Hasta La Gadget!

Come gather ’round PCs, wherever files roam, and admit Windows Explorer, simply has to go. And accept it that soon, your OS’ll be Metro. If your file finding time is worth savin’ — then you better get used to File Explorer instead, for the times they are a-changin’.

Windows 8 renames Windows Explorer, File Explorer to help you find files instead originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 19:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen so much Ultrabook news recently we’re beginning to think they’re catching on. Market research firm the NPD Group has stepped in to confirm our suspicions, reporting a 39 percent jump in sales of premium Windows laptops (900 bucks and up) during the first five months of this year, compared with the same period in 2011. Despite a three percent drop in sales of $700-plus Windows notebooks, the Ultrabook share of this bracket increased steadily to nearly 11 percent. The analysts predict sales of these lower-end models will pick up as back-to-school purchases sooth the post-summer blues, with a general boost to the whole Ultrabook market expected when Windows 8 arrives. One thing the figures don’t tell us is what impact these sales are having on the revenue of Apple’s skinny flagship, but we’d sure like to know. If numbers are your thing, the PR is past the break.

Continue reading Ultrabook sales up in first half of 2012, Windows 8 waits patiently

Ultrabook sales up in first half of 2012, Windows 8 waits patiently originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has been promising a cheap-and-cheerful upgrade path to Windows 8 for those who buy new PCs. But what about that five-year-old PC in the basement? If the historically well-connected Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet is right, the upgrade path will go further back — much further. Although upgraders will still want Windows 7 if they need to carry over absolutely everything, tipsters claim that settings can transfer from releases as old as Windows Vista SP1. Those with truly ancient PCs (we’re looking at you, corporate customers) can even bring over personal files from an OS as dated as Windows XP SP3. Like we saw last time around, some of the 7-to-8 upgrade rules are a bit Byzantine — 7 Professional users can’t step down to the non-Pro Windows 8 release, for example, and it’s equally verboten to change language editions or move from 32- to 64-bit code without a full-scale reinstallation. The extra-long olive branch will be slightly unusual for Microsoft if it’s confirmed, but then the company is also trying to move along a user base that in some cases has clung to XP for more than a decade. Redmond is no doubt eager to get rid of our dependency issues.

Microsoft reportedly plans Windows 8 upgrades all the way from XP, wants us to just let go of the past originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Redmond seems to have more grandiose ideas for Connected Car than it’s let on before, judging from a recent help wanted ad on its site. Reading more like PR for its car-based plans, the job notice waxes poetically about using “the full power of the Microsoft ecosystem” in an upcoming auto platform with tech such as Kinect, Azure, Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Those products would use face-tracking, speech and gestures to learn your driving habits and safely guide or entertain you on the road, according to the software engineer listing. It also hints that everything would be tied together using Azure’s cloud platform, so that your favorite music or shortcuts would follow you around, even if you’re not piloting your own rig. All that makes its original Connected Car plans from 2009 seem a bit laughable — check the original video for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft job posting hints at Connected Car strategy: Azure, Kinect and WP8

Microsoft job posting hints at Connected Car strategy: Azure, Kinect and WP8 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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