Microsoft Support & Discussions

By Paul Thurrott Apple quietly released iTunes Match, an optional paid subscription service that’s part of the iCloud cloud computing services. iTunes Match allows subscribers to access music they haven’t purchased from iTunes via the cloud. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott It’s funny to me that the latest post on Microsoft’s Building Windows 8 blog is about unwanted Windows 8 reboots, since that was the issue I had this week and documented in two "8 Is Enough" articles. Well, maybe funny isn’t the right word. And to be fair, Microsoft is writing about something completely different. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Windows Phone may have settled into a comfortable niche with developers, who recently rated the platform third behind iOS and Android, but ahead of Blackberry. But the market researchers at Gartner say Windows Phone still has a ways to go with the audience that matters most: Customers. And in the third quarter of 2011, sales of the platform weren’t just flat, they were down from the same quarter one year previous. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft has begun sharing early ship targets for the next, Windows 8-centric versions of some of its many embedded operating systems. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott An Appcelerator and IDC study finds that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 mobile OS has moved "decisively" ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry OS to become the clear number three mobile OS behind iOS and Android. According to the study, Windows Phone has gotten a big bump from Nokia, especially in Europe, while interest in Blackberry has "collapsed." Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft today revealed its roadmap for Windows Embedded, which includes the Windows Embedded Standard v.Next and Windows Embedded Compact v.Next platforms. Together, these products target what Microsoft calls the "intelligent systems" market and are "tightly aligned," architecturally, with Windows 8 for PCs. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott While the Samsung Focus Flash isn’t for everyone, it’s an excellent new addition to the Windows Phone 7.5 lineup with a gorgeous and small form factor, decent specs, and an unbelievable low price. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott In the latest part of this ongoing dialog about my daily use of Windows 8, I take a look at changing the default web browser and how the addition of two versions of Internet Explorer in this OS may change things going forward. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Samsung’s flagship Windows Phone handset is a compelling alternative to the big Android phones, with a large 4.3-inch screen crammed into a surprisingly thin and light form factor. What puts this phone over the top, however, is the Windows Phone 7.5 OS and a handful of premium features, including a front-facing camera and Internet tethering support. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott In the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast, Leo, Mary Jo and I discuss the US retail launch of Windows Phone 7.5, whether Windows 8 will be the basis for Windows Phone 8, a weird new form of Windows Phone criticism, the future of Silverlight and Flash, IE 10 will include spell checking, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 arrives. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott While we wait patiently for word that Skype for Windows Phone is finally ready, it’s natural that we would also get distracted by mobile apps that are similar to, but not the same as, Skype. One such app, Tango, was released on Windows Phone this week. And aside from bearing an uncomfortably identical name to the next Windows Phone OS update, this app also raises some uncomfortable questions. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft news round-up for this week includes a possible new Nokia Windows Phone, tidbits on the Xbox dashboard fall preview, new comScore search data and more. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott Readers respond to my hardware issues, providing a solution and a great number of troubleshooting tips. The interesting bit is that Windows 8 had nothing to do with my issues, and we can now return to our regularly scheduled programming. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott According to some ex-employees, Apple was actually plotting a switch to Intel chips before Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1996. And, get this, this desire to switch to Intel was one of the reasons Apple chose NeXT over the competition. Too bad that’s not actually true: Every OS Apple considered in 1996 was Intel-compatible. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott OK, they didn’t actually say it that way, but sometimes I feel like my job is to cut through the PR niceties and just tell it like it is. And Google TV is indeed a train wreck. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott A recurring spontaneous reboot is making life interesting with my daily use PC running the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Here’s how I troubleshooted this issue, and why it may be time for me to give up and move to a more modern PC. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft has been mum about its Commerce Server product plans for the past several months. Maybe it’s because Microsoft is about to hand off the platform to one of its reseller partners. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft, America Online (AOL), and Yahoo announced a partnership this week in which the three firms will sell online display ads on each other’s’ networks while maintaining separate sales teams and competing against each other in other areas. The partnership is non-exclusive and thus thought to be outside the scope of regulatory action. But one thing is clear: In an online ad market dominated by two other companies, this partnership has some obvious targets: Google and Facebook. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Adobe this week announced a major capitulation in its strategy for promoting Flash, saying that it will now focus on aggressively contributing to HTML 5 instead. The Apple-obsessed press has routinely described this move as a "vindication" for former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who infamously railed against Flash performance and stability and refused to allow the technology on his company’s iOS-based products. But really, this is just an overdue, pragmatic move for Adobe, given how the market is changing. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Nokia this week released an interesting 8 minute video that describes the design considerations that went into its Windows Phone-based Lumia 800. Ignoring for a moment that the Lumia 800 is just a repackaged Nokia N9 with fewer hardware components, the video is interesting for a number of reasons and gives credence to Nokia’s desire to establish itself as the apex of mobile device design. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott So it looks like "coming soon" is indeed soon: AT&T revealed today, via its Facebook page of all places, that the HTC Titan, which sports a mammoth 4.7-inch screen but an incredibly thin form factor, will debut on November 20, just 11 days from now. Source: Win Super Site

Are the new social, video and music services coming to Xbox.com what have been known to date as the mysterious Microsoft codename “Ventura”? Source: All About Microsoft