Microsoft

603 'Microsoft' stories October 2008 - October 2012

Developer gets Fusion Drive functionality running on older Mac

Jordan Kahn Oct 31 2012 - 9:28 am PT

There is still a lot we do not know about Apple’s new hybrid SSD/HDD Fusion Drive option available for the new iMacs and Mac minis. Today we get a little bit of insight into how Fusion Drive will function thanks to a few blog posts by developer Patrick Stein detailing how he was able to build his own Fusion Drive solution on his Mac Pro running 10.8.2 (via MacRumors). Stein was able to get OS X to recognize an attached 120GB SSD and 750GB HDD as a single drive using diskutil and, surprisingly, exhibit Fusion Drive-like functionality with little configuration. MacRumors explained:

Stein then proceeded to test the setup, writing data first to the SSD and then to the traditional hard drive once the SSD had filled up. By preferentially accessing data that had initially been written to the traditional hard drive, Stein was able to watch as the data was automatically transferred to the SSD for faster access. Upon stopping the process, the system automatically pushed the data back to the traditional hard drive, and in one final step Stein began accessing the data once more and after about an hour was able to see it pulled back onto the SSD.

Head over to Stein’s Tumblr for all the details. ArsTechnica also has an excellent breakdown of Fusion Drive:

Based on these findings, Fusion Drive is indeed a base operating system feature, either contained within Core Storage or built into OS X 10.8.x (Jollyjinx notes at the bottom that he’s using 10.8.2). It appears that Fusion Drive detects the SSD-ishness of a drive based on SMART info read across the SATA bus, though it’s possible that Apple might be using Microsoft’s SSD detection method and simply testing attached drives’ throughput. If a Core Storage volume contains an HDD and an SSD, Fusion Drive appears to be automatically activated.

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Microsoft Surface: ‘a car that flies and floats?’

Jordan Kahn Oct 25 2012 - 2:35 pm PT

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At Apple’s Q4 earnings call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked his thoughts on Microsoft’s new Surface tablet PC. Cook called it “a fairly compromised, confusing product,” and he compared it to a car that flies and floats:

“I haven’t personally played with a Surface yet… what we’re reading about it is… it’s a fairly compromised, confusing product… the toughest thing you do with a product is make hard trade offs.. we’ve really done that with the iPad.. the user experience is absolutely incredible… i suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but i don’t think it would do all of those things well.. i think when people look at the iPad over competitive offerings they are going to really want an iPad

Cook also noted that iPhone 5 is still seeing delays but supplies are getting better:
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Parallels warns Mac users to not upgrade to Windows 8

Jordan Kahn Oct 25 2012 - 9:38 am PT

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Parallels for Mac virtualization software has been getting major updates this year with the recent release of version 8, making it even easier to run Mac and Windows apps side by side. In version 7, it made it a lot easier to upgrade and buy copies of Windows directly from within the app, and we even had a Windows 8 developer preview up and running. Unfortunately, with today’s launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8, Parallel’s is warning Mac users that the app is not ready to update to the new OS.

In a support document on the company’s website, it issued a “critical and urgent Windows 8 service advisory” telling customers it should wait before upgrading from an existing installation of Windows to Windows 8:
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Here’s what early reviews of Microsoft’s new Surface tablet are saying

Jake Smith Oct 23 2012 - 9:17 pm PT

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Early reviews for Microsoft’s new Surface tablet have been released this evening, giving us a look at the company’s supposed “saving grace.” According to the pundits who got their hands on it early, things aren’t looking too good for Microsoft. Many are complaining about a lack of apps, awkwardness of the Windows 8 RT operating system, and a buggy platform. It sounds like the iPad will remain unchallenged by Microsoft…for now.

Wired:

The Verge:

It does the job of a tablet and the job of a laptop half as well as other devices on the market, and it often makes that job harder, not easier. Instead of being a no-compromise device, it often feels like a more-compromise one.

There may be a time in the future when all the bugs have been fixed, the third-party app support has arrived, and some very smart engineers in Redmond have ironed out the physical kinks in this type of product which prevent it from being all that it can be. But that time isn’t right now — and unfortunately for Microsoft, the clock is ticking.

ABCNews

The Surface is full of potential, but until its software performance and apps are as strong as its hardware, I, unfortunately, will still drag both a laptop and an iPad through security.

