Earlier this year, Microsoft Ventures in India selected 16 startups for its Summer 2014 batch. Today, at an event in Bangalore, Microsoft Ventures announced the graduation of all these startups. In addition, a startup from an earlier batch was also graduated.

At the event, the accelerator program also announced a new initiative Think Next – which aims to boost the startup ecosystem in India. Think Next will provide a forum to stakeholders, guiding them to take measurable steps to elevate the growth of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. “Think Next is that forum, and we are confident it will provide a strong boost to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Ravi Narayan, Director, Microsoft Ventures in India.

The startup companies from the fourth batch that graduated today are: Appointy, App, Virality, Bookpad, Boutline,  Imly, InstaSafe, IntouchApp, Metaome, Sliderule, Voonik, MyBusTickets.in, Praxify, Thinxtream, Touchfone, ZingHR and Zoom. In addition, Profoundis, a startup from the second batch also graduated today.

“Over the course of the last two years, Microsoft Ventures has emerged as a key player in the Indian startup ecosystem, working closely by pooling its resources with other accelerators, incubators and industry bodies, with the single objective of helping startups,“ Narayan added.

Below you find the list of all the startups that graduated today, along with the progress they made over last few months.

There is no denying that there are some folks at Microsoft that are a fan of photography and art. After all, the world of Microsoft can be full of amazing moments. Microsoft has launched a new website that showcases the best photography from around the world of Microsoft, in a beautiful layout.

“With every amazing person we meet, and every epic moment we cover, our family photo album gets a little thicker. In fact, it’s pretty much bursting at the seams. So we’ve created a new place where we can share our favorite photos from the world of Microsoft with you. We’re calling it Snaps,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

For example, one of the images at the Snaps website features Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on his first day as the big boss. There are quite a few images on the site right now, and we are sure Microsoft will add some more images soon. Head over to the Snaps website by hitting the VIA link below.

There was a great deal of excitement at yesterday’s Surface event, but there was no sign of the Surface Mini that so many people had been hoping and praying for. There had been so many rumors and leaks ahead of the event that the unveiling of a Mini was taken as a given. This only served to make the device’s non-appearance all the more disappointing; but all may not be lost.

Did the Surface Mini not appear because Microsoft has fallen out of love with Windows RT? Did the timing not feel right? Maybe the company did not want to detract from the launch of Surface Pro 3 and wanted to avoid overwhelming consumers with two devices at the same time. It’s not possible that so many sources could have been wrong about the device, is it? All of the usual leak sources have been informing us of the imminent launch of the Surface Mini. Industry insiders have been feeding information to journalists for weeks and month. Could they all have been wrong?

There have been suggestions made that Microsoft simply changed its mind, that the Surface Mini was simply canceled at the last minute — maybe even as late as the weekend before the NYC event. While it is tempting to think that this is possible, it would seem unlikely. But the Surface Mini is real. Very real. According to a report from Neowin 15-20,000 units have already been produced, and it was only a last minute “management directive” that stopped the launch in its tracks. Lack of faith in Windows RT and a failure to stand out from the competition have been cited as possible reasons.

The report agrees with Mary Jo Foley’s suggestion that the launch has been postponed until the touch-optimized Office Gemini is ready. This does make sense, as Office on a smaller tablet will act as a big draw. The current version of office 365 would be usable on a smaller screen, but it would not be ideal — far better to have a version that is specifically designed for a device of smaller dimensions. Remember the Surface Mini will be all about touch; there may be keyboards available at some point, but touch and pen input is going to be where it is at.

It is possible that Gemini will be ready in the fall, so there is a chance that this is when Surface Mini will also make an appearance… but sadly we are back into the realms of speculation once again. But one thing is clear. Microsoft does not want to launch a lame duck. Surface Mini will not see the light of day until it is completely ready, hardware, software and associated infrastructure. This is the new face of Microsoft, remember.

In the meantime, there is the Dell Venue 8 to fill the void, but it is the Surface Mini that remains the most desirable device.

