Are You Still Using Windows XP?

You should know that Microsoft has finally given up on its most successful product and announced that it won’t support Windows XP any more. In other words, millions of computers all over the world are now at risk from security threats, but the software giant failed to persuade people to switch to another operating system. According to the latest statistics, almost 25% of the world’s machines still run XP.

Of course, it has been a pretty long run. Windows XP was released in the mid-2001 and its development was started in the late 1990s. Its prototype code was codenamed “Neptune” and built on the Windows NT kernel, intended for consumers. In the meantime, an updated version of Windows 2000 was also initially planned for the business market. In the early 2000, both of these projects were shelved in favor of a single operating system nickenamed “Whistler”, which could be used in both business and consumer environments.
The new OS introduced a considerably redesigned graphical user interface and became the first version of Windows which used product activation in an effort to reduce software piracy. Despite this feature, XP was pirated to oblivion, so you can see how that worked out.
Windows XP proved to be extremely popular among users: by January 2006, more than 400 million copies were in use. XP remained the most widely used OS until August 2012, when Windows 7 overtook it.
The much-extended deadline fell on the same day as Patch Tuesday, giving Microsoft a chance to release updates for the platform. But after the April, 8 no more updates for machines without custom support are released. The exceptions are the UK government, which has paid Microsoft £5.5 million to keep public sector entities covered, and the Dutch government. For everyone else it will be a great time to target machines running on Windows XP, because there is no protection short of virus checkers anymore.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Skype For Outlook Now Available Worldwide, Adds HD Video Calling Support

Skype for Outlook.com, the integration of Skype’s messaging features into Microsoft’s webmail platform, is now available worldwide, the company is announcing this morning. To get started with the feature, users must first download a web browser plugin, which is available for IE, Chrome, Firefox and now, Safari, browsers.

Afterwards, those who already have Skype accounts can link them to Outlook. If you haven’t yet signed up for Skype, you can instead use your Microsoft account to sign in.

Once installed, Skype users can place video and audio calls right from their email inbox. And today, Microsoft notes that’s it’s also adding support for HD video calling for PC users, while also fixing earlier bugs some users had experienced with calls continuing to ring after pick-up when they were running the Outlook.com plugin and Skype on their desktop at the same time.

The HD calling feature only works when users have compatible HD displays, web cams, messaging clients, and broadband internet, Microsoft notes.

The company had previously introduced Skype for Outlook.com in a preview mode for select markets last year, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Brazil and Canada. Now Microsoft is making the service available worldwide, though presumably, this could still be a staged rollout.

The integration offers a Microsoft-flavored competitor to Google’s Gmail + Hangouts features, which also combines a messaging and voice client in users inboxes, in Google’s case, Gmail. As for Microsoft, the combination of the two services could lead to a wider footprint for both Outlook and Skype, the former of which has over 400 million users.

EnjOy..:)

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Microsoft To Slash Windows 8.1 Price By 70 Percent

Whether you rant or rave about the merits (or lack thereof) of the Windows operating system, there is no doubt that it contributes largely to the cost of a new computer. When manufacturers ship their devices with Windows pre-installed, they have to pay for the license, which Microsoft dictates, of course.

Based on a report by Bloomberg, Microsoft is making some concessions in this regard by slashing the license price of Windows 8.1 by a huge 70 percent, from what is usually $50 to $15.

While those numbers are no doubt eye catching, there is one very important detail to reveal: This “discount” will only be applied to low-end devices, in particular, devices that for for less than $250.

According to the source of the report, the heavily discounted price will be applicable to all and any kind of devices, as long as they meet that retail price limit.

So what’s up with this move now? Are consumers going to directly benefit from the discount? The savings should somehow be passed on to the consumer, sure, but analysts are thinking that the rationale underlying this move of Microsoft’s is simple economics and competition.

They say that by heavily lowering the price of Windows 8.1 (for low-end devices – this can’t be emphasized enough), Microsoft has given itself a fighting chance with computer manufacturers; a fighting chance against competitors who offer cheaper wares (read: Google’s Chromebooks).

Then there’s all that talk about how the adoption rate of Windows 8.1 not being all that good, and Microsoft taking on an aggressive stance in pushing people to get off Windows XP.

With this discount, Microsoft may indeed be increasing its chances of getting the software pre-installed on more devices, devices that will cater to more people considering the lower prices involved.

