In Japan, it’s been popular for the past several years to make “-tan” versions of electronics. These are cute personifications of game hardware or even computer operating systems. Most recently, Microsoft released the official Windows 8-tans ; however, most of these “-tan” creations are not official. They are fan creations, like “Siri-tan”. More »
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Why Apple’s Siri Is Personified as a Butt Lady in Japan
If you’ve been wanting to upgrade to Windows 8 but baulk at paying then, firstly, you’re a bad person but, secondly, now your opportunity’s here. Microsoft just screwed up and handed out a free activation key for the OS. More »
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Microsoft Just Messed Up and Gave Out a Free Windows 8 Activation Key
Windows: If you’re having problems with a Windows 8 Store app and nothing is working, Microsoft offers a few troubleshooting tips, as well as a utility that can automatically find and fix app problems for you—even ones you’re not aware of. More »
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Microsoft’s App Troubleshooter Finds and Fixes Problems with Windows 8
A new report claims Apple’s next OS X release will include built-in Siri — Apple’s voice assistant — along with the company’s own maps application. [Read more]
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Apple’s OS X 10.9 may feature Siri and homegrown maps
The next-gen console will come with beefier hardware and a slew of other enhancements, says the magazine. [Read more]
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Xbox 720 to offer Kinect 2.0 and Blu-ray drive, says Xbox World
The city of Freiburg, Germany adopted OpenOffice back in 2007, mostly replacing the Microsoft Office software it had been using previously. Now, an anonymous reader tips news that the city council is preparing to abandon OpenOffice and switch back. “‘In the specific case of the use of OpenOffice, the hopes and expectations of the year 2007 are not fulfilled,’ the council wrote, adding that continuing use OpenOffice will lead to performance impairments and aggravation and frustration on the part of employees and external parties. ‘Therefore, a new Microsoft Office license is essential for effective operations,’ they wrote. … ‘The divergence of the development community (LibreOffice on one hand Apache Office on the other) is crippling for the development for OpenOffice,’ the council wrote, adding that the development of Microsoft Office is far more stable. Looking at the options, a one-product strategy with Microsoft Office 2010 is the only viable one, according to the council.” The council was also disappointed that more municipalities haven’t adopted OpenOffice in the meantime. Open source groups and developers criticized the move and encouraged the council to consider at least moving to a more up-to-date version of the office software suite. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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German City Says OpenOffice Shortcomings Are Forcing It Back To Microsoft
Official description: “The Zalman CNPS FX100-Cube is fanless and noiseless CPU cooler, which does not draw dust or generate vibration due to its passive operation.” Unofficial description: LOOK AT THIS FREAKING MONSTER HEATSINK! More »
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The Most Grotesque Fanless CPU Cooler I’ve Ever Seen
Microsoft’s SkyDrive is now one of the centerpieces of the company’s desktop and mobile platforms, but its relative newness has denied us some of the fine-grained control we’ve taken for granted from services like Dropbox . The cloud storage service just resolved two of those common power user gripes in one fell swoop through an update to the desktop client. To start, it’s at last possible to limit SkyDrive syncing on Macs and Windows PCs just to specific folders — that poor tablet won’t reach its breaking point when someone creates a 5GB home video on the family desktop. Windows users alone see the second update, which integrates SkyDrive with right-click contextual menus for much faster sharing. Mobile customers aren’t left out with the refresh, either. Both Android and Windows Phone 8 SkyDrive users get a long-due file search as well as the option to shrink photos when they go online. Updates for the four update platforms are available at the source link, although they should push out on their own over the next two days for those who aren’t in a hurry. Continue reading SkyDrive gains selective syncing and right-click sharing on the desktop, searching on mobile (video) Filed under: Cellphones , Internet , Software , Microsoft SkyDrive gains selective syncing and right-click sharing on the desktop, searching on mobile (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink Inside SkyDrive | SkyDrive | Email this | Comments
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SkyDrive gains selective syncing and right-click sharing on the desktop, searching on mobile (video)
Using public Wi-Fi is a hit-and-miss endeavor: sometime’s its perfect, at others it’s bogged down so much as to be worthless. Fortunately a team of researchers has hit on a solution that can improve throughput by 700 percent —and because it’s software-based, it won’t even need any new hardware to have us all contentedly online. More »
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Simple Router Software Could Boost Public Wi-Fi Throughput By 700 Percent
You, the consumer, probably don’t care too much about Windows Embedded 8 and Windows Embedded Compact 2013. But businesses and OEMs, they’re pretty psyched. The next generation of Microsoft’s light-weight OS offerings will bring the improved touch and gesture support of Windows 8 to low power platforms like car computers and kiosks. In all five versions of Windows Embedded 8 will be available: Standard , Pro, Industry, Automotive and Handheld. The latter of which is built around Windows Phone 8 as opposed to the desktop system. The Industry and Handheld editions are expected to land in January, with Pro and Standard to follow in March. Compact 2013 doesn’t have a solid release window yet beyond Q2 of 2013. If you’re an impatient builder of connected devices you can download a release preview of Windows Embedded 8 Standard at the more coverage link. Continue reading Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded 8 and Windows Embedded Compact 2013 road map Filed under: Software , Microsoft Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded 8 and Windows Embedded Compact 2013 road map originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Microsoft | Email this | Comments
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Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded 8 and Windows Embedded Compact 2013 road map