Windows

Windows 8 won't officially go on sale until October 26, but Amazon is already giving us a peek at the product's sales page.

Amazon's U.K. site is showing off the Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition, which lets users move up from Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. Also on the site is the the Windows 8 Pro Pack, which bumps up the Windows 8 standard edition to the Professional version.

European users can also check out the Windows 8 Pro N Version, which is similar to its American counterpart but without Windows Media Player.

The … Read more

A Microsoft Store stirred up more excitement than expected when a rapper's performance got out of hand.

Appearing at Microsoft's Atlanta retail store last Friday, rapper Machine Gun Kelly quickly revved into high gear, jumping on tables filled with desktops and laptops, throwing a promotional sign, and giving the finger to Microsoft employees urging him to get down.

The rapper also let loose a string of expletives at the store staffers and reportedly stomped on five computers before the staff cut off the music and his microphone, according to Web site AllHip.com. Annoyed that his performance was … Read more

Paul Allen, one of Microsoft's founders, is weighing in on Windows 8. What he's found is he likes it -- mostly -- but some features are pretty "puzzling."

Microsoft will be releasing its latest iteration of its operating system later this month. Unlike prior versions of Windows, the newest release is the first to have two modes and to integrate touch capabilities. One mode, formerly referred to as the Metro interface but now called "Windows 8 style," is geared at tablets, while the other is more traditional looking and is targeted at conventional PCs. … Read more

Ultrabook sales are going to be pretty disappointing this year, according to a report from IHS iSuppli (see its release below). And that's bad news for Intel and the PC makers who use its chips.

IHS slashed its estimates for shipments of the thin-and-light notebooks to 10.3 million this year, down from its previous forecast of 22 million. More than half of those shipments should come in the fourth quarter, the tech research firm said, likely boosted by the introduction of Microsoft's new Windows operating system.

IHS also expects 2013 to be less rosy, with shipments totaling … Read more

Windows 7 scooped up more market share last month at the expense of Windows XP.

For September, Windows 7 carved out 44 percent of all Web traffic among operating systems, as recorded by Net Applications. Windows XP took second place with 41.2 percent. Those numbers showed a wider gap between the two since August when Windows 7 finally grabbed the lead over XP by a fraction of a percentage point.

More than ten years after its release, Windows XP has proven its strong staying power. Many users and organizations bypassed Windows Vista, which held just 6 percent of the … Read more

Google-owned Motorola Mobility won't be able to enforce a German court injunction against Microsoft in a patent dispute, after a federal appeals panel in San Francisco upheld a judge's order blocking the company from doing so.

Bloomberg reports that the three-judge panel said the order was properly tailored.

The two sides have been fighting for a couple of years over Microsoft's ability to sell software for Xbox and Windows products in Germany.

As our Mary Jo Foley reported earlier this year:

"Microsoft was granted an injunction and temporary restraining order against Motorola, which was … Read more

When Microsoft unveiled its Surface tablets earlier this year, Intel executives were shocked.

Microsoft started developing its self-branded tablets -- including one that uses an Intel chip -- without notifying Intel or asking for help. Intel, like many of Microsoft's other partners, didn't find out about Surface until shortly before the event, and it did not play a role in the announcement. Microsoft decided to go it alone, much like rival Apple has done.

Microsoft's decision represents new territory for the software and chip giants -- collectively known as the Wintel alliance to many in the industry … Read more

You might think Microsoft would be the one handing out awards to those who report security vulnerabilities in Windows, but yesterday it was Google that paid $5,000 to a pair who found one such problem.

Along with the release of the final, stable version of Chrome 22, Google announced that it's paying the bug bounty to Eetu Luodemaa and Joni Vahamaki of Documill for finding a memory corruption issue in Windows.

The award is part of a revised Chrome bug bounty policy in which Google pays for more than just Chrome bugs. "Occasionally, we issue special rewards … Read more

Microsoft wants China to curtail the use of pirated software at four of the country's state-run companies, according to a story out today from Bloomberg.

Microsoft has reportedly already issued complaints against China National Petroleum (CNPC), China Post Group, China Railway Construction, and TravelSky Technology, all of which are run by the Chinese government.

Redmond believes that more than 40 percent of Office and Windows Server client software used by CNPC is pirated, Bloomberg reported, citing information from "three people familiar with the situation."

A spokesman for CNPC declined to comment to Bloomberg on the allegation. A … Read more