Microsoft Sets a New Threshold for Windows Development

Developers are key to Microsoft's efforts to gain a foothold in the apps market and create a cohesive Windows ecosystem. Its upcoming OS refreshes, code-named "Threshold," will strive for commonality across its three main platforms -- Xbox, Windows and Windows Phone -- making it easier for developers to work on apps that can flow easily from one screen to another

Microsoft's wave of operating systems updates planned for 2015 has been code-named "Threshold," ZDNet reported.

They involve the addition of a set of common elements -- high-value activities such as Microsoft Office, possibly the coming "Remix" digital storytelling app, Bing, Intune and Workplace -- to Xbox One, Windows and Windows Phone.
The commonality of the updates "makes a lot of sense as Microsoft surely wants to create an ecosystem where apps from a vendor can exist easily across the three screens Microsoft has long touted -- Xbox, Windows and Windows Phone," Wes Miller, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, told TechNewsWorld.

One Approach to Rule Them All

The Xbox One OS, Windows 8.x OS and the Windows Phone 8 OS currently share a common Windows NT core.
Increasing commonality across all three will be in line with the One Microsoft vision outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer articulated earlier this year.

What Threshold Might Offer

Succeeding with mobile devices, Windows, Office 365 and Microsoft Azure will be foundational, Ballmer said in July. Xbox and Bing also will be key future contributors to financial success.
High-value activities such as serious fun, meetings, tasks, research, information assurance and IT/developer workloads would be championed at the top level, Ballmer said.
"I expect that [from] early 2014 with Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft will begin beating the drum to promote services of all kinds across all three screens -- Intune, Office 365, Power BI for Office 365, Bing, Xbox Gaming and any other service," Directions on Microsoft's Miller remarked.
Gaming and entertainment, which includes books, music and video, "will surely continue to be a focus," because Microsoft "will try to parlay the Xbox brand into more than just Xbox One," he continued.
Threshold's contribution to serious fun might mean games will "flow more easily between the platforms so you could conceivably play Xbox games off your PC, something I'd advocated years ago -- and, at times, off your tablet and Windows phone," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.
The gaming market is huge and growing. Consumers in the United States spent US$1.72 billion on digital games during Q3 2013, according to the NPD Group. They forked over $1.3 billion on new physical video and PC games, and $436 million for used and rented games.

The Hard and Painful Stats

Having commonality across the different OSes will let Microsoft "flow the applications more easily across the platforms and make it even easier for developers to support all of them," Enderle suggested.
The company needs to attract devs. Apps are the lifeblood of mobile systems, and this is an area where Microsoft is lagging far behind Apple.
About 1.7 million apps were downloaded from the Windows Store for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 in October.
However, Apple's App store saw more than 74 million downloads daily between June and October.

What About RT?

The lack of reference to Windows RT has fueled speculation that this particular Microsoft OS will be phased out.
That possibility was raised after the new head of Windows, Julie Larson-Green, recently told the UBS Global Technology Summit that Microsoft eventually would not have three Windows OSes, although she did not elaborate.
"I don't see Microsoft backing away from the Windows RT investment," Al Gillen, a program vice president at IDC, told TechNewsWorld.
On the other hand, Windows RT "appears to be merging with Windows Phone, which is interesting, given many of us argued that the Windows tablet OS should have come from Windows Phone," Enderle pointed out. "In effect, both will be replaced by an OS that will bridge the two form factors."


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" Microsoft is ready to give a big fight to its competitors   "

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Surface Pro Woes

The highly anticipated launch of the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet went over well. How well? So well that inventory levels appear to be minimal just two days later. Shoppers flocked to Microsoft’s website at the stroke of midnight, February 9 to place orders but encountered frustration. 128GB units ($999) ended up selling out, leaving 64GB units at $899 as the available option. Other shoppers chose to visit Staples or Best Buy, only to find only a couple units on hand – which, of course, went quickly.  Speculation is that total inventory levels were lower than anticipated. Could it be an effort to portray it as more popular? Was there supply chain issues? Or was that Microsoft’s intention? Who knows.

As we discussed in January, the Surface Pro is a Microsoft PC in a tablet’s body. Windows 8, Intel chip mean it performs like a computer. A touch screen mean it functions like a tablet. We will soon see what the market has to say about the latest Microsoft product and whether the PC performance in a tablet product will succeed. Keep in mind that Microsoft has had their share of successful product launches which are followed by less than average sales. But with the popularity of tablets perhaps long-term Surface Pro demand will live up to that experienced on launch day .

