Blogging Windows

Windows Keeps Getting Better

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:45:00 GMT

Windows 8 was built for a world that blends our work and our personal lives, a world where we expect high quality touch experiences everywhere, and a world that is always on the go and always connected. Windows 8 redefines our market from PCs to mobile computing.

We are pleased with the progress we’ve seen with Windows 8 so far.

Our OEM partners have delivered tablets, touch laptops, and convertibles that bring the vision of Windows 8 and mobile computing to life. They have introduced some incredible (and unique) new form factors like the Dell XPS 12, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, the Sony VAIO Tap 20, or the recently announced Acer Aspire R7. And today at retail, you can find a powerful mobile touch laptop starting at just over $400.

We now have more than 70,000 apps in the Windows Store (the online app store for Windows) – apps such as Twitter, eBay, Netflix, CNN and games like Temple Run: Brave, Bejeweled LIVE and Angry Birds Star Wars and many others.

As PCs continue to evolve for this world of mobile computing, so does Windows 8.

Today at the JP Morgan Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in Boston, Tami Reller shared with the audience that the update previously referred to as “Windows Blue” will be called Windows 8.1and will be a free update to Windows 8 for consumers through the Windows Store.

During her remarks today, Tami reiterated our goal of delivering continual updates to create a richer experience for Windows customers. Windows 8.1 is part of that and continues the journey we first began with Windows 8 last fall. Windows 8.1 will help us to deliver the next generation of PCs and tablets with our OEM partners and to deliver the experiences customers— both consumers and businesses alike —need and will just expect moving forward.

Today, there are more devices – and choice – allowing you to pick the right Windows 8 device that meets your needs. Windows 8 provides a great experience for consuming and creating content, for both work and play and on the go. And you’ll immediately benefit from continual updates – whether it’s from app updates through the Windows Store, performance updates through Windows Update or the Windows 8.1 update later this year.

We have much more to share about Windows 8.1 in the coming weeks. We will also be making a public preview of Windows 8.1 available starting on June 26, timed with the Build developer conference in San Francisco. The preview will be available for Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Building on our vision of modern computing

Julie Larson-Green — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:27:00 GMT

Earlier this week I was on stage at the WIRED Business Conference talking about Windows and how it continues to evolve. With Windows 8 we bet on the computing trends shaping today and tomorrow: mobility, touch, apps that connect seamlessly and are with you everywhere you go. We are no longer tied to the desktop, literally and figuratively.

Each month more than a billion unique Windows PCs get updates from us – and even more are running inside companies around the world. That’s a lot of devices and represents to us the trust and commitment we have with people. Most of them are running Windows 7, some are still running Windows XP, but more and more are running Windows 8 every day. Earlier this week my colleague Tami Reller announced we have sold more than 100 million licenses of Windows 8 through the first six months on the market.

We know people choose Windows because it’s important to their lives and their businesses. They trust and rely on Windows for serious productivity and more and more serious fun. We are proud to keep evolving Windows in a way that brings forward over 25 years of computing and to create the platform for tomorrow. As with every radical change, learning is a process. We are getting smarter every day about how to help people learn and make the most of their devices. From work in Windows, to online content, as well materials and demos at retail we are constantly improving and moving forward.

At the WIRED Business Conference I announced we’d share the first public preview of what we are calling internally Windows “Blue” in late June timed with the Build conference. It’s an update to Windows 8 and builds on our vision of modern computing. An OS that lets apps work seamlessly together and put the things you care most about right at your fingertips. We are excited to share the next steps in this vision soon.

Julie Larson-Green
Corporate Vice President, Windows

Julie Larson-Green at the Wired Business Conference

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:24:00 GMT

Julie Larson-Green, Corporate Vice President for Windows, took to the stage at the Wired Business Conference a little while ago to talk about Windows 8 – reiterating much of the momentum Tami talked about earlier in this blog post. She also talked about our approach to making Windows 8 for a world where mobility is at the forefront. We continue to listen and respond to our customers. As part of the continuing journey for Windows 8, we have an update planned due out later this year codenamed “Windows Blue.” Julie unveiled that at BUILD at the end of June, we’ll be releasing a public preview of Windows Blue for folks to check out. Look for more from us on Windows Blue leading up to Build in June!

