Microsoft confirms its Windows plans following leaks of "Blue"-- an even more tablet-centric Windows 8 update described by pundits as yet another step towards the end of the Windows desktop.

According to the leak Blue overhauls the Windows 8 PC Settings app, putting more Control Panel functionality within a touch-friendly UI. It also includes a handful of new gesture controls, 2 more Live Tile sizes, half-screen app snapping, further SkyDrive integration, 4 new Start Screen apps (Alarms, Calculate, Sound Recorder and Movie Moments) and Android-style screenshot sharing.

The company admits the leak in an official blog entry by Corporate Communications VP Frank X. Shaw, who says "product leaders across Microsoft are working together on plans to advance our devices and services, a set of plans referred to internally as “Blue.”"

Gartner reports global business intelligence (BI) software revenues will reach $13.8 billion in 2013, a 7% increase over 2012, before growing to $17.1bn by 2016. 

According to the analyst BI and analytics are the 4th-largest application software segment as end user demand for improved decision making and analysis drives demand. 

"As more and more information is generated, business models need reinvention, and it's increasingly clear that mastering analytics on big data will be a key driver for the next economic cycle," Gartner says. 

Complementing Read more...

According to a Goldman Sachs report acquired by The Seattle Times, Windows lost massive share in the global compute market-- from being the OS of choice in 97% of all computing devices in 2000 to just 20% in 2012. 

The reason for such a drop? The mobile device explosion, of course. 

When one (as Goldman Sachs does) counts smartphones and tablets with laptops and PCs Google is 2012 platform leader-- Android OS resides in 42% of global computing devices. 

Apple comes 2nd, with the combination of OSX and iOS taking over 24% share. Interestingly Apple share jumped massively during the 2004-2005 period (from 5% to 21%), a shift Goldman Sachs attributes to the "more mainstream adoption of non-PC consumer computing devices."

Microsoft follows with just 20% share. 

Goldman Sachs describes 2012 as a "critical" year for Microsoft if the company wants to expand its share of the consumer compute market-- a market, one has to emphasise, is rather influential on an enterprise sphere in the days of the BYOD trend.  Read more...

Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch rebuts HP's claims of "funny accounting." In an open blog addressed to the HP board, Lynch rejects "all allegations of impropriety."

The former CEO raises a lot of good questions about the HP allegations:  the due diligence, the independent auditor report, and lack of specifics in HP's accusations.

Either Lynch is a great cover-up artist or something stinks... And that begs the question: if Autonomy is NOT guilty of funny accounting, then who is?

Go Read Mike Lynch's Answer to HP Accusations