There have been a number of big launches in few recent weeks. Apple unveiled the iPhone 5s and 5c as well as the iPad Air. Microsoft launched Windows 8.1, Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2. Google unleashed Android 4.4 KitKat and the Nexus 5 onto an excited and expectant crowd. Which of these launches is the most memorable?

Each launch was big in its own way, but I think it’s extremely unlikely that many people would pick the Microsoft launches as being the biggest or most exciting. Apple and Google, on the other hand, manage to do any amazing job of whipping people up into an excited frenzy. Theirs are major events, eagerly anticipated weeks or even months in advance.

Microsoft’s launches tend to be rather more understated affairs; they get the job done, but there’s more of a polite round of applause that rapturous cheering and trumpeting. Apple’s iPad and iPhone launches have had people around the world on the edge of their seats for months.

“We need more excitement. We want leaks and rumors. We want launches we can look forward to. We want surprises.”

Can you remember the last time a Microsoft launch caused such excitement? With both and Apple and Google products, there are crowds of people waiting to hear the tiniest snippet of information about upcoming hardware and software. Leaked pictures find their way online and the hype machine is further wound up.

Sure, people “like” Microsoft products, but they seem to be viewed as everyday things — not something to get overly excited about. When an iPhone is launched, people camp outside Apple stores days in advance. When the nexus 5 was released, it sold out very quickly, and shopping dates slipped almost immediately from one day to one week.

Microsoft – and Nokia – must look on with green eyes. No Windows Phone has caused such a groundswell. The second generation Surface sparked a degree of interest, but nothing compared to Microsoft’s competitors.

Why is this? Is it because of Microsoft’s image? Does the company not make enough fanfare about its products? What is it that Google and Apple understand about their customers that Microsoft seem to be missing? It is although Microsoft has adopted the idea of the slow-burner.

Windows was given a degree of promotion, but it is only with the arrival of Windows 8.1 some months later that interest is picking up. With Surface there were no huge launches. Microsoft seems to think the devices should speak for themselves and almost rely on customers spreading the word to help increase their popularity. Microsoft is in a position that it can afford to play the long game; it doesn’t really need an instant hit.

It’s actually quite a shame. Microsoft must like the idea of people working themselves into a frenzy at the prospect of the next version of Windows or Windows Phone. It must be difficult to look on as the likes of Google and Apple soak up adulation and Microsoft’s offerings are picked up by the hardcore faithful.

One area in which Microsoft does manage to steal the show is with the Xbox. Here the company is able to revel in the customer anticipation that is usually reserved for other people’s products. There is genuine excitement about the upcoming launch of the Xbox One. Perhaps the various departments of Microsoft need to get together and share ideas.

The company has a great deal to offer, but it is a danger of fading into the background like a dull uncle. We need more excitement. We want leaks and rumors. We want launches we can look forward to. We want surprises.

Microsoft should see Google and Apple explosive product launches and view them as a call to arms. Come on Microsoft! We know you’ve got it in you! Surprise us, excite us — we can take it!

Users are reporting seeing a message in Skype warning them that some tools used with the Skype application will stop working in December 2013. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, it was announced that the Desktop API (or the Skye Public API) is no longer supported and will be discontinued in December 2013.

Microsoft explains that: “These applications can be hardware products or software applications, but they’re all created by developers who use the Desktop API, a text-based protocol, to interact with Skype software. The Desktop API is designed primarily to help developers manage calls from outside the Skype application. Applications that use the Desktop API are not endorsed, tested, or supported by Skype.”

This means that a selection of applications that tap into Skype will stop working soon, and the same is true of some hardware devices such as headsets.

Have you noticed this message appearing on your computer yet?

In the latest behind-the-scenes video to be released about the Surface 2, Microsoft shows off the display of the Surface 2 and reveals a little about the research, design and manufacturing process.

There’s no denying that the latest generation of Surface, like its predecessor, has a stunning display and this is certainly not by accident. A great deal of work went into ensuring that every aspect of the screen was sure to impress.