Windows 8 at 6 months: Q&A with Tami Reller

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:59:00 GMT

Back in January, Tami Reller, our Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer, joined me in a Q&A to provide an update on progress since the launch of Windows 8. Here we are now just past six months from general availability, so we thought it would be fitting to provide another update.

Brandon LeBlanc: It’s been several months since we announced that 60 million licenses of Windows 8 had been sold since general availability. Where are we now?

Tami Reller: We recently surpassed the 100 million licenses sold mark for Windows 8. This number includes Windows licenses that ship on a new tablet or PC, as well as upgrades to Windows 8. This is up from the 60 million license number we provided in January. We’ve also seen the number of certified devices for Windows 8 and Windows RT grow to 2,400 devices, and we’re seeing more and more touch devices in the mix.

As we talked about in our last Q&A, Windows 8 is a big, ambitious change. While we realize that change takes time, we feel good about the progress since launch, including what we’ve been able to accomplish with the ecosystem and customer reaction to the new PCs and tablets that are available now or will soon come to market.

Brandon LeBlanc: There’s been a recurring theme talking about the PC’s demise. What’s your take on that?

Tami Reller: The PC is very much alive and increasingly mobile. The PC is also part of a much broader device market of tablets and PCs. Windows 8 was built to fully participate in this broader and increasingly mobile device market. The PC part of the market is rapidly evolving to include new convertible devices and amazing new touch laptops, and all-in-ones. These new PCs are hitting the market now and into the Back-to-School season, and they are more affordable than ever.

Brandon LeBlanc: There’s been a lot of speculation about Windows Blue. What can you tell me about it?

Tami Reller: Windows Blue is a codename for an update that will be available later this year, building on the bold vision set forward with Windows 8 to deliver the next generation of tablets and PCs. It will deliver the latest new innovations across an increasingly broad array of form factors of all sizes, display, battery life and performance, while creating new opportunities for our ecosystem. It will provide more options for businesses, and give consumers more options for work and play. The Windows Blue update is also an opportunity for us to respond to the customer feedback that we’ve been closely listening to since the launch of Windows 8 and Windows RT. From a company-wide perspective, Windows Blue is part of a broader effort to advance our devices and services for Microsoft.

Brandon LeBlanc: Last time we talked about the Windows Store and momentum you were seeing there. Will you update our readers on progress?

Tami Reller: Apps momentum has been steady as the number of apps in the Windows Store has increased 6x since launch. Comparatively, that’s already passed what iOS had in store, in its first year of app development. We’ve also surpassed 250 million Store apps downloaded in the first six months, and almost 90% of our app catalog has been downloaded every month.

Additionally, we’ve delivered hundreds of updates to first party apps (apps from Microsoft), including a major update for Mail, People and Calendar. We also updated IE10 so that Flash works by default, which makes it easier for people to enjoy all of the rich content on the sites they love. And the Bing Team updated their apps as well. This, combined with the touch capabilities of Internet Explorer 10, delivers a much more immersive web experience than what’s possible on other devices.

Brandon LeBlanc: And we’re also seeing good momentum with our services like SkyDrive and Outlook.com, right?

Tami Reller: That’s right. Earlier today, we announced that we now have more than 250 million people using SkyDrive. We also continue to add exciting features to our new personal email service, Outlook.com, including the recent announcement about integration with Skype – starting in the UK immediately, in the U.S. and Germany in the coming weeks, and worldwide availability in the coming months. It’s also worth noting that we have already completed the update to Outlook.com for all of our Hotmail customers, much earlier than our original estimate of later this summer. We already have 400 million active Outlook.com accounts.

And key to the experience behind all of these great services and apps is having a Microsoft account, of which we now have over 700 million active accounts.

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Special thanks to Tami for taking the time to answer questions about where we are with Windows 8 and what’s coming next. We are excited to see the steady momentum in the product and in the ecosystem and look forward to the coming months.

