Paul Thurrott

With Windows 10, Microsoft is pushing a new web browser—currently codenamed Project Spartan—over its legacy Internet Explorer. But it’s not clear what the real strategy is here, since a new web browser that runs only on Windows is fundamentally just as constrained as the browser it seeks to replace. Microsoft first launched Internet Explorer 20…

A growing failure in the market for video game consoles it once dominated, Nintendo will finally turn its attention to mobile devices. The video game firm announced Tuesday morning that it is partnering with Tokyo-based DeNA to jointly develop games for smart phones and other devices. “Both companies will develop and operate new game apps…

Microsoft announced a variety of business software and service offerings during a Monday morning keynote at the Convergence 2015 conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Pledging to transform business by putting data to work, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella hailed the software giant’s efforts as a “culture of empowerment.” “Businesses are hungry to seize new opportunities using technologies…

Because sometimes it’s better to be right than to be loved, this week’s other news includes a reported Microsoft plan to bring Cortana to (gasp!) Android and iOS, an MSN move into the Windows group, Xbox One still doesn’t beat PS4 despite record sales, IDC cuts PC sales forecast for 2015, how that change will…

It’s been an interesting week, with both Apple and Google launching expensive, high-end PCs built around the new USB Type C (USB-C) standard, which delivers power, data and display over a single connector. The only question now is how long it will take Microsoft and the Windows PC ecosystem to jump on the bandwagon. On…

As part of its normal monthly Patch Tuesday, Microsoft this week patched the widely publicized FREAK flaw in all supported Windows versions. Overall, the software giant issued 14 separate security bulletins—all but two of which are for Windows—and fixed over 40 vulnerabilities. When the FREAK—for “Factoring Attack on RSA-EXPORT Keys”—vulnerability was first disclosed a few…

Microsoft is suing Kyocera, a Japanese consumer electronics maker whose Android products it says are infringing on seven Microsoft patents. Kyocera is one of only a handful of Android device makers to refuse to license Microsoft’s relevant patents, following firms such as Motorola and Barnes & Noble, the latter of which eventually settled. “Among [the]…

Google quietly revealed last week that its unpopular Google+ social networking service is going to be split into multiple separate services, including Google Streams, Google Photos and Google Hangouts. The move follows a difficult few years for Google+, which was once seen as a connective layer across many of Google’s services for individuals. “The rumors…

Because Van Halen with Gary Cherone was most certainly NOT Van Halen, this week’s other news includes a super FREAKy revelation that Windows is also vulnerable to a decades-old encryption hack, news that’s not from Barcelona, Microsoft is looking to buy a social media news reader, Hillary Clinton was an email admin, and thieves are…

Many web sites and mobile devices are at risk of electronic attack thanks to a newly discovered security vulnerability that dates back to the 1990s. Dubbed FREAK, this vulnerability was inadvertently caused by the lifting of strong encryption requirements for products exported from the United States over two decades ago. FREAK—for “Factoring Attack on RSA-EXPORT…

Google plans to enter the US wireless market with a hybrid “Wi-Fi first” service that will seamlessly bridge Wi-Fi and cellular data connections, and provide voice, text and data capabilities across both. As with the firm’s fiber optic efforts, this “experiment” will start at a small scale and not immediately threaten the four big wireless…

Because you accept no substitutes, this week’s other news includes Microsoft at Mobile World Congress next week, Microsoft finally decides to replace IE with something that works, the salacious tale of a Microsoft employee’s expense account, why on earth is the PlayStation 4 so popular, and Apple is about to invent the Surface, er, iPad…