The company is integrating its Internet Explorer browser and Microsoft Network content into its Windows operating system, a process that will culminate with the "Active Desktop" planned for Windows 97, due out in a few months.
Though Surface is clearly a tablet device, Sinofsky pointed out that the process of developing Windows 8 (on which Surface's Windows RT operating system is based) started in the summer of 2009, when there was no Apple iPad as a reference point (though it remains unclear if Microsoft began working on its tablet at that time).
Microsoft is currently in the process of migrating users from its Windows Live Messenger product to the service.
Migrating from Windows to Linux is a much more fiddly process.
While it can be used on its own, Canonical mostly sees it being used in a dual-boot environment with Windows (giving Canonical a bigger foothold in the process).
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The keynote address also highlighted other Microsoft efforts, including Windows Phone 7 and the Windows PC operating system, which is in the process of being upgraded to work on a range of devices, including buzz-worthy tablet computers.
Samsung offers a Windows and Mac program called Kies that automates the transfer process.
Microsoft appears to be a strategic partner in the process, which also involves readying apps for Windows 7.
That means popular middleware engines such as Unity and Havoc can run on Windows Phone 8, and that means porting advanced gaming titles between iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 8 is going to be a much simpler process.
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Now that Microsoft has freed Windows Vista from the shackles of a five year development process, the company is attempting to the wow starts now us by revealing that it plans to have its next major operating system ready within the next two-and-a-half years, giving Vista's successor an expected release date of late 2009.
This provides a quick process of installing and running the Linux based SDK on a Windows or Mac PC.
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The only downside is that it is running Symbian, the platform Nokia is in the process of dumping, rather than its operating system of choice, Windows Phone.
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However, because of the difficulties with the migration process, end-users often resist upgrades and remain loyal to Windows XP, forcing IT departments to defend the move to Windows 7.
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Its new Windows Phone flagship marks the company's return to metal-bodied smartphones, and in the process, it's become both lighter and thinner.
The Flip was not just easy-to-use, but it could be employed so quickly that it made the process of starting to record video on an Android smartphone feel as slow as booting a Windows desktop PC.
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Nearing the end of a long process of tinkering under the hood, the computing giant on Friday rolled out its final preview of Windows 8, which is expected to go on sale this fall.
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