Windows 7 SP1 to start rolling out on Windows Update

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:01:58 GMT

Starting tomorrow, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) will begin rolling out automatically on Windows Update. Updating customers to Windows 7 SP1 is part of our ongoing effort to ensure continued support and improved security updates for customers who have not yet installed SP1. Windows 7 SP1 was previously available on Windows Update but required user action to install. Starting tomorrow, the installation will be fully automatic with no user action required for those who already have Automatic Update enabled. SP1 will be released gradually over the coming weeks to all customers on the RTM version of Windows 7. The service pack will take slightly longer to install compared to other updates. To ensure Service Pack 1 is installed without issue, customers should check for sufficient free disk space and that AC power is present on a laptop. If additional space needs to be created, we recommend using the Disk Cleanup tool to delete some files so that the service pack will install. If the service pack installation is interrupted, it will reattempt to install automatically after the next restart.

This update only applies to Windows 7 consumer PCs that are not managed by a Microsoft management tool such as Systems Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) or WSUS Server. SCCM and WSUS administrators still have full control over the release of Service Pack 1. This remains unchanged.

As mentioned by Stephen Rose here on the Springboard Series Blog - Windows 7 RTM (with no service pack) will no longer be supported as of April 9th, 2013.

If you have any issues with the installation of Windows 7 SP1 through Windows Update, please visit this support page on Windows.com or our Microsoft Community forum for Windows 7.

Reminder – Register and Redeem Windows Upgrade Offer promo code by Feb. 28th

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:30:27 GMT

I wanted to publish a quick reminder that you have until February 28th to register for the Windows Upgrade Offer to receive a promo code via email that can be used to upgrade your Windows 7 PC to Windows 8 Pro for just $14.99. Once you’ve registered for the Windows Upgrade Offer, you’ll need to use your promo code by February 28th as well. The promo code you received as part of registering for the Windows Upgrade Offer allows you to upgrade your Windows 7 PC to the Windows 8 Pro edition.

When you register for the Windows Upgrade Offer, you will receive a promo code via email. You then go to Windows.com to buy a Windows 8 Pro upgrade like you would normally through the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant (I blogged about the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant here). When you get to the point in the process where you are asked to confirm your order, you are given the opportunity to enter the promo code you were sent by registering for the Windows Upgrade Offer and the price of Windows 8 Pro will then drop to $14.99 (U.S.). Then you proceed with the rest of the process and upgrade your PC! The promo code sent to you via email by registering for the Windows Upgrade Offer is what enables you to get the great price.

Windows 8 at 90 days: Q&A with Tami Reller

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:42:00 GMT

As we’ve said on many occasions, Windows 8 represents a big, ambitious change for Windows and for Microsoft. We built Windows 8 for the next generation of computing – setting out to eliminate the boundary between PCs and tablets.

And we’re just getting started!

It’s been a little over 90 days since Windows 8 reached general availability (GA) so naturally people are asking: how is Windows 8 is doing? I thought the best way to address this would be a Q&A with our Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller to share context and our point-of-view. So here we go…

Brandon LeBlanc: We announced in early January that Windows 8 has sold more than 60 million licenses. How does that compare to previous versions of Windows?

Tami Reller: More than 60 million licenses sold is on par with the record setting pace we saw with Windows 7. We feel good about our start with Windows 8 – and of course there is still much more to do.

Brandon LeBlanc: Microsoft has made a big deal about touch being super important in breaking down that boundary between PCs and tablets. Can you tell us a little a bit about how receptive customers have been to touch devices with Windows 8?

Tami Reller: Touch is a key component of Windows 8 as it enables devices to unlock even more of the benefit of Windows 8. From tablets, to touch laptops, to all-in-one PCs, customer interest in new touch form factors is increasing. To meet this interest, we’ve been working with our partners to ensure that we have products to meet customer demand. Together, we’ve made progress and the trajectory of touch devices continues to grow. Partners are working hard to bring stunning innovation to market across a broad spectrum of tablets, convertibles, touch laptops & Ultrabooks, and all-in-one PCs. And, for traditional PCs, Windows 8 PCs are the best PCs ever – faster, more efficient, better battery life, and access to the ever-growing lineup of Windows 8 apps in the Windows Store. Watch for some great new products on shelf this spring!

Brandon LeBlanc: You mentioned Windows Store apps, what kind of momentum have we seen with the Windows Store since its grand opening back in October?

