Microsoft

Running Windows users with ‘standard’ rather than ‘administrator’ rights would have removed over 90 percent of the risk posed by critical vulnerabilities reported in Microsoft products last year, an analysis by privilege management firm Avecto has found.

The firm first looked at 333 vulnerabilities reported by Microsoft in 2013 across all products in its monthly Security bulletins, finding that 60 percent would have been mitigated by removing admin rights. Studying only the 147 rated as the most serious, the mitigation level reached an astonishing 92 percent.

Microsoft reportedly is 'seriously considering' allowing Android apps to run on its Windows and Windows Phone operating systems.

That's according to The Verge, which has heard from sources familiar with Microsoft's plans that the company is mulling the prospect of bringing Android apps to both Windows and Windows Phone in order to win over new customers.

Microsoft has written to Oracle-on-Azure users, letting them know that as of March 12th they'll be paying for the Oracle bits of it.

When critics described Windows 8.1 as a step backwards, I disagreed: Responding to customer complaints is never wrong, I argued, and the new version of the OS made it more acceptable on the many different types of PCs and devices on which Windows now runs. With Update 1, however, I'm beginning to question the validity of this new direction, and am now wondering whether Microsoft has simply fallen into an all-too-familiar trap of trying to please everyone, and creating a product that is ultimately not ideal for anyone.

Now that it's official that Satya Nadella is Microsoft's next CEO, it's time to ponder what happens with some of the other leading company insiders who didn't get the nod.

As part of the search process, the Microsoft CEO search committee considered not only more than a few outsiders, but also a number of internal candidates as possible replacements for now ex-CEO Steve Ballmer. From conversations I've had with various contacts, I think the committee gave at least passing consideration to most of the members of Microsoft's senior leadership team.

While we have reported that the upcoming Windows 8.1 Update 1 will offer users better access to the OS with a keyboard and mouse configuration, there will apparently be some improvements for touchscreen-based PC owners as well. Winsupersite has found a revamped Disk Space feature in the recently leaked build of Update 1 that should make it easier for users to manage their Modern apps and storage space with a touch-oriented UI.

Microsoft stands at a crossroads when it comes to mobile. It's now up to new CEO Satya Nadella to shepherd the company in the right direction.

In taking the reins of the technology titan, Nadella faces a lot of questions about Microsoft. Chief among them will be how the technology titan will navigate the broader shift toward mobile, and just what role its Windows Phone and Windows operating systems play in that world.

Though Bill Gates is stepping down as chairman of the board at Microsoft, we’re about to see a company that looks more like Gates rather than less.

This morning, in addition to announcing that Gates, the company’s co-founder and spiritual leader, will cede his chairman role to former Symantec CEO John Thompson so that he can spend several days a week at Microsoft in a more direct advisory role, Microsoft confirmed that its CEO post will be filled by 22-year company veteran Satya Nadella, who many say is cut from similar cloth.

After the NSA leaks began last summer, tech companies asked for permission to reveal more information about what kind of user data they provide in response to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s board is preparing to make Satya Nadella, the company’s enterprise and cloud chief, chief executive officer and is discussing replacing Bill Gates as chairman, according to people with knowledge of the process.