Secure Microsoft Office collaboration via any device

WatchDox Apps for WatchDox Enterprise and Enterprise ES is the first offering to grant enterprise users secure Microsoft Office collaboration capabilities via any desktop, laptop or mobile device, inc...

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Microsoft patches 13 vulnerabilities

April has turned out to be a rather slow month for Patch Tuesday. There are nine bulletins addressing a total of 13 vulnerabilities, but only two of the bulletins are rated ?critical,? a category that...

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Microsoft to release 9 advisories on Tuesday

April 2013 advance notice is out and it forecasts an interesting patching session for Microsoft administrators. There are 9 advisories affecting 16 distinct platforms in 5 categories of Microsoft pro...

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Microsoft to release 9 advisories on Tuesday

April 2013 advance notice is out and it forecasts an interesting patching session for Microsoft administrators. There are 9 advisories affecting 16 distinct platforms in 5 categories of Microsoft pro...

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Must-know Information about Microsoft Windows

If you have recently purchased a computer, then you know that Windows is the popular software from Microsoft, is often an integral part of your new purchase. The programs that are included in this package can be very helpful in organizing your business, creating new files, and preparing your budget. Here are some of the features that Windows has to offer.

Microsoft Word is a program commonly used by office professionals to prepare documents. You can create a fax sheet for sending documents, find a template for sending a memo, and even prepare your resume using this program. Additional features of Microsoft Word include a spell checker, so that you can correct any grammatical errors in your document before sending it to other faculty members or submitting it for review. A thesaurus is also available on the program, so that you can make your essays more interesting to read by selecting descriptive words that will enhance your writing. If you are trying to compose a formal letter or resume, the templates provided on Microsoft Word will help you to create a document you can be proud of.

Microsoft Windows also has a program that will help you to keep track of your company or personal budget, as well as create charts and graphs that you may have to use for professional presentations. Excel is a program complete with columns and rows that will allow you to organize your information for mailing lists, marketing programs, and business contacts, and you can create your own charts with the correct amounts of rows and columns for easy-to-read information. The spreadsheet format of the program will also allow you to separate certain items in the company budget, so that you can figure out your expenses, and keep track of your spending.

If you will be giving a presentation to a group of colleagues at work, or presenting a lecture to a class, then Windows has a program called PowerPoint that will work well for you. The program helps you create slides, which you will present throughout your lecture. You can fill the slides with information on the subject you're presenting, including, facts and stats, and can even add animated pictures to enhance your presentation. Charts and graphs can also be included in this Windows program, and PowerPoint has become the industry standard for many professors and corporate professionals.

What is missing is a registry cleaner that optimizes the Microsoft operating system and eliminates computer errors.

Microsoft Outlook is a most popular and widely used personal information manager

email client from Microsoft Corporation. It is the part of Microsoft Office suit of products. You can also use Outlook in combination of Microsoft Exchange Server to create a messaging and collaborative environment. MS Outlook stores all of your critical emails, contacts, notes, schedules, journal and other data in PST (Personal Folder) file. In other words, you can say that PST is the repository of all Outlook data. This file has an limitation in Microsoft Outlook 2002 and earlier versions that it can not grow more than 2 GB. When it reaches 2 GB size, the performance gets decreased and you might encounter PST file corruption. At this point, you need to Split PST File using appropriate tools.

In a practical scenario, when you attempt to start Microsoft Outlook and attempt to open the PST file, you might come across below given error message:

?Errors have been detected in the file . Quit all mail-enabled applications, and then use the Inbox Repair Tool.?

This issue takes place when PST file exceeds the size limit of 2 GB. Whenever the PST file grows more than 2 GB, you would not be able to start Outlook and open PST file. You might not add new data to it. This issue is called oversized PST problem. However, it is suggested to use Inbox Repair tool or Scanpst.exe to correct this problem, but it does not work in such circumstances. When this problem occurs, you might face any of the following situations:

1-Slow performance of Microsoft Outlook, while creating, searching and moving items due to large number or large size of times in PST files.
2-Outlook crashes while working on it or you come across a number of error messages and PST file corruption scenarios.

Microsoft Outlook does not contain any inbuilt tool to recover from oversized PST problem and make the file accessible. However, Microsoft offers an external utility as a makeshift. This utility is known as pst2gb.exe. It can restore the PST file to a usable state. To use this tool for truncating PST file, go through below steps:

3-Download this tool from Microsoft Download Center.