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" Microsoft's grand new windows RT surface pro tablet which feels you high. "

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Xbox One review

Evaluating a games console means judging a constantly changing combination of hardware, interface, software and price. We'll be updating this review as the Xbox One evolves


The Xbox One is more than a games console. At least, that's what Microsoft wants people to think. The company has invested a huge amount of resources into the latest Xbox's multimedia features, which could arguably make or break the console in the eyes of gamers. Now that it has finally arrived in the UK, we've put the machine under the microscope to see if Microsoft has delivered on its promise of a

                                                        

 

 

 

 

The next generation starts here - according to Microsoft, anyway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XBOX ONE DESIGN

There's no escaping it; the Xbox One is huge. It dwarfs the PlayStation 4, as well as both previous-generation systems, and could rival some AV amplifiers for the space it will take up underneath your TV. The angular lines, lack of physical buttons and combination of glossy and matt plastics give it an imposing, almost monolithic appearance.



 

Simple. Understated. Massive.

 

 

 

 

 

The design leaves plenty of room for the internal components to breathe; after the notorious Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death, Microsoft has taken no chances when it comes to heat with the Xbox One. An oversized CPU heatsink and fan, positioned directly below a massive exhaust vent, should ensure the console doesn't overheat even after hours of continuous gaming. It was barely audible when setting up the console for the first time and we struggled to hear it even after a full day of testing. Temperatures never exceed more than 50 degrees centigrade, whether you're watching TV or playing games.

XBOX ONE SPECS

After Microsoft revealed it was using semi-custom AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) for the Xbox One, Games consoles have never looked closer to desktop PCs in terms of hardware. The two quad-core Jaguar processor modules in the Xbox One, which run at 1.75GHz and are paired with 8GB of DDR3 memory, should be significantly easier to program for than the PowerPC-based CPU used in the Xbox 360.

 

 

 

 

Plenty of space inside. Image courtesy of iFixit -

 because we weren't brave enough to open up our console

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony has taken a similar approach, also opting for an eight-core Jaguar APU and 8GB of RAM for the PS4, but both companies have made their own adjustments to AMD's reference design and taken wildly different approaches to graphics memory. The Xbox One relies on 32MB of fast-access ESRAM to quickly buffer textures into the slower DDR3 memory, which according to developers is more complex to program than the PS4's faster GDDR5 RAM. At launch, this has led to a resolution and quality disparity between the two consoles in certain games, but we expect the gap to narrow as developers get used to the Xbox One's quirks.
Anyone expecting the jump in visual quality between generations to be huge will be disappointed; although the realtime reflections on Forza's cars, particle effects in Killer Instinct and resolution bump in multi-platform games are all welcome improvements over the Xbox 360, nothing we've seen to date has blown us away.

 

 

 

Not the most convenient place for a

 USB port if you'll be putting your Xbox

One in a TV cabinet

 

 

 

 

 

 

The slot-loading Blu-ray optical drive is a logical upgrade to the Xbox 360's DVD drive; the extra capacity has allowed developers to use bigger textures, increasing detail in games without needing to ship multiple discs. However, games aren't read directly from the disc; they must be installed to the 500GB internal hard disk; and with retail games approaching 50GB in size, it won't be long until that disk is filled.
The disk isn't user-replaceable without voiding your warranty and there's no easy way to manage the files on the disk - instead you have to separately enter each game's dashboard menu and delete the install files from there. The Xbox One automatically saves your game progress to both the console and to the cloud, so you can access your saves from other consoles.

XBOX ONE PORTS

In order to avoid spoiling its minimal front face, Microsoft has moved all the ports to the rear and left-hand side of the Xbox One. It has dropped analogue outputs altogether, opting only for HDMI plus a digital optical S/PDIF for hooking up older AV amplifiers. There are actually two HDMI ports; one to output video to your TV and a second to receive pictures from an external source - most likely a TV set-top box. At the time of writing, the digital optical output could only manage stereo audio, although Microsoft has promised to add surround sound in a future firmware update. For now, the only way to get 5.1 audio is to use HDMI.

The HDMI input is perfect for your Sky or

TiVo box, but is too laggy to feed a PC

or other games console into

 

 

There are two USB3 ports on the rear, as well as a third on the side of the console. This isn't as convenient as the front-facing ports on the Xbox 360, especially if you plan on putting the console in a compact TV cabinet. You'll also find the proprietary Kinect port and an IR blaster input at the back. The Xbox One will be able to control your set top box, to change channels and the like; this will usually be done with the Kinect, which has its own powerful IR emitter, the IR blaster is simple a backup for those whose setups don't make this practical.
You have the choice between wired Ethernet and wireless 802.11n Wi-Fi for getting online; you'll need to pick one, as the console is useless without a day one update from Microsoft's servers.

