It may have taken twelve months from announcement to reality, but Microsoft’s Surface Pro has finally gone on sale in the UK today. Microsoft announced a few weeks ago that a collection of countries would see the Surface Pro arrive by the end of May. Today, it was the UK’s turn and Microsoft is celebrating by devoting the company’s UK website’s home page to the new tablet.

Microsoft has really been on the offensive over the past few weeks in the tablet world, having taken a series of swipes at Apple’s iPad in an attempt to rejuvenate the Surface’s flagging start in the Cupertino-dominated market. With the company chairman, co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates having already stepped out recently to note of the iPad’s frustrating interface, the Redmond company is currently running an ad campaign in an attempt to point out the exact reasons why consumers should choose Windows 8 tablets over iPad. Just a short while ago, we saw the Windows maker use Apple’s Siri voice recognition software to poke fun at the market leader, and following on from that is another ad showing just how much more productive one can be when using Windows.

Microsoft has set about spending its huge advertising budget by launching a new TV ad that uses Apple’s Siri to compare Windows 8 on tablets with Apple’s iOS on an iPad. The ad, which also feels oddly like one of Apple’s own, even features the Siri voice we’ve all come to know over the last couple of years.

Earlier this year, we caught a glimpse of the technologies of Leap Motion, one of a number of companies looking to take the world of gesture-based research by storm. One of the more intriguing insights we’ve had into how this kind of tech could significantly broaden the horizons in the gesture-filled landscape, Leap Motion offered a very enticing introductory video back in February illustrating how its peripheral could turn almost any computing setup into an effortless, three-dimensional realm of pinching and swiping elegance, enhancing the general user experience on all kinds of different levels. To whet the appetites further, Leap has come through with yet another video clip, and if you were somewhat unmoved by the initial demonstration clip, prepare to be wowed!

Via the official Windows blog, Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 8.1 (formerly known as Windows Blue) will be a free update for those running the current Windows 8 operating system. Many had suspected that the Redmond company might try its hand at Apple’s system of meager updates for a minimal fee, but, as per the blog post, the update will in fact be called Windows 8.1, and will be offered as “a free update to Windows 8 for consumers through the Windows Store.”

Windows 8 is far from long in the tooth, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from getting the ball rolling on the next release of its ever popular operating system. Windows 8.1, codenamed Windows Blue, is penciled in for a release later this year, with testing still ongoing inside Microsoft.

As a user of both the Windows and OS X desktop operating systems, I often find that an app available for one is not always necessarily available for the other, and even if a software maker does cater to both, the level of the performance is seldom matched on both OSes. Mission Control, formerly known as Exposé, is one feature of OS X Mountain Lion I enjoy particularly, and while there’s no such native feature even remotely similar with Microsoft’s Windows, an app called BetterDesktopTool can help you achieve such functionality.

According to a new report, Microsoft is planning to bring the long lost Start Orb button back with Windows 8.1 later this year. Is it a good move? Is Microsoft trying to lure back users they lost over the past months?

Microsoft may be busy cooking up the next edition of Windows for release later on this year, but the Redmond company has still found time to deliver a bunch of delicious new themes for Windows 8. Created by the software maker “for the armchair traveler,” themes are set in some of the world’s most picturesque and exotic locations, and if you want to freshen up your Windows 8 machine or device with a new look, please check out the details after the break.

Regardless of whether your desktop computer operating system of choice has that Microsoft feel about it, or slants more towards an Apple inspired offering, it’s probably fairly accurate to assume that there are things that you would like to change about the aesthetics. Mac OS X is currently enjoying its most successful spell to date with Apple reaping the benefits that come attached with the current surge in user adoption. However, Microsoft is also reporting a recent surge in profits that has a lot to do with the success of Windows 8 since launch.

Modern day computer systems are far too complex to be explained through one key process. They contain a mx of hardware and software working together with several other components to deliver us the smoothest possible computing experience. Even if we look at just the software part of such an environment, there are so many inner lines of code topped by a graphical user interface, that there is a potential of so much going wrong without us noticing. At times, it does happen that a feature that was implemented to help smoothen the user experience, becomes the cause to disrupt it.

Windows remains the most popular and widely-used desktop operating system to date, and hence, has the largest chunk of user application software running on it. The nature of these applications ranges between games to multimedia to productivity and even development tools. For that reason, the operating system can tend to become unstable over time, especially if you try out a lot of software (without paying much attention to safety) and are not very conscious of your system’s health. Bottom line is, you may find yourself in need of reinstalling the operating system from time to time, and while with newer versions of Windows, the system stability has seen significant improvement, there will still be cases where you’d not be left with any other choice. For reinstalling Windows on your desktop or notebook, you need the serial key.

Windows 8 has certainly divided opinion among PC users, with some users having been vocally critical of the tiled, so-called Metro interface that Microsoft decided to opt for. Traditionalists have been particularly unimpressed with the new Start menu, which, while adept for tablet use, can confuse the everyday, desktop Windows user. According to sources of TheVerge, Microsoft is testing current builds of Windows 8.1 inclusive of an option for users to boot into the much familiar desktop screen.

I’ve been using Windows 8 as my primary OS for a long time now, yes, that includes the Developer Preview, the Consumer Preview, the Release Preview and of course the final release build. Therefore, it’s safe to say that I’ve seen Windows 8 evolve into what it is today and I would call myself a veteran user. But sadly, I’m thoroughly disappointed and have decided to migrate to an OS X powered Mac. Read on, if you want to know why.

Windows operating systems have seen additions of several highly useful features throughout the evolution cycle of the OS. From Windows XP to Windows 7 was the most major leap that the Redmond company ever made, both in aesthetics and in the feature set that the operating system had to offer. Jump lists, aero Snap and dynamic search are just some examples that one can quote in this context. However, that doesn’t mean that highly revered features didn’t exist prior to that. Windows XP was the first operating system to introduce Hibernation, and beyond doubt, that was one of the most useful power features that the operating system came with, allowing the user to save the state of the whole machine when powering it down, and consequently resuming work much faster than a cold start.

Here’s how you can watch WWE WrestleMania 29 live on your iOS, Android, Xbox and Windows 8 / RT powered devices. In case you don’t already know, The Rock will be taking on John Cena for the WWE Championship, some 90,000 fans are expected to turn out to the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to see it.

For many Mac users, using Windows is a necessity, for running Windows apps and playing games that are unavailable for OS X. The recent release of the OS X 10.8.3 update introduced official support for Windows 8 in Boot Camp, meaning that it is now possible to dual-boot both operating systems on any Mac running OS X. And we have a complete guide on how to install Windows 8 on a Mac running OS X 10.8.3, check it out after the jump.

Nokia Music opens the door to what is actually a pretty gratifying music listening experience, and with the app having found a good home on Windows Phone smartphones, a version has just been released for both Windows 8 and Windows RT. As part of Nokia’s continued coalition with Microsoft, the Finnish company is also working hard to raise once more its own profile, and although there is plenty of competition in the streaming music game, Nokia Music fans – including this one – will be pleased to see accessibility stretched to other Windows devices and machines.

The recently confirmed Windows Blue appears to be the internal name for Windows 8.1 rather than Windows 9, according to multiple sources. More details on this after the jump!

If there’s one negative that is consistently levelled at Windows Phone, it’s the platform’s lack of any kind of unified notification system. Unlike Android or iOS, Windows Phone does not feature an area of the operating system that plays host to all new notifications, meaning it can be easy to miss something important.