4-Extract 2gb 152.exe file in an empty folder. See the following 5 files

-Msstdfmt.dll
-Msvbvm60.dll
-Pst2gb.exe
-Readme.rtf
-Readme.txt
5-Run pst2gb.exe tool, click Browse for choosing oversized PST file and click Open.
6-Click Create, choose name and the location of truncated PST file, which you like to create and click on Save button.
7-Type the amount of data, which you like to truncate in Personal Folder file. There isn't a correct amount, which you use. You could get best result if you truncate 20 to 25 MB, but you might have to cut less or more.
8-Run Inbox Repair Tool on truncated file.
9-Open the resulted file in Microsoft Outlook.
10-If the truncated file does not open successfully in Microsoft Outlook, you need to go through the same process again from beginning.

Although, this tool might help you sort out your problem, but it is not safe in any case. When you use this utility, it creates a truncated copy of PST file. This copy does not contain all of your original data as the program cuts user defined amount of the data from selected PST file. It means some messages are missing or unavailable in recovered copy.

At this point, you need a tool, which can Split PST into different smaller files, without playing with the integrity of your data. This is best possible with the help of third party applications, which are known particularly designed to divide an oversized and unusable PST file into several files and make your precious data accessible again.

These applications are known as Split PST software. They split large sized PST file into several individual PST files, which could be used as individual file by simply importing them into Microsoft Outlook and creating a new Outlook profile or using it with same profile. These software Split PST File on a defined criteria either date or email address.

Stellar Phoenix PST File Splitter is the most influential and comprehensive tool to easily split oversized PST file and make it accessible through MS Outlook. It supports Microsoft Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. This software is compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista, 2003, XP, 2000 and NT4 (SP6).

When you start Microsoft Windows computer

Kernel32.dll corruption errors or Invalid Page Fault in this file may prevent your system to boot. This behavior makes your Windows system unbootable and thus your critical files can not be accessed from your Windows system. It results into File Loss and needs File Recovery to be fixed.

While starting your Windows computer or while opening an application, you may encounter any of the following error messages which indicates Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll file:

1. "Explorer caused an invalid page fault in module Kernel32.DLL"
2. "Commgr32 caused an invalid page fault in module Kernel32.dll"
3. "Error in Kernel32.dll"
4. "[PROGRAM NAME] has caused an error in Kernel32.dll"

The Kernel32.dll is a 32-bit DLL (Dynamic Link Library) file which handles memory management, interrupts and input/output operations in Windows. When you start Windows computer, Kernel32.dll is loaded into the protected memory area so that other applications/programs don?t take over that space.

Causes of Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll file

There are several possible causes of this behavior of Windows operating system and Kernel32.dll file. Some major reasons are as follows:

1. Damaged File Allocation Table
2. Corrupted or incorrect version of Kernel32.dll file
3.Damaged Windows registry
4.Third party application which is corrupted or improperly installed
5.Damage to .CPL (Control Panel) file
6.Damaged .LOG files
7.Damaged or incompatible DLL files
8.Virus infection

If this problem occurs due to any of the above mentioned reasons, you can not access your critical data from Windows hard drive.

Resolution

You can sort out this problem using any of the following methods:

1.Reinstall the application if the error is occurring in a single application
2. Run virus scan to detect and remove viruses
3. Perform repair installation of Windows
4. If all else fail, perform Clean Installation of Windows

Although, reinstalling Windows can help you in solving most of the Kernel32.dll errors but it also has a downside. It requires hard drive formatting that removes all your files from hard drive and put you in need of File Recovery.

It is best possible using third party software, known as File Recovery Software. These software are capable of thoroughly scanning entire hard drive and extracting all the data from it.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a robust tool that can recover all types of file in most of the file loss cases. It supports recovery from FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5 file system partitions. This File Recovery Software is compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista, 2003, XP and 2000.

User Account control in Microsoft

Starting with the rollout of Microsoft Windows Vista, User Account Control has been the source of many complaints aimed at Microsoft’s newest Operating Systems. With Windows 7 and Server 2008R2 Microsoft has enhanced UAC considerably, making it more user friendly and configurable, but do you still want to keep it on? In this article I will discuss the reasoning behind UAC, how it works (without getting technical), and what you can do for your own Windows Systems. TIP – to quickly gain access to the UAC control panel simply type UAC in the search box.Why the need for UAC?

