Microsoft's 'big gamble' with Windows 8 won't pay off in the enterprise, says Gartner

Computerworld - Microsoft is taking a "big gamble" with its new Windows 8, one that will see the operating system peak at just 20% to 25% of corporate PCs, Gartner analysts said today.

"Microsoft is taking a big gamble over the next few months with Windows and Office, the two products responsible for most of its revenue and profit," the research firm said in a statement Tuesday. "[But] it is a risk that Microsoft must take to stay relevant in a world where mobile devices with new modern experiences are becoming the norm."

Windows 8 is set to launch at retail Oct. 26, one month from today.

The reasons cited by analysts Michael Silver and Steve Kleynhans will be familiar to followers of Windows 8's development: The two disparate user interfaces (UIs) of the OS, its tablet- and touch-first philosophy, its possible rejection by IT administrators as too much like Windows 7 on one hand, too different on the other...

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HP Intros New Lineup of Windows 8 Consumer PCs

Hp has revealed a new set of desktops and laptops featuring Windows 8.

Gearing up for a big launch in October, HP is now teasing new desktops and laptops that will come packed with Microsoft's blocky "Modern UI" new operating system. Not to disappoint, there's seemingly something for everyone in this batch of hardware, ranging from thin and light "Sleekbooks" to the armor-plated high-performance desktop perfect for PC gamers.

Here's a quick breakdown of each without all the PR hoopla:

HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14 and Pavilion Sleekbook 15
* Start at $499.99 and $559.99, respectively and ships in NA on Oct. 26
* 14-inch and 15.5-inch HD displays
* Up to 1 TB of storage
* A full array of ports including HDMI, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0
* Pavilion Sleekbook 15 includes a numeric keypad
* HP TrueVision HD Webcams and HP MyRoom for video calling, sharing photos and more in a private virtual room
* Dolby Advanced Audio
* Optional discreet Nvidia graphics
* HP CoolSense for a cooler PC
* HP ProtectSmart to help prevent file loss in case of a bump
* Pavilion Sleekbook 14 is powered by AMD Accelerated Processors
* Pavilion Sleekbook 15 is powered by Intel processors and features Intel Hyper-Threading technology

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Microsoft prepares developers for Windows Phone 8 SDK launch

IDG News Service - Microsoft started accepting on Wednesday requests for access to the Windows Phone SDK 8.0 Developer Preview program, the company said in a blog post.

To apply, developers can go to the Microsoft Connect site, and the deadline is Sept. 17 at 5 pm PDT. Developers that are accepted will hear from Microsoft soon after the deadline has passed to get instructions on how to download the Windows Phone 8 SDK and get support.

The objective of the program is to let developers of the most popular apps start optimizing them for Windows Phone 8, and therefore it expects the majority of published developers "in this situation to qualify for access," according to the blog post.

Getting developers on board will be key if Windows Phone 8 is to become a success, and limiting access risks alienating developers that are not included in the preview program.

Not all Windows Phone 8 features have been announced yet and the SDK includes comprehensive emulators that give some of that away. Keeping them under wraps will however help generate more excitement, which in the end will help both Microsoft and developers, according to the blog post...

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HP releases two beta versions of open-source webOS

IDG News Service - Hewlett-Packard released two beta versions of its open source webOS on Friday: one for developers that runs on the Ubuntu Linux desktop, and one for the "OpenEmbedded" development environment, intended to help developers port webOS to new devices.

The August Edition, as the webOS team calls the latest release on the project website, consists of 45 open source webOS components and 450,000 lines of code. The two versions were released under the Apache 2.0 license, which is one of the most liberal and accepted in the open source community, the team said.

The beta desktop build includes a version of the webOS System Manager that will run as an application on the Ubuntu desktop, the team wrote. System Manager's functions include rendering the webOS Card View, Launcher, Status Bar and other user interface elements. Core webOS applications such as Calendar and Contacts run within System Manager, and the new version also supports apps built with the third party JavaScript framework Enyo, the team added.

Releasing a version of webOS for the OpenEmbedded platform was a natural choice, the team said, because of its widespread community adoption, excellent cross-compiling support for embedded platforms and support for multiple hardware architectures, the team wrote. The OpenEmbedded build of webOS includes an ARM emulator to run core services such as db8 and node.js, the team said...

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