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Everyone is well-aware by now that Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 have not seen the impressive adoption rate of their predecessor. Yet the duo had a particularly good run last month, finally passing 15 percent market share together, according to the latest figures from Net Applications.More specifically, Windows 8 gained 0.29 percentage points to 5.88 percent while Windows 8.1 gained 4.25 percentage points to 10.92 percent. Together, they owned 16.80 percent of the market at the end of October, up from 12.26 percent at the end of September. It’s certainly a big jump, and Windows 8.1 is finally in...

I'm trying to determine if it's worth messing with to find a different (and free) operating system for my very old Dell Latitude laptop. It currently has Windows XP SP3, which of course Microsoft no longer supports.

Microsoft has issued a patch for a security vulnerability in Internet Explorer to all versions of Windows, including Windows XP, despite claiming it would release no more patches for the outdated operating system after 8 April 2014. Earlier this week, both the UK and US governments advised citizens to consider using alternatives to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, after the company discovered a vulnerability that could allow hackers to gain access to users' computers and steal their data. The vulnerability made headlines because it coincided with the end of support for Windows XP, meaning that anyone still running the 13-year-old operating...

Microsoft is helping the estimated hundreds of millions of customers still running Windows XP, which it stopped supporting earlier this month, by providing an emergency update to fix a critical bug in its Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft Corp rushed to create the fix after learning of the bug in the operating system over the weekend when cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc warned that a sophisticated group of hackers had exploited the bug to launch attacks in a campaign dubbed "Operation Clandestine Fox. ...

It's not often that the US or UK governments weigh in on the browser wars, but a new Internet Explorer vulnerability that affects all major versions of the browser from the past decade has forced it to raise an alarm: Stop using IE. The zero-day exploit, the term given to a previously unknown, unpatched flaw, allows attackers to install malware on your computer without your permission. That malware could be used to steal personal data, track online behavior, or gain control of the computer. Security firm FireEye, which discovered the bug, said that the flaw is being used with a...

Microsoft says a security gap in Internet Explorer could allow an attacker to take complete control of a computer if the user clicks on a link to a malicious website. The vulnerability affects versions 6 through 11 of the Web browser. …

A new zero day vulnerability that resides in all versions of Internet Explorer has been spotted in the wild, Microsoft confirmed late Saturday. The vulnerability, which could allow remote code execution, is being used in "limited, targeted attacks," according to an advisory issued by Microsoft. While all versions of the web browser, IE 6 through 11, are affected by the vulnerability, attacks are currently targeting IE versions 9, 10 and 11, according to security firm Fire Eye, which first reported the flaw Friday. The attack leverages a previously unknown "use after free" vulnerability -- data corruption that occurs after memory...

It has been over two weeks now since Microsoft support for Windows XP expired. So far, the world as we know it has not come to a grinding halt for Windows XP users, but that isn’t a reason to let your guard down—it’s really just a matter of time. With hundreds of millions of Windows XP systems still in use by businesses, government agencies, and individuals around the world, maybe Microsoft Microsoft should make the operating system open source and let developers take over. When May 13 rolls around, things might start to look different. Many XP users viewed April...

- Ubuntu Kylin China is one of the countries that have suffered the most when Microsoft decided to pull the plug on Windows XP. The Chinese government is now looking towards Linux to fill that gap, and it intends to use its resources to make that happen. China has been struggling for years to make its own Linux operating system, but it had little success. At one point it had something called the Red Flag Linux distribution, but the project never really got off the ground and lost all support from the Chinese government. Microsoft's decision to stop issuing...

For its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 31, Microsoft beat analysts’ expectations. The company posted earnings per share of 68 cents on revenue of $20.40 billion. It reported $5.66 billion in profit. Analysts had expected Microsoft to report third-quarter revenue this year of about $20.38 billion, and earnings per share of 63 cents, with profit of $5.26 billion, according to a Bloomberg consensus estimate.

