Microsoft

You Can Download Adobe’s Patch for the Internet Explorer Flaw Right Now (Updated)

Just a little over a day after Microsoft revealed a massive Internet Explorer vulnerability, Adobe is pushing out an emergency security update to patch the Flash-enabled flaw. In other words, if you’re an IE user (and statistically 26 percent of you are), go download it right now. While the flaw affected virtually all versions of…

Microsoft’s 12 New Original Shows For Xbox, Ranked

Microsoft is going to take its TV seriously. That’s been clear ever since it established its own internal studio and dropped the bombshell that it was working on a live-action Halo series produced by none other than Steven Spielberg. Now, Microsoft is spilling the beans on the rest of its Xbox TV launch line-up, and…

New Vulnerability Found in Every Single Version of Internet Explorer

According to a confirmation by Microsoft late last night, a new zero day vulnerability has been found to affect every version of Internet Explorer. In other words—over a quarter of the entire browser market. Attacks taking advantage of the vulnerability are largely targeting IE versions 9, 10, and 11 in something called a “use after…

Microsoft Now Officially Owns Nokia

Almost eight months after the original announcement, Microsoft has now completed its deal to purchase Nokia’s devices and services unit. Microsoft no longer dominates just software: from today, it’s a hardware specialist, too. In cold hard numbers, Microsoft is ponying up €3.79 billion for Nokia’s phone manufacturing wing, along with a further €1.65 billion to…

Looks Like Steve Ballmer’s First Tweets Are From an iPhone (Updated)

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer popped up on Twitter tonight, and, if this really is his account, it looks like it hasn’t taken long for his loyalties to start shifting. Two out of his first four tweets have been sent from an iPhone. Of course, there’s every possibility this isn’t actually his real account. But…

The Smartphone Industry Pledge That Could Stop Your Phone Being Stolen

The likes of Apple, Google, Microsoft and other major figures in the smartphone industry have signed a pledge that will make it harder to steal cell phones—from July 2015, at least. The pledge sees the companies promise to enable every smartphone user with the ability to remotely brick and wipe their phones when they’re stolen.…

Microsoft’s Office Online—the free, web-based version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote—is headed for the Chrome Web Store as a series of apps.

Windows Phone 8.1 Review: Gloriously Good Enough

Windows 8.1’s recent update was a subtle but effective boost. Windows Phone’s 8.1 power up follows the same cues. It’s not mind-blowing, it’s not world-changing, it’s nothing to jump around and scream about, but it turns Windows Phone into something it’s never quite been before: an OS that’s totally good enough. What Is It? It’s…

Photographer reveals the secret of the Windows XP desktop image

Charles O’Rear is the photographer who took Bliss, the image that became the desktop of every single Windows XP computer in the world. Billions saw it and probably think the photo is so perfect and colorful that it is computer generated—or at least Photoshopped. O’Rear reveals the origin of the photo in this video. So…

The Best New Windows 8.1 Features in 8 GIFs

Windows 8.1 just got an update. It’s rolling out automatically starting today, but you can also grab it in the Windows Store. The changes are mostly tiny but also great. In fact they’re so small and intuitive that you might even miss a few, so we’ve wrangled our favorites into this series of handy GIFs.…

Are You or Is Someone You Love Still Using Windows XP?

In just a few short hours, Microsoft will be halting any and all support for its fervently-clung-to Windows XP operating system. Which—as far as we can tell—is going to leave quite a few people vulnerable to the internet’s many ills. And that’s not for a lack of trying on Microsoft’s part! They really, really want…

Microsoft Has Six Original TV Series in Production

Amazon and Netflix are doing it in style, Yahoo’s clamouring to join in, and now Bloomberg reports that Microsoft has at least six original series in production, too. Bloomberg reports that Xbox’s TV studio, which is headed by ex-CBS exec Nancy Tellem, is working hard. The report explains that among the projects are a Sarah…

Microsoft’s New “Windows in the Car” Concept Takes on Apple’s CarPlay

Microsoft’s no stranger to in-car entertainment systems; it’s been powering a number of auto-makers’ interfaces for years. But now, Microsoft is getting serious about its own, Windows Phone-centric car integration system—and it looks an awful lot like Apple’s own CarPlay. The company unveiled its in-car system at the Build developers conference this week, and though…

Make the Switch from Windows XP

As of Tuesday, the venerable Windows XP operating system is going kaput. Microsoft is pulling update support for the OS, leaving it vulnerable to rapidly mutating cyber threats. There’s precious little time to make sure your computer isn’t left to the wilds of the Internet. Here’s how to make the jump to the modern era…

Adorable 5-Year-Old Discovers Bonehead Xbox Vulnerability

Five-year-old Kristoffer Von Hassel’s parents didn’t want him getting into the grown-up games on the family’s Xbox, so they put the gory stuff behind a password. But Kristoffer’s an inquisitive little guy, and he blew right past the parental safeguard—and discovered a pretty silly Xbox security flaw in the process. San Diego’s 10News explains how…

​Windows 8.1 Update Hands On: Terrific Tweaks For the Mouse Faithful

Windows 8.1 did a whole bunch to make Windows 8 feel more homey by tweaking tiny fit and finish issues. And it worked great. The next Windows 8.1 update (creatively called “Windows 8.1 Update”) is pretty much the same thing all over again, but this time with mouse-users specifically in mind. And after trying it…

Nokia Lumia 930: The First Flagship for Windows Phone 8.1

Nokia just announced the first phone for Windows Phone 8.1. Meet the Nokia Lumia 930. It’ll be available in starting in June for about $600 before carrier subsidies. Think of this as the Lumia Icon for the whole world—except the United States. The Lumia 930 has a 1080p 5-inch screen. It looks like a Lumia…

Windows is now free for devices with screens smaller than 9 inches. And when there’s a Windows for “internet of things” connected devices, that’ll be free too.

Surprise: The Windows Start Menu Is Coming Back

Miss the Start Menu? Well it is coming back. Yes it still has live tiles, but it is back in a way you can recognize, and it roll out to users as an update. Oh and those universal apps Microsoft is going to start peddling? They’ll be available in windows.

Windows 8.1’s new universal apps aren’t just coming to phones and desktops; they’ll also be coming to the Xbox One.