail to Xbox Kinect, they wanted to have a scalable product that would make their products available anywhere in the world. The Azure cloud provided them with reduced costs and large scalability features.

Gradatim

This company provides niche solutions for financial institutions, and it looks to make programs available that deal with insurance policies and loan management applications. To meet the demand and reduce it’s own cost of deployment, Gradatim pushed its software platform to the Azure cloud. As a result, its customer deployment speed operations increased by 84 percent  and reduced costs by up to $2 million.

These companies show how effective using the Azure cloud can be: reduced costs, increase market share… a positive way to grow the business.

3 Examples of Company Growth by using Azure Cloud Services was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft has just confirmed that the company intents to make available the third public preview of their upcoming Windows 8 operating system in the first week of June. The Release Preview marks the third step in the development progress. While the company did not reveal information about new features that ship in the release preview, nor an exact date for the release, it is reassuring that Microsoft seems to be right on track to release the final version of Windows 8 later this year.

Microsoft confirmed the news later the day with a post on the company’s own Twitter account:  Announce…Windows 8 Release Preview first week of June. Here’s the announce from Japan’s Windows 8 Dev Days

The release preview is identical to a release candidate build. When you look back at how Windows 7 development progressed, you will notice that Microsoft has changed the terminology slightly, but not the steps of the process. The next step afterwards is the release of the Windows 8 RTM version which will be identical to the retail version of the operating system.

Microsoft earlier this month noted that interest for the consumer preview version of Windows 8 was twice as high as the interest for the beta of Windows 7.  While that is certainly an impressive feat, it remains to be seen how the operating system will fare when it is released to shops and retailers worldwide.

Windows 8 Release Preview In First Week of June was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft today released their new SkyDrive app for Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 which finally competes head on with services like Mozy and Dropbox for online backup.  You can read Martin’s full writeup here, but as people will now be using this to create online backups of their files I thought I’d show you how to get the very best from it.

I always recommend, and indeed I always have recommended moving your personal files and folders away from Windows.  This means moving them to a different physical hard disk or partition.  The advantages of doing this is that if something goes wrong with Windows and you have to reformat your hard disk, you won’t lose all your files too.  You can move your user folders in Windows by following these simple steps…

1. Click your name in the top right of the Windows Vista / Windows 7 Start Menu
2. Select the user folders you want to move, I suggest Downloads, Favorites, My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and My Video
3. Right-click on the selected files and click Cut from the menu that appears
4. Move to the hard disk or partition where you want to store your files
5. Right-Click and select Paste

It’s slightly more complex with SkyDrive though as you may have a tremendous amount of files that you perhaps don’t want to store online, such as your music and video; don’t forget there’s still a limit of 2GB per file on upload and some videos might be larger than this and a maximum of 125GB online storage even if you pay for it.

I would suggest then creating two store folders for your user files and moving them away from Windows in two steps.  One folder for the files you just want to keep on your computer, and another folder for things you want to sync and backup in the cloud.  So you would end up with, for example D:\Files and D:\SkyDrive.  Alternatively you could create these within a sub-folder if you have other content on the disk.

Myself I am only backing up my Documents and Pictures folders to SkyDrive so these are in my new SkyDrive folder on a separate hard disk and the other user folders, Music, Video etc. are stored in the Files folder.

There is a good reason for this.  When you install SkyDrive it asks you what folder on your hard disk you want to use for the local storage of SkyDrive files.

By default, as you can see here it chooses your C:\Users folder but this isn’t keeping your files away from Windows.  So why does this matter?

This matters because in order to upload new and additional files to SkyDrive you drag and drop them into this folder on your hard disk and the SkyDrive sync software takes care of the rest.  If you have to wipe your Windows installation, you then have to wait for everything to sync back down from the cloud again before you get your files, as this will be your own local copy.

This is where you hit the Change button and you point the SkyDrive app at your new SkyDrive folder.  This already contains all the files you want to store and keep a backup of in the cloud, but they’re safe and away from your copy of Windows.  This would be the D:\SkyDrive folder we created earlier.  Remember if you have already installed SkyDrive you can uninstall and reinstall it to change the default store folder.