In this follow up to Replace the Retiring Windows XP with Linux we're going learn the easiest and most foolproof way to install and run Xubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS on your old Windows XP computer. The only requirements are that your old computer has USB ports, and that it supports booting from a USB stick. If your computer is too old for USB, then it's pretty darned old and you really need to think about getting a newer one. There are but four steps: one, go to OSDisc.com and order Xubuntu Linux on a 32-gigabyte USB stick. Then insert the USB stick into your computer,...

Microsoft officially ended support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. That means the company is no longer patching newly discovered security vulnerabilities in the operating system, and people who continue to use it are opening themselves up to security risks. However, according to NetMarketShare, more than a quarter of all PCs (27.69 percent) were still running Windows XP in March of this year.Why would people continue using a twelve-year-old operating system that would put them at risk?No doubt, many are home users who simply aren't very technology savvy and/or may not have the desire or the money to upgrade...

Summary: Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Word and Publisher are patched, some products for the last time. Today Microsoft released four security updates for Windows and Microsoft Office. These will be the last publicly-released updates for Windows XP and Office 2003. A total of 11 vulnerabilities were addressed by these updates, including seven for Windows XP and four for Office 2003. Separately, Microsoft released fixes for Internet Explorer 10 and 11 to address vulnerabilities fixed by Adobe in the Flash Player bundled in the Metro versions of IE. Among the vulnerabilities patched is a critical error in the handling of RTF...

Windows XP, Microsoft Corp.’s beloved seventh major operating system and arguably the company’s most successful, was left to perish on Tuesday at its creators’ hands. It was 12 years, seven months old. ~snip~ Windows XP’s funeral, a private ceremony held deep within Microsoft, was quiet. In lieu of flowers, Microsoft urged customers to donate to Windows 8, one of Windows XP’s grandchildren.

Microsoft really wants people to stop using Windows XP. The company launched a new promotion that offers XP users $100 off the purchase of a new PC that costs more than $599 through the Microsoft Store from now until June 15. Buyers will also get 90 days of free support and free data transfer from their old XP-powered PC. Microsoft is ending support for XP, which has been around for more than a decade, in April. That means any security flaws found by attackers after that point won’t be patched, leaving users who are still clinging to their old computers...

Lush green hills under a cobalt blue sky with precisely the right amount of fluffy clouds floating about. Who hasn’t been lost in reverie staring at the default Windows XP wallpaper, dreaming of Middle Earth or maybe a weekend in Cork County? Yet that shot of a bucolic paradise has turned into a very personal nightmare for Charles O’Lear, the man who captured the iconic photo and sold it to Microsoft. O’Lear took a one-time payment for the photo rather than trying to negotiate a license fee. Even a tiny fee per Windows XP license would have yielded him a...

Windows XP is dying. On April 8, Microsoft will stop supporting the ancient operating system that was released in 2001 — and at one point was used by 400 million people. You might think that an operating system that was actually engineered in the late 90s would be fully obsolete and unused by now. After all, since XP came out, Microsoft has released several major replacement versions: Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 (recently upgraded to Windows 8.1). But there’s something about Windows XP. It’s basic, stable, fast enough, and good enough for a lot of people. It’s still...

Microsoft hopes to make it easier for Windows XP users to drop their old computers and upgrade to a newer Surface or PC by offering them $100 to do so. The Redmond-based company announced earlier this month that support and security updates will no longer be available for its popular old operating system after April 8. That doesn’t mean the computers will immediately become unusable, but they may be more vulnerable to hackers. Windows XP users can get $100 off when they buy a Surface Pro 2 or select PCs for $599 and more. The cheapest is an Acer Aspire...

On April 8, 2014, support and updates for Windows XP will no longer be available. Don't let your PC go unprotected. What is Windows XP end of support? Microsoft has provided support for Windows XP for the past 12 years. But now the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources toward supporting more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences. As a result, after April 8, 2014, technical assistance for Windows XP will no longer be available, including automatic updates that help protect your PC. Microsoft...

Need advice on upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7