Microsoft Support & Discussions

Microsoft didn’t make its own deadline of releasing to the Web version 5 of Silverlight. And there’s still no word as to when and if the Softies will talk about the platform’s future. Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft sold close to 1 million Xbox 360s and 750,000 Kinect sensors during Black Friday week. Who is buying up all these consoles? Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott This week on What The Tech: Paul discusses his experience using iTunes Match, Amazon Cloud Drive, and Google Music, and some of the differences between them. How does the experience compare between? Is one service better than the others? Andrew and Paul talk about the new TV content coming to the Xbox from Comcast and Verizon. What does this mean for owners of an Xbox? Andrew goes into video content on the internet. Has video on the internet doomed TV? Paul rants about the fragmentation of Android. What phone would Andrew recommend to get today? Andrew and Paul also talk about what kinds of podcasts they listen to the most. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Windows users have long customized their software environment to their liking, pinning frequently-needed items to the desktop, Start Menu, and taskbar for easy access. In Windows 8, this is changing dramatically thanks to the new Start screen. But have no fear, it’s as customizable as were previous interfaces, and it’s going to get even better before the final release. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott A Lenovo product manager in China has confirmed that the PC giant will launch a Windows Phone handset by the end of 2012. What’s unclear is whether this device will only be for the Chinese market, or whether it will be available worldwide. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft announced that its aging Xbox 360 video game console has just experienced its best-ever week of sales, with 960,000 consoles sold in the United States over the week of "Black Friday" and a tremendous 800,000 sold in one 24-hour span alone. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft has released a new test build of Internet Explorer 10 that works on Windows 8 only. It adds support for even more HTML5 technologies. Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft has released a beta of a new version of its free Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) anti-virus/anti-malware client. Source: All About Microsoft

The Daily is quoting unnamed sources saying Microsoft has decided to go forward with Office for the iPad. But when and how (and for how much) will such a product debut? Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft quietly revealed that its Windows Live SkyDrive service has been updated with "simpler app-centric sharing for Office, powerful file management and easier uploads with HTML5." A quick look at the Inside Windows Live blog provides a lot more detail. In fact, this is a fairly major upgrade. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Attention, iPhone and Android users: Windows Phone is better than what you’re using. But now you don’t have to take my word for it, you can find out for yourself by trying a decent web-based Windows Phone simulator on your own phone. You’re going to have a hard time going back. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott The emerging trend is to make PCs less like PCs and more like devices, with less focus on specs and more focus on utility. Source: Win Super Site

An updated platform preview of IE10 for the Windows Developer Preview is now available for download. This IE10 preview adds even more support for HTML5 technologies, enabling richer Web applications with significantly improved performance. IE10

Users’ interest in Windows tablets is waning and Microsoft has missed the peak of consumer desire for a Windows 8-based iPad competitor, a new study claims. Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft is updating its SkyDrive cloud storage service with a number of new features and enhancements. Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft officials still won’t share numbers of Office 365 subscriptions sold but are claiming Redmond’s cloud-hosted app bundle is going gangbusters. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott Amazon.com announced that it has already sold "millions" of the recently released Kindle Fire tablet computing devices and Kindle eBook readers. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Looking at Windows 8 today, it’s easy to see the major changes that Microsoft is bringing to this release, including the touch-friendly new Start screen with its Metro-style apps. But as is so often the case with new versions of Windows, sometimes it’s the little things that really confuse you the most. Source: Win Super Site