XBOX ONE SMARTGLASS

The Xbox One was built with 'second-screen' gaming in mind. Microsoft’s SmartGlass may have made its debut on the Xbox 360, but it was slow to respond and few developers took advantage of it. That isn’t the case with the new console, as it uses Wi-Fi Direct to create an uninterrupted connection to your smartphone or tablet.
At the most basic level, SmartGlass is another way to interact with the Xbox One beyond the gamepad or Kinect. It mimics the Xbox One UI on your handheld, letting you see your Xbox Live friends, track your achievements and send messages remotely. That last one is a godsend, as typing out long messages using a controller and onscreen keyboard quickly gets tedious – the touchscreen of your smartphone or tablet is much quicker.
It also doubles as a wireless touchpad, which makes browsing the web through Internet Explorer a lot easier than using the game controller, and can control multimedia playback and navigate the Xbox One interface too.

 

 

 

 

SmartGlass makes it easy to jump between games or send messages to your Live friends when you’re away from your console

 

The app remembers your pinned apps and will launch them on the console when you tap them. Once playing a compatible game, SmartGlass turns into a companion app to give you information that isn’t normally available to anyone playing on a single screen. With Ryse: Son of Rome, this takes the form of gameplay statistics, hints and the locations of in-game collectibles, saving you a trip to GameFAQs if you’re using a tablet.
It goes much deeper than that though. In the opening 10 minutes of zombie-fest Dead Rising 3, your character finds a smartphone. With SmartGlass, your real world handset becomes that device, routing in-game calls to your phone, putting a map in your hand and even letting you call in airstrikes or accept SmartGlass-only bonus missions.

 

 

 

Dead Rising 3 has an incredibly in-depth

Companion app that unlocks additional

 content not available elsewhere

 

 

SmartGlass is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Windows 8, so almost everyone should have at least one device in the house to install it on. Once you’ve downloaded it, you won’t need to download additional apps for every game – at least the Microsoft published ones, anyway. Third-party games like Battlefield 4 have their own second screen apps, which can be downloaded separately. Some companion apps only work on tablets, but we had no trouble with Dead Rising 3 on a smartphone.
It’s a great first start, but we can’t wait to see where Microsoft and its development partners take the technology from here. With next to no lag between device and console thanks to Wi-Fi direct, the possibilities for new ways to interact with your games should make either a smartphone or tablet a must-have accessory to pair with your console in the future.

XBOX ONE CONTROLLER

The Xbox 360 controller was widely regarded as one of the best controllers ever made, so Microsoft has been careful not to change the formula too drastically for the Xbox One. The new controller has the same offset analogue stick layout, four face buttons, two triggers and two shoulder buttons, but the start and select buttons have been replaced with menu and multi-tasking buttons respectively.

 

 

 

 

The smooth textured plastic creates plenty of grip and the contoured shape comfortably fits your hands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite being similar to its predecessor, numerous little changes make a world of difference. The new four-way directional pad is much more precise than the 8-way 360 D-pad, which was arguably its weakest feature. Individual rumble motors in the new 'impulse triggers' add force feedback directly to your fingers. A smaller dead zone and greater resistance to movement make the analogue sticks feel incredibly responsive.

 

 

 

The Micro USB port can't charge

 the AA batteries, but plugging it in will save battery power

 

 

 

 

 

The battery compartment is now recessed within the controller, rather than protruding outwards as it was with the Xbox 360. Microsoft has opted for AA batteries rather than a built-in rechargeable pack, and these can't be charged via the micro USB port. You'll want to buy the the optional Play-and-Charge battery pack.
Overall, the controller feels superior in almost every way, which is a major achievement given the 360 pad's pedigree.

XBOX ONE KINECT

Microsoft was adamant that Kinect would be an integral part of the Xbox One - so much so that it bundles the depth-sensing camera with every console. Bigger than the original Kinect, with a black finish and angular lines that match the console, it's the first thing you see when opening the box and forms part of the initial set-up process.

