Microsoft, Operating System | featured news

There was a time in the tech business when your company could be as slow as molasses in January yet still prevail based on shear market size. That day disappeared in the rear view mirror many years ago, as Microsoft is about to learn as it prepares to introduce a major Windows upgrade.

One of the unambiguous messages we heard from Microsoft's Build 2011 conference in Anaheim all last week was that development of HTML5 "Metro-style apps" for Windows 8 would be "plug-in free." All requests for Microsoft to "clarify" that rule only underscored the blunt reality of the statement: HTML5 is about the absence of plug-ins, and thus, Metro will have an absence of plug-ins ...

Never has so much been at stake for Microsoft in a single product release. After the successful launch of Windows 7 in 2009, the company continues to rule the desktop, but has faltered in the emerging tablet space. The next version of its popular operating system, codenamed Windows 8, is designed to bridge the gap between PCs and slates, but will it be enough to help the world’s leading software company catch up to its competitors in the mobile space when it launches sometime in 2012?

Next week a high-ranking Microsoft executive will stand on stage and show off a new version of Windows on a tablet computer. It won't be the first time. But, when Windows chief Steven Sinofsky shows off an early version of its next touch-enabled, tablet-friendly operating system to independent developers at their annual conference in Anaheim next Tuesday, there is a sense that it really matters.

Microsoft will soon take the wraps off the biggest update to its operating system in 16 years. The Windows software giant unveiled a new blog and Twitter feed for its upcoming Windows 8 operating system Monday -- a first tantalizing look at the development of its next-generation flagship product, the software that powers most of the computers on the planet.

Sales of Microsoft Corp's flagship Windows software disappointed for the third straight quarter, taking the gloss off better-than-expected earnings that were aided by an unusually low tax rate.

Whether you're a die-hard Windows fan or simply a Mac user required to occasionally use Windows, it's hard to argue against the fact that Mac OS X has some killer features. Here's how to get the best of them on Windows.

Microsoft might have shown us its new operating system, but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

Microsoft plans to restrict the number of computer hardware makers that initially can make tablets using its Windows operating system, requiring five select chip makers to pair up with one development partner each.

A tablet-optimized, Windows OS could be ready to see the light of day as early as next week, according to recent market chatter and media reports. The new operating system follows a smart move in January to ditch the older, problematic Wintel legacy and focus on new versions of Windows for the System on a Chip (SoC) architecture, many times more suitable for tablet devices, according to Sandeep Aggarwal at Caris. Trade The News goes so far as to report that these new products are being optimized to work on NVIDIA chips.