Ever tried to draw something only to have it turn out like a bad mixture of Pollock and Picasso, but without the talent? If so, you are probably just about normal when it comes to artistic talent. Your humble author is no better. Microsoft Research, ever the pinnacle of potentially profitable projects has a new tool that, if released, might help us doodling scrubs sketch something worth sharing. CalledShadowDraw, the app has a database of more than 30,000 images on file that it matches with what you are drawing....

In our continuing coverage of Microsoft Research projects, today we bring you an important update to a piece of software that we have not covered before:ICE. ICE, or Microsoft’s Image Composite Editor, is a ‘panoramic image stitcher.’ Or, to put it more simply, ICE is an app that will take a set of photos that overlap and create a single, unified image from them. This is useful if you have a camera in a single spot over time, for example, to track the motion of a person through the frame....

Microsoft is making relativelylast-minute changesto its forthcomingBUILD conference, the event that should mark the real entrance of Windows 8 into public knowledge. At the event, Microsoft is widely expected, mostly due to its own admission, to unveil a slew of Windows 8 features and answer a few dozen burning questions. And so, now that Microsoft has canceled the entire pre-conference set of events, we have had no choice but to sit up and take notice....

Over the weekend we brought youthe story of a developerand his attempt to get his site working on Internet Explorer 9. He had massive HTML5 compliance issues that created a situation so wonky that he called it a “hilarity.” Microsoft, after reading both our post and his took the time tocraft a responsethat addresses at least most of the concerns that the developer had. It would be unfair to not cover their response, and so as best as we can, what follows is a breakdown of what Microsoft has to say on the subject of IE9/HTML5 compatibility and performance....

Hackers have developed Windows Phone 7 ROMs that are useable on the HTC HD2. Today, Microsoftresponded to their actions. While the Windows Phone 7 ROM will function on an HTC HD2, it requires an activation code to use the Windows Live services on the device. While requesting that code from Microsoft, intrepid HD2 users have been claiming to be owners of the similar HTC HD7, an official WP7 handset. Microsoft has been issuing the codes, in full awareness that some requests were from individuals using phones that were not officially approved or designed for the OS....