Windows 8

Microsoft’s assault on Chromebooks and cheap Android tablets is getting a significant boost from HP. HP is launching a 7-inch HP Stream 7 tablet for just $99, and an 8-inch version for $149 in November. Both are powered by Intel chipsets, but the company isn’t revealing any additional specifications for this pair of super low-cost Continue Reading →

Own a Roku 3 or Roku Streaming Stick? You’ll soon be able to mirror the screen from your Android, Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices. The feature is rolling out in beta on Thursday for select Android and Windows 8.1 hardware; the company expects it to be available to all customers, with support for Continue Reading →

Microsoft announced that it would be working with its partners to release ultra-low-cost Windows laptops just over a month ago, and now thanks to a leak from MobileGeeks, it looks like HP will release one of the first of these ultra-low-cost computers. The HP Stream 14 is a 14-inch, Windows 8.1 computer that is expected Continue Reading →

Microsoft is busy preparing a second update to Windows 8.1, but the company is largely focused on a larger “Windows 9” release due next year. ZDNet reports that a preview of codename Threshold — which may or may not be named Windows 9 once it’s released — will be available later this year. The public Continue Reading →

With the latest versions of its desktop and mobile operating systems, Microsoft synchronizes passwords for websites people visit with the Internet Explorer browser. The sync service means that a password entered on IE11 on Windows 8.1 will be migrated to IE11 running on Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft said in a blog post on Monday. IE11 Continue Reading →

Last month Forbes suggested that Microsoft’s smart watch would work with Android and iOS handsets. The supported device list may not stop there, though. Gear Live claims to have briefly used the device and suggests the “Surface Watch” will also connect to Windows computers, Macs and even the Xbox One. Most smartwatches available today act Continue Reading →

Count me among the many excited by Apple’s WWDC keynote on Monday. A bunch of the new iOS features seemed great, I love getting free OS X updates for my MacBook and the developers’ reactions to the dev stuff Apple showed off left me looking forward to apps that’ll launch in the near future. Even Continue Reading →

Microsoft won’t be delivering a new Start Menu for Windows 8 with its coming Windows 8.1 Update 2, after all. That recent change in plans comes courtesy of a couple of my sources who’ve had good track records on Windows information. Up until recently, Microsoft was hoping to make a new “Mini” Start Menu part Continue Reading →

Taiwanese PC maker Asus has added laptop to the forms that its latest Transformer phone-tablet hybrid can adopt—potentially taunting Microsoft and Google once again with the device’s ability to run both Windows and Android. The Transformer Book V combines a 5-inch smartphone running Android 4.4 with a 12.5-inch Windows 8.1 tablet. The smartphone slides into Continue Reading →

If you’ve ever searched a computer’s apps or settings, you know how frustrating it can be to guess the keywords you’ll need to get a result — why can’t you just say what you want and let the PC figure it out? Microsoft must have asked itself that same question, as it’s rolling out an Continue Reading →