Microsoft

L33tdawg: Another mega shift of the industry spearheaded by the one and only Katie Moussouris! Follow her on Twitter!

The Surface RT, as it was then known, was Microsoft's first attempt to build a tablet computer.

On the upside, it was a well-built tablet with an attractive screen. It was also a bit more than a tablet—an integrated kickstand was handy for watching streaming video and the like. When paired with one of Microsoft's keyboard accessories, it became a good option for homework, e-mailing, light work, and more thanks to the bundled Office 2013 apps.

Microsoft representatives said Wednesday that the company will not turn on Windows Defender for unprotected PCs, contrary to what executives said earlier in the week.

Holly Stewart, the senior program manager from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center, misspoke, according to representatives, when she said that Microsoft would turn on Windows Defender if a user’s anti-malware subscription lapsed.

Microsoft’s security products are often criticized for their lack of features and poor efficiency, but according to a new research, Redmond is the leading anti-virus vendor right now.

Judging by the market share of its products, Microsoft has 25.4 percent of the anti-virus market thanks to Security Essentials and Windows Defender, a report published by OPSWAT shows.

The 15th and latest of Microsoft's Security Intelligence Report (SIRv15) has been released. We spoke with Tim Rains, Director, Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft about the results.

Microsoft mouthpiece Frank Shaw penned a blog post Wednesday about Apple's new iPad, which for the first time comes with free iWork and iLife software. Shaw's post is titled "Apple and oranges," but it appears to also include some sour grapes.

It’s great that Microsoft has made Windows 8.1 entirely free to owners of Windows 8, but unfortunately you’re limited to installing the update through the Windows Store -- unless you’re an MSDN subscriber there’s no ISO you can grab to install the operating system how and when you like.

But as enterprising Reddit user redditorfor0seconds has discovered, there is a way of getting your hands on the ISO that only requires you to have a Windows 8 retail or MSDN key (but not an OEM key, apparently). It’s incredibly straightforward too, just follow these simple instructions.

Microsoft has already hinted strongly that apps made for Windows 8 will be able to run on its upcoming Xbox One game console. However, the company has done nothing more than just hint at this kind of feature and has never talked about how app developers could get their creations published on the Xbox One. Now a pre-order page for the console on Dell's online store seems to confirm that Windows 8 apps will be able to run on the next-gen game machine.

The New Zealand government has softened its contentious network surveillance bill by removing a ban on operators selling overseas services in the country if they are deemed in breach of national security requirements.

Communications and information technology minister Amy Adams yesterday tabled a supplementary order paper (PDF) with changes to the proposed Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Bill (TCIS), based on feedback from from the public and the industry as well as recommendations from the parliamentary Law and Order select committee.

It’s nearly a year since Microsoft released the divisive Windows 8, and this week sees the launch of Windows 8.1 -- an update to the tiled operating system that aims to fix many of the perceived wrongs of the first version, while introducing some very welcome new features.

If you’re a Windows 8 or RT user you’ll be able to download the update for free starting at 4AM PDT (that’s 12pm in the UK) on 17 October. You’ll be able to get it directly through the Windows Store or by downloading an ISO image if you prefer to install it manually.