Keeping its promise, Microsoft (on behalf of Nokia) launched the third – also, the last remaining – device in its X lineup, Nokia X+, in India. Priced at Rs. 8,399 ($144), Nokia X+ sits between Nokia X and Nokia XL in terms of specifications and pricing.

At the Mobile World Congress Event, Nokia unveiled its X lineup – three phones that run on a forked version of Android. The company promised that it will roll out the devices to the Asia-Pacific region within 60 days. Nokia X arrived here a couple of weeks ago, and XL was launched last week.

Nokia X+ sports a 4-inch touch screen display with a resolution of 800 x 480. Powered by a 1 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 play (MSM8225) processor, coupled with 768MB of RAM, the phone runs a modified version of Android Jelly Bean (4.1). The dual-SIM capable device has a 3MP shooter at the back, but lacks a front facing camera. On the connectivity front it supports 3G, WiFi, and Bluetooth. The phone comes with 4 gigs of internal storage which can be expanded using a microSD slot. The 1500 mAh battery is also a tad low.

It will be interesting to see how Nokia X+ does in the market. The phone is now facing stiff competition from Moto E and entry level Android phones, whereas on the other hand it competes with its own cousin, the Lumia 520. It will be interesting to see if people go with a true Android Phone, a Windows Phone, or find Nokia X+ to be their choice.

Microsoft has announced a new partnership with Ubisoft, a French multinational video game developer and publisher. The companies have together launched the first ever Assasin’s Creed Pirates for the web. Assasin’s Creed Pirates is free to play and is available in five languages worldwide. 

The game was build with Babylon.JS, which is an easy to use yet powerful, open-source 3D engine build on WebGL, TypeScript, and Javascript by Microsoft developers David Catuhe, David Rousset, Michel Rousseau, and Pierre Lagarde. These technologies offer developers the ability to quickly add collision detection, physics, lighting, camera angles, textures, effects, and new 3D scenes with minimal coding. 

Microsoft has also announced a new developer challenge. It states “Build your own shader with Babylon.JS and you could win an Assassin’s Creed Collector’s Black Chest Edition and an Xbox One! It only takes a few minutes and you don’t really have to be a pro developer to play with code this easy.” If you’re 16 years old or over and reside in United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain or Australia, you can participate in this content. Details can be found here.

Microsoft is touting Internet Explorer 11 as the perfect browser to play this game. Internet Explorer 11 features even better 3D performance, enhanced touch capabilities, and recent improvements to WebGL. 

“When Assassin’s Creed Pirates was released on mobile, it received high praise for its groundbreaking visuals. We wanted to see if a game like this could be possible on the web. It’s difficult to really know where web-gaming is headed, but we can be sure that Babylon.JS and Internet Explorer today, in terms of gaming, are great platforms to demonstrate its potential,” said François Bodson, Studio Manager.

Slovakia is a state in Central Europe with a popular of over five million people. Thanks to Windows XP’s end of support and cheaper Windows 8 devices, Slovakia has seen a increase in PC shipments after six straight quarters of declining market share. In fact, the Slovak PC market increased in volume by 21% year on year in the first quarter of 2014.

“The market was driven by transitions to a newer Windows OS versions (either Win7 or Win8), as Microsoft ended its support of Windows XP in April. Vendors also increased shipments of new PCs due to Microsoft’s price reduction of Windows 8; some were also compelled to do so in order to meet end-of-fiscal-year targets set by their global or regional HQs,” IDC stated on May 19th.

The top PC vendors in Slovakia as of Q1 2014 include Lenovo with a 25.50% share, HP with a 20.70% share, Acer with a 16% share, and 37.80% comprising of other vendors. Seven out of ten PCs that were sold were notebooks, but the desktop market also saw an improvement. 

Microsoft ended support for Windows XP on April 8th, which along with the price reduction of Windows 8, has helped Slovakia’s PC market see an increase for the first time in six quarters. 