Back in the ‘Ol days (Windows 95, 98, ME, etc), there was no concept of different privileged user accounts. Every user was granted an admin by default. In fact, most or all of the programs that ran with your Windows system also HAD to run with admin privileges, or they wouldn’t work. The problem with that was that every program running while you were logged on, (every Java app, every flash component, etc) also ran with admin rights and without barriers. Think of the modern internet, almost every page has live, streaming, animated content that is written with multiple languages and code; Languages and code that must be interpreted and downloaded by your web browser. It is within some of this very code that spyware and malware hides. TIP – Java, flash, and adobe updates are almost always security patches, and important to keep up to date. (Even more important than Windows updates if you look at the statistics). With Windows NT came seperate user accounts, but users would log in with restricted permissions, and the applications\processes that ran could still "elevate" themselves (or be elevated) and influence the system at other levels. This is why UAC came about, to help restrict applications and processes unless specifically consented for by an administrator.Tokens

In Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Server 2008R2 separate user accounts are used and privileges are handed out in the form of “tokens”. (Don’t make it hard, just visualize a subway token).

When a standard user logs in they are granted a “token” with restricted access. “Restricted” meaning they cannot make changes that will affect the entire Operating System. When an administrator logs in, the user is granted two separate tokens for that session, one restricted token and one unrestricted admin token. While the Admin is logged in applications are started under the restricted user token and only elevated after the user is alerted and gives consent (“Run as Administrator”).Surf as a USER not an ADMIN

One of the best ways to help keep your PC clean is by simply logging on and running your daily tasks as a user and not as an admin, especially when you are surfing the internet. As HubPage writers our research can sometimes take us to the far ends of the internet. We are almost always on new pages, sites, forums, social networks, and blogs. My advice is to do this while logged in as a user. Need to install a program? That’s when you can log into your admin account. You can read more about the UAC settings here. NOTE -- not all malware needs admin privileges, some will go for the user profile, which is why you should clean your PC on a regular basis.There are many opinions on the validity of UAC. The bottom line is that no system protection is flawless, but the combination of a good antivirus package, Windows Firewall, routine cleaning and UAC can be quite effective. My advice is to turn UAC up until it bothers you, then turn it down a notch. If you can stand to keep it all the way up then do it. The middle two options will suffice but don't turn it off completely. One of the smartest things you can do is to surf the internet as a user, not an admin. Clean your PC as often as you remember too and you'll be good to go. Some of my other blogs include:

Ten Best Windows 7 Command Line Commands to get you Started

Start Using XCOPY to save time transferring Files

10 Ways to LOOK Smarter than any of your Coworkers

How to: Show-IT - Add contacts to the Address Book in Microsoft Windows XP.

Solution:

In the Start menu, select 'All Programs'. Select 'Accessories'. Click 'Address Book'. In 'Address Book', to create contacts available to all users, click 'Shared Contacts'. In the 'File' menu, click 'New Contact'. In the 'Properties' dialog, click each tab and fill in the details. Click 'OK'.

Details:

Click here to view Show-IT. This will display a Flash movie tutorial on how to add contacts to the Address Book in Microsoft Windows XP. The Microsoft Windows XP provides an address book in which you can maintain contact information and use the information in applications such as Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook. To add a contact to the Address Book:

1) Click the 'Start' button and select 'All Programs'.

2) Select 'Accessories' and click 'Address Book'. The 'Address Book' is now displayed.

3) To create contacts available to all users, click 'Shared Contacts'. The Address Book window

4) In the 'File' menu, click 'New Contact'. The 'Properties' dialog box is displayed. The 'Properties' dialog box

5) Click each tab and fill in the details.

6) Click 'OK'. The contact is added to the list on the right. Contact list

7) In the 'File' menu, click 'Exit' to exit the Address Book.

Symptoms:

How to: Add contacts to the Address Book in Microsoft Windows XP.

Keywords:

add contact address book Microsoft Windows XP

Applies To:

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Microsoft Windows 7 - Review

Windows 7 looks set to be the next desktop operating system, with many organizations refreshing their PC estate as they migrate up. Microsoft Windows 7 is a version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on PC’s, including home and business desktops, laptops, and a whole range of devices.

Windows 7 was officially released on July 22, 2009;

It was available in retail on October 22, 09.

