The Windows Blog

Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat – Acer #winchat

Kristina Libby — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:35:51 GMT

As some of you know, I use an Acer Aspire S7 and love it. It’s a great device that has travelled from event to event, city to city and work place to fun place and back again. It’s why I’m thrilled to be joined by Acer for this week’s tech chat as they talk about the new Acer Aspire R7 (one of a few new PCs recently announced by Acer). This device is a touch notebook with an inventive hinge that allows your screen to be manipulated at multiple function points – this makes reading, sharing and playing more enjoyable. With an optimized series of positioning points, you can be more effective and more comfortable.

To participate in the Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat and be eligible to win an Acer R7, please do the following!

Join us from 12-1 PT (3-4 ET) on Twitter
Follow the hashtag #winchat
Follow @windows, @kristinalibby, @aceramerica, @microsoftoem and @windowsblog to make sure you get the whole picture.
For full legal terms and conditions, click here.

Major League Soccer and Windows partner on exclusive app, fan and stadium experiences

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:03:00 GMT

Soccer fans tend to bring a lot of enthusiasm to the sport with the chants, team spirit and gusto. The global appeal of soccer, which in much of the world is called Football, gives us all a common sport to know and discuss. Today we’re excited to share our multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS). We know sports fans love using technology to enhance and expand the experience on the field and soccer fans rank high in wanting to know and share their club’s latest stats and highlights!

Together, MLS and Windows are bringing the game to you with unique in-stadium and online experiences for soccer fans. The Major League Soccer app for Windows 8 lets fans follow the entire season from anywhere at any time.

The app features exclusive content and this season’s schedule, standings, highlights, play-by-play, roster lineups, game stats, goals, cards and substitutions. In addition, with live tiles - fans are able to customize their experience to get updates on their favorite club’s news right on their Start screen.

So, go download the app from the Windows Store or go to www.mlssoccer.com for more information on your favorite team or where to stop-by for a demo in a stadium near you this season!

New themes and wallpapers: Alaska, New Zealand, Sweden and sweets!

Jennifer Shepherd — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:15:39 GMT

Many years ago, I spent a week visiting my brother in Alaska. At the time, he was working on a fishing boat out of Homer, and I spent several days on the boat enjoying the sights of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Peninsula. The impression that struck me immediately as my flight descended toward the tarmac, and that stayed with me throughout my visit, was just how huge and near the mountains looked; in fact, every aspect of nature seemed larger, closer, and more vivid. That’s one of the things I like about the photographs of Kyle Waters, featured in our new Alaskan Landscapes theme—the immensity and immediacy of Alaska’s natural landscape really comes through.

On the subject of great landscapes, in my previous blog post I promised you more of Ian Rushton’s HDR photography, and I’m pleased to be able to follow through with not just one, but two new themes. The first is a tour of Queenstown and the surrounding landscape, including the shores of Lake Wakatipu and views of the Kawarau and Shotover rivers.

The other, and my new favorite, is a walk through the lush greenery of One Tree Hill Domain and the adjoining Cornwall Park, in Auckland, New Zealand. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what song I hear in my head when looking at these images!

Fans of our Swedish seasonal themes might have noticed when we published the Swedish Autumn, Swedish Summer, and Swedish Winter themes several months ago, that something was missing. You’ll be relieved to know that we’ve finally filled in the missing season with Swedish Spring.

For a total change of pace from landscape photography, I’m pleased to present a theme featuring the quirky artwork of illustrator Karyn Servin. The Delectable Designs theme’s cartoony cupcakes, popsicles, and other goodies will bring a cheerful pop of tasty color to your desktop.

If you have an older version of Windows that can’t use themes, or if you prefer to use a single desktop background, be sure to check out the fresh wallpapers. Here are just a few:

We also added a new tab to the Desktop backgrounds page, specifically for panoramic wallpapers. If you have Windows 8 or Windows RT, these wallpapers will automatically extend across dual monitors that have the same resolution setting. But you can also enjoy them on an older version of Windows or on a single monitor. And as I explained in an earlier post, you can use wallpapers on your Windows 8 or Windows RT lock screen, as well.

By the way, you can control how wallpapers fit to the screen in the Desktop Background section of Personalization in Control Panel. To see the full width of a panoramic image on a single monitor, choose Fit in the Picture Position menu. The image will be scaled down to fit the width of your monitor, and you'll see black above and below it. To fill your entire monitor but see only the middle of the image, choose Fill in the Picture Position menu. This will fit the image to the height of your monitor, and crop off the right and left edges.

As always, keep checking back on the Personalization Gallery – we’ll have even more new themes and wallpapers for you next month.

Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows 8 now available in the Windows Store

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:50:56 GMT

Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows is now available for download from the Windows Store. Photoshop Express for Windows 8 comes with a variety of features to quickly edit your photos on your Windows PC or tablet.

You can do the basic photo enhancements such as crop, straighten, rotate, flip, or remove red-eye. You can adjusts color, contrast, and brightness all at once. And you can use “slider controls” to enhance contrast, exposure, and white balance, or let the app auto-correct it for you.

But my favorite feature are the quick one-touch filters – called “Looks” – to add different effects to your photos. The app comes with 15 free “Looks” with additional premium “Looks” available for purchase from Adobe.

And of course once you’re done editing your photo, you can quickly share your photo out to folks on your favorite social networks or save to your PC.

App roundup: 7 apps for better health

Kirsten Ballweg — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:00:00 GMT

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m a writer for Windows by day, and a musician by night. Musicians don’t always have the best health habits. Late nights, hanging out in smoky clubs, and getting paid in drink tickets have taken their toll on my health. So I decided to take a look at some apps that might get me back on the health wagon.

Heart Age

Before starting an exercise regimen, I thought it might be a good idea to figure out if my heart could handle it. Heart Age is a free app that estimates your heart's "true age" based on info like your height, weight, frequency, and intensity of exercise, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

According to the test, I have the heart of a 28 year old. That sounds good to me! I ♥ Heart Age!

Bodeefit

Want a quick but brutal workout? Bodeefit has workout plans based on time (most are around 10-15 minutes) or number of rounds (the time these take depends on how fit your “bodee” is). The equipment you need is minimal—basically a floor, a wall, a box (for diabolical box jumps), and a bench (for dips and possibly for jumping over). There’s something reassuring about the video clip examples in this app. Watching a guy jumping on the box made me think that I could actually do that too. I was wrong. Box jumps are hard! But the videos make it fast and easy to figure out how to actually do the exercises—a lot easier than reading a description on how to do each move.