Not long ago, Microsoft rolled out a Skype plugin for Outlook which allowed users to do just about every Skype operation without having to leave the Outlook tab. Today, Google has launched a similar plugin, Hangouts for a Google Apps user who also uses Microsoft Outlook. “Schedule meetings in the blink of an eye with Google Apps shared calendars,” Google tweeted.

Once installed, users won’t have to leave the Outlook tab to start, join, or schedule a conversation on Hangouts, Google explained. It’s an interesting move by Google which might actually help some business users, however, it should be reminded that when Microsoft released a tool to bring support for Google Talks (the previous iteration of Hangouts) last year, one of the bosses at Google didn’t really like the move. Larry Page believed that Microsoft was using two companies inter-operation for its own benefits. 

“Schedule a Hangouts video call with other Outlook users in your company with a single click. Join a scheduled Hangouts video call by opening the meeting in Outlook and clicking the Hangouts video call link,” the plugin description reads.

As of now the plugin only works with Windows operating system – Windows 7 or higher (sorry Mac users). You can grab the download from the link below. 

A new document has been uncovered, titled “UX Proposal for Pen and Ink for Office Gemini,” showcasing concept designs for the Word, Excel, Outlook, and OneNote in action. Obviously these are concept designs, but could the final version of Office Gemini look similar? Its a possibility.

Office Gemini, for those that did not know, is the codename for Microsoft’s Office productivity suite that is optimized for touch and ink. These apps are not intended to replace their desktop counterparts, as Microsoft plans to continue to develop and innovate on the desktop front. Gemini simply provides consumers with a Metro/Modern version of the Office productivity suite.

Microsoft also has a video that talks about “Great Inking,” which goes over a unified approach to inking and how it ties into the company’s concept for Office Gemini. According to Microsoft, modern devices have changed the game and as more pen capable hardware is released, the more consumers should be aware of the inking capabilities – especially since consumers are turning to modern touch devices for productivity purposes. 

“In late 2013 and early 2014 Office, Surface, and Windows formed a Cross-Group Inking team to explore One Microsoft needs for a unified approach to inking. In this session Tucker Hatfield presents details about the Cross-Group effort and their conclusions of what is needed for first-class inking and Will Vong shows visionary ways in which these needs might be met with inking features,” Microsoft explained.

You can watch this video below. You can also check out the concepts in the PDF file below.

Credit to @h0x0d for spotting this!

Emory University is slightly red-faced at the moment after accidentally deploying a Windows 7 image to all of its computers and servers that started off with instructions to format and repartition drives. The mistake was noticed, but by the time the deployment server was switched off, it had itself been formatted; what then followed was huge clean-up operation.

The fallout was quite dramatic as while the deployed image included a number of key applications such as Office, other such as Visio and Project required manual installation. IT technicians worked through the night to restore “mission critical” computers to help speed up the process of getting others systems back up and running in a somewhat automated fashion.

Although a degree of automation was possible, visits from technician were still needed in many cases. The process as helped by the use of the Microsoft Development Toolkit but, as pointed out by The Next Web, incidents such as this do serve to highlight the importance of having up to date, reliable backups.

But while the accident caused quite a lot of problems, it did also show just how useful group policies are — this made it possible to rollout a lot of system settings. All told, the clean-up took a couple of days from start to finish, although there is still some work to be done to get all system fully operational again.

Oops!

Windows 9, codename Threshold, is rumored for an April 2015 release date. This information is known and comes from Paul Thurrott, a well-known Microsoft insider. Now, according to a new rumor, Microsoft will offer a preview version of the new operating system sometime around February of 2015.

Similar to the Developer Preview or Consumer Preview of Windows 8, Microsoft is rumored to offer a public preview build of Windows 9 sometime between Q2 or Q3 of 2015 (around February or March of 2015) – giving consumers a chance to play with the new operating system before it’s official release. This information comes from a leaker by the name of “Faikee,” who was recently responsible for dropping the Windows 365 name, along with other tidbits.

