Samsung has announced a new series of monitors just days ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show. The 24-inch Series 7 SC770 utilizes a 10-point multi-touch panel that is optimized specifically for use with Windows 8 – the first display designed for Microsoft’s new operating system. This will allow users to take full advantage of Windows 8 touch features like pinching, dragging and rotating objects.

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HTC is planning to launch two unique Windows RT tablets in 2013

                                    
HTC is reportedly developing two Windows RT tablets that will debut sometime in 2013 according to sources familiar with the company’s plans. The rumors contradict earlier statements by HTC which said they would withdraw from the heated tablet market in the US, allowing big names like Apple and Samsung to continue their dominance in the space.

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Consumer Reports recommends Windows 7 in most circumstances

                    
Consumer Reports recently weighed the pros and cons of upgrading to Windows 8 and came to the conclusion that it’s probably best in most circumstances to stick with Windows 7 or even buy a new machine running Microsoft’s previous iteration of Windows. They offer plenty of reasons to back up their advice, too.

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Dell urged Microsoft to avoid using 'Windows' brand for Surface RT

   
It was recently revealed during the Dell World conference in Austin, Texas, that Dell executive Jeffrey Clarke urged Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to not use the Windows name as branding for Redmond’s Windows RT operating system. The two allegedly met earlier in the year before Microsoft officially went with the Windows RT name.

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New Windows chief explains why Microsoft redesigned Windows

                                    
Taking over after Sinofsky's departure, Julie Larson-Green now heads Microsoft's Windows product development team. In an interview with MIT Technology Review, Larson-Green discusses some of the changes made to Windows and why with the company's latest operating system.

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Yahoo updates e-mail client, revises apps for Android, iOS, Windows 8

                          
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced earlier today via blog post that the search company has updated their web-based e-mail client. The revised layout focuses on minimizing distractions and improving speed, Mayer noted. Yahoo Mail now also has new mobile apps for Android, iOS and Windows 8 users on the go that are available as of writing.

Performance upgrades were a key concern for Yahoo as its sluggish nature likely deterred many users over the years. The company estimates that the speed increases will collectively save users around 36 million minutes each day.

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Lenovo updates Thinkpad X1 Carbon with touch screen and Windows 8

                                  
Lenovo has announced a touch-enabled version of its Thinkpad X1 Carbon ultrabook. Originally released in August 2012, the refreshed model is much the same as its predecessor, but should provide business laptop users with an optimal experience on Microsoft's new finger-friendly Windows 8 operating system thanks to a 10-finger, 14-inch HD+ touch display running at a 1600×900 pixel resolution.

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25-GPU cluster can brute force Windows password in record time

                                      
Jeremi Gosney, the founder and CEO of Stricture Consulting Group, recently showcased a GPU-based computer cluster capable of brute forcing its way through any standard eight-character Windows password (including upper- and lower-case letter, digits and symbols) in less than six hours.

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Microsoft introduces browser-based Windows 8 app creator

                                      
A recent Microsoft Research Connections blog post outlines some changes that have been made with regards to the tools that developers can use to create apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8. Up to this point, developers were required to build the app on a computer using a special set of development tools.

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VLC launches Kickstarter campaign for Windows 8 app

                       
The team behind the popular open-source media player VLC has announced plans to develop a native app for Windows 8’s  Metro UI, and they’re looking to crowdsource funds for the project through Kickstarter. According to the team, although they currently receive donations through the VideoLAN association (a French non-profit) to purchase test devices and pay for servers, the Kickstarter money will allow them to work on the new port full-time while hiring professional designers to rework the user interface for Metro.

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Next Windows may be free, yearly upgrades, possible 2013 launch

                              
Tired of using the same operating system for years? Microsoft certainly hopes so. The Redmond-based software maker is hoping "Windows Blue" will change how consumers perceive Windows by introducing frequent, periodic upgrades (e.g. annual releases), akin to Apple's aggressive Mac OS X release schedule.

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Firefox 64-bit development quietly ended for Windows

                         
It appears Mozilla has quietly toe-tagged 64-bit builds of its Firefox browser for Windows. In a Google Groups discussion, managing engineer Benjamin Smedberg requested coders halt development on nightly builds of its 64-bit Windows distribution.

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Paul Thurott: Windows 8 sales "well below" Microsoft's projections

Despite Microsoft's excitement at selling four million Windows 8 upgrades in four days, well-known industry blogger Paul Thurott says sales of the OS are "well below" Microsoft's internal projections. Get your salt shakers ready, but Thurott cites ones of his "trusted sources" at Microsoft for the tip, although fails to produce any specific numbers. To be fair though and in hindsight, Thurott does seem to have pretty accurate sources.

Despite the lack of numbers though, investors are a curious bunch, so we're likely to see official Windows 8 sales figures in the not-so-distant future. Until then though, anyone interested in watching the Windows 8 drama unfold will have to wade through a variety of anonymous leaks, specious rumors and fuzzy analyses in order to develop their own judgments.

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Dell's consumer sales suffer, Windows 8 touch devices encouraging

With yesterday's report of sagging consumer PC sales, Dell said it's looking to other markets (i.e. enterprise and IT services) to help pick up the slack. Dell has talked about transitioning from consumer PCs to IT business services in the past, but the company seems confident that its business-focused 10-inch Latitude tablet featuring Windows 8 and a swappable battery pack will be an integral part of that plan.

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Google improves Flash sandbox, Chrome safer than ever

Google silently rolled out an update to Chrome which featured an unusual change, apparently one worthy of an announcement on the Chrome Blog: improved Adobe Flash plug-in sandboxing. The company claims its new method of fortifying Flash makes Adobe's plug-in every bit as secure as Chrome's native sandboxing techniques.

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Internet Explorer 10 preview finally available for Windows 7

Aside from Microsoft's unilateral decision to enable Do-Not-Track by default, the most controversial thing about Internet Explorer 10 may have been its limited platform support. Except for its first couple of previews, the browser has remained compatible only for flavors of Windows 8. Today though, Microsoft has released their first Windows 7 compatible preview of IE10.

Download the IE10 preview for Windows 7
When IE10's first preview was birthed in April, its release notes indicated it would only be compatible with Windows 7 and up -- Vista and XP users be damned. Microsoft seems to have a habit of doing this kind of thing, but -- oh well -- that's just the way it is.

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Microsoft has "no plan" to release DirectX 11.1 for Windows 7

According to a reply from an engineer on Microsoft's Developer Network forum, DirectX 11.1 will be available exclusively for flavors of Windows 8 only. There are apparently no plans to release 11.1 for Windows 7 or Vista. "DirectX 11.1 is part of Windows 8, just like DirectX 11 was part of Windows 7. DirectX 11 was made available for Vista .... but at this point there is no plan for DirectX 11.1 to be made available on Windows 7", the post reads.

Although this information comes from Microsoft employee David Moth, it's important to note that Microsoft itself has not provided an official statement on the matter. Having "no plan" doesn't necessarily ensure it won't happen either -- but so far, it sound too good for Windows 7 users.

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