TIME:

My 48-year-old eyeballs have no trouble telling the difference between iPad Retina text and the Surface’s ClearType — but overall, the Surface’s screen is one of the best I’ve seen on a tablet.

The screen, incidentally, is 16:9, an aspect ratio designed with Windows 8′s panoramic interface in mind. It lets you see more apps without panning, and is well suited to the feature that allows you to snap a widget-like version of one app on the side of the primary program you’re using. Microsoft thinks Surface buyers will use the tablet mostly in landscape mode; it works in portrait orientation too, although the aspect ratio leaves it looking like a small-but-tall magazine.

Gizmodo:

In the end though, this is nothing more than Microsoft’s tablet. And a buggy, at times broken one, at that, whose “ecosystem” feels more like a tundra. There’s no Twitter or Facebook app, and the most popular 3rd party client breaks often. The Kindle app is completely unusable. There’s no image editing software. A People app is supposed to give you all the social media access you’d ever need, but It’s impossible to write on someone’s Facebook wall through the People app, Surface’s social hub; the only workaround is to load Internet Explorer. Blech. Something as simple as loading a video requires a jumbled process of USB importing, dipping in and out of the stripped-down desktop mode, opening a Video app, importing, going back into the Video app, and then playing. What.

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Microsoft’s Surface OS is large, just like the pixels on display

Élyse Betters Oct 17 2012 - 12:51 pm PT

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The 32 GB Surface tablet costs the same as the 16GB iPad, but it also comes with twice the storage capacity—or at least that’s what everyone thought until Microsoft’s AMA on Reddit yesterday.

Daring Fireball just linked to one of the Surface Team’s responses that regarded how much free space the tablet actually has available:

So, the entry-level Surface delivers 20 GB of free space with Office and a few apps, eh?

In case you did not know, the iPad’s OS consumes around 1 GB of space. But that’s not all: Microsoft’s Steven Bathiche handled more questions as to whether the Surface’s display stands up to the new iPad’s Retina display.

After giving a long-winded description of Microsoft’s ClearType display technology, Bathiche concluded, “[sic] Doing a side by side with the new iPad in a consistently lit room, we have had many people see more detail on Surface RT than on the Ipad with more resolution.”

Again, in case you did not know, the current iPad offers a 2,048-by-1,536-pixel resolution. Surface for Windows RT has a 1,366-by-768-pixel resolution.

The full AMA thread: IAm Panos Panay, GM of Microsoft Surface, AMAA – Ask Me or My Team Almost Anything

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Microsoft’s entertaining Surface Stomp commercial still doesn’t show how it works [Video]

9to5 Staff Oct 15 2012 - 7:12 pm PT

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Great commercial—except they did not really show how or if it even works. It reminds me more of an iPod shuffle commercial than a hybrid tablet/laptop introduction.

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Microsoft launching ‘unlimited’ Xbox Music tomorrow with an iOS app coming later

Jake Smith Oct 14 2012 - 9:32 pm PT

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Microsoft announced this evening its new music service, called “Xbox Music”, that aims to compete with iTunes, Spotify and RDIO. The service is set to launch tomorrow for the Xbox 360 and Oct. 26 for Windows 8 (coming pre-installed) and Windows Phone 8 devices. The service will also launch as an iOS app shortly after, GigaOm noted:

But the biggest story to me is that Xbox Music will embrace Android and iOS. Jerry Johnson, general manager of Xbox Music, wasn’t able to tell me exactly when the apps for those two platforms are going to come out, but the sense that I took away from the briefing was that his team is working on making it happen sooner rather than later. Xbox Music on Android and iOS will look very much like Xbox Music on Windows Phone 8, which itself in many ways follows the style formerly known as Metro.

Microsoft’s service will be for limited hours of free streaming after six months, so Spotify might not need to worry just yet.

There is no word on what pricing iOS users will see, but Microsoft said it will offer a free ad-support version for Windows 8 device owners and a $10 ad-free plan for those wanting an ad-free experience.

More details are at TechCrunch.

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Report: Apple to hold iPad mini media event on Oct. 23

Jordan Kahn Oct 12 2012 - 5:22 am PT

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While the press has not received any invites to an Apple media event, AllThingsD writer John Paczkowski is claiming today that the invite-only iPad mini event is still scheduled for this month. According to the report, the event will likely be held in Apple’s Town Hall auditorium later this month on Oct. 23:

Apple will hold a special event this month at which it will showcase a new, smaller iPad. People familiar with Apple’s plans tell us that the company will unveil the so-called “iPad mini” on October 23 at an invitation-only event… Sources declined to specify where the event is to be held, and I’ve not been able to confirm a location.