SkyDrive doesn’t mind that the files are here and will merrily sync the files in these folders up to the cloud and your new online backup.  I hope this helps you get the very best out of SkyDrive online backup.  This is a great new service and with the correct set-up you can be trouble-free for years.

How to Get the Best Cloud Backup / Sync Out of MSFT’s new SkyDrive App was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft has just released applications for its SkyDrive cloud hosting service that allow users to access and synchronize files with desktop and mobile applications. On the desktop, both a Windows and Macintosh version was released. Windows users need to know that SkyDrive for Windows supports Windows Vista and newer operating systems, and not Windows XP.

But there are additional changes that are important to all Skydrive users. Microsoft has for instance reduced the available storage for all SkyDrive users who were using less than 4 Gigabytes of the available 25 Gigabytes to 7 Gigabyte. Users who log into their account right now and access the new Manage Storage option there can increase the storage again to 25 Gigabyte of storage. Plus, they can subscribe to additional storage:

• 20 Gigabytes extra cost $10 per year
• 50 Gigabytes extra cost $25 per year
• 100 Gigabytes extra cost $50 per year

Microsoft accepts both credit card payments and payments via PayPal in some markets.

As far as the Windows app goes, it works similar to the Dropbox service. Windows users need to install the app on their system and link their account to it by entering their Windows Live username and password. Once linked, a SkyDrive folder is created under the user folder of the operating system. The folder is automatically available in the Favorites listing in Windows Explorer, and all files and folders currently hosted on SkyDrive will be synced with the system.

It is unfortunately not possible to change the location of that folder on the system, for instance by moving it to a different drive if the user folder drive has not that much space left.

Windows users also need to take note that SkyDrive is automatically enabling a feature that is making available all of the PC’s files on the Skydrive website. While protected with an additional security code that is send to the account’s email address, it is nevertheless something that users need to consider.

It also needs consideration that sharing options can only be modified on the SkyDrive website, and not on individual PCs. That is, other than unlinking a PC from the file synchronization.

SkyDrive users, both new and old, can download and install the available apps from the official website.

It is likely that this new release is in preparation of a tight integration of SkyDrive in Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 8. Have you tested the new apps and features yet? If so, what is your take on the new release?

Microsoft Skydrive Apps Released, Important Changes was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The Skype app for Windows Phone finally grew up today and broke out of its “Beta” shell and graduated to Version 1.0. As of today you can now head on over to the Windows Phone Store and download Skype for your Windows Phone.

The free download is available for all Windows Phone 7.5 or higher phones and will work over both Wi-Fi and 3G. Skype was originally available as a Beta app on the store since last February, so just under two months later it’s hit Version 1.0.

Version 1.0 now adds the ability to search for and add new contacts as well as the ability to call landlines.

However there is still one major draw back to this app. For some reason or another, there is no support for background calling with the app. In other words, the only way you can receive a call is if you have the app open and running, you can’t let it run in the background and receive calls that way as you can on the iPhone and Android devices which is rather disappointing.

Hopefully this will be sorted in an update soon as it’s a pretty essential feature for most Skype users.

It’s certainly an improvement on the Beta version of the app, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Windows Phone Skype App Hits Version 1.0 was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

I think Microsoft’s recent earnings announcement even surprised them a little bit. While there’s been plenty of hype around the completely revamped Windows 8 OS, it looks like Windows 7 sales are still going strong for them.

Microsoft reported a stronger than expected set of earnings for the first quarter of this year, raking in an impressive $17.41B USD  in revenue and a net profit of $5.11B USD ($0.60 USD per share).  Revenue was up 6 percent from last year and easily beat analyst expectations. Profit is actually down 1 percent from last year but that’s mainly due to Microsoft’s increased spending.

