These days we all receive more emails than can be easily managed, and this is precisely why Outlook.com includes designed specifically to make life easier. One of the most popular features of Microsoft’s web-based email service is Sweep which makes light work of banishing unwanted emails.

Sweep has been updated so that it is now quicker and easier to use. Unwanted emails can be cleared out in fewer clicks, leaving you more time to get on with more important things. Also receiving an update is the all-important search tool.

There have been a number of improvements made here. One of the most important updates means that when you search for a contact you will be displayed messages from all of the email addresses they may have used. Coupled with the ability to use even more criteria than before when conducting an advanced search, it is now easier than ever to perform very specific searches to home in on precisely what you’re looking for.

These updates have been timed to coincide with the seventh National Clean Out Your Inbox Week — yes, there really is such a thing! So if you’ve found that your emails have spiraled out of control, there has never been a better time to try to get things back in order.

If you pay a visit to the Outlook Blog, you find a range of advice about how to get your inbox back in order. Whether you’re an Outlook.com newcomer, or a more seasoned user, there’s bound to be something you could learn!

What are you waiting for? Go and give the updated tools a test drive.

Addressing the Russian government, Microsoft who owns the voice-over-IP and instant messaging service Skype, said that it will provide law enforcement officials with the information about Russian Skype users if required. The software giant will keep data of users during a six month period and share it with Putin’s secret police, the KGB.

Microsoft has made it clear that it will comply by providing any information about its users when necessary, if any such regulation does come into effect in Russia. These sudden changes are the consequence of last month’s terror attacks in Volgograd.

Also to keep in mind, Sochi Winter Olympics are to be held there next month. Their new bill, proposed by a group of Russian deputies in accordance with the Anti-Terrorism law states that the government can demand the “information about the reception, transferring, delivery and processing of voice information, written texts, images, sounds and any activities made by the users.”

Yandex, the leading search engine in Russia expressed its discontentment over this new bill. Yandex says that storing such huge chunk of data for such prolonged duration will require extra cost. 

For those of you who use Skype in Russia, how do you feel about this?

UPDATE: Microsoft has issued the following statement to WinBeta: “Microsoft has not commented on draft legislation in the Russian State Duma or committed to sharing customer data with the Russian authorities. We have clear principles in responding to legal demands for customer information from governments around the world. We review the applicability of any new laws given that many of our internet services may not subject to local jurisdiction if they do not store or process data locally”.

Not that long ago, we mentioned that Microsoft was killing support for Windows XP on April 8th along with support for Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows XP. Microsoft has now stated, in an official blog post, and anti-malware solutions for Windows XP will continue being supported until 2015 as the operating system reaches its end of life.

“Microsoft has announced the Windows XP end of support date of April 8, 2014. After this date, Windows XP will no longer be a supported operating system. To help organizations complete their migrations, Microsoft will continue to provide updates to our anti-malware signatures and engine for Windows XP users through July 14, 2015,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

So what exactly does this mean? Microsoft will continue providing anti-malware support for the operating system by providing updated signatures for System Center Endpoint Protection, Forefront Client Security, Forefront Endpoint Protection and Windows Intune for enterprise customers. Microsoft’s Security Essentials will also receive updated signatures, for consumers running Windows XP until July 14th of 2015.

Microsoft wants to make sure no one feels rushed to migrate from Windows XP – and it sounds like the devices and services giant understands that it is a daunting task to migrate from an operating system that came out in 2001. “Our goal is to provide great anti-malware solutions for our consumer and business customers. We will continue to work with our customers and partners in doing so, and help our customers complete their migrations as Windows XP end of life approaches,” Microsoft adds.

There are plenty of apps in the Windows Store for entertainment and fun, but how about an app to teach you about Microsoft’s technologies? Check out Posterpedia for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT – a free app created by a member of Microsoft’s Cloud and Server team.

Curious as to what Windows Azure is all about? Looking to gain a better insight into the Hyper-V architecture? Posterpedia is a simple app that combines graphical content (or posters) with content from MSDN and Technet, and is updated frequently with new material to keep your knowledge up.