One last thing that ought to be considered, though, is that Microsoft also offers incentives (for example, marketing funds) for large computer manufacturers, so they in fact pay less than $50 for the license. With this new pricing, though, the incentives will not be applicable anymoreEnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Microsoft announces nine new manufacturing partners for Windows Phone

There will likely be a deluge of new Windows Phone handsets hitting the markets as Microsoft announces nine new manufacturing partners.

When Satya Nadella announced that Microsoft’s strategy going forward would be mobile first, he wasn’t kidding. Microsoft today announced nine new manufacturing partners to Windows Phone, which brings the total list of manufacturers to thirteen.

Among the new partners are LG and Lenovo, two of the biggest names in manufacturing. Microsoft is also focusing its attention on markets like China and India by bringing Foxconn, Gionee, Karbonn Mobiles and Xolo on-board. Manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE have manufactured Windows Phone handsets before, but have since weaned off the platform, like most other manufacturers.

With Nokia’s acquisition in the final stages, Microsoft needs a strong presence in these countries. In China, Windows Phone is well-catered to, as it now has Foxconn, Gionee, HTC, Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE in addition to Samsung and LG as manufacturers set to launch new handsets. However, the lack of Indian manufacturer Micromax from the list is disconcerting, considering that the other two biggest Indian manufacturers, Karbonn Mobiles and Xolo (a wholly owned subsidiary of Lava Mobiles) are included. Micromax is said to be working on a Windows Phone device that was scheduled to launch later this year. Whatever the case might be, it Microsoft is widening its reach by adding new hardware manufacturers.

In addition to new vendors, Microsoft also announced that Windows Phone devices will now support Qualcomm hardware like the Snapdragon 200, 400 and 400 LTE. Furthermore, the platform is said to add functionality for dual-SIM devices, with Live Tiles for each SIM. The first dual-SIM Windows Phone device will likely be the Nokia Lumia 630. With an increased focus on low-end dual-SIM based devices, it is clear that Microsoft is targeting emerging markets.

EnjOy..:)

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Microsoft’s OneDrive goes online, offers 100GB of free storage

Microsoft’s rebranding of SkyDrive has gone into effect worldwide, along with new features and extra storage options for both existing and new users.

The Redmond giant announced OneDrive as the new title for its cloud storage service last month and has now made it the default for users worldwide.

The rebranding will go into effect across Microsoft’s Windows 8, Windows Vista and Mac apps today, and also on the mobile and Xbox versions. Existing and new users will be able to access OneDrive at its redesigned website, and will also be able to gather an additional 5GB of storage by referring up to ten friends that sign up for the service, for a total of 12GB of free storage.

Additionally, Microsoft is launching monthly plans for those that want extra storage and more flexibility over how they use that storage. If that wasn’t enough, 100,000 people selected randomly will be given 100 GB of free storage that’s valid for one year, which is considerably more than the temporary storage boosts offered by competing services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box (though a full year less in duration.)

For Android users, the company has upgraded its official client to include a camera backup feature for automatically backing up both photos and videos, which was recently introduced in the iOS version of the app. Enabling the camera backup option will grant users an additional 3GB of storage, which will be permanent even if one turns off the auto upload feature after enabling it, and is applicable to the iOS and Windows Phone apps as well.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella to get $1.2 mn salary; total package at $18 mn

Satya Nadella, the new Microsoft CEO, will get a base annual salary of USD 1.2 million.

New York: Satya Nadella, the new Microsoft CEO, will get a base annual salary of USD 1.2 million, but his overall package after taking into account bonus and stock awards may reach USD 18 million (Rs. 112 crore) a year besides various other perks.

As per his new employment agreement, the Indian-origin CEO of USD 78-billion software major will be paid his salary on "semi-monthly" basis at an annual rate of USD 1.2 million (Rs. 7.5 crore).

46-year-old Nadella, who has been with Microsoft for 22 years, would also be eligible for a cash bonus, which can range from zero to 300 per cent, resulting into total payout of up to USD 3.6 million.

Besides this, Nadella, who is a cricket fan, will get stock awards to the tune of USD 13.2 million, taking the total package to USD 18 million.

Nadella's annual salary would be determined by the company's Executive Incentive Programme (EIP).

The top executive would be eligible for an annual EIP stock award worth USD 13.2 million from 2015 fiscal year, according to Microsoft's offer letter to Nadella.

"For Microsoft's 2014 and 2015 fiscal years, your annual cash award target will be 300 per cent of your salary earned as CEO during the fiscal year.