“A common remark when people first see a Surface 2 device up close is how great the display looks. That’s especially pleasing to the Surface team because so much effort went into screen performance,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

The Surface 2 worked to ensure the most accurate color reproduction possible on the 16:9 1080p screen – accuracy has been improved by 46 percent. A new bonding technique was developed to help reduce screen reflection to around half that of many tablets on the market, allowing for longer periods of usage without eyestrain.

Check out the video, which we have embedded below for your viewing pleasure, to see Microsoft scientist Stevie Bathiche showcase the Surface 2’s impressive display.

Microsoft’s Windows Azure service suffered a partial global outage yesterday (October 30th). According to the Azure status page, Microsoft warned of Compute problems in every single region covered by the service.

This meant that users in West US, West Europe, Southeast Asia, South Central US, North Europe, North Central US, East Asia and East US all experienced issues. Full service was only restored at 10:45am UTC, October 31st, and was announced on the Azure dashboard with the following notice:

“Compute Service Management functionality has been restored in all regions. Microsoft Support is working to remediate Cloud Services that have been affected by this issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our customers.”

At time of writing, there is still an ongoing issue with the FTP service which is suffering a partial outage around the world. Again, every region is affected by the issue and a note on the dashboard reads:

“We apologize for any inconvenience this causes customers using FTP to publish content to Web Sites. Web Site customers are advised to use Web Deploy or Git which are fully functional. For details visit Azure.com and search for “Websites with Webmatrix” or “Publishing with Git”. Engineering is fully focused on mitigation options. We will provide an update by 8pm UTC.”

In a video interview posted on the Surface blog, director of design Ralf Groene talks about the design and engineering process in involved in producing the Surface 2.

Ralf points out that the two aspects are very closely intertwined: “We don’t design it first and then engineer it, we design and engineer it always together. It’s almost like ping pong game”.

He goes on to talk about the antenna cover describing how precision cutting it used to make it fit “like a puzzle piece into a puzzle”.

Moving on to look at the material used in the Type Cover 2, Ralf describes engineering and inventing a new micro fiber that feels like a high-end garment. For a device that is designed to be handled, fingerprints are an issue and this is smoother problem the team had to overcome.

This was a problem not only for the covers, but also the casing of the Surface 2 itself. The engineering team investigated the chemistry physics of greased repelling surfaces and then had to find a way to incorporate this idea into the magnesium exterior.

Take a look. The video gives an interesting glimpse into how the Surface 2 ended up in its current form.

With the release of the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets, Microsoft ushered in the Windows 8.1 generation and proved its support for the RT platform will continue, at least for now. Along with the new tablets came new accessories, including such cutting-edge products as Blades. But the simple Touch cover, which is frequently overshadowed by its Type cover sibling, also got some love during this update.

Now Microsoft wishes to explain exactly what goes into this newly remade attachment. To give you a taste of the technology, the company enlisted Stevie Bathiche who, despite looking like a member of the latest hit rock band, is Director of Research in Microsoft’s Applied Sciences Group.

Bathiche explains how the company utilized a high-resolution grid to help the keyboard intuitively determine your intentions. This promises improved accuracy, faster typing speeds and enabling of gestures on keys.

In the video, released today, Bathiche gives a quick demo of all of these new enhancements, proving how the cursor moves by swiping across the keyboard and demonstrating a two-finger delete method that equals moving to the backspace button.

Microsoft promises that this is just the first in a series of videos it has planned for showing off all that has been done to improve the latest Surface devices. Naturally, it also proclaims the new Touch cover “a brilliant accessory for any Surface , a protective cover that easily clicks on to your device, is more rigid, features a full QWERTY keyboard that is now easier to type on, backlighting, and gestures that make you more productive”. That last part will be up to you for judgment, but the accessory certainly seems well thought out and worth at least a look upon your next visit to a company store.

One of the cool features of the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2 is the pressure sensitive stylus pen. This pen allows you to have fine thin lines or thicker lines based on how much pressure you add.