Windows 7 sales were partly responsible for the increase in revenue. Even though Windows 7 is starting to near the end of its life cycle, sales for it rose to $4.62B USD,  which is an increase of  4 percent from last year. Windows 7 is the fastest selling operating system of all time and is currently on around 40 percent of PCs.

An excited Steve Ballmer

Sales for this quarter are only down $112 million than the fourth quarter of 2011, which is normally the strongest quarter due to an increase in sales for the holiday season.

So what drove this boost in Windows 7 sales? Well there was an 8 percent increase in Business Sales when compared to the same time last year while consumer sales remained flat.

It’s quite a feat that Windows 7 is still so successful nearly 3 years after it was released, it just goes to show how popular and operating system it is. It will be interesting to see how it holds up against Windows 8.

What do you think?

Will Windows 8 supersede Windows 7 as the fastest selling operating system of all time?

Let us know in the comments below

Windows 7 Sales Still Going Strong was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Besides new hardware coming from HTC and Nokia, Windows Phone has been kind of stagnant in the new lately, but things may be heating up very soon based on a report over on Mi Móvile Windows, Microsoft and carriers may be readying the ‘Tango’ update for Windows Phone this June.

The Tango update is believed to be a small update aimed at bringing Windows Phone down to a lower price point and emerging markets. Microsoft has yet to speak officially about a release date for the update, but based on two, unnamed sources of Mi Móvile Windows, the build (8773) is just over a month away.

It will be interesting to see if the Tango rollout goes as smoothly and a swiftly as did the larger, more important Mango update did last year.

via WPCentral

Windows Phone ‘Tango’ Update Rumored to Arrive in June was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

You may have heard by now that just a few days ago a Microsoft evangelist, Nuno Silvo, gave a video interview where he mistakenly mentioned that Microsoft intends to follow an upgrade path that would bring Windows Phone 8 to all present and past Windows Phone handsets. This was immediately disregarded by Microsoft as an error and followed by stating that they have no comment on their future plans at this point.

So, while we wait for Microsoft to clue us in on what’s going on with the platform’s future, Nuno posted on an MSDN blog to clarify his comments on the upgrade path for Windows Phone:

My comments on Windows Phone (English)

I recently participated in an interview with the Portuguese website Zwame, where I made some comments on the future of Windows Phone that created confusion. Rumors are swirling, so I feel the need to clarify my statements.

The point I was attempting to make was simply that existing Windows Phone applications will run on the next version of Windows Phone. This is the same guidance that Microsoft shared late last year.

I mistakenly confused app compatibility with phone updateability, which caused the rumors we saw yesterday. I did not intend to give the impression I was offering new guidance on any products under development or their upgradeability.

While we have given Windows Phone developers this preliminary guidance on app compatibility to help them with long term project planning, Microsoft does not have any further news to share on future products at this time.

Let’s just hope the poor guy still has a job after this mistake. Let’s also hope that Microsoft wises up and gives its followers something solid to go on very soon.

Microsoft Evangelist Clarifies His Mistake on Windows Phone 8 Upgradeability was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

With the Windows 8 consumer versions revealed two days ago (that is Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and the ARM-version Windows 8 RT) came the announcement that Windows 8 Enterprise would naturally be made available as well to business customers.

Windows 8 Enterprise for the most part is identical with the Windows 8 Pro version, which means that it will offer business customers all the features or the professional version, plus features that have been designed exclusively for business environments.

The following key features are available exclusively in Windows 8 Enterprise:

• Windows To Go is a fully manageable corporate Windows 8 desktop on a bootable external USB stick. This will allow IT organizations to support the “Bring Your Own PC” trend and businesses can give contingent staff access to the corporate environment without compromising security.
• DirectAccess allows remote users to seamlessly access resources inside a corporate network without having to launch a separate VPN and helps IT administrators keep remote users’ PCs in compliance by applying the latest policies, software updates, is easier to deploy, and it can be implemented with the existing IPv4 infrastructure.
• BranchCache allows users’ PCs to cache files, websites, and other content from central servers, so content is not repeatedly downloaded across the wide area network (WAN). When used with Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 brings several improvements to BranchCache to streamline the deployment process, optimize bandwidth over WAN connections and ensure better security and scalabilty.
• AppLocker can help mitigate issues by restricting the files and apps that users or groups are allowed to run.
• VDI enhancements: Enhancements in Microsoft RemoteFX and Windows Server 2012, provide users with a rich desktop experience with the ability to play 3D graphics, use USB peripherals and use touch-enabled devices across any type of network (LAN or WAN) for VDI scenarios.
• New Windows 8 App Deployment: Domain joined PCs and tablets running Windows 8 Enterprise will automatically be enabled to side-load internal, Windows 8 Metro style apps.

