The Insider News

Programming in the Twenty-First Century[^]:

I'll assume you've got a set of strongly-held beliefs about software development. This is a safe bet; anyone who writes code has some personal mantras and peeves. It might just be that too much of this kind of thinking is turning you into an obsessive architect of abstract code, not the builder of things people want.

Ars Technica[^]:

Windows Phone 8 will be built around the same core components as Windows 8. The current Windows Phone 7.5 operating system is built on Microsoft's Windows CE platform, designed for embedded systems with tight memory constraints and slow processors. Windows Phone 8 will instead be built on the Windows NT platform, and in so doing will inherit its much richer feature set: support for multicore processors, robust file systems, extensive device driver support, a capable multimedia framework, and more.

ZDNet[^]:

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. As I and others heard earlier this year, Microsoft’s next Windows Phone operating system release, codenamed Apollo, is not going to be made available on any current Windows Phones. Not even second-generation Mango phones. Not on the new Lumia models from Nokia. None. Period.

NYTimes.com[^]:

Let’s just assume for a few minutes that Microsoft’s Surface tablet is as delicious as Microsoft executives made it out to be on Monday night. Does Microsoft then have any hope of competing with the iPad on price?

7 Tutorials[^]:

Windows 8. People tend to either hate it or love it. There are no moderate verdicts being shared. Those who hate it share mostly the same complaints, many of which I think are wrong. That’s why I decided to share my view on those arguments and what I believe is the main thing people don’t understand about Windows 8.

Free Software Foundation Europe[^]:

With a function called "Secure Boot", which will be deployed in computers starting 2012, manufacturers of IT hardware and software components are striving to get into a position where they permanently control the IT devices they produce. Hence such devices will be "secure" from the manufacturer's perspective, but not necessarily from the owner's point of view: The owner can be treated as an adversary.

The Evolution of 8-Bit [Video][^]

In this nostalgia filled short video, PBS takes a retrospective look at the history and the evolution of early 8-bit video games.

Beginning with early Atari and Nintendo video games, the 8-bit aesthetic has been a part of our culture for over 30 years. As it moved through the generations, 8-bit earned its independence from its video game roots. The idea of 8-bit now stands for a refreshing level of simplicity and minimalism, is capable of sonic and visual beauty, and points to the layer of technology that suffuses our modern lives. No longer just nostalgia art, contemporary 8-bit artists and chiptunes musicians have elevated the form to new levels of creativity and cultural reflection.

Microsoft and Google Suddenly Want to Be Like Apple[^]

On Monday, Microsoft shocked the tech world by announcing a pair of Windows 8 tablets, both dubbed Microsoft Surface. But it wasn't just the press event's mysterious nature that made the news so stunning.

For the first time, Microsoft will make its own Windows PCs. The company will be in direct competition with hardware partners such as HP and Dell, and judging from early reactions, Microsoft is in a good position to win. The potential effects of Surface on the PC market can't be understated.

And yet, anyone who's paid attention to the tech industry for the last five years shouldn't be too surprised. Microsoft's approach with Surface--designing the hardware in tandem with the software--is the same approach that Apple has taken for decades. And Apple's method is paying off--just look at the rise of the iPhone and iPad, and the success of the MacBook Air. It took a few years for other companies to catch on, but now it's finally happening.