Displaying items by tag: Microsoft

Well the cat is out of the bag now and the winner is a new tablet called Surface from Microsoft. The thin (.5 inches) tablet was shown off today at the big event that Microsoft had planned for a long time. From the pictures we have seen it looks like a nice device 10.6 inches long with a gorilla glass display, full sized USB port, MIMO antenna for WiFi a track pad, 64 or 128GB of storage, and a built in kickstand. There is just one problem; Microsoft’s partners. By entering into the market like this Microsoft runs the risk of alienating their major partners for Windows based tablets.

After the leak (and subsequent removal) of an alleged set of documents showing Microsoft’s plans for the next generation of Xbox (the Xbox 720?) complete with a 2013 launch timeframe we have started to try and piece together what is going on and if there is any credibility to the original posting. The original presentation appears to have been prepared in 2010 (again if they are real) and outline some very interesting inclusions for the gaming console. Some of these have actually appeared recently (like Smart Glass) while others are things we already know Microsoft to be working on. We should probably start off by saying that we do think the posted documents are real, but that they represent a direction that Microsoft has probably changed since these were produced.

Last year when Microsoft handed Nokia a very large check to help them promote Windows Phone, we joked about it wondering if Steve Ballmer really expected to see any of that money back. It was the type of moment when you can almost see the writing on the wall (that Nokia was in trouble). Nokia at the time was having financial problems and had even been blocked from transporting some of their gear out of one country they still owed money to. Microsoft saw this as an opportunity to get in with a phone company on the ground and partner with them directly. Nokia was not in any direct legal battles with Apple so there was not any worry that Apple could directly affect imports or sales of the products. Things were looking good.

There is a new security warning for some people running virtualized systems on Intel CPUs. According to researchers at US CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team) the issue exists with some 64-bit operating systems when running on a hyper visor style host machine (also if the host OS is 64-bit). The vulnerability includes a method for escalation of privileges and a potential guest to host escape.

Microsoft is making a “super-secret” announcement on Monday and it has already invited select members of the press… Wait a minute does this sound familiar to anyone else? Sorry we had a momentary flash back to some of Apple’s announcements. In fact it this this similarity that makes many people believe that the show on Monday June 18^th will be the official show for Windows RT (and a Microsoft made tablet).

Microsoft has recognized a flaw in their plan for Windows 8. This is the enterprise space. Apparently they might have thought that because the majority of business and enterprises use Windows based networks and systems they were going to just get those sales again with Windows 8. Sadly most of the IT people I have spoken with (and that is a lot) do not want it in their shops. They view Windows 8 as a mistake that will eclipse Windows ME and Windows Vista together.

It seems that Microsoft might actually be listening to some of the criticism that has been flowing about their next generation operating systems. A few days ago we reported that Microsoft had made the decision to ship Visual Studio Express 2012 with support for Metro Apps only. This upset a large portion of the development community and was lambasted across the internet as a very dumb move.

Ok, you know things are going bad for a product push when you hear that even the US Cyber Emergency Response Team (CERT) has decided to weigh in on security issues surrounding the use of your product. In an unusual move US CERT has released a paper outlining very specific security issues with AMD Video Drivers. This issue would affect their desktop, professional mobile and even APU based drivers.

It is no secret that we are not fond of the direction that Microsoft is moving in with Windows 8. The new operating system with its phone and touch based MetroUI is a step back from what many feel a Windows system is supposed to be. What many wonder is why this push of the MetroUI and the cloud services that are linked to it.

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) has officially launched in certain areas of the globe. The replacement for the aging Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPV4) is said to have built in security, Encryption capabilities and a ridiculous number of address combinations making it sustainable for a very long time. The downside is that, as with many core technology updates, there are not many products that use it and the average home user is facing a pretty steep learning curve in getting things going.