Microsoft Windows in pictures

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  Microsoft Windows after 25 years: A visual history
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  Nine wickedly helpful Web sites for Windows administrators

• APP OF THE DAY: AppTastic

  By Hafizah Osman | 16 May, 2012 10:24

  AppTastic is an amazing app that allows you to keep yourself up to date on the latest and best apps in the Windows market.

• Microsoft revamps UI on Visual Studio IDE upgrade

  By Paul Krill | 09 May, 2012 07:37

  Microsoft is making changes to the user interface for the planned Visual Studio 11 IDE, which impact coloring, icon usability, and application of the Metro look and feel.

• Dell XPS 13: Gray with MacBook Air envy

  By Eric Knorr | 04 May, 2012 20:12

  Lately I've been changing things up a bit. For several months I used a little Lenovo ThinkPad X220 running Windows 7 and had a great experience -- it felt rock solid and responsive, with fantastic battery life. Then I switched to a MacBook Pro, and now that I've gotten used to it, I actually find it more or less a wash between the two (sorry, Apple fanboys).

• Review: SQL Server 2012 stands tall

  By Sean McCown | 25 April, 2012 20:13

  As we've come to expect from new SQL Server releases, SQL Server 2012 has so many new features that it's impossible even to mention them all. Nearly everyone is well served, from the BI-hungry users of Reporting Services to the IT folks who oversee query performance and uptime. SQL Server 2012 brings improvements across the board, with only a few disappointing exceptions.

• New Microsoft tool maintains Windows user settings in virtual environments

  By Tim Greene | 05 April, 2012 08:43

  Microsoft virtual Windows environments need not require a lot of manual configuration to customize applications and update operating system preferences each time users log in thanks to a product being added to the Microsoft toolbox.

• First look: Visual Studio 11 beta leaner, meaner for Metro

  By Tim Anderson | 04 April, 2012 23:51

  Microsoft's Visual Studio is more than just an IDE. It's the official developer tool for Microsoft's platform, and new releases tie in with major changes in Windows. Visual Studio 11, now in beta, includes support for the Windows Runtime (WinRT), the engine that powers the new Metro-style, tablet-friendly user interface in Windows 8. As the tool for building Metro apps, Visual Studio 11 plays a critical role in the success or failure of the new Windows.

• Review: VDI without the server connection

  By Keith Schultz | 17 March, 2012 01:06

  Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) has faced plenty of challenges: complexity, high cost, heavy server and storage requirements, and end-user dissatisfaction, to list the common complaints. But VDI has also delivered plenty of innovation and experimentation, with vendors taking a variety of approaches to lower the hurdles to implementation, ease the management burden, and address a fuller range of user needs.

• Windows 8: Something old, something awkward

  By Woody Leonhard | 06 March, 2012 22:06

  InfoWorld's Enterprise Windows blogger, J. Peter Bruzzese, described Windows 8 as "Windows Frankenstein." I'm tempted to call it a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" operating system, but I can't decide which name to assign to the Metro side of the fence and which to the Windows 7-like desktop.

• Nine wickedly helpful Web sites for Windows administrators

  By Ron Barrett | 30 September, 2008 08:52

  Windows Web sites worth a look