In fact, the rumor goes as far as saying that Microsoft will offer the public preview of Threshold between Q2 and Q3 of 2015. Interestingly enough, it is also speculated that we will see a second update to Windows 8.1 sometime in September of this year, bringing along the return of the Start Menu, the ability to have “windowed” Metro/Modern apps, and the possible combination of Windows RT and Windows Phone. We’ve already taken the first step towards the latter with “universal apps” that work on Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT.

Take this bit of information with a huge grain of salt and remember it is just a rumor. Microsoft, nor any of the well-respected Microsoft insiders, have commented on Windows 9’s “public preview” release date. The word “Threshold” for those that did not know, is derived from the original Halo game, where it was the name of the planet enveloped by the first Halo ring.

Whether this rumor is true or farfetched is just icing on the cake. The point is Windows 9 is happening and we are all excited to hear what it has in store for us. What’s next for Microsoft’s Windows operating system? We’ll begin to find out in the coming months. 

Editor’s note: Post has been updated to reflect a Q2 to Q3 release date for the preview, rather than February 3rd.

Insteon is a technology based company that has been in business for over 20 years. Insteon’s expertise is in home automation, providing technology that enables light switches, lights, thermostats, motion sensors, and other devices to inter-operate through power lines, radio frequency communications, or both.

Today, Microsoft has announced a partnership with Insteon. They’re bringing an enhanced version of its Insteon app with exclusive features and it will be available for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices as of June 1st. New features to this app release that are exclusive to the Windows platform are:

• Visitor Mode – provides restricted access to children or guests in your home
• Live Tiles – get status on multiple devices directly on your Windows 8.1 Start screen (not currently available on Windows Phone 8)
• Enhanced Camera Support – view multiple cameras at once, view full-screen, and camera support without the need of an Insteon Hub
• Multi-House Support – enables you to control multiple homes or businesses from a single account
• Dashboard View – a quick and organized view of the status of your home

“The Windows 8.1 platform provided INSTEON with an unparalleled opportunity to develop a beautiful and easy-to-use connected home experience. The Live Tile architecture is especially well-suited for home automation,” said Joe Dada, CEO, INSTEON. “Users are going to love controlling their INSTEON-connected home from their Windows devices.”

Marking Microsoft’s retail entry into the connected home market, Insteon home products will also be available for purchase on MicrosoftStore.com and most Microsoft Stores across the U.S. 

“Windows PCs, tablets and phones are supported by a rich app ecosystem that offers a variety of quality apps that take advantage of the platform’s unique features and design such as Live Tiles,” said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Apps and Store, Microsoft Corp. “The unique camera and control features in the INSTEON app really come to life on both Windows and Windows Phone.”

Microsoft is planning on offering a range of Insteon products that will include three kits, a Starter Kit, Home Kit and Business Kit. Standalone devices will include the INSTEON Leak Sensor, Open/Close Sensor, LED Bulb, On/Off Module and Wireless Wi-Fi Camera. Prices will range from $29.99 to $79.99, with kits starting at $199. 

Do you wish you had a way to better understand how your time is spent on any given day? Do you also own a Windows Phone device? Well, guess what. There’s an app for that. Introducing Time of My Life app for Windows Phone, from the kind folks over at Microsoft Research.

“Where did my time go? Use this app to better understand how your time is spent and budget your time better to focus on things that matter most. The application shows daily, weekly and monthly graphs of where time was spent, with automatically inferred places (such as home, work, gym, and restaurant) or activities,” the app description reads.

The idea behind the app is to help you track where you spend your time, since our lives are always so busy. Sometimes we tend to forget how we fill our days. The app showcases daily, weekly, and monthly graphs, showing you places you have been to like home, work, gym, and eateries. You can even add names or new places for personalization.

Grab the app via the download link below and give it a try. Maybe it can help you understand your day.

In less than a week Microsoft is slated to hold an event in New York City. While we already know it is about Surface, and that Satya Nadella is likely to host, the exact announcements forthcoming have been kept secret. Rumors swirl around a Surface mini tablet and perhaps even the unveiling of the Surface Pro 3, a mere seven months after the second generation tablet hit the market. 