"Your actual cash award can be from 0-300 per cent of the target and will be based on your performance as evaluated by the Board," the letter said, a copy of which has been submitted to the US market regulator SEC.

Nadella, who became the third CEO of Microsoft after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, was paid an annual salary of USD 675,000 for the fiscal year 2013 as the President of the firm's server and tools business.

Going by reports, Nadella pocketed a cash bonus of USD 1.6 million last year.

Microsoft's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

"We expect that you will work with the Compensation Committee of the Board to assess and revise, if appropriate, the EIP to ensure alignment with business priorities. There are currently two key components of the EIP," the letter said.

To further align Nadella's interests with the long-term performance of Microsoft, he would be granted Long-Term Performance Stock Awards (LTPSAs).

"One-third of your LTPSAs will be earned based on Microsoft's total shareholder return relative to the S&P 500 over each of three overlapping, five-year performance periods (LTPSA performance periods) commencing on the grant date and the first and second anniversaries thereof," the letter said.

Nadella previously held various senior positions at Microsoft in server and tools, cloud and enterprise, online services and advertising platform divisions. He joined Microsoft in 1992.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Windows XP Will Live till July 2015

Microsoft has changed its mind over killing Windows XP entirely this April and announced it will continue providing updates to its security products (antimalware engine and signatures) until middle of July, 2015. Thus, XP will get another year’s life. Back in 2013, Microsoft said it would halt all updates on the same day as the end of support date for Windows XP this spring.

In other words, Microsoft Security Essentials will still get updates after full support ends for operating system. The same will go for System Centre Endpoint Protection, Forefront Client Security, Forefront Endpoint Protection, and Windows Intune used on XP. But it should be noted that Microsoft will still end full technical assistance for Windows XP this spring and you won’t be able to download Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows XP since that date.

Windows XP will still be alive thanks to updates to its security products for extra 15 months. Taking into account that the developing countries mostly use XP, it is good news that they will be at least partially protected until July 2015, though Windows XP will no longer be a supported operating system.

Everyone understands that Microsoft has been trying to get people away from Windows XP to “better” products. The company realized that the best way to do so is to stick to its end of support date, even despite the fact that there are still so many millions of Windows XP users out there. It looks like Microsoft finally realized that leaving all of them completely vulnerable could cause more harm than good.
EnjOy.. :) 

Bugs Of Technology

Instagram Finally Released On Windows Phone

Is it worth the wait? After all, it has been a long time coming but Instagram has finally released a native app for Windows Phone. The long suffering of you out there that use Windows phones (sorry I’m an iPhone man myself), will finally be able to share pictures in new and interesting ways, just like the rest of us.  Well, kind of anyway.

 

The new Instagram app has most of the great features that iOS and Android users have come to appreciate. All the photo filters are there and you are able to see your feed, complete with all of your friend’s snaps and “heart” and comments too.  However, all is not rosey in the Instagram world as a few things are peculiarly absent.  The most important of which is the fact that the Windows app cannot take photos or upload video from within the app?

Windows users can still upload photos from their camera roll and Instagram for Windows Phone will launch the native camera app to take new photos.  Currently, there is no option for video, but apparently it is all in the pipeline. As Instagram has finally made the leap over to Windows Phone, we should all be grateful, even if the app is still ironing out the flaws.

For more information regarding the release, please check out the following release notes:

Over 150 million users love Instagram! It’s a simple way to capture and share the world’s moments on your Windows Phone.  Customize your photos with one of several gorgeous and custom built filter effects. Transform everyday moments into works of art you’ll want to share with friends and family.Share your photos in a simple photo stream with friends to see – and follow your friends’ photos with the click of a single button. Every day you open up Instagram, you’ll see new photos from your closest friends, and creative people from around the world.

Main Features Include:

100% free custom designed filters: XPro-II, Earlybird, Rise, Amaro, Hudson, Lo-fi, Sutro, Toaster, Brannan, Inkwell, Walden, Hefe, Nashville, 1977, and others.
Video recording with breathtaking cinematic stabilization
Linear and Radial Tilt-Shift blur effects for extra depth of field.
Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Foursquare
Unlimited uploads
Interact with friends through giving & receiving likes and comments
Full front & back camera support
And much much more…

You can get Instagram for Windows Phone at the Windows Phone Store.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

7 Great Outlook.com Tricks You May Not Know About Yet

inEarlier this year Microsoft replaced Hotmail and all accounts were transferred to Outlook.com. Microsoft included a host of new features such as integration with SkyDrive and instant search. If you are still finding your way around, then take a look at seven of the features we picked out that you may not have discovered yet.

