Pedro Hernandez

Microsoft released Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5 on April 27, a test build that includes Nano Server as an installation option. First announced a year ago, Nano Server is a container- and cloud-friendly version of Windows Server that dispenses with the GUI, 32-bit support and other software components that compete for CPU cycles. This […]

Last year around this time, Microsoft launched Skype for Business as an update to Lync, the Redmond, Wash., software giant’s enterprise communications software platform. Now, users stuck with Lync for Mac 2011 can get an early taste of what the software has in store for the platform when it finally launches later this year. Skype […]

Yammer is branching out, allowing users to bring their colleagues at other companies into the loop. The new External Groups feature, launched yesterday, builds on Yammer’s existing external contacts and networks functionality to extend team collaboration to colleagues that may be on the same project but draw a paycheck from different employers. “Office 365 customers […]

Manufacturing and the Internet of things (IoT) go hand-in-hand. At the Hannover Messe industrial technology conference in Germany this week, Microsoft and select partner companies are demonstrating how Windows 10 can help enable intelligent, IoT-enabled business processes for factories, equipment makers and suppliers. Complementing the company’s new cloud-based Azure IoT device management capabilities and the […]

New R-friendly capabilities aside, the latest SQL Server 2016 release candidate (RC3) features supports for the company’s new Mobile Report Publisher software. Now, Microsoft is giving perspective customers a look at how they can use the company’s database software to deliver business insights to their users’ smartphones and tablets. When used in conjunction with SQL […]

Windows Phone may have gone largely unloved by the masses for a variety of reasons, but its Word Flow keyboard isn’t among them. Starting today, iPhone users can take the innovative, one-handed keyboard for a spin. Microsoft Garage, the software giant’s experimental app unit, released Word Flow on the Apple App store for iOS devices […]

Hannover Messe, the industrial technology conference for manufacturers, is currently underway in Germany. Presenting at the event and gearing up for an Internet of things (IoT)-fueled industrial revolutions of sorts, Microsoft announced today that it plans to release a public preview of Azure IoT Hub’s new device management features and a beta of the Azure […]

Members of the Microsoft Windows Insider early-access program can now communicate as a group using the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) version of Skype, the company announced April 22. UWP apps are code-once affairs that can run on a variety of Windows device types with little to no modification of the underlying code. The updated Skype […]

Microsoft’s business intelligence and analytics product, Power BI, is already helping enterprises keep an eye on key business metrics by transforming big data into charts, tables and other visualizations. Now, Azure Stream Analytics customers can use the cloud-based tool to convert Internet of things (IoT) data into insights that update in real time. Capable of […]

Microsoft announced mixed third-quarter fiscal 2016 results April 21, but one figure is likely to stand out among IT watchers. The company revealed that its annual commercial cloud revenue has crossed the $10 billion mark, up from $9.4 billion the previous quarter. Microsoft follows Amazon in revealing that the cloud has lifted its fortunes beyond […]