Today the Redmond company let us know that it plans to live stream the big event. In a brief announcement, Microsoft’s Dan Laycock says “The webcast will begin at 8am Pacific Time (11am Eastern). For specific details on the webcast, visit the Microsoft News Center on Tuesday, May 20th”. 

WinBeta will have full coverage on everything at the event, so if you can’t watch the live coverage, then fear not. In the meantime, let the wild speculation continue — what do think, or hope, the software giant will unveil next week? Tell us in the comments.

Later this year, Sunset Overdrive will launch on the Xbox One as an exclusive for the platform. Microsoft continues to tease us with yet another video of the game in action. We’ve embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure.

Microsoft recently offered a first-look video on the next generation game, which has been hyped by the company ever since the console was launched back in November of 2013. Sunset Overdrive borrows elements from games like Prince of Persia, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Jet Set Radio, and other games to create what’s called “awesomepocalypse.” 

“Xbox Wires chats with Ted Price, Drew Murray and Marcus Smith from Insomniac Games about irreverent world and gameplay for the Xbox One exclusive, Sunset Overdrive,” the video description reads. You can take a look at the video below. Are you excited for Sunset Overdrive?

Microsoft is rolling out an update to Outlook.com over the next few weeks, adding a few new features making the service just a tad bit better to use. These new features build on Microsoft’s commitment to give your inbox new and better ways to work more and save time.

“When it comes to getting organized, Outlook.com has you covered. Starting today, we are releasing Advanced Rules and three other features, all to help you keep your inbox in top shape and make it even easier to see the email that matters to you,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Microsoft has added Advanced Rules to Outlook.com, allowing you to have more control over how your emails are sorted, filed, or placed at the top of your inbox. Users can create multi-condition and multi-action rules, and even combine rules together. Optional conditions include: time constraints, email tallying, checking read/unread state of emails, and checking if the sender is a contact you know.

Here is an example of a rule: “If an unread email is older than 3 days and is from one of your contacts, mark it as important and flag it.”

Microsoft has also added the undo feature to Outlook.com. Users who delete, categorize, flag, mark as junk, or move can now undo by clicking the undo button or by typing Ctrl+Z. In-line reply allows you to directly respond to an email thread without having to launch a new view. This new feature is intended to save you time and help you track your conversations with ease.

The following improvements were also made:

• Find recent conversations and other contacts you can chat with in the bottom left of your inbox. One click will launch you straight into a conversation with them.
• If you’re chatting with a friend on one service, but want to continue the talk on another service, now you can switch over from right inside the chat session.
• You can now browse your People by filtering what service they’re using (Skype, Facebook etc.). You can even see who’s currently available–Icons will now appear alongside names, so you know who’s able to Video, Call or just chat.

Not that long ago, leaker Wzor revealed that Microsoft is working on a prototype operating system called Windows Cloud. This operating system is rumored to require an internet connection for full functionality, acting as a basic operating system when in offline mode. Now, according to a new image that has surfaced online, Microsoft is allegedly referring to this operating system as Windows 365.

In the image, which seems to be a screen capture of a Facebook entry, we see the status of Microsoft’s products including Windows 9, Windows 365, Office 2015, and more. Based on what is listed in this image, Windows 9 (including server and mobile edition) is currently in the development stages. Nothing new here.

The image also mentions that Windows 365 is currently in Alpha and is based on the Windows Core. Windows 365 is an interesting choice for a name, considering Microsoft’s subscription based Office 365. The image also mentions that Windows 8.1 Update 1 is already completed, while Update 2 is blanked out giving us no idea on when it will be released. Rumor speculates that we will see this update sometime in September of this year, bringing along the return of the Start Menu.

Office “Gemini” is also in the works, according to the image. Office “Gemini” is the codename for the next big update to Office, in which we are expecting a Metro/Modern version of the Office productivity suite. The image also mentions Office 2015 as currently in development.

