Microsoft

Several prominent privacy groups say they're now concerned about the amount of user information that Skype, purchased by Microsoft in October 2011 for $8.5 billion, is collecting and sharing with other parties. In a recent open letter to Microsoft ... officials, a large number of privacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Reporters Without Borders, and GreatFire.org, have pressed Microsoft to publicly discuss exactly how much Skype user information it currently shares with third parties. The letter makes clear that those third parties to which Microsoft is handing private ... (view more)

Microsoft has announced its Surface Pro tablet computer will be available for purchase in the United States and Canada starting Saturday, February 9, 2013. The Surface Pro is an enhanced version of the standard Surface tablet PC that Microsoft ... released late in 2012. The original Surface, called the Surface RT , runs Windows RT, a trimmed-down version of Windows 8. Priced at $499 (and up), the Surface RT's hardware specifications include 16GB or 32GB of main storage, 2GB of RAM, and an ARM-architecture processor. Surface Pro: Core i5 CPU, Windows 8 Pro The Surface Pro, by contrast, includes ... (view more)

Upgrading from an older Microsoft operating system (OS), like Windows 7, to Windows 8 is about to get a whole lot more expensive. The changes are set to take effect on February 1, 2013. Right now, it costs just $39.99 to upgrade from Windows 7, ... Windows Vista, or Windows XP to Microsoft's newest OS, Windows 8. People who tried beta versions of Windows 8 can also upgrade from that test edition to the commercial release of the new OS for the same price. This promotional price was first announced last July, several months prior to Windows 8's October 2013 launch. (Source: zdnet.com ) Upgrading ... (view more)

A hacker has figured out how to run Windows 8 software on the Windows RT operating system, installed on Microsoft's Surface and other tablet computers. According to the hacker, any differences between Windows RT and Windows 8 are entirely artificial ... and for marketing purposes only. Windows RT is described as similar to Windows 8 but is supposedly designed exclusively for portable devices built around ARM processors. These chips can greatly extend battery life, but are said to lack the computing power needed for a robust operating system like Windows 8. Users of Windows RT notice one major ... (view more)

Microsoft says it has now sold more than 60 million licenses for its new Windows 8 operating system (OS). However, some observers still contend consumers are receiving the new OS more slowly than they did Windows 7. Windows Chief Marketing Officer ... and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller recently made her announcement about sales of the new OS at a J.P. Morgan Tech Forum that was part of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Reller claimed the 60 million Windows 8 licenses include those sold directly to home and business users, as well as upgrades and bulk sales to computer ... (view more)

People looking for proof that Microsoft is having a hard time convincing consumers to choose its Surface tablet over the Apple iPad can point to the recent actions of a California cat burglar, who broke into a Microsoft Silicon Valley office and ... stole only Apple products. According to reports, the burglar entered Microsoft's Mountain View, California, research and development center sometime during the company's Christmas break (December 19 to December 26, 2012) and stole five Apple iPads worth a total of $3,000. Reports indicate the thief took two iPad 2s, two iPad 3s, and one iPad 4. The ... (view more)

Microsoft's January 8, 2013 Patch Tuesday includes a total of seven patches, two of which Microsoft is labeling 'critical,' the firm's highest security rating. Notably absent from the lineup of fixes will be a patch for a recently-outed Internet ... Explorer security flaw. This Patch Tuesday's critical fixes address security vulnerabilities that, like so many other previously patched vulnerabilities, could potentially allow a hacker to remotely execute malicious files and take control of an unpatched computer. As usual, hackers could do this by convincing a computer user to visit a malicious ... (view more)

A new PC peripheral offers users of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system (OS) the ability to control their computers using only their eyeballs. Produced by the Swedish tech firm Tobii, it's called the Rex, and it connects to a Windows 8 ... computer's standard USB port. Tobii's eye-controlled technology was first unveiled at last year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Today, it has evolved into an eye-tracking hardware tool that uses Tobii's own 'Gaze' user interface software to interact with a Windows 8 PC. Look Your Way Around Windows 8 The Tobii Rex hardware connects to a USB port, and ... (view more)

Google says it's preparing to challenge Microsoft in the corporate market by offering more accessible business programs than Microsoft's highly popular Office suite of productivity software. However, Microsoft executives say they're not worried ... about Google stealing the software giant's enterprise customers any day soon. They're apparently responding to a recent interview in which Google vice president Amit Singh said his company intends to lure business users away from Microsoft Office. To do that, Singh indicated that Google will offer business software that is easier to use than Microsoft' ... (view more)

A newly-discovered flaw in Microsoft's popular Internet Explorer (IE) web browser could allow hackers to take control of a Windows-based computer. The Redmond, Washington-based firm has acknowledged that the problem exists and that it affects older ... versions of IE. The firm has also released a temporary fix for the problem. Microsoft Advises: Avoid Suspicious Links "Microsoft is aware of targeted attacks that attempt to exploit this vulnerability through Internet Explorer 8," Microsoft said in a security advisory issued on Sunday, December 30, 2012. Microsoft says the remote code ... (view more)