Windows

Verizon Wireless CEO gives props to BlackBerry, Windows Phone

Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead said on Wednesday that there remains an importance place for both Windows Phone and BlackBerry, the two aspiring mobile operating systems trying to eat into the dominant positions of Apple and Google.

On Windows Phone (which he mistakenly referred to as Windows Mobile 8), Mead said he has been encouraged with what he has seen, noting that the OS has gotten good engagement from the handset manufacturers.

Likewise, there's a vital role for BlackBerry, he said during an investor conference today.

Both Windows Phone and BlackBerry are attempting to stage their respective comebacks, and … Read more

Microsoft revamps YouTube app for Windows Phone 8

The appearance of a new app suggest that Microsoft and Google have made progress in resolving their feud over YouTube.

Microsoft announced Tuesday the release of an overhauled YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 to make the most of the mobile operating system's features. While the previous iteration of the app was rather bland -- a situation Microsoft blamed on Google compatibility issues -- the new app is "completely redesigned" to take advantage of the platform's live tiles presentation.

Microsoft claimed that Google, which bought YouTube in 2006, had been blocking Windows Phone 8 access to … Read more

Windows Blue preview to hit in late June, Microsoft exec says

NEW YORK--Users will get a preview of Windows Blue in late June, a Microsoft executive said Tuesday.

Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Windows, said a public preview of the update to the Windows 8 operating system will be available in time for Microsoft's developers' conference next month.

She declined to provide many details about Windows Blue, the codename for the update, but she said it will enable device makers to create products with smaller screen sizes. She added that despite some reports, Windows Blue won't have any major changes from Windows 8.

"We're … Read more

Windows Start button could make a comeback, Microsoft exec says

NEW YORK--The Windows Start button could make a comeback in future versions of the software, Microsoft's head of Windows confirmed Tuesday.

Julie Larson-Green, corporate vice president of Windows at Microsoft, said the company is having "meaningful discussions" about bringing certain older features of the Microsoft's operating system to Windows 8. That could include a Start button that remains on the screen.

However, she said Microsoft believes "fully in the start screen and model of having live tiles and access to everything you want in a glance."

"The Start menu was never built for … Read more

What's new about Windows Blue (FAQ)

Microsoft may be the only company on the face of the planet where the sale of 100 million licenses is seen by some as a disappointment.

Tami Reller, the chief marketing officer and chief financial officer of the Windows division, noted Monday that Microsoft has sold more than 100 million licenses of Windows 8 since its October debut. But slowing PC sales have sparked some hand-wringing, leading to speculation about the coming update for Windows 8, codenamed Blue. The significant changes in Windows haven't been universally embraced, Reller acknowledged to The New York Times.

"The learning curve is … Read more

Send Windows 8 to Boot Camp

Running Windows on your Mac's hardware makes it possible to run virtually any program, regardless of what platform it was coded for. While virtualization is a closer-to-seamless approach to this, Apple's built-in Boot Camp feature offers a quick way to set up Windows in a secondary partition. When you run the Boot Camp Assistant, the system will create a partition to use, and then install Windows from your installation media. However, when doing so you may run into a problem in which the Windows installer claims, "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing … Read more

Microsoft to reveal Windows Blue pricing, availability soon

Up until now, Microsoft's official pronouncements about Windows Blue have been few and far between.

But the informational floodgates are going to open in the next couple of weeks or so, said Tami Reller, chief financial officer of the Windows client division at Microsoft.

During my interview with her at the Microsoft New York City headquarters on Monday, Reller outlined Microsoft's disclosure plans for the next version of Windows, codenamed Blue. Here's what Reller would -- and wouldn't -- say about Blue:

Reller said the Windows team will share pricing, packaging, and go-to-market details about Blue … Read more

Microsoft sells more than 100M Windows 8 licenses in 6 months

Microsoft officials said Monday that Microsoft has surpassed the 100 million Windows 8 licenses sold milestone -- a number on par with the number of Windows 7 licenses the company sold in its first six months on the market.

(Windows 8 and Windows RT went on sale on October 26, 2012. So the exact six-month mark was April 26, which was 10 days ago.)

"If there had been more touch devices in the market, it would have been even more," said Tami Reller, the chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows client team. That said, "our sell-through … Read more

Asus CEO 'very optimistic' about Windows 8 tablets

Look for Windows 8 tablets to have a strong year, says Asus CEO Jerry Shen.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in an interview published today, Shen said that his company is "very optimistic about sales for Windows 8 tablets this year," adding that he believes Microsoft's support for 7-inch slates will be the central move in the platform's success.

Windows 8-based tablets currently measure 10 inches or more in size. Microsoft and its fellow tablet makers reportedly are planning to launch 7-inch slates later this year that can still run the company's Windows platform. … Read more

Windows 8.1 reportedly updates apps silently

Updating apps in Windows 8.1 will apparently be a simpler process than it is in Windows 8.

Users who installed the latest Windows 8.1 build, known as 9385, discovered that several apps had automatically updated themselves in the background, according to blog site Winbeta. One of the apps that took care of its own update was a new one called Movie Moments, which lets people create and edit short video clips.

The new update process could be an improvement over the one in Windows 8. Currently, people are notified of new app updates but need to venture into … Read more