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An IDC analyst has tough words for Microsoft on tablets. Fixing Surface Pro is job one.

"Surface Pro today is an interesting product, but it's just not there yet," Tom Mainelli, IDC's research director for tablets, said in a phone interview with CNET.

"The battery life's not there. It's too heavy," he added.

And even Surface Pro's touted high performance is a double-edged sword. "While it performs like a notebook, Surface Pro is always going to be compared to other tablets, and tablets really need to run 8 to 10 … Read more

If the current crop of Windows 8 tablets, at least the majority that run Intel's low-power Atom tablet, were put edge to edge in a police lineup, you'd have a hard time telling them apart. Nearly all are virtually identical slabs of glass over black metal and plastic bodies.

Upon closer inspection, some have more ports and connections built into their outer edges, but this stylistic similarity indicates a larger issue: they all run essentially the same components inside, namely an Intel Atom Z-series processor, 2GB of RAM, a 10- or 11-inch 1,366x768-pixel touch screen, and either … Read more

In yet another example of its growing emphasis on remaking itself as a devices and services company, Microsoft looks to be developing a pay-per-use "Windows desktop as a service" that will run on Windows Azure.

The desktop virtualization service, codenamed Mohoro, that's in very early development phase, from what I've heard from sources. I don't know the final launch target, but wouldn't be surprised if it isn't until the second half of 2014.

Mohoro is a town located on island of Grande Comore in the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean. Given members … Read more

In the 2D/3D platformer, Fez, your protagonist Gomez embarks on an epic journey to uncover a universe-shattering mystery. The game's own journey from conception to the Windows platform has been nearly as monumental. First announced in July 2007, Fez's development was delayed for years. Creator Phil Fish's company, Polytron struggled with internal issues before finally demoing the game in 2011 and releasing a final version on Xbox Live in April 2012. Another year later, and the game finally lands on Windows, available from online distributors Steam and GOG.

Despite the long haul to release, Fez has … Read more

Windows 8 is slowly scratching its way up the OS food chain.

Microsoft's latest version of Windows took home 3.8 percent of all traffic captured by Web tracker Net Applications in April. That proved a small gain from its 3.2 percent share in March.

Starting with a 1.09 percent share in November, Windows 8 sliced out a 1.72 percent share in December. A 2.26 percent share in January helped it sneak past Mac OS X 10.8 to grab fourth place among all desktop operating systems. And February saw another small gain to 2.7 percent.… Read more

The news may seem bleak for Microsoft these days, what with Windows 8 sales disappointing, and the PC market itself sliding.

But don't tell Wall Street. Microsoft shares closed Tuesday at $33.10, their highest level in more than five years.

Microsoft shares have been moribund for the better part of the last decade. Investors have come to view the company, once the most valued stock in the world, as one with limited growth opportunity, particularly as rivals Apple and Google race ahead in key consumer markets.

The recent stock bounce, which gained momentum earlier this month, is largely … Read more

Everyone has their two cents about new software releases, but this time your unsolicited advice is, well, being solicited. Today Microsoft has invited Windows Phone 8 users who also happen to be Facebook fans to test out its official Facebook beta for Windows Phone 8--prior to its release. The existing app can remain on your phone alongside the beta version.

The redesigned 7MB app now includes requested features such as support for high-resolution photos, post sharing, and Facebook Timeline, and it also moves away from the "Metro" style interface of the standard Facebook app for Windows Phone 7 and 8, … Read more

Intel will detail plans for the first redesign of its Atom processor since its launch in Netbooks five years ago.

On May 6, the chipmaker is expected to announce the Silvermont micro-architecture, which will spawn Bay Trail and Merrifield processors, for tablets and smartphones, respectively.

"Intel Executive Vice President Dadi Perlmutter will...talk about Intel's next-generation Atom micro-architecture targeted at a range of market segments from low power tablets and smartphones, to microservers, the data center, and much more," Intel said in a statement Tuesday.

The new Atom uses a higher-performance out-of-order design, just like Intel's … Read more