The World of Windows

Traditional IT vendors aren't leading with software, and businesses aren't hiring mobile leaders, according Appcelerator's survey. Even as mobile computing has become a top priority to executives, businesses lack internal leadership for mobile efforts, and the IT vendors they rely on, such as IBM and Oracle, aren't delivering on the mobile app front either, a newly released survey shows. Appcelerator surveyed 770 "enterprise leaders," including CEOs, CIOs, and mobile application development managers, in November and December and released the results yesterday. Asked which traditional "mega-vendor" is showing leadership in mobile technology, 28 percent cited Microsoft, 15.8 said SAP, 10.8 percent said Oracle, 7.3 percent said IBM , and 4.6 percent said Hewlett-Packard. "Enterprises are used to looking to these guys for leadership" -- and not getting it, said Michael King, Appcelerator's enterprise strategy director.   "This pr...

A new security measure introduced with Windows 8 requiring so-called secure boot keys could make it more difficult for consumers to load other operating systems including Linux on OEM Microsoft-certified machines pre-loaded with the software. Depending on whom you talk to, this is a massive violation of consumer freedom that might (or should) draw anti-trust scrutiny from authorities such as the EU — or it is a desirable defense against malware that just so happens to coincidentally inconvenience a small, if vocal, group of power users. The issue was flagged this week by a blogger and Red Hat Linux developer, Matthew Garrett, who laid out the problem and suggested that the jury was still out on whether this constitutes bad behavior, but urged the software community to at least pay attention. “It’s probably not worth panicking yet. But it is worth being concerned,” he wrote on Tuesday. Microsoft has tried for years to lock down Windows to prevent unauthorized changes to its secur...

It's not the tantalizing bit of Windows 8 bait you'd expect in the lead up to that revolutionary OS' official launch, but for a certain domestic segment, it'll do. As part and parcel of its Release Preview -- slated for a June bow-- Microsoft's making the busywork of keeping digital tabs on your household ankle biters an integrated and easily managed feature of the two-faced system, accessible via the "Family Safety" option. Once enabled on the account profile for an underage user, parents will have the ability to receive weekly activity reports detailing web usage, as well as set site / application restrictions, search filters and time limits for PC usage. Despite Redmond's best efforts, there's still one wall this virtual oversight won't let you breach -- your child's Facebook account. For that, you'll just have to make friends. Head on past the break for the company's helpful how-to video.     If ...

The next version of Windows will come with Hyper-V, making it the first desktop OS to include the virtualization technology. Windows 8 will include Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization tool in an effort to attract developers, IT pros, and other users who need to run, test, or support virtual environments. Describing the move in the latest edition of the "Building Windows 8" blog, Mathew John, a program manager on Microsoft's Hyper-V team, noted that Hyper-V has previously been available only in recent server-based editions of Windows, making Windows 8 the first client OS to include the feature. Virtualization tools such as Hyper-V allow users to run multiple operating systems and environments on the same machine. That's helpful for developers and other individuals for testing purposes. But it's also increasingly used by IT administrators who need to set up and support virtualized PCs. "Hyper-V enables developers to easily maintain multiple test env...

Start Menu has been removed. Here's how the Start Menu was superior to the Start Screen: - No full-screen requirement, it doesn't disturb your workflow and gets out of the way quickly - Had quick access to shutdown commands - Special folders 1 click away and expandable - Expandable Recent documents - Start Menu jump lists for pinning documents associated with that program - Frequently used programs list - Neatly organized All Programs list by folders - Does not cover the Taskbar and the notification area - Search results are in a single unified list of Programs, Files and Settings for easy up/down keyboard navigation but still neatly categorized - Context menu options of our choice not present in Start screen. Whatever limited context menu actions Start Screen has are at the bottom of the screen which means more movement between the tile and the bottom actions - No context menu options available at all for settings and files on the St...

Windows 8 development started before Windows 7 had shipped in 2009. In late January 2011 Microsoft announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that Windows 8 would be adding support for ARM microprocessors in addition to the x86 microprocessors from Intel, AMD and VIA Technologies. On June 1, 2011, Microsoft unveiled Windows 8's new user interface as well as additional features at the Taipei Computex 2011 in Taipei (Taiwan) by Mike Angiulo and at the D9 conference in California (United States) by Julie Larson-Green and Microsoft's Windows President Steven Sinofsky. The "Building Windows 8" blog launched on August 15, 2011, featuring details surrounding Windows 8's features and its development process. A screenshot of Windows 8 Developer Preview running on a multi-monitor system, showcasing some features Microsoft unveiled new Windows 8 features and improvements on the first day of the BUILD conference on September 13, 2011. Microsoft released Windo...