Microsoft Talk

"Skype clearly believes that developers (and the awesome new services they build which will require Skype) will be key to bringing in new users. The pressure to grow may also be behind Skype’s decision to add XMPP support to the most recent beta version of its Windows client, letting it interoperate with other IM networks. Skype needs to grow especially as it faces more competition from Facebook, Google, Apple and any number of other companies building out video conferencing and chatting capabilities into their services and devices." - LANjackal

"French search engine 1PlusV is suing Google for 295m euros (£264m), the largest damage claim the search engine has faced in Europe. It claims that Google used its market dominance to block the development of rival services. An earlier complaint from 1PlusV and others, including Microsoft, triggered a European Commission investigation." - LANjackal

All this stuff regarding Google and anti-trust is just ridiculous. It's not like there aren't other options for finding stuff on the Internet. Same goes for their services. Google rose to dominance because people prefer them. All the other companies can just live with it. - Kevin L

A company shouldn't be penalized for being innovative. Market dominance can't block product development, but product development shouldn't be pursued if it can't become profitable in a reasonable period of time. - James Stratford

"By the time Windows 8 tablets hit the market in 2012, Microsoft will have had ample time to analyze the initial missteps of the Android platform, not to mention its own unimpressive attempts at "slate" operating systems over the years. Generally speaking, Microsoft may miss with the first few whacks at something new but they're usually good at eventually nailing an operating environment. If only because of their tenacity. They will persevere for years, even decades, until they get it right." - LANjackal

"Early milestone builds of Windows 8 have leaked onto the Internet, and considerable effort has been put into figuring out how they work. Though officially tight-lipped, snippets of information have escaped Redmond's walls. So far, it appears that Windows 8 development doesn't just look not bad—there are signs that it will actually resolve many long-standing annoyances with writing Windows software. If Microsoft can pull off everything it's hoping to achieve with the platform, Windows 8 will be as important and radical a release as Windows Longhorn was going to be." - LANjackal

"Among the new features found, there’s a new virtual keyboard, per-feature licensing and SMS support." - LANjackal

"Google tests a new search button inspired by Bing" - LANjackal

"According to BetaArchive, Windows 8 is nearing the M3 milestone, the final stop on the way to beta. And they’ve received a new leaked build of Windows 8, build 7989 (7989.winmain.110421-1285.615974c7346f7374). Here are some shots of the build, including one of the beta fish (!), courtesy of BetaArchive." - LANjackal

And, yeah no one cares about Opera. She's retired. - sofarsoShawn

"Microsoft Security Essentials is the most popular security solution worldwide according to a report by OPSWAT covering the second quarter of 2011, March 23 to May 15, 2011. Microsoft’s free antivirus offered to users of genuine Windows operating systems including Windows 7 RTM and SP1, has been found to run on no less than 10.66% of the 43,000 computers around the world covered by the OPSWAT’s Q2 Antivirus Market Share Report." - LANjackal

"Could the Windows Phone operating system really surpass Apple's iOS by 2015? The International Data Corporation(IDC) seems to think so. In a new report, the market researcher said the Windows Phone stands to grab 20 percent of the smartphone market by 2015, due to Nokia's adoption of the Windows Phone operating system." - LANjackal

IDC takes food from MSFT hands for years, what else you could expect from them? this prepaid PR not real research - piikummitus

"This UI is genius. And while I understand that, for many of you, the knee-jerk reaction is to disagree, perhaps violently so, all I'm asking for is a little patience. Because I think I can explain why this UI, improbably, is perfect for just about any computing scenario you care to name." - LANjackal

"by unifying the OS running on desktops, laptops, smatrtphones and tablets, Microsoft aggregates the number of devices out running Windows 8 right out of the gate. Windows 7 amassed 350 million licenses in its first 18 months. This will most likely put Microsoft on competitive footing with Apple and Google from a platform standpoint. Apple has about 187 million iOS devices running on that platform (as of March 2011). Google recently surpassed 100 million Android devices, with that number is growing by about 400,000 devices daily." - LANjackal

"Windows 7 amassed 350 million licenses in its first 18 months. This will most likely put Microsoft on competitive footing with Apple and Google from a platform standpoint" - 80% of that 350 million (280 million) are used by business as typewriters and adding machines. - Zato Gibson

"Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, Director of the Windows Phone program, tweeted his feelings on Monday afternoon. “Feeling flattered today,” said Belfiore after referencing a number of iOS 5 features. Belfiore also reached out to one poster who was impressed with Apple’s new camera hardware button implementation. “With a wp7 you get a dedicated camera button that wakes the phone from sleep and jumps u to camera,” he said. “Been shipping for 8 months! ”" - LANjackal