With workouts named Furious 10, Fire Breather, and Sit, Sit up, Crawl! I'm strangely looking forward to seeing what new form of torture awaits me next.

If you want to save your results, you can sign up for a free Bodeefit account (or upgrade to a Pro membership for additional benefits). With the free membership, you’ll get daily workouts sent to your email address, and a paleo recipe from PaleOMG once a week. The paleo diet, if you haven’t heard of it, is based on what Paleolithic man might have eaten. So basically: meat, fish, certain vegetables, and no sugar, carbs, or dairy. The recipes actually look delicious and include banana bread, brownie trifle, and cake (with substitutions for ingredients not allowed on the diet). Those cave men ate a lot better than I thought!

BallStrike

Taking a workout and disguising it as a game is sheer brilliance. There’s no Mario or Ms Pac Man character in the game of BallStrike, though. Through the magic of your webcam, you’re the main character. Balls appear on the screen, and it’s your job to twist, turn, kick, hit, and jump around to destroy the balls. Just watch out for those pesky bombs. You want to destroy them, not the other way around.

At the end of your session, you can share photos of yourself on Facebook, through email, and on other sites.

The first few levels of the game are completely free. To get the full version of the app (complete with 12 levels of ball-striking fun) it will cost you US$3.49, but that seems a small price to pay if you like to kick and punch things as much as I do.

MyPlate Calorie Tracker from LIVESTRONG.COM

Losing weight, I’ve been told, is mostly about what you put and don’t put into your mouth. Exercise certainly helps and is very important for overall health and fitness, but as far as actual pounds go, it’s all about the food.

The MyPlate Calorie Tracker has become my favorite app for tracking what I’m eating. It’s easy to add foods. Tap or click the + button under the meal you want to record, and then start typing. Then just pick from the results and, if necessary, adjust your serving size. With a database of more than 1.3 million food items (including many popular brands and restaurant items), you’re bound to find the foods you’re eating. Foods you eat often are shown in a list of recently eaten foods, so it’s easy to add them.

You can also track the amount of water you’re drinking and how much and what type of exercise you’re doing.

When you first start the app (after you sign in or create a free account), you decide how much weight you want to lose each week. MyPlate Calorie Tracker crunches the numbers for you. You can see how many calories you have left to consume, and how many you’ve used each day. I’m going to try using this for a full week. Hopefully the scale will say 2 pounds lost by next Friday.

HealthVault

Insurance info, health history, doctor info – HealthVault brings them all together in one place. I signed in, and then plugged in my info. Not only does Health Vault help track calories and weight, it can keep track of any health conditions you want to enter (oh, my aching back!).

Many popular exercise or heath devices (like pedometers, blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors, and even some scales) work with Health Vault, so you can save all your data in one place. There are over 200 devices that are compatible, and the list is growing. Have a Fitbit? You’re golden.

If you use other health apps, they can plug into HealthVault too. So if you have prescriptions at Walgreens, CVS, or various other pharmacies with apps, HealthVault can pull in your prescriptions so all of your health info is in one place.

You can also track health information for your family. So if you have kids or aging parents, HealthVault can help you out.

KinectHealth

When it comes to working out, I’m motivated by competition. The KinectHealth app is perfect for people like me. It offers virtual training videos that use your webcam to monitor your activity level. Then, the app shares info about your workout with your friends who also use KinectHealth, so you can all stay motivated.

When you watch a workout video, you'll see your trainer on the main part of the screen, and on the left, you’ll see a video of yourself working out, with your stats. At the top of the screen are friends and trainers who've taken the training already. As the video plays, you can see how your friends were doing at that specific point in the video. Your friends don’t need to be doing the same video at the same time—KinectHeath saves their data and just replays it back to you. You’ll see how many calories they burned and if they were calm (a purple circle on their profile picture), active (a green circle), or hyper (a red circle).

There were a good variety of video workouts available when I started the app (including yoga, Pilates, cardio, and strength). I decided to try out the Legs are Burning video, with the trainer, Jason. This workout delivered. As I did my squats and lunges along with Jason, my PC webcam monitored my activity. By the end of the training I was in the hyper zone.

As you reach your fitness goals, your progress is shared with friends (and vice versa) so you can cheer each other on, or at least get guilted into working out more. Effective!

Digital Health Scorecard

From Johnson & Johnson, the makers of a lot of health-related items from baby powder to Nicorette®, comes the Digital Health Scorecard app. Plug in some numbers (the app walks you through 7 questions) and you’ll get your overall health score, based on The World Health Organization’s “Global Burden of Disease” data.

The lower your score, the higher your chances of developing chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.

On the results screen you can see how various changes in your overall lifestyle might affect your score by using the “What if?” button.

If you’re currently a smoker, you can see how your score would change if you quit. Or if you regularly enjoy a martini or two at lunch, you can drop your weekly drink number and see how much your score goes up. Making the comparison can be pretty motivating. But there’s no way I’m completely giving up my martinis. I like olives too much. And olives aren’t bad for you, at least in moderation, right?

Here’s to your health! (Clink!)

- Kirsten

Dell Announces New Workstations: Dell Precision T1700 series and Dell Precision R7610

Gavin Gear — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:15:13 GMT

Today Dell announced some exciting new workstation PCs, the Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor workstation, the Dell Precision T1700 mini-tower workstation, and the Dell Precision R7610 rack-mounted workstation.

The new Dell Precision T1700 mini-tower (left) and Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor (right)

The new T1700 mini-tower now offers 150W for graphics and an expanded set of ISV certifications, providing customers with even more power and reliability – all at about the price of a typical desktop PC. The new Dell small form-factor T1700 workstation PC is an incredibly small and light workstation PC that takes up minimal space. Both new T1700 workstations offer next-generation Intel processors, your choice of AMD or NVIDIA professional discrete graphics and Intel integrated graphics. These workstations also have some great standard features like dual front mounted USB 3.0 ports and PCIx x16 Gen 3 slots. Pricing for both T1700 workstations will be released by Dell on June 4.

The new Dell Precision R7610 rack workstation

Today Dell also announced a new member of the Dell rack workstation family: the R7610. Compared to previous Dell rack workstations, this new rack workstation will offer:

Greater performance
Enhanced remote experience
New virtualization capabilities

For this new rack workstation, Dell has packed the hardware capabilities of the Dell T7600 tower workstation into a compact 2U rack form-factor.

