Pedro Hernandez

On July 29, a year after Microsoft released Windows 10, the software giant will pull the plug on the free upgrade offer that enabled millions of Windows 7 and 8.1 users to get the new operating system at no cost. After that date, owners of older Windows PCs will need to pay up in order […]

Power BI mobile users, at least those clutching to their iPhones, have another option for quickly getting to their reports: QR codes. QR, or quick-response, codes are blocky, barcode-like symbols that can be used for a variety of purposes. Consumers typically encounter them in magazine advertisements, signage and other printed materials. When scanned with a […]

Project Server 2016, Microsoft’s project and portfolio management (PPM) software, is generally available, the company announced on May 5, just a day after the official launch of its cloud-inspired SharePoint Server 2016. The timing is somewhat fitting, considering that both platforms are now tightly linked, speeding deployments and enabling organizations to consolidate the number of […]

Administrators have one less weapon in their battle against shadow IT. One method of discouraging the use of unauthorized applications on Windows 10 is to block access to the Windows Store, the operating system’s built-in app marketplace. As some IT pros are now discovering, that tactic is no longer an option. Microsoft quietly disabled a […]

Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 will ship later this year, after the summer has come and gone in fact. “We’re excited to deliver Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 to customers this fall,” confirmed Mike Schutz, general manager of Microsoft Cloud Platform Marketing, in an email responding to a request for comment […]

Apart from causing a stir in financial technology (FinTech) circles, blockchain is also piquing the interest of IT giants on the lookout for the next big things. Best known as the technology behind the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, blockchain enables the creation of tamper-resistant distributed ledgers. Technology startups, e-commerce companies and even some major banks are pursuing […]

Along with the May 4 release of SharePoint Server 2016, Microsoft announced that both Office Web Apps and OneDrive for Business are taking a cloudier, more collaborative path. SharePoint Server 2016 was the star of the show during The Future of SharePoint event on May 4, and understandably so. The latest version of the cloud-inspired […]

Microsoft announced the general availability of SharePoint Server 2016, the software giant’s enterprise document management and team collaboration platform, during The Future of SharePoint event in San Francisco May 4. The product launch comes less than two months after the software was released to manufacturing. Taking the stage, Seth Patton, general manager of Microsoft SharePoint […]

Last September, Microsoft cut the ribbon on new Azure cloud data centers in India. Weeks later, the Redmond, Wash., software and cloud services provider launched locally delivered Office 365 cloud services in the country, improving application responsiveness and assuaging data residency concerns for Microsoft’s customers there. Now, customers can also subscribe to Dynamics CRM Online, […]

Microsoft has acquired Solair, an Italian provider of Internet of things (IoT) technology services, for an undisclosed amount. Sam George, partner director at Microsoft Azure IoT, said in a May 3 announcement that the “acquisition supports our strategy to deliver the most complete IoT offering for enterprises.” Solair specializes in IoT applications, enabling enterprises to […]

Microsoft has released a smattering of new features for its OneNote app aimed at helping users better organize their notes. In the iOS version of OneNote, iPad users can now group and move objects on the app’s canvas by drawing a virtual lasso around them. The new lasso tool supports text, shapes, images, audio recordings […]

To help manage storage costs, enterprises often turn to storage tiering practices that place older, seldom used data on storage systems and media that are less expensive to operate and maintain. Now Microsoft is offering its Azure Blob Storage customers a similar option for their cloud-based object data, called Cool Blob Storage. “Example use cases […]