Tami Reller: Since the grand opening of the Windows Store on October 26^th, the number of apps has more than quadrupled. App downloads are strong as we recently passed the 100 million app download mark – just two months after GA. We have seen double digit growth in people visiting the Windows Store week over week since October.

The way we look at apps is important – we want to make sure customers have the apps they want and use most frequently and we feel good about our trajectory for adding even more high demand apps in the Store. We also think about making sure we have the right apps by geography and we want apps that are committed to the customer experience, frequently updating and making the app constantly better.

Another unique element with the Windows Store approach is we allow app builders to use their own commerce engines and keep up to 100% of their profits for in app sales. App builders who are taking advantage of this include: Amazon, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Zinio, and Magzster. PayPal also announced plans to release an SDK so that developers could use their service for in app purchases as well.

Brandon LeBlanc: Windows 8 is a big change for our customers. The “learning curve” is a continued discussion out in the community. How are customers responding?

Tami Reller: Windows 8 is a big, ambitious change – a set of innovation that together enabled a consistent experience across tablets and PCs. To make sure this product was ready for our customers, we had 1.24 billion hours of active usage time from people during our previews. By the time we hit GA, we had usage in almost every single country, making this the most tested release of Windows ever. Based on what we’ve learned, we are finding that people are successfully and quickly learning Windows 8 and their usage gets richer and stronger over time. They get started with success. Fifty percent of users get through the out of box experience in less than 5 minutes. On the very first day, virtually everyone launches an app from the Start screen, finds the desktop, and finds the charms. Almost half of users go to the Windows Store on that first day.

After two weeks, the average person doubles the number of tiles on Start. Live tiles engage people with content – by early January we had already delivered over 45 billion unique live tile updates. People find the new features in the context of what they are trying to do, and incorporate them into their everyday use after finding them. It is great to see people quickly find their way around Windows 8, exploring it, making it their own, across what they used to do and all of the new features.

Brandon LeBlanc: What is next?

Tami Reller: This is an exciting time in Windows and there’s a lot of energy around the work we’re doing. From our ongoing updates to the OS to our work with partners to deliver the devices customers want to see in market, there has never been more opportunity ahead. We’re expanding our opportunity from the PC market to the broader device market across tablets plus PCs. With Windows 8, we’ve built an OS that scales across the entire segment: tablets, to PCs to everything PCs can become, with one consistent scalable experience. Windows 8 is a big, ambitious change and as I said, we’re only just getting started.

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Special thanks to Tami for taking the time to answer questions about where we are with Windows 8. We are excited to see new touch devices hit the market with Windows 8 and even more apps hit the Windows Store in the coming months!

Syncing Google services with Windows 8 and Windows RT

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:54:00 GMT

After January 30th, 2013 – Google will no longer support new Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) connections from Windows PCs and tablets to sync your email, calendar and contacts from Gmail. If you've already connected your Google account to your PC running Windows 8 and Windows RT using the Mail, People or Calendar apps, you don't have to do anything. Existing EAS connections to Google accounts will continue to function.

If you are trying to connect a Google account after January 30th, 2013 to your PC running Windows 8 and Windows RT using the Mail, People or Calendar apps – please visit this support article on Windows.com.

If you have any issues connecting your Google account to your device – please visit our Microsoft Community where folks there can assist in helping you find answers to your issues.

Of course, this could also be a good time to simply switch to Outlook.com, a new personal email service that is clean and intuitive, keeps your address book up-to-date with information from your favorite social networks, and includes powerful inbox management tools and so much more. For more details, visit the Outlook.com site.

For more information on Windows Phone, click here.

U.S. Window 8 Student Offer and University Campus Tour Coming in February

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:05:00 GMT

Calling on all students! Today I’d like to share the pricing details for the Windows 8 student offer which will begin here in the U.S. on February 1st and in 49 additional countries by March 19th. The Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition will be available for students online via the Microsoft Store for $69.99 (ERP)*.

