azure-and-cloud-computing|Mar 28, 2016

Games, HoloLens, Cloud Services Highlight Build 2016 Schedule

It wouldn’t be a developer conference without some surprises, and Microsoft is already getting us in the mood for Build 2016 with a mysterious description in the event schedule of a session on ‘Something Awesome.’ We’ll have to wait until Build kicks off this Wednesday for details, but the rest of the schedule promises a…
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news|Mar 17, 2016

Windows 8.1 Mobile Customers Can Finally Upgrade to Windows 10

Think Windows Phone is dead? Not so fast. Though the customer base for the mobile OS remains paltry compared to competitors iPhone and Android, Microsoft still seems to see the phones as important to its overall plan for Universal Windows Apps. And on Thursday, the company began rolling out over-the-air updates to Windows 10 for…
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visual-studio-alm-tfs-and-scrum|Mar 15, 2016

Microsoft Begins Private Testing of Newest Visual Studio Version

A lighter, faster version of Visual Studio will likely be on its way to developers soon, perhaps by Build 2016, ZDNet reports. Code named “Visual Studio 15″—but not to be confused with the already-available Visual Studio 2015—the new version has already been released to some developers in private previews, according to ZDNet. Testers report that the…
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sql-server|Mar 8, 2016

SQL Server on Linux: A Savvy Move By Microsoft

The graphic said it all: the words SQL Server and Linux, linked together with a cheerful red heart. Microsoft’s announcement yesterday that it will bring its popular data software to Linux servers is the latest sign of its ongoing love affair with the open-source community. It’s also smart business. As Microsoft’s Azure cloud services become…
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News|Mar 2, 2016

Windows 10 IoT Core Now Supports Raspberry Pi 3

With the newest edition of Raspberry Pi now on the market, Microsoft has announced that it’s rolling out IoT Core support for the device, expanding the options for developers working on IoT projects. The $35 Raspberry Pi 3 board went on sale Feb. 29, and support is available via the most recent IoT Core Insider…
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News|Feb 26, 2016

Microsoft Scraps Android-to-Windows Bridge, Tells Developers to Use Xamarin Instead

It’s official: Project Astoria, Microsoft’s effort to create a bridge for porting over Android apps to Windows 10, is no more. Just one day after announcing its acquisition of multiplatform app development company Xamarin, Microsoft released an update to developers on the company’s bridge projects, which reads in part: “We…decided that we would focus our…
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News|Feb 25, 2016

Microsoft Buys Xamarin, Bets on a Cross-Platform Future

The past year has seen Microsoft take a number of strides towards realizing CEO Satya Nadella’s “cloud-first, mobile-first” vision. Once laser-focused on its own devices and operating systems, the company is increasingly platform-agnostic: It wants business customers and developers to use its cloud-based software, no matter what OS they prefer. On Wednesday, Microsoft took those…
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visual-studio-alm-tfs-and-scrum|Feb 24, 2016

Visual Studio’s Java Tools Challenge Offers $85,000 in Prizes

The latest Visual Studio Marketplace hackathon focuses on integrating Java and Visual Studio, and the maker of the best extension or app will win thousands of dollars in cash and prizes. Here’s the challenge, according to Microsoft: Create a Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) extension that helps developers create, test, deploy, etc. Java apps. Or,…
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News|Feb 11, 2016

New Perks Added to Visual Studio Dev Essentials

Microsoft has announced some new benefits available to subscribers of Visual Studio Dev Essentials, the free version of its developer tools. The program already offers complimentary access to the Visual Studio development environment and code editors, certain cloud services, and technical support—as well as free training here at Wintellect. As of last week, Microsoft is…
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windows-10|Feb 9, 2016

WishAppList Tracks Demand for Windows 10 Apps

As Microsoft tries to encourage developers to build universal Windows apps, it’s suffered from what some observers have correctly called a chicken-or-the-egg problem: Developers don’t want to build until they know there’s user demand, but users may be shunning the platform until better apps are available. Now, a new website aims to open up communication…
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azure-and-cloud-computing|Feb 1, 2016

Microsoft’s Q2 Earnings Point to Success of Cloud-Focused Strategy

After Microsoft reported earnings last week for the quarter ending Dec. 31, its stock jumped by more than 8 percent. That’s despite the fact that both profit and revenue fell from the previous year. Why? Investors are excited about some of the same segments of Microsoft’s business that have drawn interest from developers: cloud services…
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