In addition to 1:1 remote computing, the R7610 now enables up to four users to access the workstation in a virtualized environment without sacrificing performance, resulting in increased access and better utilization of their assets. The Dell R7610 can support up to four single wide graphics cards including the NVIDIA Quadro K2000, NVIDIA Quadro K4000, and AMD FirePro W5000 cards or up to three double wide cards like the NVIDIA K5000. Also of note is the fact that the Dell R7610 supports Dell’s Reliable Memory Technology, and memory capacity has been expanded to four channels with up to 256GB in 16 DIMM slots. The Dell Precision R7610 rack workstation will be available starting at $2,179 on May 21.

For more details, please see the official Dell press release.

Find me on twitter here: @GavinGear

Pre-order the Lenovo Yoga 11S today, available in June

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:42:36 GMT

Starting today, you can now place orders for the IdeaPad Yoga 11S Ultrabook from www.lenovo.com and pre-order from Best Buy. Various models of the Yoga 11S will be available in Best Buy stores starting on June 23. The estimated retail price for the Intel Core i3 model is $799.99 (U.S.).

The Yoga 11S follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Lenovo’s Yoga 13, and boasts an 11.6-inch HD IPS screen with 10-finger touch support. And like the Yoga 13, the Yoga 11S converts into four modes, including “tent,” as shown in the above photo. It can be used as like a laptop or folded and flipped to be used like a tablet.

For more on Lenovo’s Yoga PCs – click here.

HP announces the HP Split x2

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:50:17 GMT

Today, HP is announcing the HP Split x2. The Split x2 is a two-in-one detachable PC that can be used as a high-performance laptop or a tablet.

The Split x2 comes with a powerful third-generation Intel Core processor and a 13.3 diagonal HD touchscreen display. You can get the device with an optional hard disk in the base (the keyboard) that gives you expanded storage capacity. And it has dual-batteries – one in the tablet and another in the base. The design of the Split x2 features a “soft-touch” coating for a comfortable hold and apparently protects against fingerprint smudges. It has Beats Audio for fantastic audio and a trackpad that allows for multiple finger gestures (they call it the HP ClickPad).

For more on the HP Split x2, click here.

The HP Split x2 is expected to be available in the U.S. in August with a starting price of $799.99.

How to import iTunes playlists into the Music app

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:08:23 GMT

If you have spent a great deal of time building out playlists in iTunes, you probably don’t want to have to rebuild those playlists. With the Music app in Windows 8, you can import those playlists into your collection.

If you are on a Windows 8 PC with iTunes installed and your music collection physically downloaded on the PC, you can follow these easy steps to add your iTunes playlists into the Music app.

Step 1: Open the Music app.

Step 2: Tap or click on “my music”.

Step 3: Under “my music”, tap or click on “playlists”.

Step 4: Bring up the app commands by either swiping from the bottom or right-clicking.

Step 5: Tap or click on “Import playlists”.

Step 6: The Music app will then look for playlists in your Music library on your PC and playlists created in iTunes. Just click “Import playlists” to import them in!

The end result is you should see your iTunes playlists in the Music app – as seen here with my iTunes playlist called “iTunes Stuff”.

If you have an Xbox Music Pass, you can sync your music to the cloud. The Music app can automatically scan your music collection and match the information to music from the Xbox Music Store. If a match is made, that music is tagged and available for streaming on your Windows 8, Windows RT, or Windows Phone devices and your Xbox 360 console.

In order to make sure you have cloud sync enabled:

Start the Xbox Music app in Windows 8 or Windows RT.
Swipe from the right or go to the upper-right or lower-right corner to bring out the charms.
Tap or click on the Settings charms, and then tap or click Preferences.
Make sure Xbox Music Cloud is set to “On.”

If you want to import your iTunes playlists on a Windows RT device – you will first need to move all your music files from your Music library on the PC that has iTunes installed (including the “iTunes” folder in your Music library) and all your music to your Windows RT device and then follow the steps outlined above to import your iTunes playlists.

How-To: Configure and Use File History in Windows 8

Gavin Gear — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:53:42 GMT

File History is a new feature in Windows 8 that automatically keeps a backup history of your personal data. I previously wrote a detailed article about File History in Windows 8 with a lot of detail about this feature. In this post I’ve created a video to show you how easy File History is to use, and how flexible it is for backing up and restoring your files.

In this video I talked about File History with photos, but File History works just as well for any other kind of file including office documents, videos, and any other files you have in your document libraries.

As a quick recap, most users will need to do the following to get going with File History in Windows 8:

Add non-library folders to document libraries (optional, if non-library folders need File History)
Populate “Exclude Folders” list for File History (optional)
Plug in an external storage device
Launch the File History Control Panel
Click the “Turn On” button

If you already have an external drive plugged in and use default settings, you will only need to perform steps 4-5 above. Now that’s easy!

Find me on twitter! @GavinGear

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.

Construction SMB Always On, Always Connected with Windows 8 Pro

Jay Paulus — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:15:20 GMT

I often sit down with IT staff and decision makers from small and medium-size businesses [SMBs] to discuss their unique technology needs and challenges. One of the biggest themes I hear in these meetings is the importance of mobile technology that allows them to be connected to their business from anywhere. Compared to larger enterprises, these small, rapidly growing businesses have fewer resources and employees at their disposal and need the technology that they adopt to wear as many hats as they do. Above all, SMBs want their technology to give them a fast, flexible computing experience so they can stay competitive and always be one step ahead of their customers and competitors.

Meet Glenigan, a construction intelligence supplier.

One such fast-moving midsize company that has taken advantage of Windows 8 Pro is Glenigan, based in the United Kingdom. Glenigan is a construction intelligence supplier; the company provides construction project sales leads, market analysis, forecasting, and intelligence by searching thousands of construction planning apps across the UK and aggregating the information on behalf of their clients. Glenigan helps companies increase their profits by providing timely intelligence about construction jobs. Whether customers are looking to bid for new construction work or refurbishment projects, Glenigan helps them stay ahead of competitors. The company offers access to its continually updated leads database as well as email alerts on construction projects that help customers bid for work contracts at the right time.

At the end of the day, Glenigan’s business depends on technology that helps them outpace competitors. Since January, Glenigan has been using the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist and the ThinkPad Tablet 2 to do just that. Tablets and convertibles with Windows 8 Pro help Glenigan’s employees stay connected to their clients, colleagues, and their ever-changing database of customer leads from anywhere.