The app showcases the poster and gives you the option to download it as well. These posters are a great way to provide visual references for understanding  particular technologies. ​Posterpedia was recently updated to version 2 and contains the following new features:

• Image hotspots that allow you to get content specific to a part of the poster (new).
• Semantic zoom that enables easy navigation of the different groups (new).
• A full-screen viewing mode without the chrome and hotspots (new).
• The ability to share a link to a poster through email (new).
• App bar buttons specific to each poster.
• Technical content for Hyper-V, Active Directory, Remote Desktop Services, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2007, SharePoint Server 2010, Windows Azure, SQL Server, Lync Server 2010, and Office 2013.

Hit the download link below to snag the app. Try it out and let us know in the comments below if you like it! You can also check out a video of the app in action, embedded below for your viewing pleasure.

Throughout 2013 we saw the arrival of a raft of wearable device. The likes of Pebble and Galaxy Gear fought for space on wrists all over the world, but it is probably Google Glass that is causing the most excitement. Amongst all the names showing off watches, glasses and other devices that can adorn the body, there’s one name that have been notable by its absence: Microsoft.

There have been rumors for some time that Microsoft is working on its own version of Google Glass, and it would certainly be interesting to see what sort of dent the company would be able to make on the market. Wearable tech is still very much in its infancy, but 2014 could well the year that things really start to take off.

But the question that needs to be asked is “is it what people want?”. There have been a few problems with wearable devices so far. Really, they are not problems unique to this market, but looks and price are major sticking points. Any developing technology is bound to be comparatively expensive, but there is the risk that it makes the technology elitist.

Looks are important to the success of any wearable device. Units that are ugly are going to have very limited appeal, after all. The problem with smart watches being super bulky are starting to be eliminated, and there are now various devices to choose from which are not significantly bulkier than a regular, dumb watch.

Watches are great, but the futuristic look and feel of a pair of glasses like Google Glass really does get people excited. With early adopters used to paying a premium, there has to come a time when pricing levels out to a point that makes it accessible to a wider range of people. We all love the idea of a HUD accompanying our day to day activities, but what price tag would be appropriate?

We already know that headsets and watches are incredibly popular, and it’s likely that Microsoft will go down one or both of these routes at some point in the future. But what other wearable devices would you like to see? Could intelligent jewelry take off? Imagine a necklace or bracelet that acts as portable storage, transferring files using NFC.

This likes of Xbox One’s Kinect show that Microsoft is already capable of producing some impressive smart hardware, and there is potential for use in business as well as the home for the right product.

Shoes with built-in pedometers and other trackers would be another interesting option, but would probably require collaboration with a footwear manufacturer. There’s scope for plenty of other wardrobe additions. Rather than using a plethora of gadgets to monitor your blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature etc, how about simply donning a smart t-shirt that could beam this information to your phone.

What are you looking for from wearable tech? Share your thoughts and ideas below.

Microsoft is set to hold its Build 2014 Developer Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from April 2nd to April 4th, and registration for the event opens tomorrow, January 14th. It has also been rumored that we will see the official release of the first update to Windows 8.1, dubbed the Spring 2014 update or Update 1, during the event.

“The momentum just keeps building and that is why I’m so excited to announce our next developer conference, Build 2014, which will take place April 2 to April 4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Save the date and mark your calendar for registration, which opens at 9 a.m. PT on Jan. 14 at www.buildwindows.com,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post back in December.

The event runs for $2095 and registration opens at 9AM PST at buildwindows.com. While the price may be a bit steep for some, keep in mind that the event sold out in just one day last year. This resulted in Microsoft re-opening registration and adding more seats.

Microsoft annual BUILD conference is set to happen in April of this year, which is a lot earlier than usual. It’s highly likely that Windows 8.1 Update 1 will be shown and maybe even released around this time, introducing new API’s and features for both developers and consumers.

GoDaddy is used by more than 12 million customers all over the world, and thanks to a new partnership with Microsoft, the company will now be offering Office 365 as its core business-class email and productivity service to its small-business customers. In what is described as a “long-term strategic partnership”, Microsoft and GoDaddy are making it easier for smaller businesses to gain access to the best products to drive things forward.

Senior vice president of Business Applications at GoDaddy, Steven Alrich, said “We’ve created a simple way to attach Office 365 to a domain name, helping small-business owners look professional and work anywhere, making the business of running their business easier.”