For students, Windows 8 offers the best for work and play and with the new Start screen that makes it super easy to organize, access and find what matters most to you. With Windows 8, students can download apps from the Windows Store like Microsoft OneNote or Evernote for taking notes in class or Skype to stay connected with friends and family. To find out more about Windows 8, click here. Students qualify for this offer only if they have a valid e-mail address through a qualifying education institution and a PC that is currently running a genuine copy of Windows XP (XP3), Windows Vista or Windows 7.

And the Windows Campus Tour will kick-off on February 18th and we will visit over 150 university campuses across the U.S. So, stop by and try Windows 8, check out the latest tablets and PC’s for students and chat with a team of Techsperts about Windows 8 PC’s and more. For more information including dates and locations click here.

*This academic offer for eligible students, faculty, and staff requires verification of eligibility prior to purchase. Limit five (5) copies of this item per 12-month period. This offer is only made available to eligible students, faculty, and staff under the Program Terms and Conditions.

The new Office #Timeto365

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:32:00 GMT

Today over on the Official Microsoft Blog, Steve Ballmer talks about the new Office and what it means for the company.

Starting today, people can now subscribe to Office as a service via Office.com instead of purchasing Office as a piece of software to install.

Click here for more on the benefits of an Office subscription!

Update on Windows 8 Pricing

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:01:00 GMT

We are seeing good momentum with Windows 8 today. When upgrading from Windows 7, Windows 8 has a lot to offer including a beautiful new Start screen with live tiles, plus the familiar desktop and faster startup and longer battery life. Today I’d like to share the pricing details for the Windows 8 upgrade editions that will begin in February. I’d also remind you to take advantage of the great upgrade offer which lasts until January 31st 2013.

Windows 8 upgrade editions (see which edition is right for you here) will be priced as follows starting in February:

The Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition will be available online and at retail for $199.99 MSRP (U.S.).
The Windows 8 upgrade edition will be available online and at retail for $119.99 MSRP (U.S.).
The Windows 8 Pro Pack will cost $99.99 MSRP (U.S.).
The Windows 8 Media Center Pack will cost $9.99 MSRP (U.S.).

But we have our promotional offer available until January 31st 2013, you can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 ERP* (U.S.) via Windows.com using the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant or pick up a DVD copy at a local retailer for just $69.99 ERP* (U.S.). If you bought an eligible Windows 7 PC between June 2nd and January 31st, 2013 – be sure to register for the Windows Upgrade Offer and upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $14.99 ERP*** (U.S.). If you upgrade to the Windows 8 edition or buy a PC with the Windows 8 edition pre-installed and want to move to the Windows 8 Pro edition– you can purchase the Windows 8 Pro Pack (previously known as Windows Anytime Upgrade) directly within Windows 8 by going to the Start screen and typing “Add Features to Windows 8” and at participating retailers for $69.99 MSRP (U.S.) until January 31st. If are running Windows 8 Pro and want Windows Media Center and DVD playback, you can add the Windows 8 Media Center Pack for free until January 31st**.

If you are building your own PC from scratch, looking to run Windows 8 in a Virtual Machine (VM), or looking to run Windows 8 on a second hard drive partition – you will want to purchase the Windows 8 edition or Windows 8 Pro edition OEM product known as “System Builder”. You can find these products online at local retailers.

For questions regarding upgrade paths for Windows 8, see this article on TechNet. For more information on upgrading to Windows 8, I suggest checking out this page on Windows.com as it is a great resource for information on upgrading.

And if you have any issues regarding your upgrade experience or technical questions about upgrading then I suggest visiting the Windows 8 Microsoft Community forum and posting your questions there.

*Offers limited to five upgrade licenses per customer. To install the Windows 8 Pro upgrade, customers must be running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. The prices displayed are estimated retail price and the transaction may be completed in a different currency. The actual price of the offer will vary by region since it is dependent on a variety of specific factors including exchange rate, local taxes, duties, fees, local market conditions, other pricing considerations, and may vary by each independent reseller. The actual price you pay may be more than the advertised price due to these additional factors. Shipping and handling charges may apply to packaged DVD product.

**When moving from the Windows 8 edition to Windows 8 Pro via the Windows 8 Pro Pack – you receive the Windows 8 Media Center Pack and won’t need to install it separately.