Microsoft interestingly enough mentioned that the enterprise edition of Windows 8 would ship with additional features including ” improvements to the fundamentals, including end-to-end security and better manageability” without going into detail on how this benefits look like.

Especially the exclusivity of the Windows to Go feature to Windnows 8 Enterprise should come as a blow to many users who were looking forward to use the feature in their consumer versions.

Microsoft is also enhancing their Software Assurance benefits, listing the following new use rights for Software Assurance customers:

• Windows To Go Use Rights: Windows To Go will allow companies to support Bring Your Own PC scenarios and will give employees who need to work from home more secure access to their full corporate environment. With Windows To Go use rights under Software Assurance, an employee will be able to use Windows To Go on any company PC licensed with Windows SA as well as from their home PC. Additionally, through a new companion device license for SA, employees will be able to use WTG on their personal devices at work.
• Windows RT Virtual Desktop Access (VDA) Rights: When used as a companion of a Windows Software Assurance licensed PC, Windows RT will automatically receive extended VDA rights. These rights will provide access to a full VDI image running in the datacenter which will make Windows RT a great complementary tablet option for business customers.
• Companion Device License: For customers who want to provide full flexibility for how employees access their corporate desktop across devices, we are introducing a new Companion Device License for Windows SA customers. For users of Windows Software Assurance licensed PCs this optional add-on will provide rights to access a corporate desktop either through VDI or Windows To Go on up to four personally owned devices.

You can read Microsoft’s Windows 8 Enterprise announcement here.

Introducing Windows 8 Enterprise was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

While Microsoft announced the different editions of Windows 8 that will be available today, they also confirmed that Windows Server 8 will now be called “Windows Server 2012″ and have committed to launching it by the end of this year.

At Microsofts’ Management Summit, Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson spoke to around 5,000 IT professionals about the opportunities provided by Microsoft to deliver fast and reliable services with cloud computing. He announced Microsoft System Center 2012 which is now available for purchase. It allows users to set up their own secure private cloud network.

In conjunction with this, he also announced that Windows Server 2012 is a “fully cloud optimised OS” that will integrate very well with cloud computing. He claimed that “nothing Microsoft has ever done has ever been as ambitious” as the features that have been incorporated into Windows Server 2012.

Microsoft released Windows Server 2012 back in March, around the same time as the Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released to the public. Of course, there hasn’t been half as much coverage of Windows Server 2012 because as we all know, the corporate side of things is never as glamours as the consumer side.

Since Microsoft are expected to release Windows 8 this year, and now they’ve gone and promised that Windows Server 2012 will also be released this year, I can only assume that they will be releasing them around the same time. Of course Windows 8 will be launched to a massive marketing campaign, where as Windows Server 2012 will be a small little side note for the corporate scene to pick up on.

Microsoft Confirms Windows Server 2012 – Launching This Year was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Microsoft yesterday made a big announcement that is likely pleasing many of the company’s critics. Brandon LeBlanc over at the official Blogging Windows blog announced that Microsoft would keep Windows 8 as the name of the next version of Windows, and that the new operating system would ship in only three different versions.

For desktop PCs, tablets, and mobile devices running x86 processors come the two editions Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. These two versions are loosely based on Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Ultimate feature wise.

Windows RT is a new version of the operating system that has been specifically created for Windows on ARM devices. This edition comes only pre-installed on PCs and tablets that are powered by ARM processors.

