Sunday, June 22, 2014

Windows 8 Crosses Some Important Milestones

Windows 8 is the latest operating system from Microsoft, and it has not been doing that well in the market so far. According to the latest market survey figures, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 together take up only about 14% of the Windows market share.

How the Windows operating systems stacks up in the market?

Windows 7 is still the market leader among all the Windows OS versions. It still maintains more than 50% of the market share for the Microsoft operating systems. What is surprising is the 25% share Windows XP still enjoys. Microsoft expected to see some significant drop in the Windows XP user base, as they stopped support for the 13 year old operating system.

But, the completely outdated operating system is still widely used, mainly because of its minimal system requirements. As already mentioned, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 together holds about 14% of the market. All the other Windows OS versions including Windows Vista get about 8%. This means that even if you put together the market shares for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows Vista, it will not surpass the popularity enjoyed by Windows XP at the moment.

Microsoft did reach an important Windows 8 milestone

But, Microsoft is closely watching the Windows 8 sales and in the past few months, it did cross the very important Windows 8 milestone of 200 million units. When you are looking at the market share alone, you see that the Windows 8 just about managed to get to the two-digit mark at 14%. But, the actual number of Windows OS users this figure represents is in hundreds of millions.

This is because Windows operating systems take up a big chunk of the desktop PC market, close to 90%. The Mac and Linux operating systems take up the remaining 10%. Of course, it is entirely a different picture, if you are looking at the smartphone and tablet operating system markets. There, Android takes the lead followed by iOS and Windows 8 operating system.

Yet, another Windows 8 milestone for Microsoft is the number of apps available at their Windows Store. Windows Store crossed the 100,000 apps mark last year, and currently has 142,000 apps available. The Windows 8 users now have plenty of cool apps to choose from.

So, the 14% market share is not all that bad, if it keeps growing slowly and steadily over the next few months. Let us hope that it does.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

About The Windows Anytime Upgrade

Windows anytime upgrade is convenient for those customers who need to upgrade their system to higher versions of Windows. With the failure of Windows 8 from provoking interest of the masses, users have turned back to installing Windows 7 operating system. Even Windows XP users who are forced to upgrade their system because Windows XP support is now terminated, are turning to Windows 7 rather than trying out the all new Microsoft Windows 8.

WAU will prove useful to a selected set of users in a couple of specific situations. These are listed below.

Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium- $79.99

Users running Windows 7 Starter can easily upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium that will allow the customers the privilege to use features such as Aero Peek. Another enhanced functionality includes advanced features in Windows Taskbar that allow you to see Taskbar Previews. From Desktop themes to Remote Media Streaming, Windows 7 Starters pack users will have a bevy of features to choose from. This upgrade comes at a discounted cost of $79.99. This scheme would come as a blessing for those customers who bought netbooks running Windows 7 Starters, believing it to be sufficient, only to discover that it serves them as a primary every-day PC more often than not.

Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional/ Windows 7 Ultimate- $89.99/ $139.99

Another situation where WAU would come handy is for Windows 7 Home Premium users who want the ability to connect to a business network, that is, a domain. Only Windows 7 Professional allows the customer to join a domain and use Windows XP Mode to run older programs. If the user wishes to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate edition, he will be able to avail all the features of Windows 7 professional and use new features like BitLocker, which encrypts your USB devices, ensuring higher security. Apart from this, you will be able to run your Windows PC in any of the 35 different languages because of the Language Pack that comes built-in with Windows 7 Ultimate.

You can buy the Windows anytime upgrade package from any Microsoft authorized retail store, or from the Microsoft’s website. Depending on your system, the updates may be over in minutes. When using WAU, you get to keep all your current programs, application, files and settings. The instantaneous action occurs because you only need an upgrade key to unlock these features!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Windows XP Users Will Not Receive The Internet Explorer Bug Fix

Tech security firm FireEye recently identified a significant security flaw in the Internet Explorer browser application. According to them, this problem affects all Internet Explorer versions from IE 6 to IE 11. This means all the Windows OS users from Windows XP to Windows 8 are at risk.

What are these Microsoft problems reported by FireEye?

From reports published by FireEye, it is clear that there is some kind of technical bug affecting these Internet Explorer versions. Tech experts at FireEye are of the opinion that hackers can very easily take advantage of these flaws and take control of a user’s system.

This they might do in the following manner. The hacker will launch a website online that contains the necessary malicious coding. A link to this website will be then sent to the unsuspecting user. When the user clicks on this link from the Internet Explorer, the malicious code will make use of the flaw in the Internet Explorer browser and infect system files.

The hacker can then gain easy access to the user’s system and steal important financial information. So, clearly, this Internet Explorer technical bug is a system security risk.

Microsoft to release a solution for fixing the IE technical bug

Microsoft has been paying attention to these reports published by FireEye and has been working on a solution to rectify these Microsoft problems. Windows OS users will soon be provided with a patch file that will fix this problem in the Internet Explorer browser.

