Microsoft Support & Discussions

By Paul Thurrott Should I buy an iPad or a Kindle Fire, you might have wondered. And is the new Kindle Touch worth the cost? Technology expert Paul Thurrott helps settle the mobile device/tablet score. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott The European Commission this morning announced that it was opening an antitrust investigation of Apple and five major book publishers, which it believes colluded together to artificially raise the prices of books when Apple entered the eBook market last year. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft’s next generation version of Windows is causing angst among tech enthusiasts because of its radical, touch-centric user interface and potential looming delays. But Windows 8 faces more immediate problems thanks to a bizarre report from the analysts at IDC. According to these guys, it doesn’t matter when Windows 8 ships because the new OS will be "largely irrelevant to traditional PC users. Source: Win Super Site

Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2 is out. It’s just one of a growing number of Microsoft products and technologies aimed at helping users bridge the cloud-on-premises gap. Source: All About Microsoft

IDC’s top 10 system software predictions for 2012 are out. One of them casts doubt on Microsoft’s potential market for Windows 8 among traditional PC users. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft announced today that the Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone 7 will arrive tomorrow, December 6. The free app allows you to use your Windows Phone 7 handset in tandem with Microsoft’s highly successful video game console. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott This week, Microsoft will begin rolling out a series of updates for its Xbox 360 that will further evolve the console’s TV and entertainment capabilities. The first of these updates, arriving tomorrow, provides a new user interface but doesn’t dramatically change how the console works. The bigger updates come later, starting in late December, as various content creators and other TV and entertainment partners come on board. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott In the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast, Leo, Mary Jo and I discuss Microsoft’s plans for ARM-based Windows 8 versions, rumors of a Windows 8 Beta delay to mid-February, a Windows Store event next week, whether Office will come to the iPad, Xbox 360 sees record sales over Black Friday, SkyDrive gets a quiet but major update, some Windows Phone news, a new Microsoft Security Essentials beta, Yahoo takeover rumors, and Amazon’s millions of Kindles sold. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott In this edition of the mailbag: Why Microsoft charges so much for multi-language functionality in Windows and Office, whether the 2012 Kinect will be for the Xbox 360 as well as the PC, what the licensing difference is between the various Office versions you can buy online, choosing between a Samsung Focus S and HTC Titan, buying AV for the Mac, some parting notes about the Kindle Touch, choosing a Kindle, and yet another pass at a Windows Phone-based Zune device. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott There’s been a lot of debate in the tech world over the past few months about whether the ARM-based versions of Windows 8 should be "pure" tablets, providing only the Metro-style Start screen experience, or full-fledged Windows machines, offering the classic Windows desktop as well. It’s a good question, and one that I ponder regularly. But some have asked whether there isn’t a third option. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott An often irreverent look at this week’s other news, including the looming Carrier IQ controversy, Microsoft’s plans for Windows 8 on ARM, whether Microsoft is too late to the tablet market, dueling Microsoft events next week, Microsoft’s plans for Office on iPad, an MSE 3 beta, the silly rumor of the week, RIM’s desperate play for device management, and Chrome passes Firefox to become the number-two browser. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Amazon Cloud Player, Apple iTunes Match, Google Music all offer interesting options for digital music enthusiasts, and all work well with Windows. Less obviously, perhaps, they can work together in interesting ways, too. I’m particularly intrigued by the notion of managing my music collection in the cloud rather than on a single PC desktop. And with these services, that’s become more possible than ever before. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft is set to share more details about the Windows Store in Windows 8 on December 6. Will there be synergies with the new Xbox dashboard update, also arriving December 6? Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft may have done an about-face and decided against offering the Desktop App and thus non-Metro-style apps, on Windows 8 ARM tablets. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft today is celebrating the first anniversary of Lync 2010, the latest version of its unified communications solution. Lync 2010 is available as an on premise server, of course, but also as part of the wildly successful Office 365 cloud service. Source: Win Super Site

With HTML5 comes many APIs that push the envelope on user experiences involving media and real-time communications. These features often rely on binary file formats, like MP3 audio, PNG images, or MP4 video. The use of binary file formats is important to these features to reduce bandwidth requirements, deliver expected performance, and interoperate with existing file formats. But until recently, Web developers haven

Windows Phone news of the week includes a possible Lenovo WP next year a new WP emulator for the iPhone/Android set and a Dell Venue Pro Mango update. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott Like the soap opera that it has become, beleaguered online giant Yahoo! has descended into drama this week as it sizes up the various offers for the company and its diverse assets. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott There’s no reason to even describe this. Just watch the video. It’s awesome. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft nemesis David Boies is back, this time representing Barnes & Noble in its fight against Microsoft over Android patents. Source: All About Microsoft