Windows 8 will take over from Windows 7, which does not have a release date yet. Windows 7 is a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows OS line, and new features include:

Multi-touch support

Redesigned Windows Shell

New Superbar taskbar

A home networking system called Home Group

Improved performance

There are a number of standard applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows-Calendar, Windows-Mail, Windows Movie-Maker, and Windows Photo-Gallery, are not included in Windows 7 most are instead offered separately at no charge as part of the Windows-Live Essentials suite.

Below I have included a video on Windows 7 Installation guide, for those of you who need help/assistance in installing the Operating System.

6 reasons why Windows 7 is the next best thing:

Faster speed, better performance - Windows 7 is designed to make PCs start up, shut down, resume from standby, and respond faster, new features have also been added to simplfy things.

Streaming files and media in your home - Music, videos or photos can be easily streamed using Windows 7, on your PC to your home audio system and similar network devices. With the new media streaming features introduced make your PC an excellent hub for video, audio, recorded TV, photos and more throughout your home.

Jump Lists - Windows 7 new feature Jump Lists are a handy way to quickly reach the files you've been working with previously; just right click on the icon on your taskbar, e.g. By right-clicking on the Microsoft PowerPoint icon, it will show your most recent PowerPoint documents. You can also pin any files to the Jump List so they always appear for easy access.

HomeGroup Network - When you first install Windows 7 to any pc in your home, a new network is automatically added to your home network, namely “HomeGroup”. This allows users to access, share files, as well as sharing a printer. Various files including digital photos can be stored and shared, and accessed from any PC/Laptop in the house.

Improvements to taskbar and wider range of options - Navigating through programs has become less time consuming, as this version of Windows allows you to pin any program you maybe viewing/using to the taskbar, so it’s always a click away. Icons can be rearranged on the taskbar very easily by clicking and dragging programs. You can access files and windows by simply hovering over the icon, which will show you thumbnail of all programs opened, to get a full screen preview of any window, hover over the thumbnail.

Reduce interruptions - A new Action Centre icon which can be found on the tray icon for easy access, which alerts you to any immediate problems which need to be address, you can access the information at any time regarding any problems to your computer, which get’s stored automatically.

Video guide on Installation for Mac.

Must-know Information about Microsoft Windows

If you have recently purchased a computer, then you know that Windows is the popular software from Microsoft, is often an integral part of your new purchase. The programs that are included in this package can be very helpful in organizing your business, creating new files, and preparing your budget. Here are some of the features that Windows has to offer.

Microsoft Word is a program commonly used by office professionals to prepare documents. You can create a fax sheet for sending documents, find a template for sending a memo, and even prepare your resume using this program. Additional features of Microsoft Word include a spell checker, so that you can correct any grammatical errors in your document before sending it to other faculty members or submitting it for review. A thesaurus is also available on the program, so that you can make your essays more interesting to read by selecting descriptive words that will enhance your writing. If you are trying to compose a formal letter or resume, the templates provided on Microsoft Word will help you to create a document you can be proud of.

Microsoft Windows also has a program that will help you to keep track of your company or personal budget, as well as create charts and graphs that you may have to use for professional presentations. Excel is a program complete with columns and rows that will allow you to organize your information for mailing lists, marketing programs, and business contacts, and you can create your own charts with the correct amounts of rows and columns for easy-to-read information. The spreadsheet format of the program will also allow you to separate certain items in the company budget, so that you can figure out your expenses, and keep track of your spending.

If you will be giving a presentation to a group of colleagues at work, or presenting a lecture to a class, then Windows has a program called PowerPoint that will work well for you. The program helps you create slides, which you will present throughout your lecture. You can fill the slides with information on the subject you're presenting, including, facts and stats, and can even add animated pictures to enhance your presentation. Charts and graphs can also be included in this Windows program, and PowerPoint has become the industry standard for many professors and corporate professionals.

What is missing is a registry cleaner that optimizes the Microsoft operating system and eliminates computer errors.

Microsoft Windows Office Tutorial

Microsoft Office is an office suite software productivity package that is used in businesses and home in the United States and all across the globe. Users of microsoft office can create written documents, spreadsheets, graphs, slideshows, and more. The microsoft office suite allows a user to create professional looking documents with little design or computer engineering background which allows a user to focus on the substance of what is being created and they do not have to worry about the technical computer aspects of what the microsoft office software is doing.