*** The last day to register for the Windows Upgrade Offer is February 28th, 2013.

Windows 8 – 60 Million Licenses Sold

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:07:00 GMT

At the 11th Annual J.P. Morgan Tech Forum at CES 2013 today, Windows Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller announced that Windows 8 has sold 60 million licenses to date. This represents the cumulative sales of Windows 8 including both upgrades and sales to OEMs for new devices. This is a similar sales trajectory that we saw with Windows 7.

We have seen a significant increase in the number of Windows 8 certified systems since general availability at the end of October. There are now more than 1,700 certified systems for Windows 8 and Windows RT. I suggest reading this post from Nick Parker putting the spotlight on several very cool new Windows 8 PCs announced by our OEM partners this week at CES.

This week we also highlighted strong growth in developers building for Windows 8. Since the opening of the Windows Store the number of apps has quadrupled and we passed the 100 million app download mark – just two months after general availability.

UPDATE 1/10: You can read the full transcript of Tami’s presentation at the J.P. Morgan Tech Forum at CES 2013 by clicking here.

On Display at CES: Latest Showcase of Stunning New Windows 8 Hardware

Nick Parker — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 01:20:00 GMT

Touch and other new capabilities in Windows 8 are powering the latest hardware innovations coming from our OEM partners. Together we are delivering interactive new experiences through devices and services that deliver on customers’ need for constant connectivity, mobility and flexibility.

This new world of computing is on display this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, from chipsets, to materials, hinges, touch panels, rotating displays, beautiful new designs and new capabilities in Windows 8.

The PCs and devices we’re seeing come to market are increasingly mobile and much more powerful. When Windows 8 launched in October, we talked about 1,000 PCs and devices that had been certified for Windows 8. There are now more than 1,500 with more expected in the weeks and months to come. The breadth of innovation continues as our hardware partners deliver new Windows 8 devices and experiences that are tuned for play and work.

With that, let’s take a look at some of the incredible new Windows 8 PCs that are being announced and garnering attention on the show floor this week.

This is the Transformer Book TX300CA from ASUS, a lightweight ultraportable with a 13” full HD (1920x1080) IPS display and multi-touch capabilities. Imagine the portability of a tablet but will have access to a more familiar Ultrabook design for productivity. The Transformer Book TX300CA delivers performance and an excellent user experience thanks to the latest Intel Core i7 processor with HD4000 graphics and Windows 8.

Another brilliant touch laptop: Sony’s VAIO T Series 15. This is the 15-inch version of the popular T13 that features built-in HD web cam, which if you haven’t seen it in action is really impressive. The built-in web camera features image sensor that not only provides crisp, bright pictures, but you can use the camera and hand gestures to skip a song, adjust volume, and navigate webpages with VAIO Gesture Control.

For more on Sony, see this video featuring Sony’s VAIO Tap 20 and LL Cool J:

New to the PC market this year, TV-leader Vizio has come on strong with a beautiful line of notebooks and all-in-ones. Now they’ve enabled their Thin + Light series with touch, making them even more attractive for the Windows 8 world.

Samsung will be refreshing its Series 7 Ultrabooks this spring with the Series 7 Chronos and Series 7 Ultra Touch. Both models will feature a full HD (1920 x 1080) display, longer battery life and Samsung’s trademark sleek aesthetics. Slightly thinner, the Series 7 Ultra Touch boasts a JBL sound system and is a great multimedia PC, while the Chronos offers premium performance and is still less than one-inch thick.

Here’s creative take on an all-in-one PC: Lenovo’s IdeaCentre Horizon table PC. This device from Lenovo combines an all-in-one desktop and table PC into one design. It can be used as an HD display or laid flat for a fun new gaming experience. It’s as thin as two DVD cases, and can be outfitted with an Intel Core i7 processor and, of course, Windows 8. We think this kind of design is a game changer for family computing.

Another innovative design from Lenovo, the ThinkPad Helixis a premium convertible that features the company’s groundbreaking “rip and flip” design, giving people absolute mobile freedom and versatility. Use it as a tablet, a laptop, a table-based tablet PC or even a mini movie theater with this flexible new design. Furthering the Helix’s “groundbreaking” label, the new model features optional 4G high-speed wireless and Near Field Communications (NFC) technology that makes sharing files with other devices a easy as tapping them together.