This image surfaced thanks to a leaker known as “Faikee” who has a good track record of leaking or showcasing information that has proven to be true. But we are going to stamp a big fat “rumor” to this image until more details surface. It does sound like Microsoft is looking to create “one user experience” across most if not all of its services.

Most of what is mentioned in the image is already known information, except for Windows 365. How do you feel about this name? It sounds like we are traveling towards a subscription/cloud based operating system. Keep this as a rumor until more concrete details emerge from sources like Mary Jo Foley.

In celebration of International Nurses Day (May 12th), Microsoft is gearing up to launch a new “Nurses in Health” blog and the company is seeking nurses to help contribute. This new blog is specifically about nursing issues and Microsoft wants nurses to help offer stories or perspectives on improving patient care around the world.

“Today, 12 May, is International Nurses Day. Today we pay our respects to those who bravely tackle some of the most demanding tasks in healthcare. Today we remember those who embody the NHS’ 6Cs  – care, compassion, courage, communication, commitment and competence – like no one else. Today we say ‘thank’ you to all nurses. But we also want to ask you for one more thing: Your voice,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

The most interesting healthcare stories still go untold and Microsoft wants to change that. “We routinely feature views from doctors, administrators and technology specialists. But what about the people who spend the most time with patients? What about the people who have the closest view of how the health sector is changing? What about nurses?”

If you are a nurse who wants to contribute to the new Nurses in Health blog, email Microsoft at [email protected].

We are all well aware that Microsoft is working on the next version of Windows. We learned recently that Windows 9 might be cloud-based, compared to what we have now. We’re beginning to learn just a bit more on what Windows 9 could feature.

Peter Lee, head of Microsoft Research, in an interview with Jeremy Kaplan over at DigitalTrends, hinted on what we can expect from Windows 9. “Using machine learning to extract relationships, entities, key ideas being worked on and bring those to the surface in tools. Maybe even digital-assistant tools to make companies more productive and smarter. That’s one area we’re going at” for Windows 9, Lee said.

So what exactly does that mean? Lee wasn’t clear, but it sounds like he is referring to the cloud and Bing technology being the backend to the operating system. Talk about the operating system becoming smarter!

“If I write a document and I want to say, share this with the appropriate people that work with Vikram from the meeting, or say, ‘what’s trending around me at work,’ not in my personal space but at work … answering questions like that requires a very different kind of machine learning,” Lee added.

If anyone remembers Microsoft’s Satya Nadella’s first interview as CEO, he said “Going forward, it’s a mobile first, cloud first world.” Lee hinted that currently Windows OS doesn’t rely on cloud computing, but that may soon change in Windows 9.

Lee also spoke about Cortana during his interview, and mentioned that Cortana is becoming smarter and ‘a bit more human’ in her responses every day thanks to continuous improvement. 

The world’s biggest election is underway in India. Around 814 million people are eligible for voting to elect a government between the two major national parties, Congress and BJP. To cover this mega event, Microsoft has joined hands with Network 18, and released two apps, in addition to the updates, on Bing called Bing Elections.

India Elections

Head over to India Elections and you will find comprehensive coverage of this year’s elections. From the latest news, to voting schedule, to all the information about parties and candidates, Bing has you covered. Plus, there’s an interesting game too which you might like.

Apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone

To make it easier to keep track of all the election updates, Network 18 Media has released Indian Elections 2014 apps for Windows Phone and Windows 8 (and higher).

The news and updates are provided by IBN Live and Bing. Using the application you can easily search for parties, candidates and constituencies. Find opinion polls and expert analysis. You can also save this information, as well as share it on your favored social networking websites.

Snag the application from the download links below.

Thanks Rizwan for tipping us!

Leaks are an issue for many companies and institutions. Governments like to keep a great deal of documentation out of the public domain for reasons of national security. Musicians very much prefer that their albums are not leaked ahead of launch because leaks are likely to harm future sales. The likes of Microsoft are also keen to keep their software projects under wraps until they are ready for an official launch. But do leaks really harm software companies?