Office productivity has relied on the Microsoft tools. While most packages come with extensive instructions and help for troubleshooting, there are many advanced user topics and features that can only be learned through trial and error or through Office tutorials and Office guides. Fortunately there are many Microsoft Windows Office Tutorials.The Office productivity suite is composed of multiple software programs that each provide a specific format to create a multitude of documents and other templates. The individual software programs include:

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Access

Microsoft Power Point

Microsoft Front Page

Microsoft Groove

Microsoft InfoPath

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft OneNoteMicrosoft Office Tutorials

Each Office Tutorial will be specific to a specific version of the Microsoft Office release. There have been many updates to Microsoft Office and each version will have at least one, if not more, tutorials and guides to learn about the Microsoft Office Tools. For example, some of the most popular and well known versions of Microsoft Office include:

Office 2013 Licensing Issues Clarified By Microsoft

Controversy erupted recently regarding Office 2013. According to Microsoft, users can only install Office 2013 on one PC and that is it. If they want to use it on another PC, they wouldn’t be able to do so. This was the first time that such restrictions were imposed by Microsoft on their Office suite. There was considerable confusion among the people regarding whether or not they would be able to use Office 2013 on more than one computer. Ultimately, Microsoft had to come out and clarify the situation. The bad news is that the issue which caused the controversy ultimately proved to be true. Microsoft has indeed restricted the use of Office 2013 to one device.  This is a marked change from the company’s approach to previous version of Office. You could easily install Office on multiple devices and it was all legal. However, this isn’t the case if you have upgraded to Office 2013. On top of that, Microsoft didn’t even make this point public. The licensing guidelines are available with your copy of Office 2013 but hardly anyone bothers to read. Well, thankfully someone did and brought this issue to light. It would have been better if the [...]

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Microsoft Hotmail Officially Becomes Outlook.com

Out with the old and in with the new, as Microsoft closes it’s doors on Hotmail. Dropping its well known email provider after establishing its user base for 15 years may sound like risky business, but Microsoft is planning to make it up to it’s faithful Hotmail users as it leads them through a painless transition to Outlook.com. More Privacy, Less Junk Some of the best aspects of Outlook are the privacy tools and junk mail filters. Though it may initially take a little time to familiarize yourself with the  tools and personalize your privacy settings, Outlook will begin to automatically sort your mail into it’s known category. For example, mail from contacts would be auto-sent to a contacts folder, and notifications from a Facebook friends be sent its own separate folder, creating a tidy and easily maneuverable page. Also, Outlook won’t share your information or read your emails and then bombard you with corresponding ads and junk mail. Instead of adding to the clutter, Outlook provides the user with a tool called Sweep, which will weed out unwanted emails like unread newsletters and daily deals, or even those dreaded messages from the mother-in-law. It’s up to you, as you [...]

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Survey Shows Microsoft Cooler than Before

Microsoft may be one of the leading technological companies in the world but they have often been criticized for not being innovative and creative enough with their products. For many years, Microsoft’s products followed the same patterns and designs. Hence, they lost considerable market share to ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ brands like Apple. In a bid to change the perception, Microsoft has been working hard on its new product line, upgrading it to a level where they can compete with Apple and the likes. For now, it seems like they haves succeeded in their quest. In a recent survey, nearly 50% of the participants were of the opinion that Microsoft is cooler than before. The survey targeted the most important demographic in gadgets and computing devices: 18 to 29-year olds. According to the survey, changes brought about by Microsoft over the past couple of years have made it cooler than it was. The company would be excited about the fact that they appeal to the youth in a better way now. While Microsoft managed to get a 50% score on the survey, a couple of social networks fared worse. Quite unexpectedly, the response to Facebook was underwhelming to say the least. [...]

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Microsoft also victim of recent watering hole attack

Microsoft has followed in the steps of Twitter, Facebook and Apple, and has confirmed on Friday that it has recently experienced a security intrusion. "During our investigation, we found a small ...