“The Surface Pen is far more powerful than a traditional stylus because it is pressure sensitive – meaning that you have control of the thickness or darkness of the lines or brushstrokes you’re creating based on how hard you press the pen against the screen,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Microsoft is touting the Surface Pro 2 as a “creative powerhouse” allowing one to get the most out of Adobe’s Photoshop software. In fact, the fantastic pen experience is thanks to the combination of the ten point multi-touch for app navigation and the palm blocking technology which prevents your palm from registering as a touch.

“Palm blocking technology basically ensures that you can rest the palm of your hand on the screen without it registering as a touch – when Surface Pro detects the presence of the pen, it registers the input provided by the pen alone. While drawing or sketching your hand can rest on the glass naturally — this is a huge plus over devices that support only capacitive pen,” Microsoft explains.

Microsoft suggests grabbing the Wacom driver (download listed below) and once you install the drivers, simply open the Pen Tablet Properties from the Control Panel. Here you can adjust the tip feel, along with the ability to calibrate your screen. Try it out and see how you like it.

When Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 2, the company also had announced a few new accessories to go along with it. One of the accessories is the highly requested docking station. 

Microsoft originally stated that the docking station for the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2 would launch in early 2014, but it seems that the accessory is available for purchase right now at the online Microsoft Store for $199.

“The Docking Station for Surface Pro gives you everything you need to get work done–a display port, an audio input/output jack, an Ethernet port, as well as a high-speed USB 3.0 and three USB 2.0 ports,” the product description states.

Not only does the docking station power the device while you use it, but it also charges it so you can continue using it elsewhere. Head over to the source link below to snag it before it runs out of stock!

Update: The docking station is now out of stock.

Thanks to all who sent this in!

For those of you who are near London’s Trafalgar Square, Microsoft has erected a 27ft wide and 17ft tall Surface 2 device in celebration of the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 launch.

Obviously, Microsoft erected this large 30 foot tablet to draw attention to tourists and those commuting through the area. With the recent launch of the new Suface 2 devices, this marketing ploy is great to spark interest from those who were unaware of the new Microsoft tablets.

Microsoft also brought along British rapper Dizzee Rascal to “use” the super-sized tablet. The large tablet is actually connected to an actual Surface 2 device, which then projects the display onto the large screen.

“This unique experience would not have been possible without the team at design and fabrication experts Helix. The London based team were responsible for bringing the vision of a giant Surface to life; enabling the public to physically trial the new device and see for themselves how all the functions and features work,” Microsoft stated in an official press release. Construction of the giant tablet took 13 days to complete.

If you happen to be in the area, head over there and check it out. It would be nice to take some snapshots next to the large Surface 2 device.

The move to the cloud continues pace and Microsoft continues to invest in Windows Azure. The latest acquisition is the Washington DC-based startup Apiphany, an API management delivery platform. The platform will now be used as an integrated Windows Azure API management service.

Apiphany announced the acquisition in a blog post and the post is understandably upbeat for a company that has only existed for just over a year:

“We’ve been operating as scrappy start-up out of a garage in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. for a little more than a year. We knew from the beginning that we had to be cloud-first and choose the right platform. In that year we managed to build a product, introduce it to the market, and acquire great customers. It was a lot of work but even more fun! We will surely miss our garage days.”

The post goes on to say: “At the same time we are excited to become a part of Microsoft. We firmly believe that joining this great company will help us to accelerate our vision of democratizing API management and bringing it to millions of customers across the world.”

Steve Martin, General Manager for Windows Azure Business and Marketing, said on the Azure blog: “We look forward to surfacing API management services within Windows Azure and providing our customers with the technology they need to grow their API ecosystem very soon.”

Goodbye Surface RT, it was nice knowing you. Microsoft has revealed today that they have dropped the ‘RT’ brand name on the original Surface device. Now, Microsoft will be referring to the original Surface RT as simply the Surface. This coincides with the company’s launch of the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2.

“To stay consistent with the naming structure of our new offerings, Surface RT is now referred to as ‘Surface,’” Microsoft stated. Microsoft didn’t use the RT name in the new Surface 2 device in an attempt to avoid confusion, as admitted by the company in a recent interview.