Take a look at both the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix and IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC:

For fans of traditional notebook designs there are plenty to choose from this year. Dell’s Inspiron 14R, 15R and 17R are getting a refresh with a sleek new design that is not only easy on the eyes, but easy to keep at your side. Nearly 5 mm thinner than the previous generation, the laptops include a built-in optical drive, stunning graphics options and fast processors.

LG’s impressive monitor selection comprises of the UltraWide, ColorPrime and Touch 10, all matched for entertainment, professional applications and touch-based interaction, respectively. All three models employ IPS technology for exceptional next generation picture quality.

HP’s Sleekbook line – featuring the latest technologies from AMD – is a great mix of functionality and affordability. Sporting a 15.6-inch diagonal HD display, 1 terabyte of storage and exclusive innovations including HP Connected Photo powered by Snapfish, this is a great Windows 8 PC for photographers.

For gaming and movie enthusiasts, Toshiba’s new Qosimo X875features all the horsepower you’ll need plus a new 1 terabyte hard drive – all in a laptop!

Panasonic has announced its “fearless business tablet” the Toughpad FZ-G1 with Windows 8 Pro. The toughness, thinness and light weight are optimized for field operations and the high brightness screen is tuned for outdoor use. It’s an enterprise level tablet equipped with Windows 8 Pro and a high-performance processor.

Check out Jenn Brown from ESPN putting the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 to the test:

Microsoft and our OEM partners are working closely together to delight customers with hardware, software and services that create immersive new experiences and computing scenarios. The hardware innovation from our partners continues with amazing new PCs and devices coming into the Windows 8 ecosystem. Momentum for the platform is also strong with consumers, commercial customers and developers: we’ve ~~crossed the 40 million mark for Windows 8 licenses~~ crossed the 60 million mark for Windows 8 licenses, there are more apps coming online every day, and cloud services to unify media and content across devices.

Stay tuned for more news from CES and if you want to learn more about these Windows 8 PCs, be sure to check out the this slide show on Microsoft News Center and the Windows Phone Blog for the latest on partners showing continued support for Windows Phone.

UPDATED: 1/10/2013 10:00am PST

Reminder – Get Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 through the Windows Upgrade Offer

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:10:04 GMT

Hope everyone had a wonderful time with friends and family over the holidays! I just wanted to send along a quick reminder for folks that if you’ve purchased a Windows 7 PC anytime since June 2nd and through January 31st, 2013 – you can register for the Windows Upgrade Offer and get a promo code to purchase and download Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (U.S.). So if you received or purchased a Windows 7 PC over the holidays, you can take advantage of this offer and register to purchase the upgrade. Windows 8 has a lot to offer when upgrading from Windows 7 including a beautiful new Start screen with live tiles, plus the familiar desktop and faster startup and longer battery life!

Taking advantage of the Windows Upgrade Offer is super easy. Once you register for the Windows Upgrade Offer, you will receive a promo code via email. You then go to Windows.com to buy a Windows 8 Pro upgrade like you would normally through the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant (I blogged about the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant here). When you get to the point in the process where you are asked to confirm your order, you are given the opportunity to enter the promo code you were sent by registering for the Windows Upgrade Offer and the price of Windows 8 Pro will then drop to $14.99 (U.S.). Then you proceed with the rest of the process and upgrade your PC! The promo code sent to you via email by registering for the Windows Upgrade Offer is what enables you to get the great price.

While the Windows Upgrade Offer applies to (eligible) Windows 7 PCs purchased between June 2nd, 2012 and January 31st, 2013, folks will be able to register to redeem their promo code until February 28th, 2013.

Windows in 2012

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:04:16 GMT

Wow. What a year! 2012 is the year we completely reimagined Windows with Windows 8.

The build-up began at CES back in January with an awesome demo of Windows 8 by Tami Reller. We released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview at the end of February and then the Release Preview in late May. From the Developer Preview from Build 2011 to the Release Preview - these previews of Windows 8 were the most widely and deeply used test releases of any product we have ever done. 16 million PCs actively participated in the previews of Windows 8. Windows 8 was released to manufacturing (RTM) at the beginning of August where we then prepared for general availability on October 26th.

