Microsoft says 74 percent of work PCs still use Windows XP, extends downgrade rights until 2020
The latest Microsoft operating system may be selling seven copies a second , but it’s no match for the behemoth Windows XP, still the most popular OS in the world despite recent nefarious attempts (we kid) to invoke spontaneous shutdowns , slow hard drives and trigger blue screens . In fact, a Microsoft exec admitted today that practically three-quarters of business computers still run the nine-year-old OS on hardware averaging 4.4 years old, and Computerworld ‘s now reporting Microsoft will extend XP’s lifespan through 2020 (you read that right) as a result.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone Developer Tools package goes to beta
Early versions of the tools Windows Phone 7 developers will use to craft their wares have been floating around since Microsoft’s MIX event in March, but it looks like things have finally gotten robust and feature-complete enough this week to bless the kit with a beta label. In fact, Microsoft is coming out and saying that this release “represents the near final version,” which we take to mean you can develop with some confidence that your world won’t be turned upside down when the time comes to prep your apps for shipping devices and firmwares.
iriver WiFi Story turns to the ‘overpriced wireless connectivity’ chapter
Outside of a perhaps too strong resemblance to the Kindle, there was nothing much to fault the iriver Story when we played with it back in January.
Colorware jazzes up your new Xbox 360
No need for a fanciful new HDTV ? Not even a new Segway ? There’s some colorful home entertainment gear for you yet
The Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5:30 ET!
Microsoft Kin may have been canned this week, but you know what hasn’t been canned? The Engadget Mobile Podcast starring Chris Ziegler and Myriam Joire, that’s what. Follow the break to listen in
Microsoft Kin is dead
We’re learning this afternoon that Microsoft’s Kin line, for all practical purposes, is riding off into the sunset just a few short weeks after its release. Sources close to Microsoft tell us that Andy Lees has rolled Kin into the Windows Phone 7 team and has canceled the existing product’s launch later this year in Europe on news that sales weren’t as strong as expected. Speaking of sales, Verizon’s already-launched Kin One and Kin Two are soldiering on for the time being, but for how long is anyone’s guess