“We think that there was some confusion in the market last year on the difference between Surface RT and Surface Pro. We want to help make it easier for people, and these are two different products designed for two different people,” Microsoft’s product marketing manager for Surface, Jack Cowett, stated.

As you can see from the online Microsoft Store, the Surface is listed for $349 (starting price) and is labeled as “daring” and “original.”

On top of the name change, Microsoft has also removed the default desktop tile that appears in the Start Screen in Windows RT 8.1. Apparently, new Windows RT 8.1 devices will default to the Start Screen without a desktop tile. This obviously makes it harder to use the desktop. Of course, this will spark some controversy and some heated debates online.

How do you feel about these changes?

For those who were one of the lucky ones to successfully download and install the Windows 8.1 update while numerous users are experiencing difficulties, you are likely to be enjoying all the new consumer requested features that the update brings to Windows 8. However, there is one annoyance that has poped up regarding Secure Boot, leaving an annoying watermark on the desktop.

Some Windows 8.1 users are reporting that they have a watermark stating “SecureBoot isn’t configured correctly.” Here is why it appears and how you can fix it, for now at least.

“Secure Boot helps increase the security of Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 PCs by stopping unauthorized software from running. If you see a “SecureBoot isn’t configured correctly” message in the lower-right corner of the desktop, it means that Secure Boot has either been turned off or hasn’t been set up correctly on your PC,” Microsoft explains.

If you need to turn on Secure Boot for your device, if it is capable, head over to your BIOS menu and enable it. The Secure Boot feature, for the most part, is available on UEFI-based computers.

Microsoft also explains that if you turned off Secure Boot and installed your own drivers, you will likely need to reset your Windows installation before you can turn Secure Boot on again. Simply Reset or Refresh Windows 8.1 via the System Settings app. 

Apparently the only solution to disable the watermark is to actually enable Secure Boot in the BIOS. At the moment, there seems to be no workaround to remove the watermark if the Secure Boot option is disabled in the BIOS.

Have you discovered another method that works?

Update: Microsoft has rolled out a hotfix that removes the watermark.

Along with the Windows 8.1 general availability, Microsoft announced on Friday the general availability of Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 and a new release of Windows Intune. These releases are part of Microsoft’s “wave 2” of the company’s cloud operating system.

Microsoft wants to help organizations transform their current server environment into a highly elastic, scalable, and reliable cloud infrastructure. Microsoft hopes to achieve this using what the company calls “Cloud OS” which consists of Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, and Windows Intune.

“At the heart of Cloud OS is Windows Server 2012 R2. Delivering on the promise of a modern datacenter, modern applications, and people-centric IT, Windows Server 2012 R2 provides a best-in-class server experience that cost-effectively cloud-optimizes your business,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Microsoft believes that Windows Server 2012 R2 offers businesses of various sizes the kinds of storage, networking and security needed to operate not only for today, but for future as well. “With the increase in new applications, the explosion of data, and growing end-user expectations for continuous services, there has come a significant increase in storage demands. Windows Server 2012 R2 offers a wide variety of storage features and capabilities to address the storage challenges faced by organizations,” Microsoft explains.

You can head over to the VIA link listed below to see a complete breakdown of new features that come with Windows Server 2012 R2. You can hit the download link below to snag the 180-day trial as well.

Nokia is set to hold an event on October 22nd in Abu Dhabi and the company is rumored to reveal new Lumia devices along with the rumored Lumia 2520 Windows RT tablet. Two press renderings of this Windows RT tablet from Nokia have been revealed ahead of schedule and showcase a cyan and red body color.

The Lumia 2520 is rumored to be a 10.1-inch 1920 x 1080 Windows 8.1 RT tablet, priced at $499 on Verizon. This device also features a 32GB of internal storage and a 2.15GHz quad-core Qualcomm 8974 (ARM) chipset.

There is also a 6.7 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and the device weights 1.3 pounds. The tablet also supports LTE/4G connectivity and we are expecting to see either a black or red color option, if not both colors.

