Posts tagged windows
How To: Fix Outgoing Email for IMAP Accounts in Windows 8 / RT Mail
Dec 1st
Windows 8 / RT Metro Mail App
The Metro-style Mail app in Windows 8 / RT works well enough for Exchange accounts and email hosted on Outlook.com, Gmail, and the like. But the app has no support at all for POP3 accounts and a broken implementation of IMAP. POP is arguably an old, outdated tech (despite many ISPs still using it exclusively), but IMAP is still the primary email protocol for non-Exchange servers, so it’s a problem.
Read on after the break for a workaround for one of the app’s bugs.
Microsoft unveils new Windows 8 logo
Feb 18th
Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system is shaping up to be one of the most significant updates in the company’s history, featuring a new Windows Phone-inspired Metro tile interface, support for ARM processors (so the same OS will run everything from a tablet or netbook to a workstation), and much more. Now the winds of change have reached the Windows logo as well. A new post on the Windows team blog explains that Microsoft turned for advice to design agency Pentagram, which asked a simple but pointed question: ”your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”
The design process resulted in a four-paned window that looks a bit more in line with the Metro design language. That said, both Metro and “Swiss design,” which the post cites as inspiration, are about flat, 2D surfaces, and this logo has a tilt. Windows Phone tiles do rotate when loading, but the 3D effect is only during animation– it’s all flat once loaded. In any case, Microsoft says the new logo will change colors to match the user’s desktop.
Windows logos through history
See the Windows team blog post for the full design story.
Microsoft discontinues Zune HD
Oct 3rd
As long suspected, Microsoft is discontinuing its dedicated Zune music players, instead focusing on the Zune music service that runs on Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox. Microsoft will continue to honor warranties on the Zune HD and other models. An update on the Zune site says, ”Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy…we will no longer be producing Zune players.”
Source: Zune.net
Project Denver: Windows 8 on Nvidia CPUs, Intel in the Crosshairs
Jan 5th
In the course of just a few hours, the seeds have been planted for a major upheaval in personal computing. Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s announcement that Windows 8 will support ARM processors, graphics chip maker Nvidia has revealed that it is developing a full lineup of ARM processors. ”Project Denver” will include CPUs for desktops, laptops, servers, and supercomputers and is an all-out assault on Intel’s PC market dominance.
In the past, Nvidia has licensed ARM cores for its Tegra and Tegra 2 smartphone/tablet chipsets (see here for more info), but with this announcement, Nvidia aims to turn itself into a full-fledged System-on-a-Chip (SoC) architecture designer– a major upgrade. The firm will integrate graphics chipsets into its CPUs, as Intel and AMD have done recently. The single most important factor that makes Project Denver significant, however, is Microsoft’s announcement: no longer being limited to just x86 chips (which Nvidia could never get a license from Intel to produce), Windows 8 PCs will be able to run on Nvidia’s processors without issue.
Read on for more about Nvidia’s new CPU project.
Microsoft: Windows 8 will support ARM processors
Jan 5th
Microsoft dropped a bombshell at CES today, announcing that the next version of the Windows OS will run on ARM processors. The company stated that Windows for ARM will run on SoC (System on a Chip) architectures and will support hardware accelerated web browsing, media playback, and peripheral support on par with standard x86 Windows.
The move is aimed at extending the Windows experience to new devices. ”Windows PCs will continue to adapt and evolve,” CEO Steve Ballmer said in his keynote. “It means Windows will be everywhere on every kind of device without compromise.” The company showed off demo units running a future version of Windows (but with the user interface from Windows 7) on ARM chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Texas Instruments.
The ARM-powered machines were running just Internet Explorer 9, Office for ARM, and an Epson printer driver. The Nvidia Tegra 2 demo box, however, was nonetheless impressive, smoothly playing the Iron Man 2 trailer in 1080p and running the IE9 HTML5 demos without any hiccups.
Read on for more details about Microsoft’s ARM announcement, and see our Smartphone Processor Guide for more information about ARM’s SoC processor architectures.
McLaren Unveils MP4-12C: 600 HP V8, 1.6 GHz Intel Atom, Runs Windows
Mar 19th
Earlier today, McLaren Automotive unveiled its new supercar, the MP4-12C, and as expected, it’s a performance monster, powered by McLaren’s own (not BMW- or Mercedes-designed, as in the company’s earlier cars) 3.8L V8 mid-engine developing 600 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque with an 8,000-rpm redline. Most impressively, at least 369 lb-ft of torque is available at all times between 2,000 and 8,000 rpm. The car is constructed of a center carbon-fiber tub and outer aluminum structures, weighing in at just 1,300 kg (2,870 lb)– not quite as light as the 1,000 kg McLaren F1, but impressive nonetheless considering how much more safety equipment the MP4-12C carries.
So far, so good. The MP4-12C ‘s going to be light, fast, very well-built (build tolerances are less than 0.5 mm), safe (McLaren’s conducting dozens of crash tests to maximize safety), maybe even reliable (with over a million miles of test driving), but comfortable and livable? Not words one might typically use to describe a supercar, but that’s what McLaren’s aiming for.
The MP4-12C features a 7" in-dash touch screen powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom CPU running Microsoft software
Here’s where it gets really interesting. The MP4-12C’s spec sheet looks like someone accidentally mixed it in with something describing a netbook or tablet. Intel Atom 1.6 GHz, 7″ portrait-mode touch screen, Bluetooth, 802.11 Wifi, USB, and Microsoft software. Now that’s something you won’t find in any factory-shipped car in America, let alone a supercar. It’s all part of McLaren’s IRIS infotainment system, which is based on Microsoft software, presumably running on Windows Embedded. McLaren’s choice of Atom is interesting because in-car entertainment systems generally don’t require as much performance as an x86 Atom chip can deliver (Ford’s Microsoft-powered SYNC has a 400 MHz ARM11 processor, for example– see here for info on embedded processors), so IRIS must be something pretty fancy.
Full photo gallery after the break. More >
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