SMBs take Windows 8 Pro tablets on a train.

According to Neil Taylor, PC and Network Support Analyst at the company, the biggest benefits Glenigan has experienced while testing Windows 8 Pro has been the speed and mobility of the platform. After interacting with the Windows 8 Pro devices, he notes, “It is always on, always connected, so I can manage my day from anywhere, anytime, anyplace—and it just works. With Microsoft Office 2013, I can connect to Outlook and Word and documents on SharePoint sites, and I can go home and carry on working. That’s the beauty of it.”

The ThinkPad’s twist capabilities in particular help employees stay productive while traveling. Theresa Ferguson, Head of Delivery at Glenigan, describes it like this: “I was sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for the train, filling out a questionnaire, and I was using the laptop to start answering questions. The train arrived, I closed the keyboard, switched to tablet mode, and just carried on. I didn’t even realize I had done it.”

As a company, Glenigan has been increasing its focus on making employees as mobile as possible in recent years and Windows 8 fits into this vision. All of their teams meet with customers onsite, whether representing the research, content, or technical teams. The Windows 8 testers have enjoyed the benefits of the new touch-based operating system over more traditional desktop models while they are on the road. For instance, they can easily take their devices with them when visiting their parent company in London, two hours from the company headquarters in Bournemouth. Mobility also increases employee communication within the office, so colleagues can more easily move around and exchange ideas with each other. This is something Glenigan’s management hopes will increase over time as their core office incorporates more mobile devices.

When comparing the company’s experience with the iPad and Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, Taylor notes that with Apple, people can’t join to the Windows domain network or install Office, but the Windows 8 tablet is always connected so “you can access the network and you can access your files and it’s just there.”

Outside of the flexibility Windows 8 Pro offers, Glenigan highlights inherent security features like picture password that help the business transmit information securely from anywhere. Taylor calls Windows security over Apple security a “no brainer.”

Deploying Windows 8 alongside other systems.

Glenigan is a perfect example of many of the SMBs I talk with that are actively working within a mixed operating system environment. Glenigan has approximately 110 employees and most of them are currently using Windows 7 32-bit as the standard desktop platform; they also use laptops with Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit. The Windows 8 devices have been integrated into their business operations alongside this existing infrastructure to increase the company’s mobile operations with simple-to-use, lightweight touch devices.

Whether SMBs need a notebook, a tablet, or an all-in-one, whether touch-based or a keyboard-and-mouse system, Windows 8 offers a variety of choices to fit their needs. There is also great compatibility between Windows 7 and Windows 8, and this makes it easier to adopt Windows 8 with existing systems.

Glenigan’s case shows how technology can be a key business enabler. Whether it’s visiting a construction site, traveling to another city by train, or meeting with clients on the road, the devices just have to work. With Windows 8, Glenigan has discovered that they can have it all. They don’t have to sacrifice performance while away from the office or trade flexibility for reliable business functionality. To learn more about Glenigan’s recent interactions with Windows 8 and Office 2013, check out this new case study. And for more information about Windows 8 Pro for small and midsized businesses, click here.

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

App roundup: More news apps

David S — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:00:00 GMT

I’ve already mentioned some of the news apps I like in a previous post, but there are actually a few more I'd like to tell you about.

One of the most distinctive memories from my childhood is of my parents disappearing behind the daily newspaper (back when even a small town had both a morning and evening paper), emerging only to read something funny or amazing to each other. The distinctive rustle a paper makes in a quiet room is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

There are trade-offs involved in swapping physical media for the electronic variety, but in my view, the trade-offs are worth it. A good full-screen app can reproduce that disappearing-into-the-paper sensation, and also that sense of discovery when you’re reading one thing and stumble onto something else. Plus, I'm no longer limited to the worldview of my local newsroom. And I definitely don’t miss the clutter of daily papers piling up in the corners.

The Wall Street Journal

It’s important to note that the Wall Street Journal app is free, but without a subscription, you get access to only some of the content. For non-subscribers, you can still see a lot of the articles and the whimsical little illustrations that give the WSJ such a memorable look. The familiar dot drawings are supplemented with plenty of videos and other rich content.

The New York Times

As with the Wall Street Journal app, you need a subscription for full access to the New York Times app, too. But stories in the Top News section are free, as is a lot of the other world-class content. Eschewing the single-picture-plus-wall-of-text format of some news sites and apps, many articles here are carefully laid out with images embedded within them, leading the eye along. The paper has long been a leader in digital content, and it really shows here, in not only the rich media content, but in every detail, from the icons denoting each section to the beautifully designed navigation.

NBC News

The NBC News app is rock solid. It may be your basic mix of video and text (I prefer to read more than watch, so I love that every video comes with a write-up), but it simply feels good to browse. Going as deep as you can into each sub-section, there’s still plenty to explore. Beyond just stories from the NBC newscast and clips from TODAY, there are also pretty decent blogs on technology, entertainment, and other topics.

Engadget

Befitting its role as a technology news source, Engadget delivers a fun and fast browsing experience that feels a little different from the apps that come from more traditional media outlets. With images and video, there seems to be less of an effort to find the one perfect picture. It’s not careless so much as loose and fun. It feels younger. The content is served up with the most recent stories first, and is also browsable by whatever type of technology you’re most interested in.

These news apps not only deliver content efficiently, they also make consuming the news a pleasurable and aesthetically pleasing experience. Even without that papery rustle.

David S.

Springboard Series/Windows Community Party at TechEd US

Stephen L Rose — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:47:00 GMT

PLEASE NOTE- The Springboard Series/Windows Community Party Event is now SOLD OUT and the registration tool is now closed.

To celebrate all of the great support we have received over the past year from IT pros, we are happy to announce the registration information for the Springboard Series Windows Community Party at TechEd North America*. The party is open to any attendees of TechEd North America in New Orleans and is located within walking distance from the conference center and hotels. Since there are only 350 tickets available, don’t delay. Last year’s party sold out in only 20 minutes!

The pass will be distributed onsite at the Windows Information Counter in the Microsoft Solutions Experience. You must bring your confirmation acceptance email to the booth and photo ID to receive your party pass and lanyard. No exceptions

Second, this will be my final time hosting the annual Springboard Community Partyas I will soon be taking on a new role at Microsoft focusing on strengthening relationships with our customers and partners in the U.S. I am extremely excited to take on this new role, but also sad that I will no longer be supporting the IT pro community via the Springboard Series. I want to thank all of you have supported our efforts over the past 5 years and want to assure you that the Springboard Series will continue to evolve to better help you in your efforts to support your infrastructure and end users. I personally am excited to see what new things the future will bring.