Nokia is expected to unveil this device on October 22nd. The device is expected to roll out in black, white, red, and cyan. 

For those curious, even though Dell discontinued their Windows RT based XPS 10 tablet, you will still be able to download and install the upcoming Windows RT 8.1 update. The same applies to the discontinued Lenovo Yoga 11 tablet.

Windows RT 8.1 is set to roll out on the same day as Windows 8.1, which is October 17th for current Windows 8 users and a general availability on October 18th. Of the new features that come with Windows RT 8.1, the most noteworthy feature is the addition of Outlook RT.

We recently reported that Microsoft is now the only company selling a Windows RT based tablet (Surface RT) as companies such as Dell and Lenovo have opted not to continue selling their Windows RT tablets. The reason for this is due to lack of sales. Microsoft may be the only one selling a Windows RT device right now, but Windows RT 8.1 is set to change the game just a little and hopefully turn things around for the sinking platform.

However, if you were one of the unlucky ones who obtained either the XPS 10 or Yoga 11, have no fear. You can still download and install the Windows RT 8.1 update to bring new life into your discontinued product.

In an official new blog post, Microsoft is highlighting an improvement that comes with Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 8.1 that provides easier browsing for the blind and visually impaired. There is also better input with Asian languages.

“Internet Explorer 11 makes browsing the Web easier for blind and visually impaired users who rely on screen readers, such as Windows Narrator. With the editing and input improvements in IE11, screen readers can better inform users about the current content of an editing region, and typing with East Asian languages using an Input Method Editor (IME) is now easier,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Internet Explorer 11 will now auto-correct misspelled words and lets the user know via a notification that auto-correct is taking place. IE11 also allows the screen reader to announce what letters are being deleted when hitting the backspace button.

“IE11 provides more detailed notifications to screen readers, so users can better understand the content they are reading or editing. For example, Microsoft Narrator says “bold” and “end bold” to let the user know that a section of text was emphasized with bold styling,” Microsoft adds.

With IE11, the screen reader can also read out the Asian language characters as they are typed phonetically on an English keyboard. Microsoft adds that with IE11, writing an email or reading a document is easier than ever when using a screen reader.

IE11 rolls out with Windows 8.1 on October 17th.

Microsoft’s IE11 Preview Bug Bounty has come to a close and the company revealed on the 7th of October that they had paid $28,000 to six researchers for fifteen bugs in Internet Explorer 11.  Today, Microsoft has revealed that they have paid $100,000 to a researcher for a new mitigation bypass technique in Internet Explorer 11. This now means Microsoft has paid a total of $128,000 to hackers for finding exploits in the browser that’s set to ship with Windows 8.1.

“Congratulations to James Forshaw for coming up with a new exploitation technique to get our first ever $100,000 bounty. A security vulnerability researcher with Context Information Security, James already came in hot with design level bugs he found during the IE11 Preview Bug Bounty, and we’re thrilled to give him even more money for helping us improve our platform-wide security by leaps,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

According to the devices and services giant, learning about new mitigation bypass techniques can help the company develop defenses against an entire classes of attack. This can help make individual vulnerabilities less useful when attackers attempt to wreak havoc.

“Until then, our special thanks go to James: Congratulations and well done! You not only made history by receiving a total of $109,400 from our bounty programs, you’re also helping us make our customers safer from entire classes of attack. On behalf of over a billion people worldwide — Thank you and way to go!!” Microsoft adds.

You can view the winners listed here by name and amount of bounty paid. One of the winners earned a bonus for “finding cool IE design vulnerabilities,” which was not disclosed by the company.

According to a new report by PCWorld, Microsoft is recycling Outlook.com email account names if they are left inactive after a certain period of time. Microsoft has made no mention that this recycling of account names would occur, but the company’s Services Agreement does state that you are required to log into your account “periodically.”

“The Microsoft branded services require that you sign in to your Microsoft account periodically, at a minimum of every 270 days, to keep the Microsoft branded services portion of the services active, unless provided otherwise in an offer for a paid portion of the services. If you fail to sign in during this period, we may cancel your access to the Microsoft branded services. If the Microsoft branded services are canceled due to your failure to sign in, your data may be permanently deleted from our servers,” Microsoft’s Services Agreement states.

