It is that lovely time of the week when we all begin to glance at the clock and count down, so let TNWmicrosoft soften the end of your work day with a roundup of the biggest Microsoft stories from the past seven days.
For this week’s question, pipe up in the comments as to what software you use to manage your music. Now, follow us onTwitterandFacebook, and let’s get into the news.
Ballmer’s Keynote
At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference, CEO Steve Ballmer gave a keynote address that included several important pieces of information, and also a few jokes. Perhaps most memorable in the speech was his mocking of Apple for selling roughly 5.7% as many Macs as PCs were sold in the year prior.
But Ballmer also revealed that Windows Phone 7 sales remain small, and that Windows 7 has sold 400 million copies. Also released during the address was the fact that Office 2010 had sold over 100 million licenses.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
The message of the address was unification of the Microsoft empire, the joining together of all its products. Read all our notes on the speechhere.
Windows 8
Windows 8 could mark a seminal moment for Microsoft: It may be thelast operating systemreleased by Microsoft to contain the ‘Windows’ tag.
New reports, tips, and rumors are pointing to the OS after Windows 8 as being a piece of software that will run on phones, PCs, tablets, and even the Xbox. In other words, Microsoft appears to be working towards a future in which it has a single OS product that runs on every possible device.
And because that would be such a monumental change, the company may (it is being circulated) change the name of the operating system to something other than Windows. Crazy? Perhaps. But Microsoft has shown in recent months that it is willing to take larger gambles. This might just be the next one.
Microsoft sued over ad campaign
Yes, this is not a story from the Onion, but something that isactually happening:
Microsoft’s year-old “Really?” Windows Phone adverts, which show various smartphone owners getting into trouble , have been made the focus of a lawsuit from novelty gift firm Cellrderm, which accuses the Redmond-based company and advertising agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky of copying its ad campaign.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, suggests Microsoft and Crispin Porter & Bogusky deliberately leveraged the idea to show a man drop his smartphone in a urinal and also to include an executive type who ignores sexual advances from his frustrated wife.
If the lawsuit has merit remains to be seen, but it certainly is a humorous situation. The ads that Microsoft has run that are implicated have been generally well received, so to see them go dark over this sort of complaint might be a moment to toss our hands into the air and just exclaim, ‘really?’
Is this Microsoft’s new social project?
Oops. Microsoftaccidentally releasedthe name “Tulalip” just the other day, showing the world that it has a social project up its sleeves that just might be coming to market.
What is it? According to the poorly worded screen that was captured: “With Tulalip, you can Find what you need and Share what you know easier than ever.” The service has large Twitter and Facebook sign in options, so we doubt that it is out toreplacethose two companies, especially given how close Microsoft and Facebook are.
Hopefully more will leak in the next few weeks so that we can dig further into the product, but for now this is all we know:
That is all for now. More, as always, as it happens.
Story byAlex Wilhelm
Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at alex@thenextweb(show all)Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex onTwitter,and onFacebook.You can reach Alex via email atalex@thenextweb.com
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
