Windows 8

Panasonic pushes prototype pixels: 4K Windows 8 tablet

LAS VEGAS--Panasonic is ready to go to the next level in PC and tablet resolution. Is anyone else?

Ultra HD/4K televisions blanket this year's Consumer Electronics Show like freshly fallen snow, but Panasonic is standing alone demonstrating 4K technology in a personal computer. The company's 4K tablet prototype on display at its booth has a ridiculous 3,840x2,560-pixel resolution and 230 pixels per inch packed into a 20-inch IPS LED-backlit LCD display.

The 15-inch Retina Display MacBook Pro has a 2,880x1,880-pixel resolution at 220 ppi. There isn't a 20-inch display currently in a … Read more

Windows 8 licenses hit 60M mark

Microsoft officials said the company has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date.

Tammi Reller, chief financial and chief marketing officer for Windows, shared the data at the JP Morgan Tech Forum at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today.

That 60 million figure includes "sell in to OEMs for new PCs" and upgrades, said Reller. She didn't explicitly cite whether the figure also includes any Enterprise Agreement/volume license sales.

"Windows 8 is a big, ambitious change," Reller acknowledged. She reiterated that Windows 8 sales are roughly in line with Windows 7 … Read more

Windows RT hack? Don't sweat it, Microsoft says

Windows RT can be hacked to run unsigned desktop apps, but Microsoft sees no reason to worry.

As described yesterday, the hack allows someone with a certain amount of savvy to change code in the Windows RT kernel so the tablet-based OS can run desktop apps. Officially, the only desktop programs that Windows RT supports are Microsoft's own Internet Explorer and Office suite. Otherwise, the OS can run only Windows Store apps.

But the hack isn't geared for the average Windows RT user.

Besides requiring the necessary programming chops, the hack can only change code in memory. So … Read more

Dropbox rolls out Windows 8 app

Dropbox users running Windows 8 or Windows RT can now access their online files right from the Start screen.

The new and free Dropbox app for Windows 8 displays tiles for all of the folders and files stored in your online account. The app offers the usual touch-friendly approach, so you can swipe and tap your way around the screen to view your files.

Using the Search Charm, you can search for specific files by name or extension. You can right-click a file, open the Share Charm, and share the file via e-mail or a social network. And you can … Read more

Windows RT hacked to run unsigned desktop apps

Microsoft's Windows RT can apparently run unsigned desktops app with a little bit of hacking.

In a blog posted yesterday, a hacker dubbed clrokr described how he was able to change a value in the Windows RT kernel to bypass certain restrictions set up by Microsoft. The blog details how clrokr tracked down the right value to open up the types of apps that RT can run. And it includes his code for other enterprising hackers.

The specific value can't be permanently altered on devices enabled with Secure Boot, but it can be changed in memory. As a … Read more

Maybe Microsoft should have shown up to CES 2013

LAS VEGAS--It's getting more popular for companies to bail on the Consumer Electronics Show, but at least one should reconsider: Microsoft.

When the Las Vegas gadget conference kicks off this week, it will be missing the longtime CES presenter that declared 2012 to be its last hurrah at the show.

Microsoft doesn't really need CES to get attention for its products, but the company should have stuck it out one more year. Sure, the show is big and noisy and expensive, but Microsoft is trying to turn itself into a major computer hardware vendor with its Surface tablet. … Read more

How Microsoft became a control freak with tablet makers

Microsoft wasn't taking chances.

The company was about to introduce one of its biggest operating system releases, and it needed its hardware partners to develop products that could genuinely rival the iPad and Android tablets.

Microsoft took control of partners working with the new Windows RT software that ran on low-power chips normally used for cell phones. It held regular meetings with the small group of companies in its development program and dictated to a large extent what the devices looked like. Details were everything. Microsoft even told one company to move the location of its Windows home key, … Read more

Windows 8 gains market share in December

Despite a mixed reaction to its arrival at the end of October, Windows 8 continued to grow in market share by the end of December 2012.

New desktop market share numbers released by Net Applications show that Windows 8 jumped from 1.06 percent market share at the end of its first full month on the market to 1.77 percent by the end of December. That's a month-to-month jump of almost 60 percent. Note that these numbers include Windows 8 and Windows 8 on touch screens, but not Windows RT.

For what it's worth, the feature-limited Windows RT … Read more

Windows 8 wrestles with PC's legacy

I'm by no means the first one to say this but Windows 8 and older PCs make an odd couple.

But let me back up for a second. Before the release of Windows 8 on October 26, I tested Windows 8 on tablets only, such as the Intel-based Samsung slate that Microsoft sold in its stores. And I was impressed with Metro.

That was then. Windows 8 Pro 64-bit is now installed on my Dell Adamo laptop. And I rarely venture into the Metro UI unless if I'm forced to.

Of course if you're one of the … Read more