This article was published on March 9, 2012

This week at Microsoft: Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Office 15


This week at Microsoft: Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Office 15

Welcome to Friday, my friends, it’s a right pleasure to provide you with a bit of entertainment before you ship home from work to plant yourself in front of yet another screen. Modern Man and the Monitor Tan. We’re all guilty of it.

This week at Microsoft was happily varied, and oddly illuminating. As always, this roundup is essentially a list of my favorite things from the week. If you want a comprehensive look at what happened in the realm of Microsoft, head to the archives for all the information.

Now, be sure that you are following TNW Microsoft on Twitter, and Facebook, and let’s get into the news.

Windows 8

Windows 8 is shaping up to be a capable, if controversial operating system. However, that’s only half the picture. If Microsoft expects to take on Apple’s slate juggernaut in any meaningful way, it’s going to need a cadre of fantastic pieces of hardware in the marketplace to ship Windows 8 on. So far, the signs aren’t good.

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I view the situation in the following way: most of the current Android tablets in the market are not selling well for a reason. The problem with this is that the very same original equipment manufactures (OEMs) that are building shoddy and overpriced Android hardware are the same folks that are going to build Windows 8’s chariot devices. Dang.

So, this is what I want in a Windows 8 tablet. Someone build it. For more on the topic, head here.

Windows Phone

There are three things that you need to know about Windows Phone this week. Well, there are actually about a dozen, but these three will suffice. First up: we have a good look at what sort of functionality cuts will come to handsets that employ new, lowered RAM requirements. They don’t appear to be too onerous, we think.

Speaking of Windows Phone, its predecessor Windows Mobile is finally set to have the rest of its lights turned off. RIP. And finally, fresh developer interest in Windows Phone has led to a surge in app submissions, which has jammed the entire app review process. Microsoft is sorry.

Office 15

Time for some fancy images. You know you love color. Our own Harrison, a Machead if there ever was one, likes what we are seeing in the following leaked shots of Microsoft’s next version of its Office product: “We knew Microsoft was revamping the design of Office 15 with a sleeker, Metro look, but until now there has been little details available about the impending release. After looking over the screen shots below, I’m slightly taken aback. Microsoft has done an impressive job redesigning the suite, making it quite beautiful without dumbing anything down.” 

With that in mind, enjoy:

SQL Server 2012

And finally, one piece of functional news: SQL Server 2012 has been released to manufacturing. Get ready.

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