The new arrangement means that GoDaddy’s business customers will be able to take advantage of professional email through their domain, make use of the full range of Microsoft productivity suite, and enjoy cloud storage. To help very small businesses to get off the ground, Microsoft has created a new, unique way of offering domain-based email and storage.

John Case, corporate vice president, Microsoft Office said “GoDaddy’s relationship with small businesses combined with Office 365, the fastest-growing Microsoft product in history, will help bring the benefits of Office 365 and modern cloud services to even more companies, whether they’re seeking to modernize how they do business or simply starting up.”

For now, Office 365 from GoDaddy is available in the US and Canada, but over the next three months it will roll out around the world.

Check out the video to find out more!

The Syrian Electronic Army is at it again, targeting Microsoft’s social media accounts as a way of spreading information about NSA spying. This isn’t the first time the SEA has hacked one of Microsoft’s social networking accounts, recently Skype’s blog and twitter page were affected. Today, the official Microsoft News Twitter page was affected.

So far, they’ve used the Twitter account to warn users of using Outlook, and have also said that IE’s top two links users visit are download pages for Google Chrome and Firefox. Whether or not this information is true is irrelevant, as it is something Microsoft wouldn’t be touting on its official Microsoft News Twitter account.

It was revealed in 2013 that the NSA had the ability to listen in on Skype calls, among a number of other things. The SEA are simply spreading awareness of such ability, but as Microsoft are denying involvement, things have gotten a little fishy.

Update: It appears the tweets have quickly been taken down. “Microsoft is aware of targeted cyberattacks that temporarily affected the Xbox Support and Microsoft News Twitter accounts. The accounts were quickly reset and we can confirm that no customer information was compromised,” a Microsoft spokesperson stated.

Update 2: Looks like Microsoft’s TechNet blog was also a victim:

Themes are one of those little behind-the-scenes things that Windows users all take for granted. We all use them, we look for cool new images to add to our desktops, but we tend not to really give the whole thing much thought. Fortunately, Microsoft does — otherwise we would not have as many of them to choose from.

The company adds a continuous stream of new themes, incorporating seasons, holidays, movies, games and more into the mix. But Microsoft has also asked photographers to submit their own creations and promised to push out the best ones in its Personalization Gallery.

Now the company is unveiling its most recent batch of winners. Sets of images include pictures of Queensland, colorful birds, sunsets in the beautiful Sierra region, dragonflies and a whole lot more.

All can be found here. Each theme is free to download and install and works with Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows RT.

Microsoft’s “One Microsoft” brand is proving more popular than Apple with the US public. A survey by Forrester Research tested the brand strength of ten top technology firms including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and Sony. The results, which found Microsoft coming out on top ahead of Apple and Sony, surprised even those carrying out the survey.

Forrester analyst Tracy Stokes said “Time was definitely a factor. I think the results would have been much different a year or 18 months earlier.” But she also explained that Microsoft has become so ubiquitous that it is more of a household name than many of the others.

But Microsoft scored very highly when rated in terms of “essentiality” and trust. Microsoft is seen as being an essential part of life these days — how many people could live without Office and “Windows ?! — and the research also found that the company received a very high trust rating from people in of all ages.

Apple holds different place in people’s hearts. While Microsoft may be seen as producing essential products, Apple is regarded as producing the must-have ones. “Microsoft has a utilitarian essentiality, not the kind of emotional essentiality that Apple relies on.”

Another factor in Microsoft dominance is the fact that the company manages to appeal to such a broad age range. High rating were received in every category from every age group.

Stokes said that it is too early to tell whether the “One Microsoft” is a success — but perhaps the results speak for themselves. What do you think?

If the figures from Gartner are to be believed, there are some seriously impressive shipments of Windows devices on the cards over the next 24 months. Truth be told, 2013 was not a great year as there was something of a slump from 2012 — around 328 million devices were shipped compared to 346 million the previous year — but things are on the up!

Gartner is predicting that nearly 360 million Windows devices will ship in 2014, representing an increase of over 9 percent. And 2015 looks like it could be even rosier, with an estimated 422.7 million devices with Windows installed to be shipped.