That would put the launch just two days before Apple is set to announce its earnings for Q4, and it is only three days before Microsoft is expected to launch its new Surface tablet. It would also be a Tuesday, rather than a Wednesday, but Paczkowski seems quite confident of the date.

Well, details are slim. Sources say the iPad’s diminutive sibling will feature a 7.85-inch liquid-crystal display and a Lightning connector. It will also probably be thinner. And that’s about it… But we’ll know more soon. On October 23.

As expected, both The Loop and iMore later agreed with the date.

Report: Office 2013 for iOS to release ‘sometime after’ March 2013 (Update)

Élyse Betters Oct 10 2012 - 7:36 am PT

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A Microsoft executive just revealed native iOS and Android versions of Office 2013 would launch next year.

Microsoft Product Manager Peter Bobek spoke at a media event in the Czech Republic this morning and subsequently confirmed with local website IHNED that a consumer version of the native apps will release around March 2013.

The Verge later read a press release from Microsoft’s Czech Republic office, although it did not provide a copy for publishing, and verified the news. The release allegedly further noted a business variation would go public in December 2013, as well.

Microsoft’s widely-speculated plans to launch an iPad app for its Office suite have been rumored for quite some time, especially after The Daily published a supposed image of the app running on an iPad earlier this year. Microsoft denied it was a real image at the time, without actually denying reports that the company planned to release a native app, but The Daily stood its ground and specifically claimed a Microsoft employee demoed the iOS iteration.

Office for iPad will presumably allow iOS users to read and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on Apple’s mobile devices.

Get the full report at The Verge.

UPDATE 1: IHNED contacted 9to5Mac to provide a correction of its original report: “The timeline for Office for iOS and Android is not [a] March release, but release sometime after March.”

UPDATE 2: According to Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications Frank X. Shaw:

[tweet https://twitter.com/fxshaw/status/256089501049450496]

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Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung and others meet with UN’s ITU for patent peace talks

Jordan Kahn Oct 10 2012 - 6:45 am PT

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Update: While the meeting apparently didn’t result in any resolution, ZDnet reports the ITU’s Malcolm Johnson said the ‘heated debate’ “has gone a long way to help clarify the positions” of the companies involved:

“Today’s event has gone a long way to help clarify the positions of various stakeholders in determining the effectiveness of FRAND commitments and the impact of litigations surround standards-essential patents,”

ZDnet also reported Motorola argued “Apple was misunderstanding the way FRAND works in the telecoms industry”:

“For 20 years the [FRAND] licensing commitments made by innovators in the communications industry have been sufficient,” Warren said. “Past experience would indicate that [FRAND] has been effective… but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement to improve the present situation.”

The world’s biggest tech companies are meeting today for a Patent Roundtable with the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union to “assess the effectiveness of RAND (reasonable and non-discriminatory) – based patent policies.” The meeting will take place at the ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland; and according to several reports, it will include Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Google, Microsoft, and many of the industry’s other biggest players. The discussions follow high-profile, patent-related cases and failed settlement talks between Samsung and Apple, while the European Union continues to probe Motorola, Samsung, and others over potential abuse of the patent system. It also comes as Google’s legal chief David Drummond issued statements to the press calling for a reform on software patents.

A report from BBC noted others attending the roundtable include: Qualcomm, Cisco, Research in Motion, Intel, Philips, Huawei, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard. BBC also provided statements from the companies that submitted pre-event arguments (below).

According to the ITU, the meeting will have the following objective:
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Apple jumps to No. 2 on Interbrand’s 2012 Best Global Brands Report

Jordan Kahn Oct 2 2012 - 2:48 pm PT

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While still behind Coca-Cola, which retained its No. 1 spot from last year’s report, Apple is one of Interbrand’s top risers as the No. 2 brand in its 2012 Best Global Brands Report. Apple sits just above IBM, Google, and Microsoft with a brand value of $76, 568 million—up 129 percent from last year’s study. You can see a full list of brands that made this year’s top 100 list here and a chart of Apple’s growth below:

Intel’s answer to iPad’s ARM processors sees delays due to power management software

Élyse Betters Oct 1 2012 - 11:12 am PT

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A new report by Bloomberg, citing unnamed inside sources, revealed Intel’s software for a new processor, codenamed “Clover Trail,” which would give the iPad’s ARM processors a run for their money while preserving battery life in Windows 8-based tablets, is reportedly running into delays.

