Microsoft Windows

Just weeks after Microsoft Corp. launched its major overhaul of Windows, the company disclosed late Monday that the president of its Windows and Windows Live operations is leaving the company. The departure of Steven Sinofsky, who oversaw the launch of Windows 8 and the Surface tablet, was effective immediately, the Redmond, Wash., company said. Sinofsky, who could not be reached for comment, was replaced by Julie Larson-Green, who has been with the company since 1993 and oversaw program management, user interface design and research for Windows 7 and 8. She will lead all Windows software and hardware engineering.

Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows 8 has not given a boost to U.S. sales of PCs and tablet computers, according to the NPD Group. Since the highly anticipated operating system was launched Oct. 26, Windows device sales have fallen 21% compared with the same period last year, the market research firm said. Notebook sales, which have been weak throughout most of 2012, were down 24%, and desktop sales dropped 9%. Through Nov. 17, Windows 8 had captured just 58% of Windows computing-device unit sales.

Sun Microsystems Inc. will begin building servers with onetime foe Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system installed directly in them, instead of forcing customers to install the ubiquitous software on their own or defect to a competitor for one-stop shopping. The agreement announced Wednesday is the latest twist in a truce the companies, once bitter rivals, hammered out in 2004, when Sun pocketed $1.

The Windows PC and tablet market didn't get the boost it needed from the launch of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, according to a market research firm. Since the highly anticipated OS launched on Oct. 26, Windows device sales have fallen 21% compared with the same period in 2011, NPD Group said Thursday. Notebook sales, which have been weak throughout most of 2012, were down 24% while desktop sales dropped 9%. Through Nov. 17, Windows 8 had captured just 58% of Windows computing device unit sales, compared with 83% for Windows 7 in the four weeks after that operating system's debut, the firm said.

I've been using Microsoft Windows 3.0 daily since it was released about two months ago. The software, which adds a graphical user interface to IBM and compatible PCs, has greatly boosted my productivity. However, I've found some areas where I think Windows is weak. Fortunately, some of the problems can be solved by using add-on software utility programs that help manage files and programs. I reviewed Windows 3.0 when it was released in May. It makes programs easier to use.

Can Windows 7 repair Microsoft Corp.'s reputation and trigger enough sales to pull the technology sector out of its financial funk? That seemed to be the overriding question Thursday as Microsoft officially took the wraps off its latest operating system, much of which was already public knowledge, with more than 8 million testers having used it since January. In the past, thousands of technology companies could count on each release of a new Windows operating system to deliver its own economic stimulus: Millions of consumers would rush out to buy faster computers and companies would splurge on more powerful computer systems.

Microsoft Windows 95 Flawed, Magazine Says: A test version of Microsoft Corp.'s long-awaited operating system has a major flaw that can freeze up a computer when running certain applications, InfoWorld Magazine said. The company is aware of the problem, but is shipping 450,000 anyway as part of a preview program, the magazine said.

Microsoft Corp., the computer software giant, reported a 156% increase in net income and a 90% increase in revenue for the first quarter of its fiscal year. Income for the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, was $15.8 million. During the same period last year, the company had income of $6.2 million. Revenue rose to $66.8 million from $35.2 million.

1975 Revenue: $16,005 Employees: 3 February: Bill Gates and Paul Allen license first computer language program written for a personal computer. November: Gates uses the name Micro-soft for the first time in a letter to Allen. 1976 November: Microsoft trade name registered with secretary of state in New Mexico. 1978 December: Year-end sales exceed $1 million. 1979 January: Microsoft moves to Bellevue, Wash., from Albuquerque. 1980 Revenue: $7.

The PC Data Online Hit List is based on units sold by 17 retail chains representing more than 60% of the U.S. market. For the week ended Aug. 27: *--* Average Title Publisher price 1 Diablo 2 Havas Interactive $52 2 The Sims Electronic Arts 40 3 Microsoft Age Of Empires II Microsoft 30 4 Microsoft Expedia Microsoft 24 Streets/Trip Planner 5 Norton Antivirus 2000 6.