The figures also show that our love of desktop computers is on the wane. There was a dramatic drop from 341 million PC shipments in 2012 to just 299 million in 2013. In the coming twelve months, it is expected that this will drop further to 278 million, while 2015 could see as few as 268 million desktop shipments.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, tablet shipments are predicted to rocket. Starting off at a fairly lowly 120 million in 2012, numbers jumped to 180 million in 2013. Over the next couple of years there will be further increases to 263 million in 2014 and then 325 million in 2015.

What do you make of the predictions? Any surprises for you?

We’re into the first week of 2014. If today feels like a bit of a downer, it could be because it’s the first Monday of the year! It could also be because you’re already finding it difficult to keep to those New Year’s resolutions you decided to make. But never fear; office 365 is on hand with a series of tools to help you stick to your goals and stay on target over the coming months.

In a post on the Office blog, Jevon Fark from the Office team reveals just how helpful Office 365 can be, no matter what goal you have set yourself. Whether you have decided to shed a few pounds and get into better shape, or you want to get yourself a new job and travel more, it’s all easily managable.

Jevon’s post explains how Excel, OneNote, Word and online tools can be used to help you. You’ll find links to helpful templates — great if you need to give your resume a facelift, or can’t face putting together a budgeting spreadsheet — all of which can be downloaded and used completely free of charge. Work your way through the Office 365 top ten tools, and you’ll find it hard not to stick to your resolutions.

Have you made use of Office to help with your goals for 2014, or are there any other app you turn to? Maybe you find that your Windows Phone is used more than your computer because you have it on you at all times. Share your thoughts and experiences!

Research carried out by Websense Security Labs shows that data sent from computers through Microsoft Error Reporting could be intercepted by hackers and used to formulate an attack. The problem stems from the fact that crash reports are transmitted in a very easily interpreted form, and they can contain quite detailed information about the systems from which they were sent — information that could be easily exploited by a hacker.

The research points out that while the sending of error reports to Microsoft in the event of a system or application crash usually requires user confirmation, there are instances when data is transmitted without any user interaction. For example, when a new USB device is connected, details of the device as well as information about the host computer such as the version of Windows that is in use, what Service Packs are installed, BIOS version number and much more.

This may seem like fairly innocuous data, but for a hacker targeting a large corporation, it is invaluable. It makes it possible to pinpoint weaknesses in a network, target known security holes and more. The frequency at which error reports may be generated means that it would be very easy for a potential hacker to build up a detailed picture of a company’s network.

As Websense points out, “crashes are especially useful for attackers since they may pinpoint a new exploitable code flaw for a zero-day attack.”

This is obviously going to be of concern to any business, but there are steps that can be taken to help minimize the risks:

“Websense recommends that organizations set group policies (when possible) to force encryption on all telemetry reports and periodically audit their own network and applications for inadvertent leaking of information with security implications.”

We reached out to Microsoft for a response but were given a generalized answer. “Microsoft does not provide any Government with direct or unfettered access to our customer’s data. We would have significant concerns if the allegations about Government actions are true. Regardless, we continue to review our encryption technologies and practices and have commented on the multiple investments we continue to make, on our Microsoft on the Issues blog,” a Microsoft spokesperson told WinBeta.

Now, take this report with a grain of salt. The report comes out of Germany and the claims are a bit farfetched. But you be the judge. According to a new report coming from Germany’s Der Spiegel, the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been working with the CIA and FBI to intercept computers and other electronics being purchased online before delivery. The reason? To install malware and other spyware tools. On top of that, the NSA is allegedly tapping into the error reporting system in Windows.

According to the report, hackers exploited the weakness in the error reporting message feature of Windows. For those who do not recall, this error message feature pops up whenever an application crashes. Information is gathered and subsequently sent to Microsoft engineers in an attempt to find a fix.

However, the NSA is allegedly tapping into this mechanism and using it to capture data sent out from the computer. Microsoft, on the other hand, denies that this is even happening. “Microsoft does not provide any Government with direct or unfettered access to our customers’ data. We would have significant concerns if the allegations about Government actions are true,” the company spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.

The NSA is also reportedly intercepting computer shipments and diverting them to a secret NSA workshops where specific software is installed so NSA agents can track users remotely. According to Der Spiegel, this technique is known as “interdiction” and is the NSA’s “most productive” operation.

You can head over to Der Spiegel to read the full report.