According to Bloomberg:

Intel Corp. (INTC)’s delayed delivery of software that conserves computer battery life is holding up development of some tablets running the latest version of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s Windows operating system, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Microsoft hasn’t yet approved any tablets featuring an Intel processor code-named Clover Trail because the chipmaker hasn’t produced necessary power-management software, said the person, who asked not to be named since the process is private.

The delay, following remarks by Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini, who told employees in Taiwan that Windows 8 needs improvement, underscores how the Wintel alliance that has dominated the personal computer industry for three decades is struggling to respond to the threat of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPad. At stake is the chance to make up for lackluster PC buying by capturing users who are flocking to mobile devices, snappy applications and elegant design.

Software development delays obviously limit manufacturers, as they have less time to prep their tablets for the Holiday season; and thus, they have less of a chance to curb Apple’s 70 percent tablet market share.

“It’s bad news for Microsoft and Intel because it’s not going to present the best light on either one and it will hurt the perception of Windows 8,” said Directions analyst Wes Miller to Bloomberg.

Miller further noted Window’s Clover Trail-based tablets will directly compete with Apple’s ARM-based iPads.

Get the full report at Bloomberg.

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Intel CEO Paul Otellini: Microsoft Windows 8 OS is being released before it’s fully ready [Update: Intel denies]

Seth Weintraub Sep 25 2012 - 2:26 pm PT

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This cannot be good.

Intel Corp. (INTC) Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini told employees in Taiwan that Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 operating system is being released before it’s fully ready, a person who attended the company event said. Improvements still need to be made to the software, Otellini told employees at a company meeting in Taipei today,

If anyone should know, it is Otellini. He is also on Google’s Board of Directors, and he might be feeling some of the sting from the ARM-based Windows RT. Still: Ouch.

Many believe Microsoft’s Windows 8 strategy is reactionary and being dictated by the success of the iPad.

Update: Intel denied in a press release this afternoon the statements:

Intel has a long and successful heritage working with Microsoft on the release of Windows platforms, delivering devices that provide exciting experiences, stunning performance, and superior compatibility. Intel fully expects this to continue with Windows 8.

Full PR below:

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Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 updated with support for Retina MacBook Pros

Jordan Kahn Sep 19 2012 - 11:53 am PT

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Following a ton of complaints from new Retina MacBook Pro users about the Microsoft Office 2011 experience in August, Microsoft finally updated the app to version 14.2.4 today to bring support for Retina displays and a number of other fixes.

We’re happy to announce that Office for Mac 2011 (version 14.2.4) now supports Retina display for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Text everywhere is incredibly crisp and all key areas of the interface are now sharper than ever. We hope you enjoy this fantastic software experience!…As long as you have Microsoft AutoUpdate set to check for software updates automatically, you’ll be notified when this update is available.

(via MacRumors)

Play 8 free re-imagined Atari HTML5 classic games [Video]

Seth Weintraub Aug 30 2012 - 12:26 pm PT

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The place where Steve Jobs got his start, Atari, has been porting its classic games to HTML5 on a browser for cross-platform capabilities. Sure, Microsoft is doing some of the promotional work, but the games work across platforms and browsers.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=J6QXRFuUSZs#!]

Step into a bizarro time warp and play games like the re-imagined Centipede, Combat, or six others. More importantly, Atari is building HTML5 frameworks for more games in the future, which could benefit other developers.

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Is this how Microsoft’s team built its logo? (Hint: Like everything else, start with Apple)

9to5 Staff Aug 24 2012 - 6:08 am PT

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Frankly, at this point, it would be more surprising if Microsoft did not lift its designs from Apple products. Andrew Brett Watson shows us how it is done.

Interesting that what they ended up with reminds people of Google’s Chrome browser logo as well.

Samsung convinces judge that Apple destroyed Steve Jobs emails, the two will get equal billing as ‘evidence destroyers’

Jordan Kahn Aug 20 2012 - 7:40 am PT

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Update: The tactic worked. Facing disclosure to a jury that both Apple and Samsung failed to uphold document retention laws, the two companies struck a deal to keep the matter private.