When an account becomes inactive, Microsoft will queue that account for deletion. Once that happens and after a total of 360 days, Microsoft will allow that email account name to be available to the public again.

Yahoo faced criticism over this unused email recycling issue in the past, which sparked an outrage over privacy and security concerns over identity theft through data obtained from old email. Google, on the other hand, does not partake in an email recycling program.

“When Yahoo announced this, experts warned about and predicted serious security and privacy issues. Yahoo downplayed these risks, and ignored these critics, but now we see these concerns were legitimate. The least Microsoft should do is clearly inform its users about the account reuse policy. Microsoft should absolutely mention this policy in their service agreement. Users should be made aware of this,” Mike Rispoli of Privacy International stated in response to the issue.

Is the issue at hand such a big deal? Or does Microsoft need to step up and disclose its recycling program? Considering that privacy and security is a hot topic these days, how do you feel about this? Sound off in the comments below.

In an official blog post, Microsoft has highlighted the improved experience with Skype, especially on Windows 8. Microsoft has laid the groundwork for new and exciting features to come.

“We’ve made significant technological improvements in the past year. These improvements help ensure that Skype video, audio and chat are there when you want them, help preserve the battery on your mobile device, and prepare the way for exciting new capabilities that we’re building now,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

“We’ve made significant technological improvements in the past year.”

Microsoft’s adoption of the cloud to assist Skype clients to deliver chats and connect calls is the company’s biggest architectural change in 10 years, according to Microsoft. “As we continue on this journey these new technologies are helping us to drive improved battery life and improved connections making Skype as a whole more resilient and providing a platform for exciting new features that we will introduce in the coming months,” Microsoft adds.

Video messaging is one of the new features thanks to the cloud and Microsoft plans to continue working on improving this feature. Outlook.com already allows you to click and call with Skype without having to leave your browser.

Microsoft also mentioned in the blog post that sign-up, sign-in, improving security, and managing Skype accounts has been another focus for the company. Thanks to Microsoft Account, Microsoft wants you to only have one account to remember.

“Skype chat is an area we have been investing in. Our users send billions of chat messages every month, and enhancing the performance and quality of this core messaging experience is one of the key improvements we have made with the support of our cloud,” Microsoft adds.

Thanks to the Skype cloud, chat messages can be queued and delivered even if the intended recipient is offline. The recipient can receive the massage even though the Skype app isn’t running. This feature is currently available on Windows Phone 8, with support for additional mobile platforms in the works.

Microsoft is also working to synchronize chat message status across all devices that have Skype and this feature will roll out within the next few months.

Oh, don’t you worry about battery life. “Our cloud will help preserve your device’s battery by enabling the mobile Skype app to stay in “sleep” mode until you need it through the use of push notifications,” the company adds.

Microsoft has already enabled a better Skype experience on Windows 8.1. Skype on Windows 8.1, which comes built-into the operating system, allows for answering calls directly from the lock screen with the choice of audio, video or a message.

Microsoft is “committed to constantly innovate and improve our features to provide the best possible experience” so stay tuned for some new updates!

It was revealed earlier this year that the National Security Agency (NSA) had a secret program called PRISM which collected electronic information from users in an attempt to gather intelligence. The internet went haywire when Edward Snowden leaked details on what the US government was up to and how Microsoft, Google, and other tech companies played a role in the peep-show. After Microsoft admitted that they were not spying on its customers, some critics still believe they were aiding the US government to spy on people.

Caspar Bowden, who was in charge of Microsoft’s privacy policy between the years of 2002 and 2011 for 40 countries, stated this week that he doesn’t trust Microsoft at all after the NSA/PRISM ordeal. Bowden also admitted that he hasn’t used a cell phone in over two years. Is he paranoid or is he playing it safe?

“I don’t trust Microsoft now.”