Save the Date!
Date: Wednesday, June 5th
Time: 7:00 – 11:00 pm CDT
Location: Broussard’s Restaurant in the French Quarter- 819 Rue Conti, New Orleans, LA

*Please be aware that we will not be having an event in Madrid. The registration link above is for the TechEd North America event only.

Hands-On With the Dual-GPU Lenovo Y500 Gaming Laptop

Gavin Gear — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:01:49 GMT

When it comes to the Windows 8 laptops I use, I want it all. I want a beautiful full-HD screen, a quad core CPU, lots of RAM, multiple USB 3.0 ports, plenty of disk space, great sound, and tons of graphics horsepower all wrapped up in a pretty package. Sound demanding? Yes I am, and I know you are too. The engineers at Lenovo are thinking about people like us because the new Windows 8 Lenovo Y500 laptop satisfies all of these requirements, and then some.

The Lenovo Y500 as tested with Dual NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPUs, JBL speakers, and 1920x1080 full-HD display (click to enlarge)

The Lenovo Y500 was designed with PC gaming in mind, but it’s also a great PC for a variety of other tasks including photo and video editing, watching streaming HD movies, and running productivity apps like Word and Excel. And, since there are plenty ports, connecting displays or devices is no problem with the Y500.

Right side, from left: Headphone and Microphone jacks, USB 2.0 port with offline charging, locking receptacle (click to enlarge)

Here on the right side of the PC you can see the vents that cool the second NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU which resides in the optical bay area that Lenovo calls the “Ultrabay”. You can actually remove the 2^nd GPU (when PC is powered down) and replace it with other accessories including:

Second cooling fan
DVD burner – product link
Additional HDD – product link

Now that’s versatile!

Left side, from left: DC power input (not pictured), VGA out, Ethernet, HDMI out, USB 3.0 ports (click to enlarge)

Wrapping around to the front edge (user-facing) at the right-hand side of the picture above we see the status LEDs and SD card reader. I really like how the Y500 ports are integrated; things feel like they are in the right place to me. While the Y500 may not look like the traditional Lenovo business-class machines, it retains the high quality look and feel throughout.

The Y500 is a high-quality PC with nice exterior finishes and details (click to enlarge)

Another thing that feels right to me about the Y500 is the screen. The 15.6” diagonal size is great because it’s large enough for gaming and demanding tasks (like complex video editing UI) at high resolution. A 15”-class PC feels like the right balance of screen real estate and mobility for the kinds of demanding tasks I use a laptop for. Since I ride a motorcycle to work, I love the fact that the Y500 easily fits into my backpack.

Highlight: Dual GPU NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M Graphics

If someone mentioned a PC with NVIDIA dual-GPU SLI-enabled graphics, you’d probably think of a desktop PC right? Well the Lenovo Y500 laptop is available with the same kind of killer-gaming-pc dual GPU setup. When you pair this kind of extreme graphics with a full-HD 1920x1080 display, you have an amazing gaming and media capability that you can use anywhere.

From the NVIDIA Control Panel: SLI and PhysX settings for the dual GeForce GT 650M graphics setup in my Lenovo Y500

I had some fun with the Y500 running one of the latest DirectX 11 games: EA’s Need for Speed Most Wanted. Running at full 1920x1080 resolution and mixed medium/high settings, this game consistently held 40fps during gameplay, a great result for such a visually intense game. At these settings, Need for Speed Most Wanted looked awesome, and gameplay was very smooth.

Need For Speed Most Wanted Gameplay – 40fps at full HD resolution and medium/high settings (click to enlarge)

While I have had a lot of fun gaming on the Y500, I also get down to business with this PC and use it for my daily work. One of my productivity highlights with this PC has been photo editing (including images for this article). What made this a great photo editing laptop? The photo-goodness list includes the large high resolution screen, powerful accelerated graphics, USB 3.0 ports for my portable hard drive, and the great integrated trackpad. Any photo pro will tell you that display quality is paramount for photo editing, and I found the Y500 display to be extremely good for photo work.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 running on the Y500, the 15.6” full-HD is perfect for these kinds of tasks

Photoshop feels good on this PC, but it also runs fast thanks to hardware acceleration using the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M dedicated graphics.

The hardware acceleration in Adobe Photoshop CS6 was configured and enabled by default following install, I love it when thing just work!

Note that Lenovo has recently started shipping Y500 PCs with the newer NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics, so these models will perform even better with graphically intensive applications.

Here are some specs for the Y500: (full specs available here)

Intel Core i7-3630QM
RAM: 8GB (min), 16GB (max) DDR3
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M, 2GB GDDR5 (GT 650M tested in this article)
Display: 15.6" 1366x768 or 1920x1080

Find me on twitter! @GavinGear

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!

Sony introduces the VAIO Fit

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:04:39 GMT

Sony today is unveiling a brand new VAIO line – the VAIO Fit.

Sony’s VAIO Fit is designed with students and business users in mind – great design and performance at an entry-level price point. The VAIO Fit will be available in 14-inch and 15-inch models. VAIO Fit laptops uses weight-saving aluminum materials in its construction to be thin and light – making it a great PC for someone on the go. In terms of performance, VAIO Fit laptops will come with third generation Intel Core processors, up to a Core i7, optional NVIDIA Graphics with up to 2GB of VRAM, Hybrid Hard Drive and Solid State Drive (SSD) options, and optical drives (including Blu-ray Disc writing options as well). So with regards to performance, the VAIO Fit has you pretty set.

VAIO Fit laptops ALSO come with high resolution displays. The VAIO Fit 15 comes with full HD (1920 x 1200). The VAIO Fit 14 comes with what Sony is calling “HD+” (1600 x 900). The VAIO Fit comes with an optional capacitive touchscreen and the display itself is LED backlit (as well as color enhancement technology) that gives the laptop excellent picture quality but conserves battery life.

The VAIO Fit includes a full-size backlit keyboard. The VAIO Fit 15 also comes with an integrated number pad.

And the VAIO Fit also comes with Near Field Communication technology (NFC) that allows people to quickly send content such as website URLs by simply touching any compatible NFC to the VAIO Fit.

For audio, the VAIO Fit uses audio technology called ClearAudio+ for the entire line. This technology gives a “virtualized” surround sound experience. The VAIO Fit 14E and VAIO Fit 15E have “big box speakers” and the VAIO Fit 15E has its own subwoofer.

