metro

Microsoft does listen to user feedback, at least when it comes to fine-tuning some of the features in Windows 8.

Through their Building Windows 8 blog, the folks in Redmond have worked to reveal changes in store for Windows 8, notably in the area of file management. Among them are improvements to the cut, copy, paste, rename, and delete commands; refinements for file collisions; and a new look and feel for Windows Explorer.

In reaction to those blog posts, more than 2,000 users chimed in with suggestions for further tweaking the new file management. And Microsoft apparently listened.

Detailed … Read more

Microsoft is already testing the waters with the next version of its popular Office suite.

Office 15 officially made its debut as a technical preview yesterday, available to a small number of early testers who will provide feedback that can influence the final release.

And though the technical preview program is already full, a beta of the new Office suite will surface for everyone to play with later in the summer.

A Microsoft blog posted yesterday by PJ Hough, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Office Division, spilled very few beans about the new suite codenamed Office 15. And those … Read more

Microsoft designed its Windows 8 app store to make it easy to find and download content. But that goal proved challenging given the variety of apps expected.

In a Microsoft blog published Friday, Jonathan Wang, a program manager on the company's Store client team, took readers on a tour of the store, covering everything from browsing to searching to downloading.

For its look and feel, the store set out to be clean and uncluttered, letting the apps take center stage so that people could more easily focus on what they need.

But to pull folks into the store, Microsoft'… Read more

Listening to Intel's CEO Paul Otellini over the last couple of months, one can't help but wonder whether Windows 8 isn't coming sooner rather than later.

Sooner as in not next year (as in October?) Next year being a scenario pitched by some analysts.

And I do mean Windows 8 on the tried and true Intel and Advanced Micro Devices X86 platform--not ARM necessarily--as that's all Otellini cares about.

Otellini's chipperness started back in November when he made a very upbeat presentation about how Windows 8 will transform laptops into tablets--or what is now being … Read more

There are a couple of unique features that will help the announced, but not-quite-released, Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G stand out when it hits store shelves.

First, and most importantly, there's the 4G LTE compatibility for this Android smartphone. MetroPCS doesn't have a 3G network to speak of, so the speed differences between the 2.5G network and the LTE are significant.

Second, and equally important, is the price. At $200 off-contract, it'll cost $100 less than the LG Esteem. It's got the advantage there for more-price-conscious buyers who still want a premium smartphone, even if it … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As it goes with these matters, it's one thing to hear about this or that phone's bright screen, and another entirely to see it.

The LG Connect 4G, one of MetroPCS' two new LTE Android phones, has a 4-inch LG Nova display that boasts 70 nits of brightness. Indeed, it's pretty luminous.

There are other decent specs on it, too, like a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 5-megapixel camera, and a VGA front-facing camera.

It's certainly vaulted for the no-contract carrier, which needs to keep unsubsidized costs down, often by offering handsets that pare down … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Earlier this morning, MetroPCS regaled us with a tale of two new 4G LTE phones, which is saying a lot for a company that has only released three LTE phones on a year-old network.

The Galaxy Attain 4G is easily the more humble of the two. However, MetroPCS' strategy seems to be topping up a Samsung phone that's already in its lineup: the Samsung Galaxy Indulge that's stuck in Froyo-land and has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Even though it's got less steam than the Connect 4G in the features department, I actually prefer its physical design, … Read more

The fate of ultrabooks is intimately linked to Windows 8, as CEO Paul Otellini has made clear in recent talks--and as he is expected to reiterate at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.

Ostensibly, CES for Intel and the PC crowd is about the crush of new Windows 7 ultrabooks hitting the market. But internally, Intel is keen on Windows 8 as a vehicle to close the yawning gap with Apple's mobile devices, particularly the iPad.

Otellini got a rude reminder of how important ultramobile devices are in 2012 and beyond when an analyst at a … Read more

Windows 8 will provide a refresh option that can automatically restore your PC to a clean state without erasing all your data and customized settings.

Due to appear in the Windows 8 beta that will debut next month, the refresh option makes good on Microsoft's earlier promise that it would give users an easy way to restore Windows in the event of a problem.

As described in yesterday's Building Windows 8 blog by Desmond Lee, a program manager on Microsoft Fundamentals team, the new OS will actually offer two ways to bring Windows back to factory condition:

• … Read more