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Internal Windows Runtime apps are prohibitively expensive to deploy, says Microsoft Regional Director

By tim, on March 2nd, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

Now we know why Microsoft has been so reluctant to divulge details of how to deploy a business app that uses the Windows Runtime (also known as Metro apps or Windows Store apps; though in this case the Windows Store app designation is particularly silly since these apps are precisely not Store apps).

Presuming Windows

…continue reading Internal Windows Runtime apps are prohibitively expensive to deploy, says Microsoft Regional Director

Windows Phone 8 enterprise security versus Blackberry 10 Balance and Samsung Knox

By tim, on February 28th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

How good is Windows Phone 8 security? Actually, pretty good. The key features are described here [pdf]:

Trusted Boot prevents booting to an alternative operating system, using the UEFI secure boot standard. Only signed operating system components and apps can run. App sandboxing:

No communication channels exist between apps on the phone other

…continue reading Windows Phone 8 enterprise security versus Blackberry 10 Balance and Samsung Knox

Power shifts at Mobile World Congress: Samsung rises, Apple absent, Google hidden, Microsoft missing

By tim, on February 27th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

Mobile World Congress, now under way in Barcelona, is a big event. Exact numbers are not available, but I have heard talk of 70,000 trade attendees; it is not something you can safely ignore if you have a presence in the mobile industry.

Nevertheless Apple chooses to ignore it, preferring its own exclusive events.

…continue reading Power shifts at Mobile World Congress: Samsung rises, Apple absent, Google hidden, Microsoft missing

Cross-platform frameworks ordered by percentage of shared code

By tim, on February 21st, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

Following my piece on different approaches to building the user interface in cross-platform frameworks, twitter user Sam Hogarth pointed me to the PropertyCross project. This implements a non-trivial application in 8 different cross-platform tools, covering Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Note that only four of the frameworks support Windows Phone.

Using the pie charts presented

…continue reading Cross-platform frameworks ordered by percentage of shared code

Windows Phone 7.8 Live Tiles are buggy, say users

By tim, on February 15th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

When Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8, one disappointment was that existing phones would not be upgraded to the new mobile operating system. In mitigation, Microsoft promised Windows Phone 7.8 instead, an upgrade to Windows Phone 7.5 that implements the most visible feature of WP8, a new Start screen with more flexible live tiles that can

…continue reading Windows Phone 7.8 Live Tiles are buggy, say users

Windows 8: Forget Surface Pro, what matters is the app platform

By tim, on February 11th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

Microsoft has launched Surface Pro, its own-brand Windows 8 tablet, causing the usual agitation.

The 128GB model is sold out online, but has it sold well, or did Microsoft only make a few? Is it too expensive for the spec? Is the battery life too poor? Can you type properly with it on your

…continue reading Windows 8: Forget Surface Pro, what matters is the app platform

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 hassles: asynchronous processing service stopped

By tim, on February 9th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

I installed Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 a few days ago – rarely a straightforward task, thanks to Active Directory dependencies and the complexities of Windows security. There also seem to be unfixed bugs in the setup. For example, I always find that the trace directory is incorrectly configured and has to be fixed via PowerShell,

…continue reading Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 hassles: asynchronous processing service stopped

Microsoft financials: record revenue, signs of Windows 8 concern

By tim, on January 25th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

Yesterday Microsoft released its financial figures for the last three months of 2012.

Quarter ending December 31st 2012 vs quarter ending December 31st 2011, $millions

Segment Revenue Change Profit Change Client (Windows + Live) 5881 +1140 3296 +416 Server and Tools 5186 +171 2121 +409 Online 869 +85 -283 +176 Business (Office) 5691 -619

…continue reading Microsoft financials: record revenue, signs of Windows 8 concern

Why is Windows 8 not selling better?

By tim, on January 24th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

The Register reports a rumoured blame game playing out between Microsoft and its OEM partners concerning why Windows 8 sales have not taken off in the hoped-for manner.

A separate source at a major Windows 8 PC maker confirmed frustration is simmering inside Microsoft, and the blame is settling on PC makers. He said [Microsoft]

…continue reading Why is Windows 8 not selling better?

Making sense of Microsoft’s Cloud OS

By tim, on January 15th, 2013 Follow tim on Twitter

People have been talking about “the internet operating system” for years. The phrase may have been muttered in Netscape days in the nineties, when the browser was going to be the operating system; then in the 2000s it was the Google OS that people discussed. Most notably though, Tim O’Reilly reflected on the subject, for

…continue reading Making sense of Microsoft’s Cloud OS

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