The Fit 14 and 15 are available in Steel Black, Steel Pink and Steel Silver for about $649 and $699. The Fit 14E and Fit 15E are available in Black, Pink and White for about $549 and $579.

Sony is also announcing updated to their current All-in-One (VAIO Tap 2) and Ultrabook (VAIO T Series 15 and VAIO L Series 24) lines. For their Ultrabooks – think touch!

For more information on the new Sony VAIO Fit laptops and updates to some of their current PC lines – click here.

Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat – Microsoft Hardware Artist Series Mice #winchat

Kristina Libby — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:39:06 GMT

It’s not a hidden secret that I love art. I go to the Seattle Art Museum at least once a month, check out the MOMA every time I can and even occasionally pretend that I can make art on the Fresh Paint App. In the end, though, there is a huge gap between myself and the experts. That’s why I’m always excited when a new line of Artist Series mice debuts.

Designed by artists all over the world, these mice are unique and fitting for all types of different artistic interests. Today we will be joined by my friends on the team to discuss this cool new line up of mice and the artists behind them.

You can find more details on the new Artist Series mice here. We are also thrilled to be giving away a few of the new Artist Series mice to three people who answer Q1-Q4 during our weekly chat!

To participate in the Tech Tuesday Live Twitter Chat:

Join us from 12-1 PT (3-4 ET) on Twitter
Follow the hashtag #winchat
Follow @windows, @kristinalibby, @msfthardware, @daniellaycock, and @windowsblog to make sure you get the whole picture.
For full legal terms and conditions, click here.

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.

-------------------------

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.

HP announces new Windows 8 PCs for SMBs

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:51:14 GMT

Today, HP has announced new PCs that are designed for small and medium businesses (SMBs) with the goal to balance the need for high performance with mobility.

HP ProBook 400 Series

The HP ProBook 400 Series laptops are designed for the cost-conscious SMBs who want to have amazing performance and slick design without compromising on price. The ProBook 400 Series is offered in 17.3-inch, 15.6-inch, 14-inch, and 13.3-inch models featuring processors from Intel and AMD. And the new ProBook 400 series laptops are up to 36% thinner than the previous models. They also come with a new hybrid hard drive option that offers the responsiveness of an SSD with the capacity of a traditional hard drive, connectivity options that include 4G WWAN and are Skype-ready and feature DTS Sound+ for excellent audio. And the HP ProBook 450 has a touchscreen option as well.

HP 200 Series

The HP 200 Series laptops are offered in 15.6-inch and 14-inch models with a range of wireless options and processors from Intel and AMD. HP 200 Series laptops come with an HDMI port so people can connect to a larger HD display – perfect for having a second monitor at a desk or doing presentations. And it also comes with an Altec Lansing speaker too.

The HP ProBook 400 series and HP 200 series laptops are expected to be available in the U.S. later this month. Pricing for the HP ProBook 400 series starts at $499. Pricing for the HP 200 starts at $249.

Redditors: Ask the Panasonic Toughbook Team Anything!

Gavin Gear — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:07:40 GMT

Have you ever wondered how ruggedized PCs can withstand hard-surface drops, extreme temperature fluctuations, wet environments and more? I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be joining the Panasonic Toughbook team this Tuesday on reddit for an IAmA (Ask Me Anything) session. During this IAmA, we’ll discuss Panasonic Toughbook/Toughpad PCs, how these amazing products are designed and manufactured, and how/where customers are using these ultra-tough PCs.

Here on the Extreme Windows Blog I’ve been blogging about Panasonic Toughbook products (see posts HERE, HERE, and HERE). I’m looking forward to hearing more about how these products are designed and built, and also to hear about your experiences using these PCs!

Here are some specifics:

When: Tuesday May 7, 11:00am PST / 2:00pm EST

Where: Click this link

Want to join in? All you need to do is click on the link above, and sign into your reddit account (you can create one here if you don’t have one).

Find more information and news about this event here:

Twitter: @Toughbook, @Panasonic, @GavinGear
Facebook: Panasonic, Toughbook, Windows

App roundup: 4 Windows apps for Mother’s Day

Amy D — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:00:00 GMT

My mom, Laurie D, is the coolest. She can play a bunch of instruments better than I can. If you’ve got a melody, she can figure out five-part harmonies to sing with it. She can embroider roses, dogs, cats, angels, and probably anything else better than anyone I know. She reads novels voraciously. She can catch, clean, and cook a wild fish right out of a river or a lake. She has nerves of steel.

On top of all that, she’s kind to every person she meets and cares deeply for people. We’re talking about a woman who put up with and loved me the entire time I was an overly emotive teenager—back when I spent most of my time listening to sad and/or angry music, not cleaning my room, and wrecking her car. She really should get an award for that.

These days both my mom and I are busy, but we still try to stay in touch. I thought I’d share a few of the apps we use to stay connected regardless of where we are, which might help you connect with your mom this Mother’s Day too.

justWink

My mom is a sentimental lady, and I have grown to love that about her. She’s okay feeling the things she feels, and she’s always loved to encourage the people she cares about with little notes of cheer from time to time.

E-cards are cool because they allow me to try my hand at taking that extra-thoughtful step right from my PC. justWink has a great selection of e-cards you can customize and send either via email or Facebook. You need an account with justWink to send cards—I found it quick and easy to sign up for one and get on to sending some out. Here’s a card I picked to email my mom for Mother’s Day:

And here’s what it says inside:

Notice how it let me sign my name at the bottom instead of just typing my name? I used my mouse to sign my name, but had I been using my Surface or another touch device, I could have done it right on the screen with my finger or a stylus. I’m always a fan of little details that help make digital things feel a little less digitized.

Skype

I’m lucky in that my mom lives pretty close by—she’s never usually more than an hour or so away from me. However, my mom’s brothers and parents and all her nieces and nephews are at least a few states away from her. She misses them a lot, but Skype helps my mom stay in touch with them. She can call her brothers or video chat with my cousins.

Skype is especially great for communicating overseas. A few years ago I took an extended trip to Rome, and Skype helped me keep in touch with my parents and friends. Phone cards were expensive and confusing, and typically in a language I didn’t understand—but Skype was easy to use and kept my parents from worrying about me when I traveled from place to place. And if your mom does live far away from you, there’s a good chance she would love to video chat with you on Skype. (Trust me on this one.)