Outlook Alias

In order to keep different kinds of mail seperate, many of us end up using various email address accounts but it often ends up being a nuisance. Microsoft have included a feature in Outlook.com that allows you to add aliases to your existing account.

To set up an alias then all you need to do is:

• Click the settings icon at the top right of the screen
• Click on “More email settings”
• Click “Create an Outlook alias’ link under “Managing your account
• Enter the user name part of the new email address lias under “Email address”
• Pick a domain name following @
• Finally click “Create an alias”.

If you want to set up a rule for automatically filing messages received to the new alias address to a special Outlook.com folder, then type the desired name under “A new folder”, then click “Done”.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are fantastic at saving us time. Here are our top five for Outlook.com:

• N: Start a new message
• Ctrl-Y: Insert an emoticon or emoji
• Insert: Flag the email for follow-up
• Ctrl-3: Go to People (Outlook.com address book)
• Shift+E: New Folder

For more keyboard shortcuts, click here.

Facebook and Twitter Content

Outlook.com enables you to add your contacts from social networks and manage content from Facebook and Twitter accounts. It even allows you to post comments and accept friend requests directly from the Outlook.com inbox.

To manage privacy settings and view which social media accounts you have linked with Outlook.com then:

• Select the settings icon at the top right of the screen and then Click “More email settings”
• Click “Content from third-party networks” link under “Reading email”
• At the bottom of the page, under “Showing additional content, click “Manage connections”

Sweep Emails

This feature allows you to give your inbox a good spring clean but quickly and easily (not like my housework then!). If you want to set-up an automatic clean-up of emails from a particular sender or entire category:

• Open a message from the sender or newsletter you want removing
• Click “Sweep” in the Outlook.com toolbar
• Select “Schedule cleanup” from the menu

You have various options with this feature, so you can “Only keep the latest message from this sender”, or “Delete all messages older than _ days”, and even “Move all messages older than _ days to <select>.

Revoke Easy Access Feature

If you have a device that only you use, Microsoft has created a feature whereby you can login quickly to this device by just using a password. Should you happen to lose this device however and want to revoke this one-step access quickly, follow these steps:

• Click your name or profile image in Outlook.com’s navigation bar
• Select “Account settings” from the menu that pops up
• Open the “Security info” category under “Overview”
• Click “Remove all the trusted devices associated with my account” under “Trusted devices”
• Click “Remove all trusted devices”.

One-Click Actions

The one-click acttion feature allows you to deal with emails instantly. So for example if you see that an email is spam before you even open it, then with one-click you can deal with it.

To configure these quick actions then click on the settings icon in the toolbar and select “More email settings” from the menu.  Select “Instant actions” under “Customising Outlook” and make sure “Show instant actions” is ticked.

It is possible to add your own instant action buttons by clicking “Add actions” and selecting other options from the menu. If you want this button to be constantly visible then highlight the button under “Show on mouse over” and click “Move down” until the button is under “Show always”.

Outlook.com Service Status

If you are having problems with Outlook.com, then you can find out if Microsoft is aware of it and whether anything is being done about it.

Visit the Outlook Service Status page. If you want to see issues that have been recently resolved then visit the Microsoft Services Status History page.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Source:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/10444045/7-hidden-features-in-Microsoft-Outlook.com.html

:Windows 8.1 (Service Pack 1) Direct Download :

Windows 8.1 (Service Pack 1) Direct Download

Windows 8.1 Free Enterprise Preview Edition is now officially available from Microsoft for users who wants to test and try out new features, functionality and improvements Microsoft brought in new Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview Edition. Direct Download Links of Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview Edition Free DVD ISO Image File (32-bit / 64-bit) is available from Microsoft at no cost with Genuine Activation Product Key of Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview.

Windows 8.1 Enterprise is similar to Windows 8.1 Pro but it comes with a few extra features such as Windows To Go creator, Start Screen control, Direct Access, App locker, etc.

English Versions :

Download Windows 8.1 Enterprise x86 iso file

Download Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 iso file

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview Free Edition is available in 13+ languages i.e. English UK, English US, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Taiwan). 