 

 

Get used to this staring back at you - Kinect is heavily integrated with the Xbox One UI

 

 

 

The camera detects the number of people in the room, automatically signing in profiles as it recognises faces. If you download the free Xbox Fitness app, it can monitor you while you exercise, using a combination of RGB and infra-red cameras to monitor small details like flushed cheeks to estimate your heart rate. It also redeems QR codes, which is far easier than typing in 25-digit numerical codes to redeem Xbox Live subscriptions or digital downloads - it takes less than a second to detect a code, having activated it almost as soon as you raise the card to the camera lens.
It's more than just a camera, however. Microsoft says Kinect's microphones are precise enough to isolate your speech from across a room, even with game audio in the background, although a Chat headset does still ship with the console. In our experience, we still got some in-game feedback from our online friends when playing Killer Instinct, but for the most part speech was clear and of a much higher bit rate than the Xbox 360.
Most of the Xbox One launch games support Kinect in some way; Forza 5 can track your head movement to move the in-car view as you lean left and right, while Ryse: Son of Rome lets you command your fellow soldiers with voice commands. Dead Rising 3 lets you shout at zombies to get their attention, distracting them from your fellow survivors if they get into trouble. Third-party launch games
 FIFA 14 and Need for Speed Rivals let you use Kinect to navigate through the menus, while NBA 2K14 will actually penalise you with a technical foul if Kinect catches you swearing over a bad call.

XBOX ONE INTERFACE

Booting up the Xbox One takes a while. Out of the box, it takes well over a minute, which feels like a lifetime compared to the Xbox 360. Once you activate the Instant On function, the console resumes from an energy-friendly deep sleep in just a tenth of the time. This speed is present throughout the operating system, letting you jump from a game, to the Xbox store, to recorded video clips and back into your game without having to reload.

 

 

Logging in to your Xbox Live account takes seconds with Kinect, so the first thing you see is the home screen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tiled Xbox One interface takes several visual cues from Microsoft's Windows 8 desktop operating system, with simple yet colourful icons and a grid-based layout which is well suited to big-screen use. Kinect voice commands are heavily integrated into the system, so you can get to pretty much any game, app or menu without having to reach for a controller.
You can say "Xbox" at any time to get a brief overview of available voice commands. Any text highlighted in green can be spoken and Kinect will recognise it, although it doesn't pick up on shortened versions - this means you'll need to say "Forza Motorsport 5" instead of "Forza 5", or "Ryse Son of Rome" instead of "Ryse".
Most commands make sense; "Xbox Snap" will split the screen into two, letting you have one app running in the background while you play a game or watch TV. "Xbox Record That" will save the last 30 seconds of gameplay as a video clip which can then be watched by your Xbox Live friends. Others, however, are slightly more obscure. Saying "Xbox On" will wake the console from standby if you're using the Instant On power saving mode, but you'll have to say "Xbox Turn Off" to power it down again.

A very handy cheat sheet, originally posted to Reddit, could come in handy for anyone wanting to learn how to quickly navigate the Xbox UI.
Once you lean the right commands though, it's often faster than using a controller, as Microsoft has oddly decided to bury some apps, menus and settings in counter-intuitive places. The Xbox UI also has support for gesture commands, although these don't work quite as well as voice commands and Microsoft has stayed oddly quiet about their inclusion.

 

 

 

 

Saying "Xbox" will highlight every onscreen command in green

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinning apps to the home screen puts them in easy reach, but to do so requires a press of the menu button and there's no on-screen prompt to do so. The list of installed apps is arranged horizontally, and quickly builds up; the amount of scrolling required to find your games could prove cumbersome after a year of installing new titles.

 

 

 

These two rows hold every app and game installed on your console - it will quickly build up into an epic list

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're already beginning to experience this effect, as almost everything has its own app. You'll need to install a specific app to play Blu-ray films as there's no in-built player, meaning there's no way to play films at all until you take the console online. It takes around 6 seconds to load a 2D film, so it at least reads discs quickly, but there's no auto-resume function. Audio CDs have their own separate app too.

There's also no native DLNA client. This means you can't browse through multimedia files on a networked PC or NAS device like you could with the Xbox 360. Instead, you'll need to use a DLNA media server like Skifta to push files to the console, which then switches between the Xbox Video and Xbox Music apps depending on what content you try to play. These are all confusing ways to handle multimedia considering Microsoft's insistence that the Xbox One is a hub for all your content.

XBOX ONE TV AND GUIDE

The new console comes off badly when you compare on-demand services to its predecessor. Netflix, LoveFilm and 4OD might be present, but there's no BBC iPlayer, Sky Go, Now TV, Demand 5 or BlinkBox, meaning you'll need to hold onto your Xbox 360 for a while yet.

