Microsoft prices Windows 10 licenses at $119 for Home, $199 for Pro.

Microsoft has a grand plan to get its next operating system, Windows 10, running on 1 billion devices in three years -- by giving it away for free...sort of.

The software, which Microsoft announced Monday will begin rolling out July 29, will be offered as a free upgrade for all Windows 7, Windows 8.1 PC, and tablet users. For the PC market, those two versions power about 74% of all devices.

For everyone else, Windows 10 will cost the same as its predecessor, Windows 8, the company confirmed to CNET on Monday.

A copy of Windows 10 Home will run $119, while Windows 10 Pro will cost $199. For those who wish to upgrade from the Home edition to the Pro edition, a Windows 10 Pro Pack will cost $99.

Microsoft may have given the impression it was making a critical pricing change to its flagship operating system when it announced in January that, like competitor Apple, it would offer an upgrade free of charge. However, the company has been transparent from the beginning that the upgrade is only eligible for one year, until July 29, 2016, and has said at various points in the past few months that pricing for single licenses would stay on par with previous releases. Now, there is the possibility that future versions of Windows may follow this same path, meaning Microsoft may never go fully free with its OS.

Microsoft says copies of the software will be available online and in stores. Retailer Newegg, which appeared to have leaked pricing and release date information this past weekend (here) still has pages for Windows 10 Home and Pro live on its website, although its pricing says $110 for Home and $150 for Pro and is not updated to reflect Microsoft's confirmed pricing.

For those eligible for the free upgrade, the process will only grant you an equitable version of the software. That means if you had Windows 7 Home, you get Windows 10 Home. If you had Windows 8.1 Pro, you get Windows 10 Pro.

For more information on how to check your upgrade eligibility and reserve your upgrade for the July 29 rollout, visit the Microsoft website here.

Microsoft announces Windows 10 will be free for anyone using Windows 7 or Windows 8!

Windows 10 is coming this summer, Microsoft has confirmed, and will be free to anyone using Windows 7 or higher systems. Even people who didn’t pay for it.

That’s right, even Windows 7 and 8 users who don’t have a valid Windows license will get a free bump up to Windows 10. The release timing and new upgrade scheme were revealed by Microsoft operating system chief Terry Myerson at the WinHEC technology conference in Shenzhen, China, Reuters reports. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s a surprising move given the importance that Microsoft has placed on Windows license revenue in the past, and the lengths Microsoft has gone to to prevent the spread of pirated copies of the operating system. But the company has spent the past year reinventing itself in many ways, including going so far as to announce a free version of Windows for devices with screens smaller than nine inches.

Meanwhile, operating system pricing expectations have also been changing. Apple has offered free upgrades to OS X since 2013, and mobile operating system updates have long been free. Apple can make up for some of this lost revenue through increased hardware sales, and Microsoft is trying this strategy as well with its Surface tablet/notebook hybrid and other new devices. But Google offers its Android mobile operating system for free, making money off mobile advertising and app sales in the Google Play Store. Microsoft may similarly see a free Windows 10 as the gateway to alternate revenue streams.

The company now offers a range of cloud services, including Office 365, Skype and OneDrive, that Windows users may be more likely shell out for, even if they didn’t buy an operating system license. And even if those customers don’t end up buying cloud services from the company, at least they’re staying in the Microsoft ecosystem. Last quarter Microsoft’s revenue from consumer licensing — including both Windows and Office — accounted for only 16 percent of the company revenue, down from 23 percent the previous year. With Apple and Google Chromebooks slowly eating into Microsoft’s market share, the company could be thinking that a non-paying customer is better than no customer at all.

The company could also be worried about leaving millions of machines running outdated operating systems and software. Unpatched systems can spread malware and viruses, and releasing security updates for decades old platforms is costly. Microsoft has been campaigning to get users to retire Windows XP and the Internet Explorer 6 web browser, but China has been particularly slow to upgrade both. To make matters worse, the Chinese government, which has long clashed with Microsoft over piracy, even banned the use of Windows 8 on government computers largely due to concerns over upgrade costs.

The move to simply give away updated copies to pirates could ensure that Microsoft doesn’t end up in the same situation again. But regardless of the reason, it’s certainly a change of direction for the company. And welcome news to those who acquired Windows through less than legal means.

Source: Wired

IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTICE: Stop using Internet Explorer immediately.

On Monday, April 28^th, 2014, Microsoft released Security Advisory 2963983 regarding an issue that impacts Internet Explorer. At this time, we are only aware of limited, targeted attacks. This security issue allows remote code execution if users visit a malicious website with an affected browser. This would typically occur by an attacker convincing someone to click a link in an email or instant message.

Microsoft’s initial investigation has revealed that Enhanced Protected Mode, on by default for the modern browsing experience in Internet Explorer 10 and Internet Explorer 11 will help protect against this potential risk. Microsoft also encourages users to follow the “Protect Your Computer” guidance of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Additionally, everyone should exercise caution when visiting websites and avoid clicking suspicious links, or opening email messages from unfamiliar senders. Additional information can be found at www.microsoft.com/protect.

