microsoft

Microsoft's Windows Store is slowly growing in size. According to a recent report, the number of applications available has now surpassed the 20,000 mark. Of those 20,000 available apps, about 18,000 (or 90 per cent) are free. Of course, an ... inventory of 20,000 apps is still far short of the standard set by Google's Play store (600,000 apps) and the Apple Store (700,000 apps). But it's a start. Windows Store's App Growth Rate: 500 New Apps Per Day Microsoft's Windows Store app tally has recently begun mounting at an impressive rate. In early October critics raised concerns about the fact that ... (view more)

There are just 500 days left until Microsoft officially terminates all support for the incredibly popular Windows XP operating system (OS). When it happens, the event will mark a major transition for the software giant, and could present big ... problems for the half billion computers still running the aging OS. Once these 500 days come to an end, Windows XP will no longer be updated or have any security vulnerabilities patched by the Microsoft development team. Over time, that will tend to make the operating system highly vulnerable to hacker attack. You can think of this 'end to upgrades' much ... (view more)

In an effort to compete with Google's much-anticipated "Project Glass" headset, Microsoft is reportedly preparing its own brand of high-tech eyewear. The evidence for this notion comes from a recent patent application, in which Microsoft described a ... new device that includes a head-mounted display capable of presenting wearers with detailed information about an individual's immediate surroundings. As outlined in the patent application, an individual "wearing at least a partially see-through, head mounted display can view any live event while simultaneously receiving information on ... (view more)

A Microsoft special offer has unintentionally made it much easier for software pirates to run bogus copies of Windows 8. But the loophole works only for particularly determined pirates. The loophole centers around the way Windows users activate ... their software. Each copy of Windows has a unique "key," which Microsoft checks to ensure the software copy is valid and not already in use by another registered owner. If the software's key passes these checks, the software copy is activated. Without activation within a certain period, Windows will begin to severely limit its functionality, mostly to ... (view more)

Microsoft ProcDump 5.1 ProcDump is a command-line utility for Windows computers. Its primary purpose is to monitor applications for CPU spikes and also to generate crash dumps during such spikes, so that a network administrator or application ... developer can determine the cause of the spike. ProcDump also includes monitoring of individual windows that "hang" and stop executing (using the same definition of a window hang that Windows and Task Manager use), as well as unhandled exception monitoring. The software can even generate dumps based on the values of system performance counters ... (view more)

Microsoft's chief executive officer has finally weighed in on the recent departure of Steven Sinofsky , former president of the firm's Windows division. In a recent interview at Silicon Valley's Churchill Club, Steve Ballmer had only good things to ... say about Sinofsky. The departing executive had been with Microsoft for more than two decades. Since 2009, he was in charge of Microsoft's Windows unit, and played a key role in the development of both Windows 7 and Windows 8. Ballmer: Sinofsky Made "Amazing Contributions" In his interview, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer credited Sinofsky ... (view more)

Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer says businesses are reacting well to the Windows 8 operating system (OS). He also suggested that the company's Surface tablet won't be its last home-grown hardware device. Speaking at a business and ... technology event at the Churchill Club in California, Ballmer said that's he's been surprised by how well business users have reacted to the way Windows 8 focuses on touchscreen users. Before Microsoft released the new operating system, many analysts argued that businesses would be frustrated and angry with the its new interface, tailored to ... (view more)

Microsoft is currently developing a new English-to-Chinese translation tool that is said to dramatically improve on previous offerings of its kind. Even more exciting, some observers believe the software giant may also be working on a Star Trek-like ... 'universal translation tool.' In a recent blog post, Microsoft Chief Research Officer Rick Rashid discussed the new translation software and the challenges the company faces in developing it. Rashid indicated the solution to the combined difficulties of replacing English words with their Chinese equivalents and then correctly adjusting for Chinese ... (view more)

Steven Sinofsky, chief of Microsoft's Windows division, is leaving the company. His former position will now be shared by two other Microsoft executives. Sinofsky had been in his position since 2009, and has been with Microsoft since 1989. He spent ... much of his career working on the Microsoft Office suite, then later spearheaded development of Windows 7, an operating system widely considered a major success. During his work on both Windows 7 and Windows 8, Sinofsky took a very distinctive approach to communication. He blogged regularly about the development process, giving the massive software ... (view more)

Windows 8 and Windows RT will get their first security fixes this Patch Tuesday, November 13, 2012. For Windows 8, three of the fixes have been marked "critical," Microsoft's highest security rating. The fixes address zero-day vulnerabilities ... reported by security firm Vupen last week. Vupen recently announced it had found "multiple vulnerabilities" in Windows 8 and also in Microsoft's newest web browser, Internet Explorer 10. Remote Code Flaws Found in Windows 8 The "critical" fixes will address remote code execution vulnerabilities that, theoretically, could allow a hacker to install malware ... (view more)