However, XP users will be left out from this list. Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP on April 8, 2014. They feel that the thirteen year-old operating system is completely outdated, and that as such it is not practical to provide any more tech support to an obsolete product.

But XP users still amount to about 25% of the total Windows OS market, second only to the popular Windows 7. This translates to hundreds of millions of users around the world. Microsoft’s decision not to provide a fix for this IE bug will affect all these users.

If Microsoft is not going to fix these IE problems in Windows XP, then these Windows XP users will have to switch to some other browser applications like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. For more information about the IE technical bug, visit the Microsoft support website online.

Monday, June 16, 2014

How To Use MS Word With WordPress?

WordPress is a very popular web content management and hosting service. There are a lot WordPress tools and templates available that help users add content to their website online. However, if you go through some of the Microsoft support page forums, you will find that it is also possible to use MS Word for adding content to WordPress.

Things to keep in mind while using MS Word with WordPress

Most WordPress users prefer using the WordPress.com Post Editor to generate content for their websites. This is designed particularly for creating blog posts, and the text so created can be easily formatted. You can also use Windows Live Writer, which is also a software designed for creating blog posts.

Most of us already have MS Word application in our systems and use it for creating texts and document files. So, it is indeed very convenient to use the MS Word to create content for WordPress. But, you need to be careful when transferring the created content from MS Word to WordPress, as there is very good chance that the formatting will go all wrong.

For example, you might have some tables created in MS Word, which you will then paste onto the Visual Editor in WordPress. Here, you have to make sure that the formatting is carried over correctly. If not, then you have to make the necessary changes in WordPress after pasting the content from MS Word.

In the case of tables, the text will be carried over from MS Word to WordPress without any problems. But the table margins and other formatting will be transferred correctly. You need to keep an eye out for such errors and ensure that the content will be displayed correctly online.

One of the best methods is to use the Plain Text pasting option. When you are using this option, only the text content will be copied from MS Word to WordPress. This means that all the formatting used in the MS Word document will be dispensed with. You will only get the plain text copied correctly to WordPress. You have to then format it in WordPress, according to your requirements.
The latest MS Word version supports creation of blog content in the Word processor. You can also select the blog service provider as WordPress when creating such a document. For more information about this, visit the Microsoft support page online.

Windows 8- 100 Million Licenses Sold

The computer market is continuing to drive off a cliff, but now more users are starting to run the Windows 8 operating system. Microsoft said that they have attained the Windows 8 milestone of selling 100 million licenses for the Windows 8 operating system, up from 60 million in January. Meanwhile the Windows Store has hit 60,000 apps. It is hard to say how many of those licenses represent computers that are actually in use. This 100 million Windows 8 milestone includes computer sales as well as upgrades. However, the majority of the 40 million licenses that were sold since January are new computers, says the vice president of Microsoft, Tami Reller.

Releer told Mashable, "Upgrade season was pretty much over in January once all the offers expired." "So pretty much all of the growth from 60 to 100 [million] is new PCs." However, those are the computers that were shipped, not necessarily sold. This means that many of these computers could still be in store shelves or warehouses. Windows 8 operating system, for the first time, allows Microsoft to track activations online and as per Reller, those numbers have seen steady growth and he added that the overall rate is similar to the previous Windows releases.

A new platform- the Windows 8 operating system, is as powerful as the apps it has to offer. The Windows Store is witnessing steady growth as well, up to 60,000 apps from 40,000 in the month of January. The Windows 8 customers have done more than 250 million downloads as well. While the numbers are growing in the proper direction for Microsoft, they are still in the minor leagues when compared to the 800,000 apps and about 50 billion downloads for iOS.

Microsoft had some high profile hits like the Dropbox and Twitter, which Reller thinks have attracted some of the users to the Windows 8 operating system. But there are a few notable misses in the Windows 8 app catalog as well, the least of which is Facebook, which is a strategic partner of Microsoft.

Rller says that many of the developers are focused on the tablet experience, and she is confident that the upcoming Windows Blue update, which will bring with it small-screen tablet form factors, could give Windows 8 the required push to compete better with the rivals like iPad mini. If you wish to know more on the Windows 8 milestone, you can contact the Microsoft support team.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Setting Up A WordPress Account In Windows Live Writer

Developed by Microsoft, Windows Live Writer (WLW) is a desktop blog publishing application that comes bundled with Windows Live. Compatible with various blogging platforms like Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress, Telligent Community, PBlogs.gr, JournalHome, the MetaWeblog API, the Movable Type API, Blogengine and Squarespace, it gives WLW users a very convenient way to compose, edit and manage blog posts. It supports WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) which means the format the user created in the writer will be preserved even after uploading into the blog.

Windows Live Writer provides the following features that make writing blogs an effortless job.
  • You can add multiple blog articles from different accounts using this program.
  • WYSIWYG feature, which ensures you get an instant preview of how your blog post would appear once it is uploaded.
  • You can edit and create blogs offline and schedule posting at the time you set.
  • You can add media (images, videos links and audio), manage fonts and determine the format and layout.
  • You can embed videos from YouTube in the blog post with comparative ease.
  • You can manage between multiple authors and sort categories with ease. You can set which article goes to which category so the blog will automatically come organized.
To set up your WordPress account, you can either contact Our Windows support desk or read further.