Here is the vital information you need to know:

1. All versions of IE 6 through 11 for Windows are affected.
2. No patch is available as of today (4/28/14)

What To Do:

1. Do not use Microsoft's Internet Explorer on any machine you may currently have.
2. Use an alternative browser such as Firefox.
3. When the patch is issued, it will NOT apply to XP users!
4. If you are an XP User, you should use an alternative browser from here on out.
5. Think seriously about upgrading or replacing those Windows XP machines.

With the end of support for Windows XP earlier this month, we believe this is just the first of many attacks that will be targeting Windows XP.

If you have a question please contact us.
IES, Inc.
781-816-9437
contactus@iesadvisors.com

Finally, Microsoft has gotten the message! Windows 8 is soon to be more like Windows 7.

At its Build developers conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Microsoft announced a trio of new features for Windows 8.1 that had a decidedly "old-school" feel: First, Windows will get a bunch of tweaks that make it easier to use with a keyboard and mouse. Second, Microsoft announced that Windows 8-style "Modern" apps will run in a window in the traditional desktop interface. Third, the Start menu -- the ultimate signifier of "old" Windows -- is eventually coming back.

But the tweaks are less about Microsoft running away from its controversial Windows 8 redesign and more a concession that the company tried to transition traditional PC users over to the radically different design of Windows 8 too quickly.

And if anything, Microsoft's decision to cater to these unconvinced users isn't a step backwards -- it's a ploy to reel them in.

Despite the changes, Microsoft isn't phasing out or decreasing the presence of Windows 8's new design. In fact, these forthcoming features will actually make the Modern design more visible throughout the operating system.

It's a more gentle way of nudging the entrenched Windows 7, Vista and XP users towards change. And catering to these users could help jumpstart Microsoft's lagging ecosystem of Modern apps, which is lagging considerably behind iOS and Android.

One of the most revealing, big-picture moments of Microsoft's latest Windows announcements was that developers can now build a single app that runs on all three major Microsoft platforms - Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox.

Source: CNN Money

Microsoft to kill off Windows 7 preloaded software next year.

The long, slow march toward end-of-life of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system is under way.

As of October 30, 2013, Microsoft ceased selling boxed copies of Windows 7 at retail. This October 30 cut-off date doesn't mean that OEMs or retailers are no longer selling PCs with Windows 7 preloaded, although it is becoming much more difficult to find. Although most major retailers have made the switch to Windows 8 or 8.1, OEMs can continue to sell PCs preloaded with Windows 7 until October 30, 2014.

Mainstream support for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 installed isn't ending until January 13, 2015. Microsoft will continue to provide security fixes for Windows 7 for free until the end of extended support, which is January 14, 2020 - unless Microsoft ends up extending that support date, as it did with Windows XP.

Everyone better buckle down. It's going to be a bumpy ride with Windows 8 and 8.1, especially with no new operating system plans in sight.

Source: CNET

Bill Gates apologizes for Control-Alt-Delete login, slams IBM.

The Microsoft founder says the triple-key login should have been made easier, à la Apple's Macs, but that a designer insisted on the more complicated step.

 

"We could have had a single button. But the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't want to give us our single button," Gates said Saturday during a question-and-answer session to launch a Harvard University fund-raising campaign. His comments have gained attention since a video of his Harvard Q&A was posted on YouTube on Tuesday.

 

"And so we had ... we programmed at a low level that you had to ... it was a mistake," he said, throwing up his hands to laughter and applause from the crowd.

 

Gates defended innovation on the earliest Microsoft software though.

 

"We did some clever stuff," he said. "We were able to experiment with a lot of stuff, but more on the software side than the hardware."

 

Long the first interface step for PC users, Control-Alt-Delete still exists in Windows 8 as a way of either locking the computer or accessing the control panel. While the system defaults to a log-in screen, users may tweak their settings to return to the old way of logging on to Windows.

 

Sometimes informally called the "three-fingered salute," the login required users to use both hands and was intended to avoid accidental keystrokes from rebooting a computer.

 

Engineer David Bradley, a designer on early IBM computers, said he invented the combination as a shortcut during development.

 

"It was like a five-minute job in doing it. I didn't realize that I was going to create a cultural icon when I did it," he said "... I may have invented it, but I think Bill made it famous."

 

Source: CNN

Internet Explorer 10 compatibility issues with online banking sites.

During the month of March, Microsoft will be making its Internet Explorer 10 browser available for Windows 7 and 8. This browser update will be automatically propagated and installed as part of the next Microsoft Windows update.

Preliminary testing has identified compatibility issues between the new Internet Explorer browser and many online banking sites. Since many banking sites do not support Internet Explorer 10 at this time, we STRONGLY recommend that you do NOT install the new browser on computers that access any cash management or banking sites.

If Explorer 10 gets installed by mistake, there is no guarantee that we will be able to simply remove it and restore online banking functionality.

If you have any questions please feel free to give IES a call at 781-816-9437.