EnjOy..:)
Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

:How to Monitor Hard Drive Or SSD Health & Performance With HDD Expert:

Monitor Hard Drive Or SSD Health & Performance With HDD Expert

Manufacturers are always pushing boundaries trying to make hard disks as robust and reliable as possible. Despite that, HDD failure and data loss remains an inescapable reality. Therefore, there are RAID configurations, backup systems and other solutions designed to prevent data loss and minimize the impact to an organization when drives simply stop working. While there are various ways to help you prevent data loss, one of the easiest methods is to keep a check on your hard drive’s health using monitoring tools. One such utility goes by the name HDDExpert. It is a free Windows application by KC Software that displays health & performance of your HDD or SSD, decodes S.M.A.R.T. attributes into readable form and recommends ways to maintain the health of your drives.

The program doesn’t confuse you with excessive technical jargon, unlike most similar tools. It’s simple interface makes it an easy tool to use even for novice users. It doesn’t confuse you with .

Once launched, HDDExpert scans through all drives and partitions in your system. It then displays manufacturer name, model, firmware, serial number, temperature reading and cache size of the disk(s). The app also displays warning messages for temperature and health, and lets you know whether a backup or spare HDD is needed or not.

The lower part of its interface carries information related to damage or errors at different sectors on the disk. In addition, the app displays total power cycle count and total operation time.

Right beside these readings, you’ll find three buttons labeled ‘Fans’, ‘Spare’ and ‘Backup’. The first two take you to an Amazon search page, which contains recommended products such as cooling fans and HDD replacement parts. The Backup button links to ‘Backup & Recovery 12 Home’, a paid program that you can install and use to create backups of the data on your disks. In the ‘Message’ section beside these buttons, the tool displays its verdict on the state of your drives and recommendations to prevent (Spare) or prepare (Backup) for failures.

All in all, a simple disk health monitoring software that could save your precious data before it’s too late. The tool can come in handy to test old drives as soon as they start posing problems, so you may get a replacement before complete failure of the disk and the loss of all the data on it.

HDDExpert works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Download HDDExpert

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

:Windows 8 Enterprise 32Bit (x86) & 64Bit (x64) ISO Full + CRACK ACTIVATOR:

Windows 8 Enterprise 32Bit (x86) & 64Bit (x64) ISO Full + CRACK ACTIVATOR

DESCRIPTION :
Meet the worlds personalized Operating System (Windows 8 Enterprise) thats compatible with the most advanced desktops, tablets and mobile devices on the market today. Windows 8 is So Much Smarter and Super Faster Than Windows 7. After Using Windows 8 I Feel a Better Experience than Windows 7. It is soft easy and more faster than Vista and 7. So Try New Windows 8 Final Version and Discover The New Technology.

 

FEATURES :

Windows 8 works on the same hardware that powers Windows 7: Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

-To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.
-To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
-To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.
-Internet access (ISP fees might apply)
-Microsoft account (LiveID) required for some features
-Some features such as touch and Client Hyper-V may require advanced or Windows 8 certified hardware

Install Notes:

1. Install Windows 8 Ent as trial evaluation from Microsoft Server.
2. Go to Windows 8 Activator folder then right mouse click "Install.cmd" then select to "Run as administrator" when done Windows will logoff when you login Windows 8 will be activated.
NOTE: Windows may logoff more than once don't worry

UsePower Shell to display the information below
1. Current licensing status = slmgr -dlv
2. Activation information = slmgr -dli
3. Expiration date = slmgr -xpr

Click to download Windows 8 Enterprise 32bit-64bit Crack Activator ONLY [8 MB]

Click to download Windows 8 Enterprise 32bit-64bit TRIAL [3 GB]

 
EnjOy..:)
Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Create a Bootable Pendrive of any OS

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool is a free tool from Microsoft to make an Bootable pendrive form ISO files. But how to make a bootable pendrive from the .img files or copy some other OS to the pendrive? We need some other tools. Here I have discussed about an free tool that allows you to create an bootable pendrive from any OS.

Win32 Disk Imager

As I already mentioned, it is an free tool for windows and it reads the disk image of any format and writes it in an Pendrive. It could also write it in the Memory Card and make it bootable.

The software is about 12.8MB and can be downloaded from here

Steps to create an Bootable Pendrive

Just download the package and open the Win32DiskImager.exe

Select the Image file which you want to copy.

Select the Removable disk which you want to make it as bootable.

Click the Write Button.

Wait for the process to be completed. Your bootable pendrive is READY..!!!