Just weeks after Microsoft Corp. launched its major overhaul of Windows, the company disclosed late Monday that the president of its Windows and Windows Live operations is leaving the company. The departure of Steven Sinofsky, who oversaw the launch of Windows 8 and the Surface tablet, was effective immediately, the Redmond, Wash., company said. Sinofsky, who could not be reached for comment, was replaced by Julie Larson-Green, who has been with the company since 1993 and oversaw program management, user interface design and research for Windows 7 and 8. She will lead all Windows software and hardware engineering.

Microsoft today officially launched Windows 8 and the new Windows Store. The company said Windows 8, its latest operating system, will be available for purchase online and in stores today starting at $39.99. The operating system retains Windows' traditional desktop but also adds another view that is heavily geared toward touchscreen devices. Windows President Steven Sinofsky said that more than 1,000 computers have been certified for Windows 8 and that there will be some Windows 8 PCs that'll sell for less than $300.

So what's the difference between provocative and pornographic? Nothing, really, according to Microsoft guidelines for app developers for its Windows Phone platform. As the Windows Phone app ecosystem now gains a bit of momentum, Todd Brix, senior director of Windows Phone Marketplace, outlined in a recent post on the developer blog some new policies to be enforced. "Our content policies are clearly spelled out : We don't allow apps containing 'sexually suggestive or provocative' images or content," he wrote.

About 17 months after Windows Phone launched in the U.S., Microsoft's mobile operating system is now available on smartphones in China. HTC and Microsoft announced Wednesday that China's first Windows Phone, the HTC Eternity, is now on sale. While the Eternity being on sale is progress for Windows Phone, as China is considered one of the most important consumer markets for tech companies to succeed in nowadays, the phone has launched without the official backing or subsidy support of any wireless carrier.

Amid all the attention lavished on the new iPad, a Bloomberg report notes that work on Windows 8 is likely to wrap up this summer, setting the stage for a debut in PCs and tablets this October. The first wave of devices are likely to run both Intel and ARM processors, with the overwhelming majority carrying Intel, Bloomberg said. Although Microsoft is developing its offerings with ARM technology -- that's what's running Apple's iPad -- there will be "fewer than five" WOA (Windows on ARM)

You don't need to touch Windows 8 on a tablet to recognize that things are very different in the next version of Microsoft's operating system. On Wednesday, at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Microsoft released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, making it available as a free download worldwide and showing it off on tablets and PCs in Spain. The Consumer Preview release offers a closer look at what Windows 8 will actually look and behave like when the retail version is released later on this year.

The Justice Department is wrong and The Times is wrong ("Bill Gates Is Wrong," editorial, May 20). There is a lot to hate about Microsoft Windows. There is also a lot to hate about old age, but it is better than the alternative. I fear that government regulation is the worst possible alternative to Microsoft's dominance. As with IBM 40 years ago, the leading position of Microsoft and Windows provides a de facto standard in a rapidly growing technology. Such a standard is the very anchor that innovators large and small (including Netscape)

The next version of Microsoft Windows, the software that defines the computing experience for most people, will nag users less than its much-maligned predecessor, Vista. PC users will be able to test the new edition early next year. The world's largest software maker also is making Word, Excel and other key elements of Office -- its flagship "productivity" programs -- able to run in a Web browser. The move is meant to help confront rivals such as Google Inc.

Question: My Nokia Corp. shares have been plummeting. Do you see any future in this stock or should I get out and take my losses? Answer: The world's largest maker of mobile devices has struggled in the new world of smartphones, and its future depends on whether a new partnership can help it expand profitably beyond the market for low-priced phones. Cheaper Asian rivals have cut into Nokia's sales at the low end of the phone market, while Apple Inc.'s iPhone and devices based on Google's Android operating system have surged in popularity.

Skype, the popular Internet-based calling service, said Monday it would begin running ads. "Today we announce something new ? the launch of advertising in Skype, which will appear in the Home tab in Skype starting this week," Doug Bewsher, Skype's chief marketing officer, said in a company blog post. "The Skype experience is our first priority, which is why we we've taken a lot of time working through and testing what kind of advertising would work best in the Skype environment. " Skype, which has about 145 million monthly users, has run test ads from Rdio over the last "month or two," and the first official advertisements inside of Skype will start running sometime this week, Bewsher said.