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Microsoft is giving a sneak peek at its new home page. According to Microsoft, to view the new home page your computer must meet the following requirement:
It is odd that Microsoft is supporting Chrome right away, while the other Webkit-based browser namely Safari is not supported.
By the way, Chrome for Mac OS X can view the home page just fine.
Windows on ARM architectures, who would’ve guessed? Actually the rumor mills had been talking about it. Today Microsoft announces support of System on a Chip Architectures From Intel, AMD, and ARM for next version of Windows.
Next version of Windows? Do you mean Windows 8?
Microsoft have not officially called the next version of Windows as Windows 8 yet.
Is it anything new?
Not really. Windows NT kernel was ported to PPC and DEC-Alpha back in the 90’s. Actually it took Microsoft’s way too long to add suports for ARM architecture.
What’s next?
Steve Ballmer’s CES Keynote at 6:30 PM Pacific Time. CNET is covering it Live.
Live Video feed, or is it?
It is CES week and there will be tons of keynotes coming from different companies preceding the main event. There’s Intel, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, etc. delivering their keynotes. Then there will be tons of Press events. I’m not sure which one to follow.
Let’s hope for something really interesting, not just another rehash of CES 2010.
p.s. CNET will be bringing some live coverages of the keynotes and press events.
p.s.p.s. I want to buy new DSLR camera.
Did Microsoft really sell 1.5 million of Windows Phone 7 devices in 6 weeks?
If you are Microsoft or Paul Thurrott, then you would say yes. If you are not either of them, you might have more questions about the number. If you are Paul Thurrott then you would argue that Microsoft did sell 1.5 million of Windows Phone 7 devices in 6 weeks.
In Windows Weekly 188, Paul Thurrott simply defends Microsoft’s sales number using some salesperson language. To paraphrase:
“Well, a sale is a sale. Microsoft does not sell any Windows Phone 7 phone to end consumer. Microsoft sells Windows Phone 7 licenses to phone manufacturers, It is obvious that Microsoft sells more than 1.5 million of Windows Phone 7 licenses. Phone manufacturers have sold 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 phone to retailers. So don’t you dare dispute Microsoft’s sales numbers! So sayeth Paul Thurrott, Microsoft P.R. Person.”
I might have taken some poetic license in paraphrasing Thurrott. Listen to Windows Weekly 188 and you’ll sense the tensions between Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott talking about the subject. In the end, Leo Laporte took a step back and let Thurrott have his words.
Based on that, I am certain that there are a lot less Windows Phone 7 devices sold to end users than what Microsoft and Paul Thurrott want everyone to believe.
If you’re already using Microsoft Office 2011, then go get Office 2011 14.0.1 Update.
The update is available through Microsoft site or through Microsoft AutoUpdate.
After a few weeks of waiting, the official release of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac arrived on my desk. I decided to refrain from installing Office 2011 until I had the ADATA S559 SandForce SSD in the MacBook Pro. That was Wednesday and Thursday. As of this writing, I have barely used Office 11 on this MacBook Pro. So, I’m not gonna even try writing any sort of reviews. Instead I’ll be writing some facts about it.
There are numerous versions of Microsoft Office 2011:
Note: The screenshot was taken after Office 2011 was already installed on the system. The second time the installer runs, it says “Upgrade” on the install.
Core applications included in Microsoft Office 2011:
Other applications:
Thanks to the SSD on the MacBook Pro, any Office 2011 applications launched almost instantly. So at this time I can’t really comment much about it. In a week time I’ll find out more.
In recent Interview with The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that there are licensing fees for Android.
WSJ: Are you trying to protect Windows or do you see Windows Phone 7 as a big revenue opportunity in and of itself?
Mr. Ballmer: No, I see it as a big opportunity. There’s the sale of the device, there’s potential for search revenue on top of that and commerce revenue. There’s potential for subscription revenue from various entertainment or productivity experiences.
Job One here will be selling a lot of phones, and if we sell a lot of phones, good things are going to happen.
WSJ: You’re still charging a license fee for the software.
Mr. Ballmer: Sure.
WSJ: Is that difficult in an environment where Android is free?
Mr. Ballmer: Android has a patent fee. It’s not like Android’s free. You do have to license patents. HTC’s signed a license with us and you’re going to see license fees clearly for Android as well as for Windows.
Since Google is not charging any licensing fees, then who is?
Well, Microsoft is currently going after Motorola for making Android phones. Motorola currently does not making any phones based on Windows Phone 7 platform.
Microsoft had signed “Patent deal” with HTC over Android. Some pundits “cheered” this move as a way for HTC to fend off Apple on the ongoing lawsuit.
Microsoft is poised to regain the “Evil Company” title with this move if only if the consumer cares about the issue. Unfortunately some influential Tech-Elitists are not saying anything much about Microsoft asserting “ownership” over Android and Linux.