Bloomberg reported today that Samsung chief Kwon Oh Hyun and Apple chief Tim Cook will speak on the phone today ahead of jury deliberations in the ongoing Apple v. Samsung trial in San Jose. Another update in the case comes from paid blogger Florian Mueller (most recently funded by Microsoft and Oracle), who reported a previous ruling from Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal, to only provide an adverse inference jury instruction against Samsung, was overruled by Judge Lucy Koh in a decision late yesterday.

Therefore, instead of the jury hearing only a statement regarding Samsung failing to preserve evidence, jurors will also hear the same statement related to Apple. According to Mueller, Samsung claimed that “Apple’s duty to preserve email must have arisen no later than Samsung’s duty.”

Samsung pointed out that Apple neglected to provide emails from former CEO Steve Jobs mentioning the patent trial from 2010 until his resignation and death in 2011. That was apparently enough to convince the judge.

The instruction the court plans to give the jury before deliberations on Wednesday —unless Apple can get Koh to change her decision in a hearing today— is below.

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AT&T’s FaceTime blockade: Does the FCC need to get involved again? Public Knowledge thinks so

Seth Weintraub Aug 19 2012 - 8:02 am PT

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AT&T recently revealed to us that they were going to block Apple’s built-in FaceTime over cellular unless users sign up for an expensive Mobile Share plan. Does this reek of loyal customer exploitation?

John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at advocacy group Public Knowledge has this to say:

“By blocking FaceTime for many of its customers, AT&T is violating the FCC’s Open Internet rules. These rules state that mobile providers shall not ‘block applications that compete with the provider’s voice or video telephony services.’ Although carriers are permitted to engage in ‘reasonable network management,’ there is no technical reason why one data plan should be able to access FaceTime, and another not.

“‘Over-the-top’ communications services like FaceTime are a threat to carriers’ revenue, but they should respond by competing with these services and not by engaging in discriminatory behavior.”

Sure, FaceTime over cellular is a “new feature” of iOS 6, but so is Apple’s new Maps Turn-by-turn navigation. So is the PassBook Application and Photo Streams. They all will use more data. What is stopping AT&T from blocking those too?

What justification can AT&T give for such a move when it allows competing video chat apps to be available over its network? The most popular video chatting app, Microsoft’s Skype, has been available on the iPhone over 3G since AT&T allowed it –with some significant coaxing – from the FCC in 2009.

But with the FCC not only investigating AT&T and Apple’s Google Voice ban — but wireless industry competition overall — AT&T has miraculously had a change of heart and will now allow iPhone Skype traffic over 3G:

Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity…AT&T this afternoon informed Apple Inc. and the FCC of its decision. In late summer, AT&T said it was taking a fresh look at VoIP capabilities on iPhone for use on AT&T’s 3G network, consistent with its regular review of device features and capabilities to ensure attractive options for consumers.

Skype added the ability to video chat over 3G in 2010. We estimated the data usage to be at 3.4Mb/minute at the time. Many other video chatting apps on the iPhone and iPad exist including: Fring, Google Plus (which also works native on Android phones FWIW), ooVoo and many others.

AT&T can’t claim network usage penalties for a couple of reasons:

1. As mentioned above, Skype and other Video chatting applications aren’t blocked by AT&T and they use just as much data.

2. AT&T has moved just about all of its customers over to tiered data plans and even those who are left on “Unlimited Plans” are still subject to throttling that would eliminate the ability to use video chatting applications. Users are paying for data that they use.

3. FaceTime over Wifi uses about 3 Megabytes per minute of talk. For someone to use up a 3GB monthly allotment of data, they would need to FaceTime video chat for almost 17 hours (and the data usage over 3G would likely be less taxing). Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Amazon Video all use roughly this amount of data without regulation from AT&T.

As for the competition, Sprint already announced that it will not hinder FaceTime over cellular, and Verizon is being forced not to mess with it because of a Net Neutrality agreement.