As far as upgrades go: Windows 7 Starter, Home Basci and Home Premium users can upgrade to both Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro. Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate users can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro.

Here are the core differences between Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro: Windows 8 Pro will ship with the following feature set that Windows 8 does not ship with: BitLocker and BitLocker To Go, Boot from VHD, Client Hyper-V, Domain Join, Encrypting File System, Group Policy, Remote Desktop. All remaining features are identical.

The ARM version ships with several exclusive features, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote) and Device encryption support.

Here are all features in table form:

Windows 8 Versions: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 RT was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Intel, being the major supplier of Windows chips will be pushing Windows 8 as hard as they possibly can, especially now that Windows 8 will support alternative ARM chips, offering manufacturers more choice than before. So it’s in their interest that manufacturers will be producing Windows 8 tablets that are actually worth buying.

They’ve released what they say will be the standard minimum specifications for Windows 8 tablets that are powered by Intel processors. These are some pretty high requirements and I reckon we could see a few tablets fall outside these specifications at the launch of Windows 8, but if they don’t all the better for the consumer

Starting off we can expect to see Intel’s dual-core Atom Z2760 “Clover Trail” chipset. This chip features a unique “burst mode” which can be used when occasional boosts of performance are required. It also features hyperthreading which allows the chip to act like a quad-core chip in some situations.

Intel say that there will be two form types:

Pure 10-inch tablets and 11-inch designs which are hybrids with physical keyboards.

Intel are looking for a minimum of 9 hours battery life and around 30 days standby time.

They also seem to be looking to compete big time with Apple’s iPad on weight. Tablets should way no more than 1.5lbs (iPad is around 1.48lbs) and thickness should not exceed 9mm (iPad 9.4mm)

3G/4G connectivity is also a must and is becoming pretty much a standard feature these days along with WiFi and NFC.

These are some pretty demanding requirements set out by Intel, but any tablet that can match these specifications will be easily on par with the iPad, if not better.

I wonder will Intel be enforcing these rules as strictly as they are with Ultrabooks. Intel have very strict guidelines that a laptop must meet for it to be classified as an Ultrabook.

All things considered, it looks like we are set to see a very exciting range of new devices launched alongside Windows 8 in the second half of this year. Better start saving now for some of those new gadgets!

What do you think? Will all Intel powered tablets live up to these specifications?

Let us know in the comments

Source:

Cnet

Intel’s Windows 8 Tablet Checklist Revealed was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Some folks have had their doubts that Nokia, along with Microsoft, could make a comeback and specifically make one in the United States – a region that has long since forgotten about the Finnish handset manufacturer. The Lumia 900 is Nokia’s comeback and by large opinion, it is their one and only chance to make a dent into the smartphone market that has long eluded them. Is the Lumia 900 worthy of it’s “hero” status and massive marketing campaign that is just beginning to roll out? Here’s my review of the Lumia 900 and my own opinion on whether the device is solid enough to compete with the iPhone and Android super-phones.

Hardware & Design

There is perhaps no phone more striking to the eye than the Nokia Lumia 900. Taking its cue from the original N9 and Lumia 800, the big brother sports the same uni-body polycarbonate design and rounded edges. Measuring 2.7 inches across by 5.03 inches from top to bottom and 0.45 inches thick, the device feels great in the hand and substantial, like a premium device should. The only flaw in design that I could see is with the pop-out door which hides the micro SIM card. The door sits flush with the devices body, but seems to wiggle a bit instead of snapping in nice and tight. A minor issue, but one that should have been caught by Nokia.

The 900 sports all of its buttons on the right side of the unit. A camera marks the bottom and the power/unclock key lies in the middle with the volume rocker up top. The hardware buttons are solid and feature a rounded, chrome-finished design. They serve their purpose, but do not feel as premium as those buttons found on the HTC Titan II or iPhone 4s.

The Lumia 900 comes initially in two colors: black and cyan with a white version to be available on April 22nd and a rumored magenta version for Mothers Day.

