Microsoft today has started taking registrations for Windows 8 upgrade program for existing Windows 7 users. The program, which is available in 140 countries, lets you upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for as low as $14.99, provided that you meet the required criteria for the upgrade.
Need for Speed is one of the most exciting driving titles on the market. If you like tooling around in super cars, injecting them with subhuman doses of nitrous before bursting corners and markers at light-speed, then you've more than likely played at least one iteration of Need for Speed, and the next in line - Need for Speed: Most Wanted - won't be breaking from that mold for anybody. In fact, it's one of those enthralling motor-based gaming series where very little braking is actually done at all, and although it can be quite repetitive in terms of gameplay, the missions and achievements always keep drivers coming back for more.
With everything that is currently going on in the technology industry, it sometimes gets quite difficult to keep all of the announcements in memory and remember what hardware or software is going to be introduced to the marketplace. With the iPhone and iOS 6, the Nexus 7, the chatter surrounding Windows 8 and more recently; the imminent launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note II, I had actually totally forgotten about the impromptu media event where Microsoft introduced us to their Surface tablet. When Apple announces an iPad, it is pretty much available immediately. When Google announced the Nexus 7, it was available for immediate pre-order and was dispatched a couple of weeks later. Microsoft announced the Surface and then, well, nothing happened.
Windows RT - based on Windows 8 - is the first desktop operating from Microsoft that has been developed from the ground up for touch-screen devices i.e. tablets. It replaces the traditional desktop interface in favor of a Windows Phone-like start screen, made for touch-input apps, a Windows Store for downloading them, multi-touch gestures and more! With Windows RT and OEMs like Samsung, ASUS, Lenovo, HP etc., Microsoft aims to directly compete with Apple’s iPad in the tablet market.
Such is the manner in which technology moves nowadays, no sooner is one major release out of the way, do consumers, analysts and enthusiasts in general begin nattering about what's up next. Windows 8 has been in our faces for the entire year, after Microsoft dropped the Developer Preview to the public in an unprecedented move, but despite not releasing for another two-and-a-half months, the successor to Windows 8 has already got chins wagging.
Microsoft opened up registrations for the BUILD 2012 conference, and with tickets selling like lemon-topped hotcakes, it’s rather surprising to see that the whole conference sold out in a matter of few minutes, at the time of writing.
Windows 8 has always been highlighted as the point when Microsoft's main products would unite as one, with desktop, tablet, smartphone and gaming all intertwined in one way or another by the new operating system. With that in mind, it should be of no surprise that Microsoft has based the structure of gaming on Windows 8 around the flagship Xbox platform, and the built-in games within the upcoming version of the Redmond company's operating system will be branded as "Xbox Windows."
The Microsoft Surface is the company's first delve into the increasingly popular tablet market, and it's fair to say the Redmond outfit has a fair bit of catching up to do. The iPad has been retailing for two-and-a-half years, and although Android tablets haven't managed to make as much of an impression on consumers, the companies behind them are now seeming to push forth some genuine contenders to the Cupertino company's dominant slate.
Microsoft has a pretty busy schedule coming up over the next couple of months, and as well as Windows 8, Windows Server 2013 and the introduction of the Surface tablet, Office 2013 is also in the pipeline. The next iteration of the popular productivity suite has been available to download as a preview version for the past couple of weeks now, bringing many new features including deep cloud integration, and now the Redmond-based software extraordinaire has launched a dedicated Store for Microsoft Office 2013.
One of the things about Windows which a great deal of users have come to love is also one of the things which a lot of people have taken the opportunity to have a dig at the Redmond company for. There's no doubt that Windows has been the most popular desktop operating system over the years, with millions of people across the world loving the fact that Microsoft has introduced new versions of the OS while rigidly sticking to a tried, tested and familiar visual user-experience. By that I mean it doesn't matter if you pick up Windows 98, XP, Millennium, Vista or 7, you automatically know from experience where things are and can get up and running right away.
