Microsoft staff will likely be raising a glass or two, thanks to the latest available data. According to new data released by StatCounter on Tuesday, the latest version of Windows, Windows 8.1 has overtaken its predecessor Windows 8 for the first time, in terms of internet usage worldwide.     The research firm's data shows Windows 8.1 has grown steadily to 7.5 percent in August, passing Windows 8's share of 6.6 percent. In the UK market the software giant's operating system (covering deskt

Microsoft is aiming to deliver a "technology preview" of its Windows "Threshold" operating system by late September or early October, according to multiple sources of mine who asked not to be named.     And in a move that signals where Microsoft is heading on the "servicability" front, those who install the tech preview will need to agree to have subsequent monthly updates to it pushed to them automatically, sources added.   Threshold is the next major version of Windows that is expected

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Microsoft is to cut up to 18,000 jobs marking the deepest cuts in the technology firm's 39-year history. The bulk of the cuts, around 12,500, will be in its phone unit Nokia, which Microsoft bought in April, the firm said. Microsoft pledged to cut $600m (£350.8m) per year in costs within 18 months of closing the acquisition.   The cuts are much more severe than the 6,000 initially expected.     The firm employs 127,000 globally, including 3,500 staff in the UK. Microsoft declined to say h

At Microsoft's annual Worldwide Partner Conference, company officials give tens of thousands of reseller partners their marching orders for the next fiscal year. On July 14, the opening day of the 2014 show, those marching orders included some differentiators from the directives of previous years. Specifically, Microsoft's brass is telling partners that "productivity is our strength," in the words of Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner.     The focus on productivity -- and "platforms" --

Today, June 10, is Microsoft Patch Tuesday. It's also the deadline for consumers running Windows 8.1 to install the Windows 8.1 Update if they want to continue to receive patches and fixes from Microsoft. Microsoft originally imposed a deadline of May 13 on consumer users to move to the Windows 8.1 Update. On May 12, Microsoft announced a deadline extension to June 10. Business users still have until August 12 to move to the Update for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. Microsoft extended

Microsoft won't be delivering a new Start Menu for Windows 8 with its coming Windows 8.1 Update 2, after all. That recent change in plans comes courtesy of a couple of my sources who've had good track records on Windows information. Up until recently, Microsoft was hoping to make a new "Mini" Start Menu part of a second update to Windows 8.1. Windows 8.1 Update 2 was -- and still is, last I heard -- slated to arrive in August of this year.     Microsoft's operating systems group has decided

Microsoft officials officially acknowledged the existence of the rumored Windows 8.1 with Bing version of the product in a blog post on May 23. Word of the existence of Windows 8.1 with Bing first leaked a few months ago. The new SKU sets Bing as the default search engine, though users are allowed to change that on devices with the SKU is installed.     Tipsters have told me and others that this Windows 8.1 with Bing SKU is the one that Microsoft is making available to OEMs either for free