The long, slow march toward end of life of Microsoft currently most popular operating system is underway. As of October 30, 2013, Microsoft ceased selling boxed copies of Windows 7 at retail. ZDNet Ed Bott posted back in April of this year about the pending October 30 cut off date, but a few stories have popped up this week about it, so this is just a reminder. This October 30 cut off date mean that OEMs or retailers are no longer selling PCs with Windows 7 preloaded. I can verify after a trip...

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It’s pretty much a brick, says Pawn Stars’ Rick Harrison as he rejects aSamsung Chromebook brought in by an actor playing a customer. Microsoft really doesn’t want you buying this thing. In many ways, 2013 has been the year of the Chromebook for Google. FromAcer’s $199 C720 2848 toHP’s $279 Chromebook 11, Mountain View has attracted traditional Windows PC makers to build a variety of low cost laptops in time for the holidays. While Microsoft had largely ignored the...

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday might be a distant memory, but Microsoft is creating 12 days of deals at its own retail stores to continue the bargains in the run up to Christmas. The first day of sales commences on Monday, with Microsoft Stores selling Dell’s Venue 8 Pro tablet for just $99. It’s an incredibly good deal for an 8 inch tablet running a full copy of Windows 8.1, but there’s a slight catch: there’s only 20 at each of Microsoft’s 58 stores across the US...

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My ZDNet colleague Steven J. Vaughan Nichols has been pounding the table for Chromebooks since their launch more than two years ago. Back in June 2011, he called the Chromebook a Windows killer, predicting that Microsoft is facing real trouble in the market for desktop PCs. Last April I wrote that Chromebooks are struggling in the market, based on real world usage figures. That an illusion, according to Mr. Vaughan Nichols, who argues today that Chromebooks have been selling like hotcakes on a...

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In just over four months, Microsoft is scheduled to stop supporting Windows XP after over 12 years. Now it appears the government of China would like for the company to reconsider its support cut off date of April 8th. In a report on the Chinese language TechWeb site, Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of China’s National Copyright Administration, is quoted as saying that the shut down of Windows XP support could lead to more security threats and increased use of pirated software. He stated,...

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You could think of it as a brainteaser: Create a sequence of eight or more characters that includes at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, a digit, and a symbol, that doesnt contain any words in English, and that is memorable enough that you can recall it. For most of us, unfortunately, the challenge posed by these rules isnt fun—its a painful chore forced upon us when choosing a password to access an email account, a company network, or a website. Even worse, adhering to the rules...

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Microsoft researchers have designed a smart bra that can detect stress. The prototype contains removable sensors that monitor heart and skin activity to provide an indication of mood levels. The aim was to find out if wearable technology could help prevent stress related over eating. Mood data was provided to the wearer via a smartphone app in order to highlight when emotional eating was likely to occur. A team from Microsofts visualisation and interaction research group embedded an...

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In November, paid downloads of games on the Windows Store grew 34.12 percent, while free game downloads grew a more modest 13.41 percent. In the month, the Windows Store assortment of games saw 1,311,209 paid downloads and 16,744,484 free downloads. Microsoft has released a partial dataset for its Windows Store app platform performance in the month of November. The company previously reported download rates concerning all app categories, for both free and paid applications. However, for the...

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