"Microsoft might be showing off its Xbox Live TV subscription at E3. Codenamed Orapa, this service will use a "virtual cable operator" to stream content from the Internet. Microsoft is reported to introduce a "Xbox Live Diamond subscriber" which will basically be a subscription service that includes the Xbox Live Gold features and streaming tv service." - LANjackal

"If you administer Windows systems you must know about Microsoft's Sysinternals tools. If you don't, get started. They're a collection of tools which make administration and troubleshooting considerably easier. They're available on all my Windows systems, and I carry a USB key with the latest version." - LANjackal

"With processors like the C-50 around, you’ll be pleased to hear that a low-power future on existing architecture is not only possible, it’s actually surprisingly good." - LANjackal

"classic Windows apps will use "fuzzy hit targeting" to aid finger taps, but they won't be optimized for the touch screen like Windows 8's HTML5/Javascript concoctions. Legacy apps can, however, run side by side with the new Windows 8 apps." - LANjackal

"Comic books made the leap to the online world long ago, but Microsoft and Disney are aiming to take things a step further with the release today of a new “Tron: Legacy” graphic novel built in HTML5, the next generation of the underlying language of the web. The project, available here, is designed in part to showcase the use of HTML5 with hardware acceleration in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 browser." - LANjackal

"Could Windows (and possibly Microsoft) come to be associated with "build." It's a lofty goal, but what else are platforms for anyway? But to build stuff on. Microsoft is making changes to the app model with Windows 8, putting more emphasis on web applications -- how developers will build stuff for the operating system across devices." - LANjackal

"the most interesting aspect of this new UI is the fact that it doesn’t just sit on top of Windows, like Windows Media Center for example. As demonstrated, both the application switching and system menu capability remain when viewing the traditional Windows desktop and there’s no “application” running in the taskbar. It is very much baked into Windows 8." - LANjackal

"Our aim with ‘Windows 8’ is to make the user experience a natural extension of the device, from the time you turn on your PC through how you interact with the applications you know and love,” Angiulo said. “This represents a fundamental shift in Windows design that we haven’t attempted since the days of Windows 95, presenting huge opportunities for our hardware partners to innovate with new PC designs. ”" - LANjackal

"Microsoft offered assurances Thursday that its upcoming Windows 8 operating system won't require users to buy a new PC." - LANjackal

"Firefox 4 is gaining in the global browser wars. It has eclipsed version 3.6 for the first time and now is the third most-used browser in the world, behind Internet Explorer 8 and Google Chrome 11, according to StatCounter Global." - LANjackal

"Recent work on the degradation of HIV proteins in infected cells has provided new insight into the process of HIV epitope presentation." - LANjackal

"Windows 7 has been out for almost two years now, and it doesn't come as a surprise to many that it is now running on one in every three computers in the world, according to stats from StatCounter.com." - LANjackal

"FeedDemon's Google Reader sync, multiple viewing modes, and customizable keyboard shortcuts make it the best RSS reader for any Windows power user." - LANjackal

"The dream of open cloud computing took a couple of small steps forward in the past 24 hours with Apache promoting the Libcloud project to top-level status and with Microsoft releasing a new version of its software development kit for PHP applications on its Windows Azure platform." - LANjackal

"According to Bloomberg, three sources have confirmed Microsoft's plan to flaunt the much-anticipated UI, possibly at upcoming appearances at AllThingsD and Computex. The showcase is supposedly set to run the touchscreen-enabled software on a Tegra-equipped machine." - LANjackal

"As far as app stores go, though, Microsoft still has another ace up its sleeve. Windows 8 will span desktops, laptops, netbooks, and tablets -- and if Microsoft gets it right, you'll have just one app store for every Windows form factor. You'll be able to install a word processor on your desktop, and it will automatically deploy itself to your tablet -- and your documents will be automatically synchronized, too. There's no reason it won't work across the x86/ARM divide, either -- Windows 8 ARM could use the same app store as its x86 cousins, and it's entirely possible that the same store could contain Windows Phone 7 (WP7) apps that will run on Windows 8 tablets. Let's not forget that Microsoft already has extensive experience with digital distribution through Xbox Live, too -- and yes, the Xbox Live Marketplace could also be integrated into the Windows App Store." - LANjackal

"One of the coolest looking things in the new Windows Phone 7 "Mango" release (see all the coverage you can handle at WPCentral) is Microsoft's Bing Vision.  It's essentially a Google Goggles clone (great artists copy/borrow/steal and all that), but the UI is really cool.  Your search categories are visible while the camera is running, looking fancy and nice as a semi-transparent overlay while you're capturing the content you want to scan.  Of course, WP7's Metro UI and its typographic look is in full force here as well." - LANjackal

"After years of research, Microsoft hopes to provide a system that lets data communications weave through TV frequencies." - LANjackal