There are two sides to the argument. The first being that leaks are Bad Things. Leaks are unofficial releases and will usually mean that copyright is infringed, correct licenses are not in use, and other moral and legal boundaries are overstepped. Just as a band will argue that an early album or single leak will mean fewer sales, a lower chart position, and a decrease in income, a software company could argue that if an early build of a product is made available online, there will be fewer sales when the actual launch date comes around.

But it is not just a matter of profits. The security of software is something that developers take very seriously, and if early builds of an application or operating system fall into the wrong hands, there is potential for security problems to be discovered well ahead of launch — and this could have a devastating impact further down the line.

There is also the risk that early code will fall into the hands of competitors, and there are wide reaching possible consequences for is. A rival company getting to try out your product gives them the opportunity to copy ideas, or even better them. Seeing the innovative feature that have been built into a future product could spur them into beating you to market.

On the flipside, it could be argued that leaks actually serve as a great means of advertising a product. Why wait for a company to wax lyrical about an upcoming piece of software when you can just try it out for yourself? If a product leaks ahead of launch there is more time for hype and excitement to build. There is more time for word of mouth recommendations to be made (although there is obviously potential for this to be a negative thing!).

This is something that has served Microsoft incredibly well over the years. For all of the complaining that has been done about leaks, the fact that early builds of Windows have been used by geeks, fans, and the curious long before launch has helped to create a massive sense of anticipation well ahead of the official release date. Remember Nashville and Longhorn? How exciting was it to be able to play with new features of Windows before everyone (well, not literally everyone!)?

The same has been true of the leaks for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and even Windows 8.1 Update. It’s all well and good being told what’s going to be in a future release, or even see a demonstration, but it’s something else to be able to try it out.

It also gives companies the chance to respond to feedback and tailor a product before it even hits the market — think of it as a form of market research if you like. If it becomes apparent that those people who did manage to get hold of an unofficial pre-release version are not keen on a particular feature, it makes sense to ditch it or change it. If nothing else, it is cheaper than paying for a proper team of alpha and beta testers!

There will always be two sides to the story, but I’d be interested to hear what you think. Are leaks a good or a bad thing?

Yahoo has announced today that they are changing their stance on the Do Not Track browser privacy standard. In fact, Yahoo will no longer recognize a users’ Do Not Track setting across any of its services, including Yahoo Search. This type of tracking protection is intended to prevent your browsing information from being sent to third-party content providers on websites you visit.

“As of today, web browser Do Not Track settings will no longer be enabled on Yahoo. As the first major tech company to implement Do Not Track, we’ve been at the heart of conversations surrounding how to develop the most user-friendly standard. However, we have yet to see a single standard emerge that is effective, easy to use and has been adopted by the broader tech industry,” Yahoo stated. 

Google already ignores this setting, as it relies on collecting browsing data to sell targeted ads.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has supported this setting, especially with Internet Explorer. Basically, when Do Not Track is turned on, Internet Explorer will send a Do Not Track request to the sites you visit and to the third parties whose content is hosted on those sites to let the sites know that you would prefer not to be tracked. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 11 browser offers this option and it is enabled automatically. Microsoft has had this setting enabled by default since Internet Explorer 10.

However, as Microsoft once noted, this setting is only the beginning towards an increased control over user privacy. “We designed this functionality as a good start to enable consumer choice and protection from potential tracking. We provide a tool in the browser, and consumers choose how to use it. As with everything on the web, we expect it to evolve over time especially as the broader privacy dialog continues. We’re communicating about it now as part of our transparency in the software development process,” Microsoft explained in an official blog post.

The Do Not Track setting is only useful if websites and advertisers honor it. Or they can completely ignore it, rendering it pointless to have it enabled. Microsoft has had a concern over online privacy for years and Yahoo’s move today only solidifies the fact that you should be using Bing for your search needs rather than Yahoo. But, if Yahoo is your cup of tea, fear not, as Yahoo stated it would continue to offer tools for managing user privacy – you just wont be able to utilize the Do Not Track setting.