Kayak

Sometimes talking over the phone or on Skype doesn’t cut it, and it’s better to just be there in person. My mom is a wonderful daughter to my grandma as well as being a great mom to me, and she visits my grandma in Wisconsin a few times a year. Flying back and forth can get expensive, so she’s always looking for places to find good deals on flights. Kayak is a great resource for finding flights and hotels at really competitive prices. Kayak gives you a price comparison from different airlines so you can find the best fit for your schedule and budget, and the interface is clean and easy to use. My mom and I will be visiting my grandma sometime in the next few months, and we will definitely be checking Kayak for the lowest rates.

Kindle

My mom loves to read. She’s the reason I like reading, and one of the ways we connect is by talking about books we’ve both read. My mom and I have both have accounts with Amazon and get books for Kindle, and I love that I can sync the books I download between all of my different devices. I also like that I can send books to people as gifts—it’s a nice surprise to see a book you didn’t have to pay for show up in your Kindle app when somebody buys it for you, and it’s great for last-minute gifts—it shows up instantly!

These four apps are all good to have in your back pocket as Mother’s Day approaches. Do you and your mom like to use any apps to stay in touch? Are you planning on sending your mom an e-card or flying out to see her this year? Let me know in the comments!

Acer announces new Windows 8 PCs!

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:43:24 GMT

At a press event in New York City today, Acer has announced several new Windows 8 PCs.

Aspire R7

The Aspire R7 is a new 15.6-inch notebook that is designed to take advantage of the new computing lifestyle, which increasingly combines touching and typing. The Aspire R7 has some impressive specs:

A full HD 1920 x 1080 touchscreen display.
An Intel Core i5 processor.
6GB of memory.
A 500GB hard drive and 24GB SSD.
A full-size backlit keyboard.
Includes an HDMI port, SD card reader, 3 USB ports, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Also comes with a converter port supporting VGA, RJ45 and USB.

But this new PC has something unique – what Acer calls an “Ezel Hinge”.

What this does is enables this PC to do is move it’s HD display forward and into 4 different modes: “Ezel Mode”, “Notebook Mode”, “Display Mode”, and “Pad Mode”. With “Ezel Mode”, the display can float over the keyboard at various angles for example. With these 4 modes, the Aspire R7 can be used as a traditional laptop or like a tablet sitting on a table. The idea is that this hinge can make the combination of touching the screen and using the keyboard more intuitive and natural. The dual hinge technology allows for single-hand switching between the 4 modes and keeps the display rock-steady when touched. It also has an ergonomic design allows people to determine their own preferred way to interact with the PC.

With a repositioned keyboard and a revolutionary “Ezel Hinge” that moves the display forward and into different positions, the R7 makes the combination of touching the screen and using the keyboard more intuitive and natural. Its ergonomic design allows users to explore and determine their own preferred way to interact with technology.

The Aspire R7 will be available on May 17^th for the suggested retail price of $999.99 (U.S.). Consumers who place pre-orders with Best Buy between May 3rd and May 16th, 2013 will also receive a free download of Star Trek: The Video Game for PC as part of Acer’s marketing partnership campaign with Paramount for the upcoming film, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” opening on May 17, 2013.

Aspire P3 Ultrabook

The Acer Aspire P3 is an Ultrabook that comes with all the Ultrabook benefits but can easily transform into a “tablet” mode.

The Aspire P3 only weighs 3.06 pounds and measures 0.77-inches thin. And Acer has packed in quite a bit in this highly portable form factor for excellent performance with long battery life:

An 11.6-inch HD display with touch and IPS technology (wide 170-degree viewing angles).
Available with Intel Core i3 and Core i5 processors.
Up to 6 hours of battery life.
Either a 60GB or 120GB SSD.
Dolby Home Theater boosts sound for headphones as well as built-in speakers.
USB 3.0 port and HDMI port.
A built-in Acer Crystal Eye HD webcam in the front that can capture 720p HD, and a 5MP back camera.
A full-sized chiclet keyboard.
An optional stylus that fits in the case for customers who want the convenience of pen-based input.

The Acer Aspire P3 is available immediately starting at a suggested retail price of $799.99 (U.S.).

Acer Aspire V5 and V7 Series

The new V Series represents Acer’s biggest line of mainstream Windows 8 laptops with numerous models with a variety of options. The new V Series PCs are up to 9 percent slimmer than the previous generation and come with full HD displays, more powerful graphics and SSDs for even better performance.

All V5 series models are available with a choice of touch or non-touch screen. They also include a full size keyboard with an 8 percent larger key cap area than previous generation V5 laptops. All V5 models with touch screen configurations will also include backlit keyboards.

New V5 Series laptops with 15.6-inch or 14-inch displays:

Available in either high definition (1366x768) or full high-definition (1920x1080) with IPS technology.
Includes 4 speakers and are supported by Dolby Home Theatre.
Available with the next generation AMD dual core or quad core processors, or the latest Intel processors.
Select configurations are equipped with NVIDIA GeForce GT7XXM series or AMD Radeon HD8750 discrete graphics.

New V5 Series laptops with 11.6 displays:

Includes a high-definition (1366 x 768) display.
Just 3 pounds and less than an inch thick.
Models are available with the next generation AMD dual core or quad core or the latest Intel processors.
Also includes a full size keyboard (backlit keyboards will also be available in some regions).

All V5 Series laptops include an Acer Converter Port, making it easy to connect to an external display, hard drive, router, etc. Some models include a converter cable, which supports VGA, USB and RJ45 connections.

New V7 Series Ultrabooks:

The new V7 Series Ultrabooks offer the same stylish and thin design found on the V5 models, but adds a “silky touch” finish on the bottom.
All V7 models include a variety of the latest Intel processors, SSDs, Acer Theft Shield, the new Acer Converter Port and WiDi - Intel’s Wireless Display technology.

The Aspire V Series will be available at the end of May starting at the suggested retail price of $499 (U.S.).

TechEd Primer

Stephen L Rose — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:17:06 GMT

I had a great conversation with some folks via Twitter last week on what they should expect at TechEd as this was their first trip. This will be my ninth TechEd and I sometimes forget what it’s like for folks that have never attended. So for my Twitter pals, this primer is for you.

What is TechEd? - TechEd is Microsoft’s premiere event for IT professionals and developers. It provides hands-on learning, awesome sessions, deep product exploration, and countless opportunities to build relationships with a community of Microsoft experts and your peers.

