Search Results for: microsoft

Tech and sports titans pay tribute to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen who has passed at 65

Editor

Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corp. with fellow billionaire Bill Gates and used the fortune he made from the iconic technology company to invest in professional sports teams, cable TV and real estate, has died. He was 65. Allen, along with Gates, helped create an entire industry selling software for a new breed of smaller, more affordable and widely accessible computers. Allen died on Monday in Seattle from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a statement from Vulcan Inc., his investment firm. Allen’s source for his varied investments and sizable…

Microsoft reportedly working on $400 Surface tablets to compete with the iPad

Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft is working on a new line of budget Surface tablets to better compete with Apple’s low-cost iPad options, according to a report from Bloomberg. According to the report, the new Surface tablets won’t just be smaller, cheaper Surface Pros. Rather, Microsoft is said to be completely redesigning the devices, with 10-inch screens instead of the 12-inch size currently found on the Surface Pro, rounded corners that more resemble an iPad than the more rectangular Surface design, and USB-C for charging. Most importantly, priced at $400, they will be more…

Microsoft issues emergency Windows update in a move to disable Intel’s buggy Spectre fixes

Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft has issued another out-of-band security update this month, to deal with the issues around Intel’s Spectre firmware updates. Intel warned last week that its own security updates have been buggy, causing some systems to spontaneously reboot. Intel then buried a warning in its latest financial results that its buggy firmware updates could lead to “data loss or corruption.” Intel has been advising PC makers and customers to simply stop updating their firmware right now, until properly tested updates are available. Microsoft has gone a step further, and is issuing…

Microsoft boss: World needs more computing power

Dianne Jacobs

The world is rapidly “running out of computing capacity”, the head of tech giant Microsoft has warned. Satya Nadella said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that superfast quantum computers were needed to solve some of the most difficult problems. Mr Nadella cited the quest to create a catalyst that can absorb carbon, in order to help tackle climate change. This, he cautioned, would likely not be achieved without an increase in computer processing power. “Moore’s Law is kinda running out of steam,” Mr Nadella told assembled delegates, referring…

Microsoft makes Azure Bot Service generally available for developers

Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft introduced the Azure Bot Framework more than two years ago and companies have been building chatbots for a variety of scenarios ever since. Today, the company made generally available the Microsoft Azure Bot Service and Microsoft Cognitive Language Understanding service (known as LUIS). “Making these two services generally available on Azure simultaneously extends the capabilities of developers to build custom models that can naturally interpret the intentions of people conversing with bots,” Lili Cheng, corporate vice president at the Microsoft AI and Research division wrote in a company blog post…

Microsoft 365 now available for small and medium businesses

Dianne Jacobs
Microsoft 365

Businesses can now  subscribe to a bundle with Office 365, Windows 10 and the company’s mobile device management tools through Microsoft 365. The early focus for this program was enterprises, but a few months ago, Microsoft also launched a preview version of Microsoft 365 for small and medium businesses. Today, Microsoft 365 Business is coming out of beta and is now generally available to customers. Also coming out of beta are the company’s tools for managing email marketing campaigns (Microsoft Connections), creating invoices (Microsoft Invoicing) and keeping tabs on a…

Microsoft displeased with Google over approach to security patches

Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft’s Windows security team have been unhappy with Google for the past year. While the pair are bitter rivals for a number of different reasons, Google disclosed a major Windows bug before Microsoft was ready to patch it last year. This  irritated the company so much that Windows chief Terry Myerson authored a blog post criticizing Google for not disclosing security vulnerabilities responsibly. That resentment still remains today. Microsoft discovered a remote Chrome vulnerability last month and is now demonstrating what it feels is responsible disclosure. In a new blog…

Microsoft redesigning outlook for Mac and Window apps

Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft is redesigning its Outlook for Mac and Windows apps to simplify the user interface on both.The tech giant revealed teasers for the new design during an Ignite conference session last month. Most of the changes look very similar to the Outlook for iOS app, with a single-line ribbon and a smaller set of default commands. A new customizable ribbon will let Outlook for Mac and Windows users control which buttons are available, so you can tailor the email interface to your own common tasks. The left navigation panel will…

Microsoft will no longer force updates on Users

Windows 10 will no longer automatically take control of your computer, and flip the reset switch, at the worst moments imaginable. Mind you, Microsoft will still push updates, and it won’t necessarily be easy to completely turn them off. Shortly after Windows 10 rolled out, Windows users began noticing that their computers were automatically downloading the huge Windows 10 update file without even asking. The issue was compounded by vague and confusing update alerts that led many users to initiate the upgrade to Windows 10 without realizing it. Microsoft has…

Microsoft just officially listed AI as one of its top priorities

Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft just named artificial intelligence as one of its top priorities in a financial filing. The annual report for the company’s 2017 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, now includes six references to AI, up from zero in the previous annual report. And the company has plunked AI into its corporate vision statement, too. “Our strategic vision is to compete and grow by building best-in-class platforms and productivity services for an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge infused with AI,” the company wrote in the annual report, which was…