Pedro Hernandez

In an Oct. 1 report, Reuters revealed that three top investors are “lobbying the board to press for Bill Gates to step down as chairman of the software company he co-founded 38 years ago.” The three investors, whose identities are being kept under wraps, “hold more than 5 percent” of the company’s stock. “Gates owns […]

Microsoft has scored a major coup in grabbing a slice of federal agencies’ IT budgets. Windows Azure, the software behemoth’s cloud platform, has achieved a “critical federal security milestone,” announced the company on Sept. 30. Susie Adams, chief technology officer for Microsoft Federal, announced on The Official Microsoft Blog that her company was notified that […]

In what’s becoming a tradition, particularly in the wake of the National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal, Microsoft has released new statistics pertaining to the number of requests that the company has received from law-enforcement agencies. The software giant’s second “Law Enforcement Requests Report,” which covers the first half of the year (January to June […]

Microsoft is making Windows Azure tougher to crack, alleviating the security concerns for businesses that are on the fence about its cloud platform. Steven Martin, general manager for Windows Azure, described identity and access management as an “anchor for security and top of mind for enterprise IT departments” in a Sept. 26 blog post. He […]

Microsoft launched a new SkyDrive plan weeks ahead of the impending releases of Windows 8.1 and Surface 2 tablets. The cloud storage service now provides 200GB of additional capacity for $100 per year. The move comes as the software giant prepares to bring out the sweeping Windows 8.1 update and new Surface 2 tablets, both […]

Microsoft is gearing up to release the Surface 2 next month. During a press event in New York City on Sept. 23, the company unveiled the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro 2 tablets, both of which are set to hit store shelves with upgraded components, thinner profiles and a range of new accessories. Arriving […]

Top executives from Microsoft held a gathering on Sept. 19 in Bellevue, Wash., to discuss the company, its vision and the state of its operations with financial analysts. While preparing to retire from the company he helmed for 13 years, Ballmer indicated that Microsoft has already begun to lay the groundwork for ensuring the software […]

Following up the release of Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) Developer Preview for Windows 7 in July, Microsoft delivered a version of the Web browser for all Windows 7 users that promises to speed up the Web. IE11 Release Preview lets users of the company’s most popular desktop operating system experience many of the optimizations and […]

When Windows 8.1 goes on sale this fall, users who didn’t already jump on the Windows 8 bandwagon will have to pony up cash and leap through some hoops to make the transition. At retail, copies of Windows 8.1 (Windows.com download or store-bought DVD) will cost $119.99 for the base version and $199.99 for Pro. […]

Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, is entering its “next phase” and it involves more than sporting a new logo and delivering an updated user interface. A preview is available here. The revamped search engine mirrors Bing’s evolution from a search technology to an integral part of Microsoft’s new devices-and-services strategy. Lawrence Ripsher, general manager of User […]