“The public now has to think about the fact that anybody in public life, or person in a position of influence in government, business or bureaucracy, now is thinking about what the NSA knows about them. So how can we trust that the decisions that they make are objective and that they aren’t changing the decisions that they make to protect their career? That strikes at any system of representative government,” Bowden explained.

“I don’t trust Microsoft now,” Bowden states. Bowden now calls himself a “privacy advocate” and explained that he now only uses open-source software and hasn’t used a cell phone due to privacy concerns. He also mentioned during a conference this week that he was unaware that Microsoft participated in PRISM.

Bowden explains that there are specific words in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that mentions “there’s no protection if you’re not an American.” In other words, anyone living outside the United States has no legal protection from the NSA’s actions.

“We’re living through a transformation in surveillance power that’s never been seen before on earth. And we don’t know what type of government or leader will come to power next and exploit it. It could be the next president. It could be this one,” Bowden adds.

“There’s no protection if you’re not an American.”

Back in August of this year, Microsoft partnered up with Google to sue the US government over surveillance transparency. This came as a surprise after Microsoft, along with Google and other companies, were accused of aiding the government to allegedly spy on its users.

Although the government has said that it will release the total number of national security demands for consumer data for the past 12 months, Microsoft and Google believe this is not enough and felt that everyone deserves the right to know which details, involving official data requests for user data, was requested by the government. 

Of course Microsoft has to show concern about their users’ privacy, especially since this impacts the performance of the company’s cloud computing services. A big question we brought up a while ago simply asks, “If it was such a concern in the first place, why did these tech giants have to wait until this big surveillance transparency fiasco to come forth and demand more transparency from the U.S government?”

Microsoft continues to argue that they have only handed over specific customer data to the government due to a court order or subpoena. “Microsoft remains committed to respecting human rights, free expression, and individual privacy,” Microsoft emphasized.

Just recently, we learned that Microsoft received 37,196 requests from law enforcement agencies affecting 66,539 accounts in the first six months of this year, covering January to June 2013. However, only a small number of those requests resulted in the disclosure of customer data.

During a Surface press event recently, Microsoft unveiled the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2. Microsoft stated in an official blog post today that in attendance, there were designers, filmmakers and artists who were interested in the Surface device. Today, Microsoft has revealed that the Surface will be available through commercial resellers in all 29 markets.

In an attempt to bring the Surface to more business customers in more places, starting October 1st, Microsoft has added seven new markets to make a total of 29 markets. These markets include Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

“Our expanded reseller network, brings a variety of additional value-added services to the Surface family, such as asset tagging, custom imaging, knitting, onsite service and support, device recycling and data protection. We already knew that people who use Surface love it. But, perhaps more importantly, business users who use Surface particularly love the ability to buy through the resellers that they’re already working with for their hardware purchases and ongoing support,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Microsoft also stated that Delta Air Lines will be equip its 11,000 pilots worldwide with the brand new Surface 2 devices running Windows RT 8.1. “Delta projects that replacing the traditional paper document flight bags (large briefcases that weigh on average about 38 pounds each) will help save around $13 million each year in fuel and associated costs,” Microsoft explained.

Consumers can get their hands on the Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 on October 22nd.

Microsoft has released the company’s second Law Enforcement Requests report (2013 edition), which provides data on the number of law enforcement requests to the company regarding Microsoft’s services and how the company responded to those requests.

The Law Enforcement Requests report covers Hotmail, Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Xbox LIVE, Microsoft Account, Office 365, as well as information on Skype. The sole purpose of the request is to showcase the company’s stance on transparency.

For the first six months of 2013, Microsoft has received 37,196 requests from law enforcement agencies affecting 66,539 accounts in the first six months of this year, covering January to June 2013. However, only a small number of those requests resulted in the disclosure of customer data.

“Only a small number of requests result in the disclosure of customer content data, just 2.19 percent of total requests. 92 percent of the requests that resulted in the disclosure of customer content were from United States law enforcement agencies. This is again, broadly in line with what we saw in 2012,” Microsoft explained.