Below is Mark and I completing a 3G FaceTime over 2 years ago on AT&T’s network with a simple jailbreak on an iPhone 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kq7Ckcgp0o

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Microsoft: No immediate plans to fix Retina support issues in Office 2011

Jordan Kahn Aug 15 2012 - 6:59 am PT

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When Microsoft updated Office 2011 for Mac for Mountain Lion late last month, Retina display users quickly noticed Outlook was the only app to receive updated Retina graphics. One user described the remaining Office apps as “very blurry and tough on the eyes” on the new Retina MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, it does not look like Microsoft plans a fix anytime soon. A response from the Office for Mac Team explained Word, Excel, and PowerPoint would continue to run in the same resolution as on non-Retina Macs:

Outlook for Mac 2011 already supports Retina Display and the remaining apps will have the same viewing quality as on any non-Retina device. Unfortunately at this time, we cannot comment on any future updates regarding supporting Retina on Word, Excel or PowerPoint… Hope that helps!

(via MacWorld)

Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.3 update fixes vulnerability and stomps a few bugs

Apple’s Brand worth up to $183B but as little as $33B?

Seth Weintraub Aug 12 2012 - 1:37 pm PT

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The Wall Street Journal today shows that the value of Apple’s brand varies greatly depending on who is taking the survey. Apple’s brand may be worth as much as $183 billion, according to an earlier Millward Brown study. The study’s results greatly vary from a separate Interbrand study, which valued the company at less than a fifth of that value and half of the value of Microsoft’s brand.

The most valuable brand in the world, according to WPP PLC’s Millward Brown, is Apple Inc., worth $183 billion—nearly a third of the company’s market capitalization of $581 billion.

Omnicom Group Inc.’s Interbrand, however, judges Apple’s brand as worth only $33.5 billion, or eighth, behind such names as MicrosoftCorp. (ranked third at $59 billion), International Business MachinesCorp. and Coca-Cola Co. (first at $71.9 billion). Interbrand notes its estimate of Apple’s brand value has risen.

Why such a big difference?

“The value of brand is both art and science,” says Allen Adamson, a managing director of Landor Associates, a branding firm owned by WPP. “It’s simple in theory but hard to pin down in reality. It’s really about how much would a consumer pay for a caramel colored soda versus how much they would pay for a Coke.”

If you think about PCs, how much would someone pay for a similarly spec’d Microsoft PC Ultrabook vs. a MacBook Air? Usually much less. The same goes for tablets—even though Apple’s prices and margins are smaller than phones or PCs. Apple’s reputation is what allows it to grab such huge margins in its hardware.

Yet, Interbrand ranks Microsoft at double of Apple’s brand. I would re-run the numbers if I were Interbrand. Millward Brown’s numbers are below:

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Microsoft’s lost decade, chronicled

Jordan Kahn Jul 27 2012 - 6:40 am PT

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In a lengthy piece, titled “Microsoft’s Lost Decade”, Kurt Eichenwald of Vanity Fair profiled CEO Steve Ballmer and his role in the company’s steadily decreasing dominance. The piece includes interviews with current and past executives of the company, thousands of internal docs and legal records, and, not surprisingly, Apple’s role in the decline of Microsoft makes up a large part of the story:

Truly, for senior management, the problems didn’t make sense. Microsoft had some of the smartest people in the technology business. It had billions of dollars at its disposal, and the ability to throw that money into any project the executives chose… Current and former executives said that, each year, they tried to explain to Microsoft’s top executives why the company was struggling in the quality of its innovation compared with Apple… Exhibit A: today the iPhone brings in more revenue than the entirety of Microsoft… One Apple product, something that didn’t exist five years ago, has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has created since 1975. In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion.

One anecdote covered in the story comes from emails that circulated around Microsoft following the introduction of Tiger:

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Microsoft job listing hints at Outlook and Powerpoint for iOS, perhaps other Office apps

Jordan Kahn Jul 23 2012 - 6:58 pm PT

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We had a few hints in the past about Microsoft possibly preparing an iOS version of its Microsoft Office suite of apps. In May, The Daily posted an image of a supposed early build of the software—demoed by a Microsoft employee—rumored to launch in November.

Another hint that Microsoft could have iOS apps in the works comes from a set of job listings posted earlier this month. It looked for a software engineer on the Outlook Test team to work on “Microsoft’s next move on the Mac and on iOS.” Another was on the Powerpoint Test team.

This is not solid proof that Office is coming soon, since Microsoft does have several other iOS apps, such as SkyDrive, OneNote, etc. that could benefit from office integration, but the job listing specifically looks for someone to test Outlook/Powepoint on Mac and iOS.

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Gartner report shows PCs have peaked and may begin the long road to obscurity

9to5 Staff Jul 11 2012 - 8:02 pm PT

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We are starting to see the “Cars and Trucks” model unfold as PC sales are starting to slip dramatically.

