windows8

Consumers awaiting the Lenovo Yoga 11S convertible can now order one through Lenovo or Best Buy, though they'll have to wait at least a month before it ships.

Available through Lenovo's Web site as of Thursday, the Yoga 11S is an 11.6-inch ultrabook that can close to transform itself into a touch-screen tablet or bend over backward into "tent mode" or "stand mode" to act strictly as a display. The new Yoga is outfitted with Windows 8, upping the original Yoga 11, which offers Windows RT. Buyers also have a choice of two … Read more

We know a smaller Surface product is likely in the works. But exactly how small isn't clear.

Digitimes has chimed in again claiming, this time, Microsoft will launch an 8-inch Surface tablet in June, citing sources at component suppliers.

"Microsoft will launch an 8-inch Surface tablet in June and a 10.x-inch model as early as the third quarter of 2013," Digitimes said.

The display for the 8-inch model will be supplied by Samsung, according to the report.

This differs from what DisplaySearch told CNET earlier this month: a future Microsoft tablet is expected to sport a … Read more

Wondering whether to buy a Windows RT tablet? The status of RT at retail may be a good guide.

As of Wednesday evening, the Microsoft store listed no Windows RT tablets aside from Microsoft's own Surface RT. Tablets like the Asus VivoTab RT are no longer listed (though the Intel-based VivoTab is on the site). Even Dell's XPS 10 -- reduced this week to $299.99 -- is absent.

On the other hand, the store lists more than a dozen Windows 8 tablets based on either Intel Core processors or Intel's Atom chip.

On Tuesday, Microsoft Chief … Read more

Editors' note: This story was originally published on August 20, 2012. It has been updated several times since then to include additional programs and other details, most recently with Start Menu Reviver on May 15, 2013.

Still miss the classic Start menu in Windows 8? Never fear, alternatives are here.

Microsoft lopped off the Start menu in Windows 8 to force people to use the Start screen. And I'll admit it, the Start screen does offers several benefits.

Live Tiles can clue you in to the latest e-mails, appointments, news, and other information. You can easily search for any … Read more

Windows RT tablets just hit a new low: $299.99.

That's what Dell is selling its XPS 10 RT tablet for online, reduced from $449.

The XPS 10 includes -- as CNET Deals points out -- Windows RT with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT; a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor; a 10.1-inch 1,366x768 display; a 28Wh battery rated at up to 10 hours; front and rear cameras; microSD slot; and 32GB of storage.

The discount may have something to do with Windows RT tablets not flying off the shelves -- and becoming as scarce … Read more

Microsoft Windows 8 has confused users and disappointed the PC industry. Windows Chief Marketing Officer Tami Reller all but admitted it last week. She also foreshadowed that help is on the way in Windows Blue. She confirmed that this Windows 8 update -- which will soon get a prosaic product name like "Windows 8.1" -- will be previewed for users this summer and will go live in the fall.

While it's rumored that the Blue update will reinstate the much-missed Start menu and allow users to boot into the Desktop mode, it's highly unlikely Microsoft … Read more

Ever since Windows 8 made its tablet debut, my complaint has been not with the operating system (which works well enough when paired with a touch screen), but with the high price of the hardware. I just couldn't see spending $600, $700, or more for a tablet.

Thankfully, given the passage of time and Windows 8's lukewarm reception, the high-priced hardware is becoming downright affordable. Witness: While supplies last (and they won't last long), DealFisher has the Acer Iconia W510 Windows 8 tablet for $324.99, shipped. Amazingly, it's new, not refurbished. When it hit the … Read more

NEC has apparently jumped the gun, releasing the full specs of a laptop based on Intel's 4th Generation Core processor, aka, Haswell.

That processor, along with a crush of new systems, is slated for rollout on June 3 at Computex in Taiwan.

But NEC is talking specs already in Japan.

In addition to the Haswell chip (about which NEC provided little additional data), the LaVie L will sport a 15.6-inch IPS touch screen (1,920x1,080 resolution), 8GB of memory, 1TB hard drive with a 32GB solid-state drive cache, Windows 8, and Microsoft Office Home and Business.

The … Read more

Microsoft appreciates the feedback on Windows 8. Up to a point.

"There is a trend to the extreme," Frank X. Shaw, corporate vice president of corporate communications at Microsoft, wrote on The Official Microsoft Blog on Friday, addressing some of the harsher attacks.

Here's a fuller quote:

In this world where everyone is a publisher, there is a trend to the extreme -- where those who want to stand out opt for sensationalism and hyperbole over nuanced analysis. In this world where page views are currency, heat is often more valued than light. Stark black-and-white caricatures are … Read more