Software, Operating System | featured news

This week, Microsoft announced that it sold a truly bananas 40 million licenses of Windows 8 in the new operating system's first month of availability. Even though some unknown portion of those sales are to manufacturers like Dell and Hewlett-Packard -- who then have to convince consumers to purchase their laptops, desktops, hybrids and whatnots -- and even though certain analysts insist that this marks a "disappointing" debut for the new Windows, 40 million licenses in one month is still an incredible number.

Microsoft Corp. said Monday that Steven Sinofsky, the president of its Windows and Windows Live operations, is leaving the company. Sinofsky's departure comes just weeks after the Redmond, Wash., software company launched Windows 8, which represented a major overhaul of its ubiquitous computer operating system.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer can't afford to be wrong about Windows 8. On Thursday in New York, Microsoft unveiled a dramatic overhaul of its ubiquitous Windows operating system. It will go on sale Friday, fused into more than 1,000 PCs and other devices. If it flops, the failure will reinforce perceptions that Microsoft is falling behind competitors such as Apple, Google and Amazon as its stranglehold on personal computers becomes less relevant in an era of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

The release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system is a week away, and consumers are in for a shock. Windows, used in one form or another for a generation, is getting a completely different look that will force users to learn new ways to get things done.

The latest numbers are in: Android is on top, followed by iOS in a distant second. This word comes from Gartner, a top research firm for these sorts of things. Overall, within the last quarter, Android outsold iOS devices nearly three to one while capturing 64% of the worldwide market share. Samsung was the top dog accounting for 90M handset sales.

Valve head—and one-time Microsoft employee—Gabe Newell has branded Windows 8 "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space" at videogame conference Casual Connect in Seattle. The Valve boss continued, saying that in the fallout from Windows 8, "we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people." Newell criticised Windows 8 while talking about the future of the gaming industry, and you can read everything he said at VentureBeat.

Microsoft is speeding up plans to kill off the Windows Gadget platform after receiving word that serious security vulnerabilities will be disclosed at the upcoming Black Hat security conference. According to a brief abstract from the Black Hat site, researchers Mickey Shkatov and Toby Kohlenberg plan to discuss weaknesses associated with Windows Sidebar and Gadgets and demonstrate "nastiness" that can be done on the platform.

How sweet it is! Google has given developers a taste of " target="_hplink">Android 4.1 (codenamed "Jelly Bean"), the latest update to the company's OS for mobile devices.

Microsoft is launching the most complete preview yet of its forthcoming Windows 8 operating system, the biggest redesign since Windows 95.

Microsoft's usual plan is to offer a free upgrade to users of older versions of Windows to bump up to the next release version. This time around there will be a cost, according to sources.