Wozniak, Apple's co-founder, praises Microsoft, again

Steve Wozniak is an electronics engineer and a computer pioneer, with a bunch of Doctor of Engineering degrees, and better known as the co-founder, with Steve Jobs, of Apple. Last week, as a special guest of the Entel Summit, in Chile, once again he expressed his appreciation for Microsoft technologies.  He said, more or less verbatim, that "I do see a lot of stuff coming out from Microsoft in the consumer arena (Nokia Lumia phones, Surface) and they have such a strikingly good visual appearance, which is a lot of what Steve Jobs always looked for: the convergence of art and technology...so I made a joke that Steve Jobs came back reincarnated at Microsoft... and I do want to see the surface, I want to own one, I want to use one; I prefer to judge things that I really know, and not what I read about. I'm glad that Microsoft is starting to show that maybe they're a different company than before. I don't remember this sort of thing happening in a long, long time for Microsoft. I'm very happy..." Wozniak, a gadget geek, had specifically expressed his admiration for the Nokia Lumia 900 a few months ago when he declared, in a interview, that "Windows Phone apps are much more beautiful than the same apps on Android and iPhone". Well, I have to agree with him, not just, this because this a Windows blog and because I am a happy owner of a Nokia Lumia phone, but because he's spot on.

It's official: a new Microsoft Tablet has arrived!

Sooner than expected! A few minutes ago, at around 7:20 pm PT, Steve Ballmer made official the launch of new devices to go with the upcoming iteration of the Windows 8 operating system frenzy. A new tablet, called the Surface, and with Microsoft hardware, which is 9.3 mm thin, 675 grams in weight, has been announced in Los Angeles, city of entertainment and celebrities, during a secretive gathering of selected media representatives who never knew exactly what they were going to cover up until the last minute. There are two products that were introduced: The Surface for Windows RT, with an nVidia processor, and the second one, called Surface for Windows 8 Pro with an Intel x86 microprocessor, full HD display, and both have specs that rival the finest ultrabooks.

Windows 8 Release Preview up and running

Composed screenshot: the opening screen plus an insert of the setup.

My first most notable impression about this latest release of Windows 8 in its path to its final launch, is that I like it even more after having installed, reviewed, played and enjoyed the Developer Preview and the Consumer Preview versions. I assume that it will do a great iPad competitor and that even without using touch, it'll do a great laptop computer operating system as well. In this iteration the use and functionality of the Metro UI and its applications is more evident. It's nimble, it's practical, it's beautiful. While you are at it, don't forget to go around the world with the Travel tile, one of the many cool and vibrant apps already in the operating system.

Windows 8 Release Preview is here!

Not in "early June" as previously announced, but today, the last day of May, everybody can get hold of the newest version of the evolving Windows 8 operating system. You can go directly to the Windows 8 Release Preview, which "is Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It's an all-new touch interface. It's a new Windows for new devices." We have experienced the Developer Preview back in late summer 2011, then Consumer Preview in February 2012 and now this version which gets closer to the the release to manufacturing within the software release lifecycle. Windows 7 was and continues to be a success because people from all over the world had the opportunity to preview it before buying it or getting a new computer and, no doubt, this marketing strategy has and will continue to work for Windows 8. These are auspicious times not only for Microsoft but for the PC and mobile world at large. Let's make a toast to that!