EnjOy..:)
Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

:Download Windows 8.1 RTM, Visual Studio 2013 RC and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM Today:

Download Windows 8.1 RTM, Visual Studio 2013 RC and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM Today

Starting today, we will extend availability of our current Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Pro and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM builds to the developer and IT professional communities via MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. The Windows 8.1 RTM Enterprise edition will be available through MSDN and TechNet for businesses later this month. Additionally, today we’re making available the Visual Studio 2013 Release Candidate which you can download here.

We heard from you that our decision to not initially release Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM bits was a big challenge for our developer partners as they’re readying new Windows 8.1 apps and for IT professionals who are preparing for Windows 8.1 deployments. We’ve listened, we value your partnership, and we are adjusting based on your feedback. As we refine our delivery schedules for a more rapid release cadence, we are working on the best way to support early releases to the various audiences within our ecosystem.

In providing the best developer tools to our customers, Visual Studio 2013 RC enables development teams to build, deliver and manage compelling apps that take advantage of today’s devices and services. With the release of Visual Studio 2013 RC, we’ve made available additional features and functionality to enhance developer and development team productivity and agility.

With these updated platform and tools bits, developers will be able to build and test their Windows 8.1 apps. The RTM versions of tools, services, and platform are required for store submissions which will open up for new Windows 8.1 apps beginning at general availability on October 18.

Given the accelerated rate of technological advancement we continue to see in the industry and here at Microsoft, it’s an exciting time to be an app builder. We recognize the critical role developers play—the breadth of our apps ecosystem is a key pillar of the Windows experience. It’s an essential end-to-end relationship – we deliver the tools, services and platform to give developers the flexibility and opportunity to innovate and build experiences for Windows that make all our lives more productive and fun. 

We also recognize that our commercial customers need time to perform application compatibility and other testing and validation to best plan for their Windows 8.1 deployments following general availability on October 18.

The primary purpose of Windows 8.1 RTM and Visual Studio 2013 RC availability is for testing as our engineering teams continue to refine and update the product and tools in preparation for Windows 8.1 general availability on October 18 and the release of Visual Studio 2013 RTW.  Third party apps may require final refinement to onboard into the Windows Store at the October 18 GA milestone.  However, we’re confident this pre-release will enable developers to ready their Windows 8.1 apps for customers while validating their existing apps function as expected on Windows 8.1

Similarly, we continue to validate the Windows Server 2012 R2 software with our partners and expect to make further updates to the build for general availability on October 18 as well. 

We are pleased to provide non-production support for Windows Store app development and testing for Windows 8.1, via forums and assisted support channels.  For links to those resources, along with existing Windows 8 support options, please visit the Dev Center support options page. We will also provide assisted support for Windows 8.1 RTM and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM through standard commercial support channels.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Xbox One to Launch November 22

inShare

After much speculation, Microsoft has officially announced a release date for its next generation console. The Xbox One will launch on November 22, a bit later than anticipated and a week after its main rival, Sony’s PlayStation 4.

The Xbox One will retail for $499 and will be available in 13 territories as of November 22. These include North America and the UK, but also Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, among others.

The Xbox One release date does not seem random, as this is the same day that the Xbox 360 launched in North America in 2005, so Microsoft is probably hoping that the new system will replicate or even surpass its predecessor’s success.

Microsoft also confirmed that the Xbox One CPU will be boosted to 1.75 GHz as previously suggested. The company also said that the gaming system is already in full production. To confirm, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson released the first images of the new consoles being readied for shipment. Larry Hyrb posted two images on Twitter, showing a case of consoles and a loaded pallet, ready to be shipped to retailers.

The Xbox One will retail with one controller, a headset, a Kinect sensor and a HDMI cable. The console’s Day One Editions are again available for pre-order, Microsoft said. Customers who have ordered Day One editions in Europe will be given a free download code for the game FIFA 14.

At launch, there will be 23 titles available for the new Microsoft console, including exclusive games such as Ryse: Son of Rome, Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct and others.

It is not yet known when the Xbox One will launch on other markets except the 13 territories that will see the release on November 22. Microsoft recently said the gaming system will be available in other European countries such as Belgium, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden and others as of 2014.

Sony’s PlayStation 4 will retail for $399 and will launch on November 15 in North America and on November 29 in Europe. The PS4 has widely been seen as a favorite with gamers, due most of all to its lower price tag.

Microsoft however seems pretty confident that the Xbox One will withstand and maybe even overcome the competition. So what do you think of their decision to launch the new console after the PlayStation 4? A smart move or a marketing disaster?

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy