Has Windows 8.1 revived Windows app development?

　　In late March, the first builds of Windows 8.1 leaked to the Web. At about the same time, the number of Windows 8 apps reversed several months of slowing growth and charted four straight months of app increases.
　　Coincidence?
　　It’s certainly possible. And yet, the slowing Windows 8 development reversed course right around the time when Microsoft needed it most--when the Win 8.1 build was released. That trend is good news for Microsoft as it prepares for its BUILD developer conference on Wednesday, when the company will unveil the first preview of Windows 8.1.
　　Background
　　Windows 8 development started off strongly following the launch of Windows 8 in October—20,000 apps were launched in a month, followed by 15,000 the next—all apparent signs that developers were continuing the trend of Windows development and pumping out apps to the Windows Store.
　　But, following the holidays, app development slowed to a trickle: just 3,643 apps were added, according to MetroStore Scanner, which tracks the app development for the Windows 8 platform.
　　In the MetroStore Scanner chart shown below, the gray line tracks the absolute growth of the number of apps. The vertical bars track the rolling average number of apps added per month, broken down by the new apps, in blue, and the updated apps, in green.
　　So, the data below from MetroStore Scanner shows that the number of apps slowed down in January and February and picked back up in March.
　　Too late?
　　By then, however, the reputation of Windows 8 had taken a serious hit. Customers had begun turning up their noses at Windows 8’s unfamiliar interface, and the initial bloom of corporate licenses were withering.
　　To be fair, the first rumors of Windows Blue—a sweeping revamp not just of Windows 8, but of Windows Phone as well—first leaked out at the end of 2012. But the rumors began to catch fire in February and March when reports began putting a fine point on what Blue could offer. And then, in late March, we had the first concrete details of Windows Blue, within the first leak of the OS.
　　At that point, the drop in the average number of monthly apps changed course and began rising again. As of this writing, the total number of apps within the Windows Store stands at 94,298, after months of increasing growth.
　　Microsoft’s goal with BUILD is to keep the app momentum going.
　　Higher stature
　　While some of the features of Windows 8.1—better apps organization, a boot-to-desktop mode as well as a shortcut to the Start page from the Desktop—are an apology to the user, BUILD is designed to improve Microsoft’s stature among developers.
　　This is important, because developers who code for Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Windows 8-powered Surface tablets can leverage code written for each platform. But they still don’t necessarily create “one continuous Microsoft experience,” said Forrester analyst Frank Gillett last week. Compare that with, say, the Apple iPad and iPhone, which share a common code base and therefore a continuum of apps.
　　With that said, the transition to the next iteration of the Windows 8 OS can make a significant difference.
　　”Past experience shows that all operating systems become better after the version-point-one release, “ said Win app developer Christer Kaitila via email. “Mass adoption of Win 8 has enabled the QA and gears-greasing required for Win 8.1 to be ready for prime time."
　　”Some developers prefer to avoid being an early adopter of new tech to allow the tools and community to mature,” Kaitila added. “More importantly, the good news from braver souls helps encourage devs to come on board.”
　　Kaitila, who has said he has, to date, released ten freeware games on Windows 8, has also authored the Ludus platform game development kit for WIndows 8, allowing others to follow in his footsteps.
　　Kaitia also runs the #1GAM (One Game a Month) website, which Microsoft sponsored in a bid to bring more independent game development to Windows 8. (Ironically, Microsoft has drawn fire for what some have said are anti-indie attitudes toward its Xbox One game console.)
　　Better tools for developers
　　Nevertheless, Kaitila said that Microsoft has stepped up with better tools for app developers.
　　“I love the new Visual Studio for Win8 because it does all the things Javascript programmers have been waiting for in an IDE: code completing, automatic formatting and syntax highlighting, instant compile times, great game-worthy rendering performance, [and] mega-awesome debug tools like breakpoints, watches and stepping through Javascript,” Kaitila wrote.
　　n an infamous statement, Keith Lorizio, Microsoft's vice president of sales at Microsoft Advertising, said that the Windows Store would attract 100,000 apps in three months. Microsoft is now on pace to hit that milestone, but in nine months, not three.
　　Ironically, the recent surge in apps may have hurt Jeremiah Stoddard, whose Morse code app, CW Coach, was authored for Windows 8 precisely because the OS isn’t popular.
　　”I’ve been writing Windows 8 apps because it’s the path of least resistance,” Stoddard said via email. “It may not have the same market as the iPad or Android tablets, but the flip side is that there’s a lot less competition, which makes it easier for one’s app to get noticed. So, although I’m watching Windows 8.1 with curiosity, it wasn’t the reason for writing new apps for Windows 8.”

Particulars concerning when exactly this integration are going to be available

　　Microsoft and Oracle nowadays declared that they are putting their distinctions aside to strike a strategic partnership during the cloud enterprise place. The offer handles equally the non-public cloud and the public cloud, encompassing multiple new solutions.

　　Firstly, Oracle will certify and assist buyers who previously run its application on Home windows Server to run that same program on Windows Server Hyper-V or in Windows Azure. Oracle customers also obtain the benefit to run their Oracle software program licenses in Home windows Azure “with new license mobility.”
　　Hyper-V and Azure assist starts immediately, although the partnership doesn’t close there. Microsoft and Oracle have agreed to work together to “add effectively certified, and totally supported Java into Windows Azure.”
　　Microsoft may also add Infrastructure Companies occasions with preconfigured versions of Oracle Database and Oracle WebLogic Server for customers who do not need Oracle licenses whilst Oracle will permit customers to get and launch Oracle Linux images on Home windows Azure. Particulars concerning when exactly this integration are going to be available were not shared.
　　In the course of a convention simply call right now, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talked of the “tipping point” in regards into the partnership. “A large amount has transpired and we’re intending to continue to contend in areas,” he said. “I believe both firms have generally, at the least several many years, have had regard for one another.”
　　Oracle President Mark Hurd agreed: “I consider it just makes sense for us to carry on to boost our own abilities but in addition allow for buyers to leverage both of those of our capabilities with each other,” he mentioned to the exact same contact. “I believe this tends to make a great deal of sense for both equally of us…because it tends to make a great deal of perception for our shoppers.”
　　Oracle 1st hinted at today’s information for the duration of an earnings get in touch with on Friday. The business company said it experienced ideas to announce new technology partnerships with not merely Microsoft, but Salesforce and Netsuite as well.

Google asks FISA court to lift gag order on NSA surveillance program

　　Google on Tuesday sharply challenged the federal government's gag order on its Internet surveillance program, citing what it described as a First Amendment right to divulge how many requests it receives from the government for data about its customers in the name of national security.
　　The move came in a legal motion filed in the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and was aimed at mending Google's reputation after it was identified this month as one of nine U.S. Internet companies that gave the National Security Agency access to data on its customers. Revelations about the program, known as PRISM, by a former NSA contractor has cracked open a broader debate about the privacy of American's communications from government monitoring.
　　Yahoo says it received up to 13,000 data requests
　　Obama on NSA programs: Americans "not getting the complete story"
　　The publication of such data requests would answer questions about the number of Google users or accounts affected by U.S. intelligence activities. But it wouldn't answer more critical questions on how much data is being disclosed, including whether information belonging to Americans has been swept up into investigations on a foreign targets.
　　"Google's reputation and business has been harmed by the false or misleading reports in the media, and Google's users are concerned by the allegations," according to the company's motion. "Google must respond to such claims with more than generalities."
　　Google has previously disclosed the number of data requests it receives from civilian law enforcement.
　　A company statement Tuesday said that "lumping national security requests together with criminal requests — as some companies have been permitted to do — would be a backward step for our users."
　　Alex Abdo, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said all the technology companies should be allowed to release as many details as possible, and that the government should divulge its legal justification of the surveillance program.
　　"The public has a right to know more about the government's sweeping surveillance programs so that it can judge for itself whether they are necessary and legal," Abdo said in a statement.
　　Google is also being challenged in a nationwide lawsuit that charges Google with the "unlawful interception" of millions of Gmail accounts without a warrant. CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews recently reported the information allows Google to send its users targeted ads.
　　Scott Cleland, who wrote a book criticizing Google's ability to monitor its users' emails, told Andrews that he believes Google's power far surpasses that of the NSA's.
　　"The National Security Agency is focused by law, outside of the U.S. If an American knew that literally someone knew every place they went, everybody they were talking to, where, when, and however, they would freak out," he said.

Microsoft appears to be altering the style and design of its Retail store

　　Microsoft is tweaking several its built-in applications for Windows eight.1, however the Music app seems to include essentially the most adjustments. A freshly redesigned copy with the Windows Store in leaked builds of Home windows eight.one has unveiled the brand new person interface for Xbox Music. Microsoft earlier discovered on the Verge that the focus with the new Songs app is on participating in songs about surfacing new information, noting it is possible to now engage in audio in two clicks instead of 6.
　　Screenshots with the new Xbox New music update display a two panel interface that seems to enhance discoverability of new music and the ability to swiftly access a collection of music. Xbox Audio at first introduced in October for Windows 8 and Home windows RT products, with all the ability to access tracks from an Xbox 360 also. Despite the fact that the services consists of most widely used tracks and albums, the interface has normally been gradual and clunky on Windows eight and Home windows RT units. The current application evidently aims to enhance that, using a "simplified design and style and layout" according to Microsoft. You will find also a persistent in-app lookup box with enhanced search results, guidance for songs files on SD playing cards, and Enjoy To assist for music outside the house on the Xbox New music catalogue.

　　Microsoft can also be incorporating several new built-in apps, which includes Calculator, Audio Recorder, Scan, Looking through Record, Film Times, and Assistance & Tips. Film Times allows you to edit videos from a touch-friendly interface, and Looking through Listing acts as a super clipboard to store URLs and other snippets from applications. The Seem Recorder, Calculator, and Scan apps are all simplified touch-friendly versions to replace the legacy desktop variants. Assist & Tips will consist of quite a few tutorials for new Windows 8.1 users that should increase some of your associated confusion together with the new interface.
　　Alongside the Xbox Songs redesign and additional applications, the new Windows Retail outlet interface has also been spotted in Windows eight.one builds. Microsoft cheap office professional plus 2010 appears to be altering the style and design of its Retail store, alongside improvements towards the top paid and top free sections, new releases, and a "picks for you" section that suggests applications based on an existing library. Similar applications are also suggested within application pages, using a general aim on application discoverability. The brand new Windows Keep also works well in portrait mode, designed for upcoming 7- and 8-inch tablets. All the improvements will be made available in Windows 8.one, an update that Microsoft will release as a preview version on June 26th alongside its Build developer conference.

Microsoft, FBI Bring Down Citadel Cyber Crime Unit that Stole $500 Million from 80 Countries

　　One of the world's largest cybercrime rings have been operating under the radar for quite some time now, stealing over $500 million from user's bank accounts from over 80 countries worldwide.
　　The FBI along with Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit shut down servers that were being used by as many as 5 million infected PCs. The sophisticated online crime operation was operated by the Citadel network. They managed to run the botnets for 18 months, successfully stealing money from unsuspecting victims.
　　Local police forces and tech companies in the 80 countries that money was stolen from participated in the shut down. About 1,000 of the 1,400 or so networks that made up the Citadel botnet are believed to have been wiped off. A botnet is comprised of hundreds to thousands of infected PCs that respond to commands routed through a command-and-control server, which is also an infected PC.
　　The Citadel cyber crime unit are reported to have used over 5 million PC's infected by the malware.
　　"The bad guys will feel the punch in the gut," said Richard Boscovich, a spokesman for Microsoft's digital crimes unit, BBC news notes.
　　In a blog post, Microsoft said this was its "most aggressive botnet operation to date" and the "first time that law enforcement and the private sector have worked together" to "execute a civil seizure warrant as part of a botnet disruption operation."
　　Computers used in this cyber crime operation were able to break into thousands of users bank accounts, ranging from American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, eBay's PayPal, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo.
　　A civil lawsuit has been filed by Microsoft in the U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina against the mastermind and leader behind the operation which has only been identified as John Doe No. 1, aka Aquabox.
　　"In addition, the FBI is working with Europol and police forces in many other countries to track down and identify the 81 'lieutenants' that helped Aquabox keep Citadel running," the BBC reports.

The arrival of the new Microsoft Sculpt Consolation keyboard designed

　　It has been in excess of a year considering the fact that I initially mounted a build of Windows 8 over a check device. Considering that then, I've operate it over a wide selection of components, such as slate-format tablets, hybrid touch/pen/keyboard pill PCs, conventional laptops and multi-monitor desktop PCs ¨C hardware that mixes the old (with Vista and XP-era products) along with the new (a recently upgraded Main i5 desktop method). It's been on Intel processors, on AMD, on bodily, on virtual: on really significantly each and every equipment I could discover while in the workplace.
　　Testing and benchmarking is all really properly, however , you only definitely get to know an OS by living with it, employing it each day to complete daily responsibilities in your daily Laptop. For me, which means the nice old-fashioned desktop Personal computer.
　　Nearly all of my time is put in before a multi-monitor desktop device, specifically the configuration that numerous individuals have concerned about in opinions to numerous Windows 8 posts. When desktop buyers could shortly be inside the minority, you will find nevertheless plenty of us all around. I rely on applications like Office environment and Adobe Lightroom they usually depend around the desktop ¨C and that?ˉs not likely to alter until the applications improve. So for my desktop Laptop, there?ˉs little modify in between seven and eight inside the way I perform.
　　Something I?ˉve found inside the months considering that Windows 8 attained RTM, its evolution hasn?ˉt ended ¨C and it?ˉs nonetheless recuperating. When i upgraded my desktop from Home windows seven to 8 just just after RTM it had been to all extents and applications only a marginally speedier Windows 7 device which has a new UI. But with the latest 160MB post-RTM update, and with all the arrival of some new machine drivers and a couple of recent pieces of hardware, it?ˉs getting one thing rather different.
　　The one particular big adjust, of course, is the Start out Monitor. As variations go, it?ˉs a massive one particular, but it?ˉs not the showstopper that some have produced it out for being. I?ˉve wound up managing it being a full screen version of your old Begin menu, and use it in considerably precisely the same way. Much like the commence menu, the beginning Display screen winds up jam packed with applications I?ˉve installed, and i at times tidy it up. There was just a little get the job done in finding it the best way I desired to start out with, but once again, commencing which has a contemporary put in of Home windows XP or seven I?ˉd be undertaking much the exact same detail ¨C grouping applications and removing references to capabilities or tools I don?ˉt plan to use.
　　Launching applications is easy more than enough. Tap the Home windows key and begin typing, when the word wheel filter shows your application, just decide on and click on ¨C or strike return. You‘re instantaneously back again around the desktop and in the application you wish to use. That?ˉs all you can find to it, and when you utilised Vista or 7?ˉs lookup box as your key technique of navigation you?ˉll find the Commence Display a little far more successful when you don?ˉt have to simply click from the look for box to start getting apps or files.

　　The arrival of the new Microsoft Sculpt Consolation keyboard designed some operations even less difficult. Though Windows 8?ˉs Charms are just a mouse gesture absent, possessing them about the keyboard is way simpler. Four different Charm keys indicate you can obtain to look, Share, Products and Settings while not having to shift your fingers away in the keyboard. If you?ˉre applying a Home windows eight Store-style app, the keyboard also includes four keys that replicate the primary Windows eight touch gestures. A person handles a still left swipe software change, though a different toggles the Snap check out to the running software. The opposite two start the beginning Monitor job switcher and open up the application bar.
http://www.windows7retailbox.com/office-mac-2011-full-retail-pack-c-643.html

Microsoft Is Milking its Cash Cow Dry

　　In last week's column I examined Microsoft's strategy of bundling Office with all 10.1-inch or smaller tablets and clamshell laptops. It appears that Microsoft has decided that these smaller devices will not be used for productivity but is still giving users Office for free, just in case.
　　However, the company clearly thinks tablets and clamshell laptops larger than 11.1 inches will be used more for productivity. If people want to use Office on these devices, they must buy a copy.
　　I am highly intrigued by this approach. While full versions of Office work fine on smaller tablets, I suspect Microsoft's real motive is to start pushing these customers toward Office 365, the cloud-based subscription version.
　　Interestingly, Microsoft has been a big software supporter of the Mac OS from the beginning. I remember when Bill Gates made a commitment to write for the Mac at an event back in 1984. To this day Microsoft has kept that promise to support it with its Office suite of products.
　　But that is where Gates' support ends. Microsoft has decided not to make an Office version for iOS. I find this a bit odd since iPads are outselling Macs six to one and they have pretty much become the de facto standard in the enterprise to date. Yes, Android tablets and even a few Windows tablets have started to gain some ground in IT but at the moment, the iPad rules the domain.
　　Microsoft's lack of support for iOS and Android is understandable. After all, the company sees Office as giving it a competitive edge that might increase adoption of its tablets within businesses. I can't fault it for that move. However, there is a problem with this strategy: While a local client of an app will be important in the short term, it is pretty clear that the online versions of these apps will become even more important. And these apps will be available on all platforms, not just one. Microsoft's current plan to put Office only on Windows tablets is a real mistake in the long run.
　　I have used Office since day one. Even today I still use it on my PCs and Macs for major reports, spreadsheets, and presentations. However, I am using it less and less each day since I use a tablet about 80 percent of the time, and it isn't available for iOS or Android. This means that when I am on the iPad I use Pages, Keynote, and Numbers and when I am on an Android tablet I use Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
　　Perhaps Microsoft should consider the Evernote model. While it does not have a spreadsheet or presentation program, it does have a word processing and notebook management tool available on almost any device, be it an iPhone or Galaxy S 4, iPad or Android tablet, PC or Mac. There is a local version that resides on each device so I can use it when not connected. Once it gets a connection, it accesses the cloud and syncs all my devices.
　　If Microsoft had foresight it would have been the Evernote for consumers and businesses. It could have created an app platform across all devices and tied it to the cloud instead of giving Apple, Google, and Evernote the chance to own the customers that use its products. It could have made Office a cross-platform productivity tool that gives its competitors' customers access to a suite that they already know and love.
　　I realize that Office is still a cash cow for Microsoft but that revenue stream will dry up as more and more of us move to alternative tools that work on our multitude of devices. Microsoft could have given a basic version free to everyone and then charged heavy users a subscription fee for the full version in the cloud. This strategy would ensure Office longevity because the current local version will become less important to businesses and consumers alike.
　　In the short term I suppose it makes sense to milk the cow dry, but by not creating a cross-platform version Microsoft will force people who use iOS and Android toward alternative tools. As they get used to using them instead of Office, demand for Office will decline in the long run.
　　I see this short-term thinking at Microsoft as a real blunder. In the not-to-distant future this move will bite it in the behind and take even more customers away from its apps that have for so long dominated the world of computing productivity.

Windows eight.one specially supports reduce resolutions

　　Even though Web Programs refers to its month to month figures as “market share reviews,” they actually represent usage share, which isn’t the same as sector share. Current market share measures product sales and/or shipments inside a offered interval. It is a snapshot with the purchasing selections men and women make in competitive marketplaces.
　　Usage share measures the actions of the installed foundation. In the mature Laptop industry, which is composed of roughly 1.five billion desktop and transportable PCs, newcomers have an uphill struggle to even get around the board. Measuring usage share delivers an indirect measure of sales, nonetheless it takes do the job to tease out the bigger traits.
　　Home windows eight is slowly but surely but steadily escalating its share of utilization throughout the world. In May perhaps, according to the NetMarketShare data, Home windows eight usage increased from 3.eight percent to 4.3 percent. That rate has remained with regards to the exact because February, the main comprehensive month after Microsoft’s discounted enhance offer you finished. Due to the fact then, NetMarketShare claims Home windows eight utilization has enhanced by a median of about 0.five per cent each month.
　　Windows 7 growth stopped on a dime with the release of Home windows 8. In October 2012, Home windows 7 usage was at 44.7 %. In Could, seven months later on, it’s up an inconsequential total, to forty four.8 per cent. Earlier this year I termed Windows seven the “Long-Term Assist model of Windows.” I predict it'll continue being popular, especially in enterprises, for years to return.
　　Windows Vista and Home windows XP are declining bit by bit. Collectively, these two versions shared about forty six.five p.c on the throughout the world usage share in Oct of previous calendar year, in advance of Home windows eight launched. 7 months later, they depict 42.2 p.c. That adds as much as a 4.3 p.c drop, which just comes about to match the share of Windows eight properly.
　　Home windows buyers are not deserting the system for OS X and Linux. Last October, OS X and Linux use additional as much as 8.3 p.c. 7 months just after the launch of Windows 8, the put together share hasn't budged and is particularly continue to at eight.3 %.
　　Desktop browser utilization shares (which are not as intently tied to new Computer buys) have also remained largely unchanged in modern months. For May well, NetMarketShare studies that Online Explorer held a fifty six p.c share, in contrast to 20.six % for Firefox and 15.7 percent for Chrome. Compared to previous Oct, which is a slight positive change for Web Explorer, which was at 54.1 percent, and for Firefox, which amplified from a good twenty %. NetMarketShare studies a obvious fall in worldwide utilization for Chrome, which had been at eighteen.six p.c.
　　Are this month’s figures good news or terrible information for Microsoft? Neither, seriously. The initial bump from early adopters and fans occurred during the 1st three months after the launch of Home windows eight, when Microsoft presented a significantly discounted enhance to Home windows eight Pro.
　　Nearly everybody who meant to upgrade to Home windows 8 has currently completed so. That leaves the replacement Personal computer current market. Roughly 650 million individuals who possess Home windows seven PCs which might be three decades old or newer don't have any plans to change their components or software any time quickly. Those that are replacing more mature PCs are, normally, acquiring new equipment with Windows 8 preinstalled, though they’re grumbling somewhat in excess of common.
　　Likely ahead, the destiny of Home windows 8 is tied to sales of recent hardware, like both traditional PCs and new cell units like tablets, hybrids, and Ultrabooks.
　　The normal Pc current market is, to put it mildly, not carrying out perfectly. While in the initial quarter of the calendar year, Computer profits dropped by 14 % when compared towards the exact same time period very last calendar year. Persons remain purchasing PCs, but they are holding on to them extended and progressively selecting smartphones, tablets, and various cellular products to handle computing responsibilities they utilised to execute while using the Pc.
　　Microsoft created Home windows eight making sure that it could ability those people nontraditional cellular units, calculating that it could make up with the drop in traditional Computer sales with shipments of recent Windows 8-powered units while in the pill category. But touch-enabled Windows laptops and tablets are only starting to seem on the market, and so they continue to make up fewer than thirty per cent of Windows PCs on the market place.
　　Everything could improve afterwards this 12 months. The subsequent wave of Windows 8 gadgets might be made up of smaller tablets much like the Acer Iconia W3-810, which sports an eight.1-inch monitor. Windows eight was designed with 10-inch screens in mind, having a powerful bias in favor of landscape orientation. Windows eight.one specially supports reduce resolutions and different factor ratios. In addition it can make other alterations towards the actions of apps that should ensure it is a great assortment for those mini-tablets.
　　If those devices are priced suitable, they may become a significant results. From the meantime, absolutely nothing is likely to alter next thirty day period, or maybe the month immediately after that.