Paul Thurrott

With a bridge-building theme as a backdrop, Microsoft on Wednesday announced a series of changes that fundamentally alter the relationship developers have with Windows 10. Now, Microsoft is embracing web and legacy desktop applications, and it will let developer easily port Android and iOS apps to Windows 10 too. Related: Build 2015: Microsoft Takes on Amazon…

Apple reported a net profit of $13.6 billion on revenues of 58 billion in the quarter ending March 31, thanks to continued strong sales of iPhone 6 and strong growth in China, the world’s largest market. By all accounts, it was another blockbuster quarter for the consumer electronics company. “We are thrilled by the continued…

Because you just can’t make this stuff up, this week’s other news includes Microsoft’s quarterly earnings report, Office successes on Android and iOS, Microsoft ignores HERE sale, Google’s ad sales, Apple’s Watch goes on sale, a volcano erupts, Amazon keeps losing money but is killing it in the cloud, and an unflattering Apple logo is…

Microsoft on Thursday announced the financial results for its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended March 31. The software giant posted an operating profit of $6.6 billion on revenues of $21.7 billion, though the results were negatively impacted by the strong US dollar and ongoing fees related to its acquisition of Nokia’s devices and services…

Google on Wednesday announced Project Fi, a new low-cost cell phone service that it is launching in the United States. Fi will ride on the backs of Sprint and T-Mobile and will seamlessly switch to Wi-Fi when available, even for phone calls and text messages. But as you may expect, it comes with some serious…

  Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer may have driven a tougher bargain with Microsoft than originally expected: According to a recently revealed regulatory filing, both Yahoo and Microsoft can now terminate their recently renegotiated search deal as soon as October 2015, a full five years earlier than before. This is a fairly stunning achievement for Mayer, who…

Last year’s TechEd was the last for the long-running conference, but the most notable thing about it was the utter lack of on-premises announcements. But on the eve of TechEd’s successor, Ignite—which gets underway in two weeks in Chicago—it’s clear that TechEd 2014 wasn’t an exception. Microsoft’s move to the cloud has seriously hindered its…

Because Windows XP will never really go away, this week’s other news includes an EU “I told you so” to the US DOJ and FTC, Google’s Chrome support extension for Windows XP, a major delay for SharePoint 2016, the Apple Watch launch that wasn’t, Google adds handwriting support to Android, Nokia buys rival and sets…

Microsoft has closed an important deal with Yahoo, which will continue using Bing technologies in its own search experience. The only question what concessions Microsoft made to keep the partnership alive, as Yahoo was known to have been unhappy with search revenues and was actively seeking to change the deal or engage with a new…

  European Union competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Wednesday formally accused Google of violating antitrust laws by abusing its dominance in Internet search to harm competitors and consumers. Additionally, Ms. Vestager said that her European Commission was investigating whether Google forces phone makers to favor its own services on the Android mobile OS. Google controls…

After a decade of steady exoduses by top Microsoft executives, a few are starting to return home: following in the footsteps of Stephen Elop, Kurt DelBene has returned to the software giant after two years serving the US Secretary of Health and Human Services and overseeing Healthcare.gov, the Obamacare web portal. DelBene has been named…

Because your Apple Watch isn’t arriving until June anyway, this week’s other news includes Microsoft’s mobile payments mulligan, the secret plan to advertise Windows 10 to Windows 7/8.1 users, PC sales fell again in the first quarter, Apple Watch debuts, the EU is serious about Google, and Lynda.com gets a big payday. Microsoft to try,…