Microsoft Support & Discussions

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows Microsoft's cloud storage solution, SkyDrive, is about to get a lot more interesting and a lot more useful. And the update that's going to make that happen should be rolled out by the time you read this or shortly thereafter. ... Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft still isn’t “running” Skype yet the long and winding antitrust approval process is still not yet done. But Skype is making a number of moves that are paving the way for the tie-up with its new Redmondian masters. Source: All About Microsoft

I’ve been interviewing devs taking apart Microsoft Windows 8 Milestone 3 (M3) internal builds in the hopes of piecing what developers should expect when porting and writing apps for Windows 8. Here’s what three of them had to say. Source: All About Microsoft

Looks like the rumors were right. There seems to be a Hyper-V 3.0 coming in Windows 8 client, based on information from the latest Windows 8 leaked build. Source: All About Microsoft

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows In a post to Microsoft's Threat Research and Response Blog, the software giant is claiming success against Autorun-based malware. Here's the breakdown ... Source: Win Super Site

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows In the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast, Leo and I discuss the history of Windows, developer controversy over the presumed lack of native development tools in Windows 8, a Microsoft exec slips that Windows 8 will ship in Fall 2012, Xbox LIVE will provide the media services in Windows 8, the first anniversary of Office 2010, Nokia and Apple settle their patent infringement claims, Chrome OS and Chromebooks, Duke Nukem Forever, and PIM interoperability. ... Source: Win Super Site

Windows IT Pro Less than two months after Microsoft announced its intention to purchase online communications giant Skype for $8.5 billion, the US Federal Trade Commission has approved the deal. The Skype purchase will likely become Microsoft's biggest-ever acquisition, assuming it clears similar antitrust hurdles elsewhere. ... Source: Win Super Site

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Friday that it had cleared Microsoft to buy Skype. Reuters said that the FTC made note of the approval in a Web site posting on June 17. I asked Microsoft officials whether they’re still awaiting additional antitrust approval before moving forward with the acquisition. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company had no comment. But I’d expect Microsoft would still need approval in other geographic jurisdictions before the deal gets final approval. Microsoft announced intentions to buy VOIP/video provider Skype on May 10 for $8.5 billion in cash. Officials said they were counting on the deal to secure regulatory approval …

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows The Microsoft Security Research and Defense team this week issued a serious warning about WebGL, a web browser technology that is supported by both Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. And they

Microsoft made available for download on June 17 a first public beta of its System Center Orchestrator datacenter management product. Orchestrator is the new Microsoft branding for the Opalis products/technologies that Microsoft acquired in December 2009 when it bought Opalis. Opalis was a privately held workflow automation vendor that automates IT processes within datacenters. System Center Orchestrator is one of at least nine new System Center 2012 management products that Microsoft is delivering this calendar year. Microsoft execs told TechEd 2011 attendees to expect a beta of System Center Orchestrator in the first half of 2011, with the final version due o…

By the end of March 2011, Windows 7 was powering 20.9 percent of corporate desktops, according to a new Forrester Research report, while Windows XP was on 60 percent of business PCs. Source: All About Microsoft

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows According to BetaArchive, Windows 8 is nearing the M3 milestone, the final stop on the way to beta. And they

Windows IT Pro An often irreverent look at some of this week's other news, including Ballmer's best-case exit strategy, Nokia's first Windows Phones coming to Europe first, a new attack on PC users is decidedly low-tech, IBM turns 100, Kinect makes its first appearance on PCs, Acer and RIM cut forecasts, Redbox adds video game rentals, and Apple's iTunes Match may mean the end of music piracy (for now). ... Source: Win Super Site

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows Microsoft today made its first Kinect SDK for Windows available to developers. It's targeted at non-commercial uses only, though of course this will change in the future. The SDK requires Windows 7 and Visual Studio 2010,and supports C#, C++, and Visual Basic. ... Source: Win Super Site

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows Microsoft today made its first Kinect SDK for Windows available to developers. It's targeted at non-commercial uses only, though of course this will change in the future. The SDK requires Windows 7 and Visual Studio 2010,and supports C#, C++, and Visual Basic. ... Source: Win Super Site

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows ChromeOS is Google's web browser-based operating system and it's available now via new Chromebooks. Does it offer a viable alternative to netbooks, PCs, and iPads? Or is ChromeOS just Google trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? ... Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business (MCB) is no more. The group itself still exists, but is known officially, as of this week, as the “Windows Phone Division.” Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft is making available to testers for download on June 16 a beta build of a software development kit (SDK) that enables the company’s Kinect sensor to work with Windows 7 PCs. Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft has begun delivering some of the additional HTML5 tooling for Visual Studio programmers that company officials said would be coming some time this year. Source: All About Microsoft

Windows IT Pro While video game pundits will endlessly debate which of the three major video game hardware makers--Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony--"won" the recent E3 press conferences battle, there can be no doubt which product came out ahead in the most recent month: By winning the month of May, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has now outsold the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation for the 11th month in a row. That's a pretty impressive achievement given the age of the console, which is a year older than its competitors. ... Source: Win Super Site

Windows IT Pro Microsoft this week celebrated the first year of its Office 2010 family of products in the market, noting that the office productivity suite has sold over 30 million units, a record pace that amounts to one copy of Office sold every second. And after just one year in the market, Microsoft's free web-based Office Web Apps solution has blown past the Google Docs competition: OWA now has about 50 million active users, Microsoft says. ... Source: Win Super Site

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows In this long awaited sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, our brash and outspoken hero is a shadow of his former self. Skip this game and pick up its predecessor on Xbox LIVE Arcade instead: Duke Nukem Forever is a stink bomb of almost epic proportions. ... Source: Win Super Site

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows Microsoft is celebrating the one-year anniversary of Office 2010, or what it calls a