Microsoft has made it clear that they will only release this type of information to law enforcement with a valid subpoena to see non-content data and a court order or warrant to see customer’s content. Microsoft also tries to make sure that the information requested is within the boundaries of the law. 

“We believe this data is valuable and useful to the community that is looking to better understand these issues. However we recognize that this report—focused on law enforcement and excluding national security—only paints part of the picture. Microsoft remains committed to respecting human rights, free expression, and individual privacy,” Microsoft adds.

Novell has lost an appeal in a case against Microsoft which deals with Microsoft’s alleged predatory behavior towards the WordPerfect productivity suite back in the 1990s. This case was notorious for having co-founder Bill Gates on the stand testifying for two days.

Novell originally claimed that Microsoft purposely delayed releasing Windows 95 in order to harm Novell’s WordPerfect application software business, back in the 1990s, in an attempt to crust the competition when it came to the Office productivity market. Microsoft, however, continued to argue that the delay had nothing to do with Novell, instead, was because the company needed more time to decide on what features to include in the operating system. 

Jurors in the federal court antitrust case involving Microsoft and Novell were unable to reach an unanimous verdict back in December of 2011. Novell then filed an appeal and only today we have learned that a federal appeals court has thrown out Novell’s complaint.

The Denver-based 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Novell has no viable claims left after the company lost an eight-week trial against Microsoft in Salt Lake City back in 2011. According to Novell, this has cost time and market share for the company, resulting in the company to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion dollar loss.

The court ruled that Novell’s complaint came a little too late when the company sued Microsoft in 2004. The court also ruled that Novell failed to make the larger case that Microsoft was protecting a monopoly on operating systems.

“As we’ve maintained since it was filed over eight years ago, this case was meritless and should never have been brought. We’re pleased that the Court of Appeals has put it to rest once and for all,” Microsoft’s David Howard stated.

If you missed the Surface 2 press event September 23rd in New York City, Microsoft has uploaded the full on-demand video of the entire event. During the event, Microsoft unveiled the Surface 2, Surface Pro 2, and a new variety of accessories.

We’ve embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure. The Surface Pro 2 comes in a variety of configurations, including 64GB storage and 4GB RAM, 128GB storage and 4GB RAM, and also 256GB of storage with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage with 8GB of RAM. “This thing is a beast,” Microsoft’s Panos Panay stated during the event.

If you missed our coverage of the event, you can read the posts by visiting this link. Flash player is required to play the video embedded below. Sit back, hit play, and enjoy the one hour event! 

Thanks for the tip, @Windows4live!

Microsoft is apparently facing a lawsuit for using two particular Hebrew type fonts in its Office productivity suite without permission. The fonts in question are Guttman Hodes and Monotype Hadassah.

Henry Friedlander was hiding from the Nazis around 70 years ago were he designed and perfected the Hebrew type font called “Hadassah”. His daughter, Hannah, claims that Microsoft is using and advertising the font to millions of users without her permission. 

Microsoft responded to her claims stating that her father transferred his rights to the font over to a foundry in the Netherlands in 1950. That foundry then provided licenses to other parties to use the font and eventually transferred the rights to the font to Microsoft. Microsoft denies that Hannah owns any rights to the original font.

Microsoft states, “Friedlander never made any claims during his life about the widespread use of the Hadassah font. On the contrary, he expressed satisfaction that the font was so widely spread by the Dutch printing house.”

Microsoft also adds that the company began uses the font in digital versions back in 1993 in a version called Guttman Hodes. Microsoft also states that the statute of limitations applies to the lawsuit and that filing the lawsuit now is flagrant and in bad faith.

“Hadassah is a special, precious, and festive font, an original work of art, praised by experts as groundbreaking in terms of design and style. The Hadassah font is based on extensive historical research into the shapes and development of Hebrew letters,” Hannah claimed in her lawsuit.

Hannah states that Microsoft never received permission to use the font, nor were they allowed to adopt it into two different fonts called Guttman Hodes, and Monotype Hadassah. She adds that these two fonts are a falsification of the original font and distort her fathers work. 

This report comes from an Israeli news site called Haaretz. The font in question is pictured below.