Craig Mundie takes new role at Microsoft, will retire in 2014

Craig Mundie has left his role as Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer to become senior adviser to the CEO, as he winds down before retirement. Mundie had led strategy since founder Bill Gates stepped down from full-time work at the company in 2006. Ina Fried of All Things D first reported the move Monday morning, noting that it was announced in an internal memo from CEO Steve Ballmer on Dec. 14, which also...

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Windows 8's uptake falls behind Vista's pace

With just a week left in the month, Windows 8's usage uptake has slipped behind Vista's at the same point in its release, data from a Web measurement company showed. According to Net Applications, Windows 8's online usage share through Dec. 22 was 1.6% of all Windows PCs, an uptick from 1.2% of November. Windows 8 publicly launched on Oct. 26. At the same two-month mark in Vista's release timetable, that OS accounted for...

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Windows 8 PC orders weak, says analyst

Computer sellers have scaled back their expectations of the sales pop they'll get from Windows 8 this year, an analyst said today. Brian White, of Topeka Capital Markets, said that his checks of Asian computer manufacturers -- the relatively unknown firms that build desktop and notebook PCs to specifications issued by the likes of Hewlett-Packard and Dell -- found that orders last month climbed by less than half the average...

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Microsoft moves to relegate Windows 7 to second-class status

As Microsoft goes full speed ahead on Windows 8, a number of signs suggest that Windows 7 is fading fast in Redmonds rear view mirror. On Monday, Microsoft program manager Daniel Moth confirmed in a support forum that DirectX 11.1 will only work with Windows 8. The company has no plan to bring DirectX to earlier versions of Windowsincluding Windows 7. DirectX 11.1, Microsofts API for 3D graphics, isnt a major update...

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Microsoft patches critical flaws in Windows 8, Windows RT

Microsoft today patched 19 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), Excel and the .Net development framework, including four flaws in the just-released Windows 8 and its tablet spin-off Windows RT. Of Tuesday's six security updates, four were labeled "critical," Microsoft's most-severe threat ranking, while the remaining pair were pegged as "important" or "moderate." Of the 19 vulnerabilities patched today, seven...

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Most memorable tech industry apologies of 2012: From Apple to Google to Microsoft

Tech vendors have been as bombastic as ever promoting the magical and amazing things their latestsmartphones, cloud computing wares and network gear can do. When things go wrong, they're naturally a little less visible, but plenty of companies have sucked it up and done the right thing this year (perhaps with a little legal prodding here and there) and publicly apologized for minor and major customers inconveniences. Here's...

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