From XP to Windows 8? Not necessarily

More than a month after I got my copy of Windows Developer Preview (aka Windows 8 Preview), I am convinced that it is a great addition to the saga of Microsoft operatings systems and that it will serve its purpose very well: to provide a versatile and nimble OS for tablet devices using either Intel or ARM processors. There is no doubt that Windows 8 is a technology event to reckon with now, in the near future and beyond. However, and this is just my personal opinion, I would suggest to those still pondering an upgrade to Windows XP to not skip Windows 7, specially if you are a heavy desktop computer user. Not that Windows 8 is not capable of heavy duty computer power, but Windows 7 will, in turn, continue to be an operating system of choice for powers users: developers, designers, writers and editors, engineers, architects, and yes, artists. "Does Windows 8 really change everything?" Read on.

Microsoft buys Netflix, Ballmer steps aside... could it happen?

There has always been some sort of symbiosis between Microsoft and Netflix, in spite of initial problems with Silverlight, even his CEO, Reed Hastings, has said publicly that he likes Windows 7, and the idea of the former buying the latter is not as farfetched as it may sound, but for reasons that go beyond likability. In one insightful article that appeared recently in CNNMoney (a service of CNN, Fortune and Money), the author asserts that the best way for Microsoft to turn the stock price around isn't Bill Gates returning, but "Microsoft buying Netflix and Ballmer sharing the CEO spot with Hastings." Netflix could be the core of Microsoft's answer to Apple's iCloud...?

Microsoft & Skype: a foretold business juncture

Though at the tune of $8,5 billion... Skype, one of my favorite software tools to be in touch with the world, is now part of Microsoft as a new business division as they entered today into a definitive agreement. "The combined companies aim to deliver the future of real-time communications to consumers and businesses around the world" and that means more healthy competition to Apple and Google, among others. So now this is how Microsoft's opening into multiplatform operability starts to solidify,  and "will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms." In this respect, Microsoft has made already inroads into iPhone, iPad and Android markets with tools such as OneNote, Azure for smartphones, and other open source projects.