windows 8

Demand for Windows 8 touch-screen PCs is strong, according to two analysts who spoke with CNET.

"Touch machines are actually selling above expectations," said Bob O'Donnell, a program vice president at IDC.

And that means supply shortages. "Some vendors are actually facing shortages because touch panels are in limited supply. Vendors are saying they can't get as many touch-based machines as they would like to meet the demand that they're seeing."

Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, echoed O'Donnell's comments. "We've talked to a number of PC makers … Read more

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet is expected to see sales of more than a million units in the fourth quarter, IHS iSuppli told CNET today.

"We see estimated sales of 1.3 million" in the quarter, Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, said in a phone interview today. The fourth quarter still has a few weeks left.

"I would be surprised to see it much above that," she added as a qualifier.

The Surface RT version of Microsoft's tablet first went on sale October 26, well into the fourth quarter, so sales of over … Read more

I'd done my research, having investigated major Windows 8 convertible laptops on the market. The one I'd settled on, the Lenovo Yoga 13, had arrived. So last week, I went cold turkey with it on a business trip, abandoning my MacBook Air to see if Windows 8 could deliver a product that was both tablet and laptop in one.

Short answer: no.

As I explained in my last column, I've long wished for a device with the "instant-on" ability of my MacBook Air but also one that could transform into a tablet, for those times … Read more

A few days ago, Tami Reller, Microsoft's chief marketing and financial officer for Windows, announced that the company had sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses since October 26 -- the day the new operating system launched. All puns aside, on the surface that seems pretty impressive, but recent articles by CNET and others indicate a much shakier start for Windows 8 and the hardware hinged to it.

On November 29, an article by the New York Times cited poor sales figures for both Windows PCs and tablets from NPD, the retail sales tracking firm, painting "a darker picture … Read more

Intel is on a mission to cut the power consumption of its chips. But that's not only future silicon. The current Ivy Bridge chip will get throttled down too.

Intel will cut power consumption "significantly" for future versions of the chip, an industry source familiar with the chipmaker's plans told CNET.

Intel's most power efficient Ivy Bridge chips today -- used widely in Windows ultrabooks and Apple's MacBook Air -- are rated at 17 watts.

A future version of Ivy Bridge would be rated well below this, the source said. Processors able to throttle … Read more

One of the new features of Windows 8 is metered wireless connections. In the past, you could run Windows programs to monitor your data usage, but they didn't do anything to actually reduce data usage. With mobile hot spot and broadband card usage on the rise and unlimited data plans nearing extinction, every kilobyte of bandwidth saved is a penny earned. Enabling metering in Windows 8 will limit your PC or tablet's data usage by preventing nonessential data transfers.

According to Microsoft's FAQ on metered connections, the effects of enabling a metered connection are:

Windows 8 is playing second fiddle to Windows 7, at least in Internet traffic, according to data out today from StatCounter.

Over the four-week period ending November 26, Windows 8 had grabbed a worldwide Internet usage share of just 1.31 percent, the Web traffic firm said.

In comparison, Windows 7 had achieved a global Internet usage share of 4.93 percent during the one month after its debut in October 2009.

Both operating systems officially launched in October during their respective years. However, both were also available as freely downloadable release candidates prior to their official debuts.

StatCounter's … Read more

Microsoft's Windows 8 Pro version of the Surface tablet got a cool reception today when pricing was disclosed and comments surfaced about battery life, but keep in mind that the core electronics scream ultrabook, not tablet.

After Microsoft announced pricing this morning, it was immediately panned for being too expensive and reportedly getting half of the battery life of the RT version.

Both legitimate concerns. Let's focus on battery life first.

Battery: A quick look at the specs tells you it's pretty close to an ultrabook -- and really thin ultrabooks, not unlike the Surface Pro's … Read more

Ever since Microsoft unveiled the Windows RT Surface and its much more PC-like Windows 8 Surface Pro sibling, the big question has been about price. Well, consider the question answered: the Surface Pro will cost $899 for a 64GB version, and $999 for 128GB of storage.

A full ultrabook-level Intel Core i5 processor, 10.6-inch 1,920x1,080-pixel display, 4GB of RAM, and an included Surface Pen are some of the Surface Pro's distinguishing features. Those sexy Touch Covers and Type Covers, both of which are compatible with the Surface Pro, will be sold separately. The real question, of … Read more