Where and when is it? - TechEd North America will take place in New Orleans, June 3- 6. There is also a TechEd Europe in Madrid, Spain on June 25 – 28.

What should I expect? - Expect days filled with sessions that will answer your questions, fill your brain till it feels like it will burst, excite you about new products and features, evenings filled with great networking opportunities and conversations that will go late into the evening. It’s going to be hot and humid in New Orleans in June so bring comfy clothes and good shoes for walking, as sessions are at all ends of the conference center. Plan your days in advance. Register for sessions and use the schedule builder so you know when and where every key session you want to attend is and so you don’t miss anything. There are some more great tips for 1^st time attendees here.

Anything else? – Well, if you’re not certified, you can take advantage of this great opportunity to fulfill your certification requirements at a 50% discount at TechEd North America 2013. This opportunity is only available to registered TechEd North America 2013 attendees. Microsoft Certification can keep your skills relevant, applicable, and competitive, and with the Certification Center onsite at TechEd North America, you’ll have the chance to learn, practice, and talk one-on-one with the training experts on a variety of technologies. Microsoft Certification is an industry standard recognized worldwide.

Tell me more about the Windows Client Track-The Windows Client, Access & Management track focuses on four technology areas: Windows Client, Desktop Virtualization, User and Device Management, and Access & Information Protection. Sessions in this track help you plan, deploy, and manage Windows and applications. They help you understand the opportunities that the trends of consumerization and BYOD bring, empowering organizations with the knowledge to give their people the capability to work the way they want, on the devices they choose and how to enable those trends within your organization while keeping corporate policy and compliance standards.

What are some sessions I should plan to attend? There are tons but here are a few I recommend:

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Windows, But Were Afraid to Ask- Join Windows Product Managers Stephen Rose, Brad McCabe, Chris Hallum, Craig Ashley, and Michael Niehaus for an in-depth Q&A session covering all your questions ranging from features and security, through implementation and deployment. This is a great chance to meet the faces behind the product and get your key Windows questions answered by the experts.
How Many Coffees (New 2013 Edition) Can You Drink While Your PC Starts? - You can solve slow boot and slow logon in your enterprise! In this (new 2013 edition) “Case of…” style presentation we share real-world examples and insider tips from Microsoft IT and other enterprises on the causes of slow boot and slow logon. We measure user productivity gains/losses in terms of cups of coffee consumed while waiting for PC, but your business could measure the impact in millions of dollars per year. Be the hero that saves the Windows user experience from heavy handed management layers and badly behaving apps. We are living through a competitive “Bring Your Own Device” era where businesses are re-evaluating management control versus user satisfaction. Now is the time to achieve the right balance and optimize your Windows experience at work. In this session MC Stephen Rose sets the stage, while Matthew Reynolds from Microsoft Services walks you through diagnosis of the most common real-world slow boot and slow logon issues using the Windows Performance Toolkit. We also go beyond diagnostics to share stories of enterprises working their way toward improvement and some of the non-technical challenges they have overcome.
What's New in Windows 8 Deployment- Michael Niehaus - Now that Windows 8 is generally available, it is important for enterprises to begin integrating it into their plans. In this session, we dig into the technical aspects of Windows 8 deployment projects, including changes in the tools, technologies, and processes used for deploying.
Windows RT in the Enterprise- Michael Niehaus - In this session, learn about appropriate and inappropriate scenarios for using Windows RT in enterprise environments: challenges to overcome, as well as known issues and limitations.
Windows Store Apps: Enterprise LOB App Deployment Scenarios – Michael Niehaus- Using WinRT APIs and design principles, Windows 8, and Windows RT are introducing a new type of application. Enterprises are being encouraged to create these, as well as consume third-party apps. This session reviews the technical requirements, how side loading is performed, challenges that may be encountered in this process.
Securing Windows 8 Clients and Resources from Threats – Chris Hallum - Windows 8 offers a rich set of new features that change the game when it comes to Windows client security. Come join us to learn about one of the key scenarios that we’ve delivered which enables Windows 8 to secure clients and resources from threats in a completely new way. During this session we discuss Trusted Boot, Measured Boot, Remote Attestation, Virtual Smartcards, and even third-party features in the context of an end-to-end scenario where a company is able to ensure that a customer account is being accessed from a healthy device and is vetted using strong authentication before access to resources is granted.
Understanding Windows To Go: Supported Use Cases, Hardware Considerations, and Deployment Options in the Enterprise- Craig Ashley - With Windows 8 we redefined workforce mobility by introducing a new feature called Windows To Go, that enables enterprises to provide users a managed corporate environment on a USB drive that they can operate from multiple managed or unmanaged PCs. In addition to reviewing Windows To Go messaging, this session focuses on key supported use cases and deployment considerations, answering top frequently asked questions, and providing guidance on deploying and managing Windows To Go in the enterprise.

Will you be showing any cool devices in the Windows booth? - Yup. We’ll have cool stations showing off the latest hardware as well as experts to answer your questions on Windows 8, Windows 7, MDOP, Desktop Virtualization, Security, BYOD scenarios, and all up desktop management.

What if I want to purchase one of the devices? Will you be selling them? - For the first time at TechEd, attendees will be able to purchase Microsoft’s latest consumer products including Microsoft Surface, Windows 8 PCs, and Windows Phones directly from the onsite Microsoft retail store. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with Microsoft store employees who can answer questions, provide technical support, and demo the products. Best off, you will be able to take home that device they you been eyeing!

What about the Springboard/Windows Community Party I keep hearing about? - I will be doing a blog post on the party in the next week or so. Last year the party sold out in less than an hour so make sure to keep an eye out for that post.

What if I am going to TechEd by myself? – My first year at TechEd I went by myself and came back with tons of new friends I still am close with today. Some of the friendliest folks at TechEd are members of TheKrewe. They are a group of IT pros from across North America and are some of the nicest folks I have met anywhere. Look for them wearing an azure blue hat with their twitter handle on the back and the words “TheKrewe” on the front. Just tell them that Stephen Rose and Springboard said I should meet you and voila! Conference buddy! Also, Microsoft MVP’s and MCT’s are also great people to meet. They are some of the top tech trainers, bloggers, forum supporters and user group leaders from across the world. They are great contacts for you to make.

Are there still opportunities to attend or is the show sold out? – There are still a few passes left so if you plan to attend, you should book today. Click here for information on registering for TechEd.

What if I can’t attend? – Well, we are sorry to miss you! Good news is that some of the sessions are recorded and will be available here on Channel 9.