Simply put, the Lumia 900 is the most unique-looking device on the market and is sure to turn heads.

Specs

Unlike most other platforms, the internals on Windows Phone devices do not matter nearly as much. This is because Microsoft has optimized the mobile OS to run on lower hardware just as fast as it does on high-end hardware. The Lumia 900 is no exception.

Sporting a 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor and 512RAM, the device simply screams. The 4.3-inch Clear Black AMOLED display holds a resolution of 800×480 and looks absolutely stunning running the Windows Phone OS. While high resolution support would be a welcome addition, it’s really not necessary in order to appreciate the 900. Text and graphics look crisp and vibrant and the blacks are so deep it has the illusion that the Start screen tiles are just floating over a vast empty space.

Camera

Before using the Lumia 900, early reviews panned the camera as being a mediocre effort on Nokia’s part. My own experience with the camera on the Lumia 900 is pretty decent. This camera is no slouch, but it’s also not quite on par with the cameras found on the Titan I & II and the iPhone 4 and 4s. The front camera is a 1.3MP shooter and does the job admirably. The rear camera is an 8MP shooter with Carl Zeiss optics. The pictures taken in sunlight or in areas with a good dose of light are comparable to those you might see on the iPhone 4s and HTC Titan, however, it’s when you are snapping pictures in low-light situations that reveals the faults of the camera. There are some noticeable artifacts in low-light pictures and it’s a shame. Overall, the camera is still in the upper echelon of smartphone shooters and will suit most any user.

Battery

The battery life on the Lumia 900 is surprisingly well for it being an LTE device. In most use cases, the battery would still be plenty full by the time I was ready to call it a day. Realistically, one could go a full day with heavy use and maybe a day or two on light to moderate use.

Phone

It seems kind of odd to talk about the phone aspects of a smartphone these days. Most tech blogs focus on how many cores a processor has or how high the resolution is, but forget that the device is used to make phone calls. Without going into a ton of detail, the call quality for both incoming and outgoing calls on the Lumia 900 is superb. Callers sounded crisp and loud and those on the other end noted the same. It may also be important to note that you can hold the Lumia 900 however you see fit without degradation in service or call quality. The phone just works.

Final Thoughts

To wrap up my own review of the Lumia 900 I’ll say that this is going to be my everyday smartphone for the foreseeable future. Coming from an HTC Titan, I worried that the smaller size of the device and polycarbonate shell might not feel as premium as the Titan did, but my worries were quickly laid to rest. The Lumia 900 feels great in the hand and has the look that will undoubtedly turn heads.

Every phone has it’s flaws. Some devices lose signal when you hold them in a human hand and some shatter when you accidentally drop them from just a few short feet up. The Lumia 900′s flaws are minor and unnoticeable for most users. In just a few short months, Nokia was able to craft a smartphone that people will enjoy and show off to their friends. Not only is the device capable of competing with the likes of the iPhone 4s and Galaxy Nexus, the Lumia 900 even surpasses those handsets in a number of ways. This is the Windows Phone device to have and it’s my belief that others who see this device in action will believe so as well. In the end, it will come down to personal preference. I’m a fan of the Windows Phone OS, so combining the software with a great piece of hardware makes sense for me, but I would highly recommend stopping by an AT&T or Rogers retail store and demoing a device to see if it fits you.

Note: Nokia is making the Lumia 900 globally available to other carriers and in an unlocked version very soon.

Nokia Lumia 900 Review was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

It might seem a little late in the development cycle for Windows 8, but Microsoft have published a post over on the windowsteamblog looking for customers to provide some feedback for Windows 8 by signing up for the Windows Feedback Program.

The program is invite-only and is only available to over 18′s located in the US. They are looking for volunteers who use Windows 7 or the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to provide feedback via surveys and by sending in data from a program installed on their machine. If you’re chosen to be one of these people, and stay in the program for more than four months, you will be eligible for “free software and Xbox games such as Microsoft Office 2010,Kinect Disneyland and Forza Motorsport 4″

Brandon LeBlanc stressed the importance that this is not a meant to be a way to submit bug reports, instead Microsoft are looking to “build better software by getting a broader understanding of your perceptions and experiences with our products.”