Setting up Windows Live Writer 2012
  • Ensure you have an active WordPress.com account before you continue the installation. 
  • When the installation wizard prompts to Choose the programs you want to install, check just the Writer and deselect every other option and click Install. 
  • The installer wizard will prompt you to restart your computer once the installation is completed. Restart your computer. 
  • Start Windows Live Writer from the Start menu and wait for it to load. 
  • You will be prompted to set-up your Blog account and configure the program settings once WLW loads up. 
  • You will need to change settings if your blog is set to private before you can set up the account. Deselect Discourage search engines from indexing this site in your blog’s visibility settings. 
  • Select WordPress when prompted with the question What blog service do you use? Now, click Next. 
  • In the Add a blog account dialog box, fill in your WordPress.com blog address, user-name and password. Click Next when you are done. 
  • Install the blog theme you are currently using. This ensures you can preview how the new post will look like. 
  • The final screen should say Your blog has been set up. 
If you have followed these instructions to the word, you can successfully set-up your WordPress account. Feel free to contact our Windows Support desk if you are unsure about the instructions.

Microsoft Introduces New Update For Xbox One

Xbox has been ruling the roost in the field of gaming consoles since a long time back. This video gaming line launched by Microsoft includes a series of consoles as well as applications, streaming services, and the famous online network service known as Xbox Live. The most recent console launched in the series, Xbox One, includes numerous advanced and novel features. Due to these, the console is a huge hit among gamers worldwide, outdoing other popular gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Wii.

The latest patch released by Microsoft for Xbox One includes tweaks to the party chat feature. As the name suggests, this enables a group of people, say 8, to chat at the same time. More or less, it is video-conferencing that integrates with the gaming. According to the Microsoft live chat and support team, the new Version 1405 update announced by Microsoft, is all set to change the console's Get System Update button, which will now remain grayed out when users do not have any update to download. Now, if an Update Console text is available, you will get a notification saying that the firmware is ready for download.

According to sources, the company is still working on giving Xbox One owners the additional option to preload games they have pre-ordered from the Xbox Games Store. According to the Microsoft live chat and support team, this will help users to play the games they have already purchased more easily in their gaming consoles. The company spokesperson, Larry Hryb, replied to a thread titled Xbox One Needs Pre Loading [sic] Feature this year, by saying that the company is providing this option for all Xbox users. It was announce even last year by Microsoft's Marc Whitten, who served as the chief product officer for Xbox, that the ability to preload digital games wouldn't be available at the launch of the Xbox One. However, he assured gamers the company would be adding this feature in a short time. That was the most announced about the updates that were soon to follow in the Xbox One gaming console.

With the latest patch for Xbox One, Microsoft has strengthened the position of the gaming console, which is steadily proving to be tougher competitor for its contemporaries.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Set Up Your Yahoo Mail Account In Microsoft Outlook 2013

Yahoo Mail is not only a well-liked webmail service; it is actually one of the first webmail services to be introduced. Owing to its long legacy, millions of people prefer Yahoo Mail to other webmail services.

You cannot access Yahoo Mail or any other webmail account offline. However, if you set up email in Outlook, you will be able to access your Yahoo Mail inbox and read the messages you have received in it already. Yet of course, you will not be able to send and receive any emails when you are offline.

How to set up Yahoo Mail in Outlook

You can set up your Yahoo Mail account in Microsoft Outlook in a few simple steps. Read the below given instructions carefully and work them out to set up your Yahoo Mail account in Outlook 2013.

Steps to follow
  • Open Outlook 2013 application and navigate to the File tab.
  • Choose Add Account from the resulting options. Click on Manual setup or additional server type option, followed by Next.
  • Set POP3 as the email type, and go to the Account Settings page. Furnish all the fields with appropriate information.
  • Make sure that the checkbox against Require Logon using Secure Password Authentication option is left unselected. However, if you wish to allow Outlook to access your Yahoo Account without you having to type the password every time, you can select the Remember Password checkbox. This will save you from typing the password to access your Yahoo Mail account after launching Outlook.
  • Now, select the More Settings button and press the tab titled Outgoing server.
  • Select the box next to My Outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication option. After that, select the checkbox against Use same settings as my incoming mail server, and click on the tab labelled Advanced.
  • Enter port numbers. For Incoming server (POP3): 995, and for Outgoing Server (SMTP): 465, 25 or 587. Make sure type of encryption is set to SSL or TSL.
  • Save the changes you made by clicking on the OK button. Restart your Outlook email client application to allow the changes to take into effect.
When done with the above instructions, and have set up email in Outlook, you can access all the saved emails in the application even when there is no internet connection. For more help in the matter, contact our tech support team right away.