We celebrated the general availability of Windows 8 on October 26th with events all around the world. In New York, we held a special press event in the morning (you can watch the event on-demand here) and later that evening lit up 39 digital boards in the largest takeover of Times Square to date.

The launch of Windows 8 this year was a company-wide effort.

Windows 8 comes with Bing-powered apps such as Travel, Weather, Maps, News, Finance and Sports. There is also a Bing app specifically for web and image search. These apps will help you get all the information you need whether it’s the latest scores from your favorite NFL team or your local weather (the Weather app Live Tile on my Start screen shows rain more often than I would like…). You can read this blog post from Bing to get all the details on these apps. For those of you who already have Windows 8, hit up the Bing homepage today to checkout a 360° degree panorama that can be explored with touch - allowing you to zoom, pinch and swipe as you explore the image.

And check out the MSN for Windows 8. They’ve given MSN a reimagined look for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10.

Speaking of Internet Explorer 10, Ryan Gavin from the IE Team has shared some great things about IE10 on Windows 8 – check it out. With IE10, websites are a first-class citizen. IE10 wins on performance on Windows 8. And this is what happens when you mix cutting edge HTML5, multi-touch and IE10.

Windows 8 also delivers some incredible entertainment experiences through four apps from Xbox: Xbox Games, Xbox Video, Xbox Music (see my post here that talks about free music streaming with Xbox Music on Windows 8 and Windows RT devices) and Xbox SmartGlass. The first three are pre-loaded on a new Windows 8 PC while Xbox SmartGlass is available as a free download in the Windows Store.

If you have an Xbox, you’re definitely going to want to download Xbox SmartGlass! With the Xbox SmartGlass app, you can control your Xbox from your Windows 8 device. You can use it to launch and navigate a website, move music to your TV (connected to your Xbox 360) and get extra features on the movie you’re watching. Watch this video to see Xbox SmartGlass in action. For more on the awesome entertainment experiences from Xbox for Windows 8, check out Major Nelson’s blog post here. Major Nelson announced new SmartGlass experiences from ESPN and NBA Game Time this week too!

And with Xbox games for Windows from so many talented third party game developers such as Angry Birds Star Wars, Wordament, Rocket Riot 3D, and Fruit Ninja – you can earn Xbox achievements to improve your gamerscore.

The new Office is coming and it’s designed to work great with Windows 8. The new Office responds to touch on new Windows 8 devices as naturally as it does to keyboard and mouse. And the new Office is powered by the cloud too – keep all your documents in sync with SkyDrive. If you buy Office 2010 today, you can get the new Office for free when it’s released early next year. For Windows RT, Office Home and Student 2013 RT comes on all Windows RT devices and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Office has released OneNote and Lync Windows Store apps for Windows 8 and Windows RT – check out this blog post for more.

To stay connected with friends and family – I use Skype. And with Windows 8, Skype introduced a brand new experience for staying connected with all the people you care about. You can download Skype for Windows 8 now from the Windows Store.

And just one month after launch, we announced Windows 8 has sold 40 million licenses!

Also in 2012 - we launched a brand new email service (in preview form) called Outlook.com in July and by November had over 25 million active users. Check out my post here on how Outlook.com makes me love email again.

And SkyDrive received some love in 2012 too! In August, a new modern SkyDrive.com with updated apps was launched. And in November, we announced that the service doubled its usage since the August!

Of course you can still upgrade to Windows 8 Pro today for just $39.99 ERP* via Windows.com using the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant! This upgrade promotion for Windows 8 Pro ends on January 31st, 2013.

And the Windows Upgrade Offer also ends on January 31st, 2013 so if you buy an eligible Windows 7 PC between June 2nd and January 31st, 20013 – be sure to register for your $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8 Pro. The last day to register for the Windows Upgrade offer is February 28th, 2013. If you get a Windows 7 PC over the holidays, be sure to check out the Windows Upgrade Offer to see about getting your Windows 8 upgrade for $14.99!

Whew – it’s been quite a year.

Check out 12 milestone Microsoft moments in 2012 here!