However it’s rather odd that Microsoft are pushing this now. Firstly it’s already pretty late in the Windows 8 development cycle and I doubt we will see many major changes between the Consumer Preview and Release Candidate. Secondly, the Windows Feedback Program has been around for several years already, the sign up form Microsoft provide is dated from 2009 after all.

I guess Microsoft are just looking for a bit more user feedback on its new user experience. After all, Windows 8 is probably the biggest change we’ve ever seen in terms of the Windows UI so I don’t blame them for wanting to get some extra input from the Windows community.

Source:

WindowsTeamblog

Microsoft Wants Your Feedback For Windows 8 – Promises Free Stuff In Return was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

One of the biggest complaints about Windows Phone 7 is the lack of apps, as compared to the iPhone. Sure 70,000 is a lot but iPhone has over 400,000. Now the dilemma is enhanced by the lack of touch features on the current windows pad hardware. Solution: use the iPad. That’s right, the iPad. For developers that want to build touch apps for Windows 8, they can use the Win8 Metro Testbed App from Splashtop . This will let developers build those touch featured apps.

Win8 Metro Testbed

Undoubtedly, apps developers have to overcome obstacles to make their programs work quickly and efficiently. And Apple, Google, and Microsoft are constantly throwing new conditions into the system. The ultimate outcome will be great, but developers usually scratch their heads and say, “Ok, now how do I do that?” This especially true with the new touch features that will come with Windows 8.

So Win8  Metro Testbed can provide assistance to developers.  The program combines two pieces—an iPad app and a small “streamer” component that runs on a Windows 8 system. With this combination developers get  a remote connection that is responsive and applicable to the Windows 8 experience.

Developers can use the following guides lines to work with the app

• Swipe from the right to view the Charms menu
• Swipe from the left to switch apps
• Pull down from the top to close an app
• Swipe slowly from the left to run two apps side-by-side (“snapping”)
• Pinch to navigate files, folders, apps and data with Semantic Zoom

How to get and use the Win8 Metro Testbed program

First download the app from the AppStore. But you also need the Streamer in order to connect to the Windows8.

The Splashtop Streamer includes the option to connect the Windows 8 client to a Google account, so that you can create a remote connection over the Internet.

One more note. The interesting feature of this app is that it relies on an iPad to create Windows8 apps. So it looks like software companies are beginning to appreciate the new Windows8 market and are trying to prepare for it.

Win8 Metro Testbed to Develop Metro Apps on iPad was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

I published a post the other day which showed how Android users could try out the Windows 8 Metro UI on their Android tablets. Well today I’ve got a new post, this time it explores how Apple users will be able to try out Windows 8 on their iPads.

Of course there is already a few Windows based tablets on the market, but the iPad has outsold these by a large margin and is easily the most popular tablet at the moment. We are expecting to see a huge surge in Windows based tablets towards the end of this year when Windows 8 launches, but until then developers and users a like may want to try out Windows 8 on their iPad.

Thanks to a new app from Splashtop you will be able to get the full Windows 8 experience on your iPad. You can take advantage of all the Windows 8 gestures, apps, features and even sound.

There is one requirement though, you’ll have to have a PC running Windows 8 that you can stream to your iPad.

I suppose in a way, this is very like OnLive which allows you to stream a copy of Windows 7 from OnLive’s servers to your iPad.

This app is more aimed at developers than anyone else, it could be perfect if you’re currently developing an app for Windows 8 and you’re wondering how it will interact with touch gestures. Since the range of Windows tablets are fairly limited at the moment, chances are you may have an iPad hanging around that they could try it out on.

It’s pretty cool and it was nice of Apple to actually allow it in their app store. If you’re interested in trying it out head over to Splashtop to get yourself started.

It’s currently on special offer on the App Store for $24.99 (down from the original $49.99)

Try Out Windows 8 On Your iPad was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.