 

 

 

The Xbox Store is off to a slow start, especially where on-demand video apps are concerned

 

TV integration is arguably the Xbox One's killer feature outside of games. Once connected to the console, you can use your Sky, Virgin or YouView box just as you did before, but with many added benefits. You can see notifications and invites from gaming friends, have a Skype conversation in a Windows alongside live TV, or even bring up a web browser there.
Unfortunately the OneFeed unified program guide isn't supported yet. This will bring your set top box's TV channel listings to your Xbox One, letting you browse programmes and set up recordings from there. You will also be able to put content from streaming services and even YouTube subscriptions alongside TV content and recordings. If it all comes together, it will be an incredible, integrated hub to access all your content. You can't abandon your old remote control in favour of an Xbox One controller or Kinect voice commands quite yet, but maybe soon.
One issue that has come to light is that TV, particularly panning shots and live sports, looks juddery on UK TV. This is because the Xbox One is locked to a 60Hz output, while UK TV runs at 50HZ. The XBox One has to then repeat every fifth frame for two frames to amke up the difference, resulting in juddering. Fixing it is possible, but it's not trivial and would add headaches to Microsoft's software testing in future.

XBOX ONE GAMES

Multi-platform games are spilling over from one generation to the next. Although the launch line-up appears large, it includes titles you could have already played on the PC or current generation systems. None of the exclusive games are big enough draws to buy a console for, with Forza 5, Killer Instinct and Ryse: Son of Rome appealing to distinctly different audiences and Dead Rising 3 suffering from low frame rates. There aren't many new releases on the horizon either, with most pushed back until well into the new year while developers wrestle with the new hardware.

 

 

 

The free-to-play Killer Instinct shows what a difference particle effects can make

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's also worth keeping in mind that there's no backwards compatibility. This shouldn't come as a surprise given the major differences in hardware between the Xbox One and Xbox 360, but it's another reason to hold onto your old console rather than trade it in for a new model.

XBOX ONE PRICE

There's no escaping the fact that the Xbox One costs significantly more than Sony's PS4, as including Kinect has forced Microsoft to add £80 to the price of its console. £430 is a lot to ask for a hardware platform with only 20 games, especially as each one currently costs around £50. You'll also need to pay for an Xbox Live Gold subscription to use just about any multimedia or communication app, including Skype, Netflix and Xbox Music. You could buy a PS4, a year's PS+ subscription (the equivalent of Xbox Live Gold) and at least one game for the same price as the Xbox One console alone.

THE WRAP UP

As it stands today, the Xbox One is an evolution over Microsoft's previous generation console that, at least in the UK, is missing key features that would arguably make it stand out from Sony's PS4. Until set-top box support arrives next year, along with on-demand services from the BBC and Sky, you’re buying into a system that has few killer exclusives, is technically less powerful than its rival and has fewer multimedia apps than its predecessor.

Of course it's early days, with Microsoft promising to add more apps, support as many set-top boxes as possible and of course release more games, which are certain to take greater advantage of the Xbox One's hardware and processing power. That said, if you can wait, you probably should.
It's impossible to say how quickly competition will heat up between the next-gen rivals, forcing prices downwards or creating tempting bundle offers; we can't see there being much movement in this area before Christmas 2014, but you never know. You'd have to have plenty of faith in Microsoft delivering quickly on its multimedia promises, and be keen to play prettier-looking multi-platform games today, in order to justify spending £430 on an Xbox One today.

Details
Part Code	B00BE4OUBG
Review Date	4 Dec 2013
Price	£430
Rating	Best Prices Price comparison powered by Prices, delivery and availability at 1 retailer

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Satya Nadella, India-born executive, among candidates to succeed Microsoft CEO

NEW YORK: India-born senior Microsoft executive Satya Nadella is among the top two likely candidates whose name is being considered for becoming the next CEO of the world's biggest software company, replacing longtime chief executive Steve Ballmer.
Nadella is Executive Vice President for Cloud and Enterprise at Microsoft and was a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems before joining Microsoft.

A native of Hyderabad, Nadella earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.
A report in Wall Street Journal's 'All Things D' blog said that Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Nadella are in the lead positions to take over as CEO of Microsoft.
Mulally remains in the "pole position for the job, with the idea that he will be more a 'caretaker' type CEO, whose deep experience and inspirational charisma will get the company on the right path, while also training up a number of internal candidates to eventually takeover from him.
"The top pick among the possible heirs inside for that princeling role: Enterprise chief Satya Nadella," it reported.
Microsoft talent search documents says it is looking for someone with an "extensive track record in managing complex, global organisations within a fast-paced and highly competitive market sector; track record of delivering top and bottom line results; proven ability to lead a multi-billion dollar organisation and large employee base.
Microsoft executive Tony Bates and former Nokia Oyj CEO Stephen Elop are also in the fray but are "currently considered less likely to be offered the job."
Microsoft board is looking for a quick replacement for Ballmer, who had said in August that he will retire within the next one year.
"The board had met on November 18 over the issue of finding a replacement for Ballmer," Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates said at a shareholder meeting last week.
Gates said he and other directors have met with "a lot of CEO candidates" adding that "it's a complex role to fill."

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