Pedro Hernandez

Joining the Cortana Analytics Suite at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Orlando, Fla., this week were several announcements that not only affect the company’s product and services slate, but also the strategies of the tech giant’s partner companies. Among the new products taking the stage during the event is Project GigJam. “As part of […]

The day has come. Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003 has reached its end-of-life today, July 14. Essentially, businesses still running the operating system are left to fend for themselves against undiscovered vulnerabilities and threats to their data, unless they spend a considerable amount of money to contract with the Redmond, Wash., software giant for custom support […]

During the Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Orlando, Fla., today, Microsoft announced Cortana Analytics Suite, a set of Azure-backed services for businesses seeking to drive smarter decision-making by capitalizing on their big data. As an accessible and user-friendly technology, Cortana is the perfect embodiment of Microsoft’s goal of placing advanced, contextually aware data analytics and […]

Microsoft has revealed some of its plans for the July 29 launch of Windows 10, which include thanking the operating system’s millions of testers and running upgrade workshops. Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group, announced today some of the events and outreach efforts surrounding the Windows 10 launch. In addition […]

The long wait is over. Yesterday, Microsoft announced the release of Office 2016 for Mac—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote—to Office 365 customers, four months after the Redmond, Wash., software giant floated a preview of the software for eager testers who have been toiling away with the 2011 edition. A non-subscription alternative will be available […]

Microsoft announced today that the stand-alone Power BI product, formerly an Office 365 tool, will be officially launching on Friday, July 24, bringing business analytics and reporting capabilities to potentially millions of rank-and-file office workers. On that date, the cloud-enabled business intelligence platform will move from “public preview to full general availability, with commercial support,” […]

Amazon had an early start with its Web Services (AWS), Simple Storage Service (S3) and other offerings, but Microsoft is striving to turn its Azure cloud computing platform into the go-to cloud for enterprises. On July 9, the company added new capabilities to firm up its cloud platform, which supports both Windows and Linux, and […]

This week, Xbox One owners will get a new system update that paves the way for two major new features, announced Larry Hryb, director of programming for Xbox Live at Microsoft, on his blog. “Later today Xbox One owners will be getting a system update,” wrote Hryb in a brief July 7 post. “This update […]

Following weeks of talk about “tough choices” ahead for Microsoft, CEO Satya Nadella announced today that the Redmond, Wash., tech giant is in the midst of eliminating more than 6.5 percent of the company’s workforce, or 7,800 positions. As of March 31, 118,584 employees worked at Microsoft. In a July 8 email to employees, Nadella […]

HoloLens is going to school. Microsoft is kicking off an academic research request for proposals (RFP) for its Windows 10-powered augmented-reality headset, Jeannette Wing, corporate vice president of Microsoft Research, said in a June 6 announcement. “The Microsoft HoloLens Academic RFP will award US$100,000 and two HoloLens development kits to academic institutions,” she added. “This […]

Uber is snapping up Bing Maps, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report, but Microsoft isn’t done polishing up the technology. An opt-in preview version of Bing Maps sports a redesigned interface, several new trip-planning features and third-party integrations. “The new Bing Maps is designed so you can search, view and share multiple places […]

Microsoft may seem at times like it’s focused on Office 365’s cloud capabilities, but major updates to the accompanying software clients are due later this year in the form of Office 2016. One of the most notable upgrades, at least for Excel users, is the addition of a handful of new chart types. Available in […]