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Microsoft Warns About Pitfalls of Pirated Software

Aside from the fact that Microsoft loses money each time you purchase unlicensed software, there seems to be a pretty good argument against doing so. Not that you should need some convincing, right? After all, anyone who considers himself an upstanding citizen does not buy pirated software. Even if it’s Microsoft. Or maybe especially if it’s Microsoft. Of course, what happens in the shadow does not always coincide with publicly made statements, and based on a study done by Microsoft, in Southeast Asia, the use of pirated software is still rampant. Worse, unlicensed software even comes with newly purchased computers. The study uncovered alarming details, not the least of which is that there are 5,601 types of malware to be found in laptops that come pre-installed with pirated Windows operating systems! (Source) If you think that purchasing a branded laptop or desktop computer gives you an edge in terms of malware, don’t be so sure about that. Keshav Dhakad, Regional Director for Intellectual Property of Microsoft Asia Pacific and Japan, said in announcement: “Many people assume that buying a name-brand PC is all that’s required to guarantee a good and safe computing experience. They don’t think about the software sold with [...]

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People need help controlling personal info online

Microsoft released new data reflecting consumers' perceptions about how their information is used online and a new series of short videos to help people better manage their online privacy.

According to the results of a Microsoft-commissioned survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, people feel they have little to no control about how their data may be collected by online companies. They are also increasingly in search of trusted sources of information to help them make better choices about their online privacy.

Highlights of the research include the following:
Forty-five percent said they feel they have little or no control over the personal information companies gather about them while they are browsing the Web or using online services, such as photo-sharing, travel or gaming.
Four in 10 said they feel they totally or mostly understand how to protect their online privacy.
An equal number of people (39 percent) said they are turning to friends and family, as well as company privacy statements, as their top source for privacy information.
A third of those surveyed (32 percent) said they are paying attention to companies' privacy reputations, track records and policies when choosing which websites to visit or services to use.
"As online activities have become a valuable part of daily life, privacy is incredibly important. At Microsoft, we strive to help our customers manage their personal information online by providing easy-to-understand privacy policies, settings and guidance," said Brendon Lynch , chief privacy officer, Microsoft.

"We take seriously our responsibility to customers by investing in a comprehensive and dynamic privacy program that implements our policies and delivers privacy innovations to our customers," Lynch added.

Improve Windows XP performance

Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.

1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

Microsoft to end Windows 8 discounts on January 31

Say what you will concerning Windows 8; a minimum of the upgrade from Windows 7 is cheap. Or it is for now. once Gregorian calendar month thirty one are going to be a different story.

Ever since Windows 8's Gregorian calendar month twenty six, 2012 launch, Microsoft has been offering retail Windows 8 professional upgrade DVDs for $69.99. on-line upgrades have been even cheaper, at $39.99. And customers UN agency bought new PCs or laptops with Windows 7 preloaded got the simplest deal of all: If they registered with Microsoft, the web Windows 8 upgrade cost them just $14.99.

Microsoft continually aforesaid these rates were temporary, but ample pundits did not believe it. Why would Redmond raise its costs, they argued, given however lukewarm client reaction to the new OS has been?

Well, place such notions aside. during a journal post on Fri, Microsoft confirmed that when it aforesaid its discounted Windows 8 upgrade pricing was for a restricted time only, it extremely meant it.

As previously proclaimed, all of the on top of costs end on Gregorian calendar month thirty one. beginning in Feb, all editions of Windows 8 can sell for their full list costs, which means the cheapest Windows 8 upgrade can opt for $119.99.

Note, however, that unlike the discounted upgrades offered previously, that value just gets you Windows 8, not Windows 8 professional. If you wish the extra professional options – as well as BitLocker encryption, domain property, and Hyper-V virtualization, among others – you'll have to distribute a little additional for the professional upgrade edition, priced at $199.99.

If you already have Windows 8 and you wish to upgrade to Windows 8 professional, the professional Pack upgrade can cost you $69.99 through Gregorian calendar month thirty one. After that, the worth goes up to $99.99.

These list costs square measure similar to what Microsoft charged to upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows visual percept or earlier, but they are still high in today's computing market. The last upgrade for Apple's OS X – presently the sole different thought desktop OS – cost just $20, and you can upgrade most desktop linux systems for complimentary.

Still, many purchasers won't actually upgrade the least bit. Instead, they'll get their initial style of Windows 8 once they buy a brand new laptop or pc. Microsoft claims it's sold  sixty million Windows 8 licenses thus far, with a good chunk of those getting to OEMs UN agency conceive to bundle the OS with their new kit.

In addition to ending its Windows upgrade discounts, Microsoft also will begin charging $9.99 for its Windows Media Center add-on pack on Gregorian calendar month thirty one. previously it had been a free upgrade for Windows 8 professional users.

Upgrade pricing for the uk, Europe, and different regions was not out there as the Reg visited press.