While the newly-announced Windows 8 Release Preview has been getting the bulk of tech press attention over the last few days, Microsoft has also reached a significant milestone in the development of Windows Server 2012 (formerly known as Windows Server 8), announcing yesterday that the Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate is now available for download....More

While the iPad makes up the lion's share of tablet devices, Amazon's Kindle Fire is starting to gain traction in the consumer space, and some early signs indicate that the Kindle Fire may find some success in the corporate environment as well....More

In the interest of helping readers with their Christmas shopping--and with tongue partially planted in cheek--I’d like to present this gift guide of both serious (and not-so-serious) holiday gifts for your favorite IT pros....More

Over the last decade, Apple has grown into a company that excels at making smart acquisitions, taking risky bets on emerging technologies, and then refining those acquisitions and technology into compelling consumer products....More

The ongoing war between Microsoft and Google over cloud-based email and collaboration tools just got kicked up a notch thanks to a recent story by the Wall Street Journal that indicates Google has signed a tentative agreement with automotive supergiant General Motors to move 100,000 employees to Google "email and online-collaboration software." Google and Microsoft have been locked in a bitter struggle over cloud-based email and office productivity tools for the last year or so, with Google leveraging Gmail and Google Apps to slowly gain ground against Microsoft's still-overwhelming dominance in the office email and productivity application space, anchored by Exchange and Office, respectively. Microsoft ratcheted up the pressure on Google earlier this year when it rolled out Office 365, its largely cloud-based answer to Gmail and Google Apps. (Note: See our Office 365 vs. Google Apps webinar for multiple perspectives on both solutions.) The Wall Street Journal also references unnamed sources familiar with the deal that said the contract requires "Google to meet certain requirements before GM makes a final decision to deploy the software." If Google does manage to win a contact with GM, it would be one of the largest Google Apps business deployments to date, and serves as a counterpoint to Google's recent difficulties delivering on promises made in a contract with the City of Los Angeles that it was awarded two years ago. Competition is always good for the consumer, so the aggressive back and forth between Microsoft and Google over their competing cloud offerings makes for better products and provides better value for customers. It’s also makes for a very entertaining spectator sport. Popcorn, anyone? Follow Jeff James on Twitter at @jeffjames3 – Google+ add Jeff to your circles Follow Windows IT Pro on Twitter at @windowsitpro...More

MC Hammer (born Stanley Kirk Burrell) was a staple of the rap music scene back in the 1980's and early 1990's. Now he's launching WireDoo, a new venture that enters the search market currently dominated by the likes of Google and Microsoft's Bing. Hammer announced the new service this week at O’Reilly Media’s Web 2.0 conference. The service is still in beta (register at the the WireDoo beta signup page) but Hammer hopes to have WireDoo provide a more context-aware approach to search. During his presentation at Web 2.0, Hammer suggested that WireDoo would focus on “relationship search” and attempt to do a better job of surfacing related content to internet searches. An example: Providing information on car loans and car safety ratings for someone searching for a car. You have to get the former rap superstar credit for going toe-to-toe (or algorithm to algorithm) against Microsoft and Google, but the search engine graveyard is filled with the bones of competitors who couldn’t differentiate themselves from the aforementioned search titans. While we wish Hammer luck on his endeavor, we also couldn’t help putting together some potential SIri-like phrases that a WireDoo search app could utter when people are using it, all pulled from Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” lyrics: Search for diets: “Dance to this and you’re gonna get thinner.” Search for school schedules: “Ring the bell, school’s back in.” Search for MC Hammer: “You talkin’ about the Hammer, you talkin’ about a show.” Search for dating site: “Get a fly girl and catch this beat.” Search taking too long? “Makin’ ‘em sweat, that’s what I’m given’ em!” And, of course, when a search fails: “You can’t touch this.” Follow Jeff James on Twitter at @jeffjames3 – Google+ add Jeff to your circles Follow Windows IT Pro on Twitter at @windowsitpro...More

There haven't been too many other details come to light about what new security features Windows 8 may include, but there has been enough news and rumors in certain areas to lead us to speculate a bit....More

Microsoft’s Steve Sinofsky kicked off Microsoft BUILD in Anaheim, CA this morning by giving a demonstration of Windows 8, which Sinofsky says will "Reimagine Windows from the chipset to the [user] experience"...More

In a few days I'll be packing my bags, racing to the airport, scurrying through the terminal, and shouldering my way through all the other IT pros, journalists, analysts, marketing people, and other virtualization-focused folks heading to VMworld in Las Vegas this year. VMware and their partners will undoubtedly have lots of product briefings, demos, interviews and other things to keep we attendees busy at the show. But before I sign off for my weekend of travel preparation -- something that I find as enjoyable as watching paint dry on another coat of drying paint -- I wanted to point the spotlight on Microsoft's Hyper-V community, since most of my blogging from next week will be related to VMworld. More IT pros that ever are using Twitter to find product news, get help with technical questions, and connect with other people in their industry. Microsoft's Hyper-V community is no exception, and there are several Twitter accounts that anyone interested in Hyper-V should follow. (Remember to keep tabs on the #hyperv hashtag on Twitter as well, and take a look at our guide to Twitter hashtags for IT professionals. ) Before I get to the list, I should point out the criteria I used to put this list together. There many very smart people who know Hyper-V inside and out, but if they don't have a Twitter account that deals primarily with Hyper-V, they're not on this list. I'm also open to suggestions and additions: If you've found someone on Twitter that is an excellent source for Hyper-V news, help, and information that I’ve omitted, please let me know by dropping me an email or giving me a shout-out (@jeffjames3) on Twitter.   @virtualization - Official Twitter account of the Microsoft Virtualization team. A good resource for the latest Hyper-V news and announcements direct from Microsoft.   @HyperVKing – Operated by a self-described “Microsoft enthusiast and author of Hyper-V technology papers,” this twitter account provides a near-continuous stream of li...More