Among the top 5 vendors in the U.S. PC market, all but Apple experienced a decline in shipments according to a Gartner report late this evening. This is not your average “Apple beat the PC industry every quarter for the past 5 years.” It is a dramatic fall. Apple pulled to within 500,000 units of Dell from double that a year ago.

A few notables:
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Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.3 update fixes vulnerability and stomps a few bugs

9to5 Staff Jul 10 2012 - 9:24 pm PT

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Update details

A security vulnerability exits in the way that folder permissions are set in certain Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac 14.2 installations. This update resolves that vulnerability.

Improvements that are included in the update

The Office for Mac 2011 14.2.3 Update also includes the following improvements:

This update fixes an issue where some SkyDrive folders in Micorosft Document Connection are displayed as zero-byte files instead of folders.
This update provides critical updates for connection reliability with SkyDrive.

Improvements for Excel for Mac 2011

This update improves stability in Excel when you drag to move a PivotTable row or column.
This update fixes an issue in Excel where #REF is returned even when links are ignored.

Improvements for Outlook for Mac 2011

This update fixes an issue where some IMAP users may receive an “Unknown namespace” error when they try to create special folders (such as Drafts and Sent Items) on the server.
This update fixes an issue with some IMAP configurations where Outlook repeatedly displays “Cannot create mailbox” errors.
This update fixes an issue that causes Outlook not to display details for certain contacts when Lync or Communicator is running.
This update fixes a problem that occurs when users reply to or forward Exchange email messages that were downloaded from Exchange 2007 servers. When this problem occurs, the Date field is missing from the body of the message.
To correct email messages that have already been cached, right-click the folder that contains the email messages, select Folder Properties, and then then select Empty under Empty Cache. Or, you can delete the Exchange account and then add it again to resynchronize the account.
This update fixes an issue where users may have duplication of mail when they use Gmail and connect with Outlook by using IMAP.
This update fixes an issue where some users who have IMAP accounts intermittently receive a “Too many simultaneous connections” error. A setting is now available to control the polling interval that Outlook uses with IMAP servers.
To adjust this setting, select Tools, select Accounts, and then select Advanced for the IMAP account. The setting defaults to synchronize all lMAP folders every two minutes.
This update fixes a connectivity issue that occurs when Outlook connects through a proxy server that uses NTLM based authentication.

Improvements to Word for Mac 2011

This update improves Full Screen View integration with Word.

Previously released improvements included in this update

This update includes all the improvements that were released in all previous Office 2011 updates since the release of theMicrosoft Office for Mac 2011 14.1.0 Update. For more information about the improvements in a previous update, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

2555784 Description of the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.1.2 Update

2598783 Description of the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.1.3 Update

2644347 Description of the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.1.4 Update

2685940 Description of the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.0 Update

2705358 Description of the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.1 Update

2665351 Description of the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.2 Update

Prerequisites

Before you install the Office 2011 14.2.3 Update, make sure that the computer is running Mac OS X v10.5.8 or a later version of the Mac OS X operating system.

To verify that the computer meets this prerequisite, click About This Mac on the Apple menu.

Additionally, you must install the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.1 Update before you install the Office for Mac 2011 14.2.3 Update.

To verify that the update that is installed on your computer, follow these steps:

On the Go menu, click Applications.
Open the Microsoft Office 2011 folder, and then open any Office application (for example, open Word).
On the Word menu, click About Word.
In the About Word dialog box, compare the version number next to Latest Installed Update.

How to obtain the update

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download

Download the Microsoft Office for Mac 14.2.3 Update package now.

Release Date: July 10, 2012

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Updated files

For a complete list of the files that this update adds or changes, double-click the update installer. Then, on the File menu, click Show Files.

Notes

The Office 2011 14.2.3 Update is also available from Microsoft AutoUpdate. AutoUpdate is a program that automatically keeps Microsoft software up-to-date.
To use AutoUpdate, start a Microsoft Office program. Then, on the Help menu, click Check for Updates.

For more information about resources for Office for Mac 2011, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac

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Update details

Improvements that are included in the update

Improvements for Excel for Mac 2011

Improvements for Outlook for Mac 2011

Improvements to Word for Mac 2011

Previously released improvements included in this update

Prerequisites

How to obtain the update

Updated files

Notes

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