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from the yes-microsoft-still-has-relevance dept.
A couple of interesting tidbits came out of Build 2014 yesterday. The conference is being streamed for those who cannot attend in person.
Microsoft Planning on $0 Windows for Some Devices
Apparently competition, combined with a desire for Microsoft to invade new market spaces, is applying downward pressure on the price of some forms of Windows licenses. Microsoft announced that Windows would be available at no cost for "Internet of Things" devices as well as for phones and tablets with screens less than 9 inches. Not included: Whether this applies to Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 RT, but the inclusion of "phones and tablets" leads me to believe that it will be the RT version.
Start Menu To Return To Windows 8.1
After nearly a year and a half since it was removed in Windows 8, the start menu is finally returning. The previews shown at BUILD show that live tiles (similar to those on Windows Phone) will be displayed side-by-side with the more traditional hierarchy of groups. No word on when this will finally be released to users.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by DECbot on Thursday April 03 2014, @05:40PM
Isn't that repetitive of your other statement? They were giving away IE and the likes to gain market share for years now. Adding the OS to the mix isn't a stretch. Hell it comes on nearly every PC for "free" already.
Though what is cutting edge is MS's SaaS offerings. I'm sure the bean counters would be happier writing a check to MS every month than having a bunch of engineers demanding server upgrades, larger IT budgets, CAL renewals, emergency server maintenance and related tech support fees. If they could remove the datacenter and all the techs and engineers related to having in house IT off the balance sheet, and only have one line item called MS IT Services they'd be happy. ---Well, as happy as an accountant can be. Perhaps vindicated and satisfied are better terms. Just write a check to MS for all things IT and then focus on what really matters, the company coffee budget and janitorial services. Can't let those get out of hand, it'd ruin the company.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 1) by spxero on Thursday April 03 2014, @06:44PM
It's odd what people perceive as value. Yesterday a friend on Facebook was complaining about having to pay for Office just to finish out her term papers so she could be become a nurse practitioner. However, when people bring up healthcare costs of course that's a worthwhile use for money spent. Among the comments left to her rant were mentions to use OpenOffice, Google Docs, and other similar software or services, all free. I think Microsoft is realizing that Word is about as good as it's going to get, the Office suite is about as good as it's going to get, and it's time to start expanding into the markets that they aren't in (read: iOS & Android) or they're going to be left behind.
Of the family members I am around most, my wife only users her laptop to work on her schooling, my father-in-law has stopped using his desktop and laptop in favor of an iPad for everyday surfing, and my mother in law only uses her iPad once a week and doesn't own a computer. In discussions with my mom about getting new equipment for grandma a computer wasn't even in the discussion- the choice is either an Android tablet or an iPad. Of all these family members, I'm the only one that uses a computer on a regular basis, and most of that is for work. Microsoft's focus needs to be on supporting the data centers and business servers, because the end-user perception is that they don't need a computer. Focus on their formats being a de-facto standard and they'll eventually wedge their way into the mobile market.
(Score: 2) by clone141166 on Thursday April 03 2014, @10:51PM
I am currently studying a medical related degree also and it saddens and disappoints me how readily it is assumed that everyone will just be using Micro$oft Office. Most assignments *require* submission in .doc or .docx format - I just use OpenOffice and then convert to .doc prior to submission. Some subjects even go so far as to require the use of non-free fonts (Times New Roman). It would be nice if people were at least *aware* that other, less restrictive options exist beyond M$ Office.