Stories about: Excel

Microsoft has released technical design details about the new version of Windows for devices that use ARM chips, outlining in a lengthy blog post different ways in which this OS, called WOA and still in the works, will be alike and different from existing versions of Windows.

The strangely named Toshiba Tablet AT1S0 is a smaller version of the company's 10.1in Tablet (AT100). It unfortunately removes most of the features that distinguished that model from other Android tablets on the market.

Salesforce.com will include some new analytics capabilities at no additional cost with the Enterprise and Unlimited editions of its CRM (customer relationship management) software, following complaints from customers who argued that the features should have been used to fill long-standing gaps in the products' core functionality, not sold separately.

The original Seagate Momentus XT impressed us in 2010 with its innovative cache of SLC NAND flash memory: a small 4GB chip that stored a copy of commonly-accessed data and delivered it when needed at speeds much, much faster than the hard drive’s spinning platter could muster. While the rest of the Momentus XT functioned at similar speeds to any other fast laptop hard drive, this crucial flash memory did amazing things like reduce boot times and program loading times to rival the fastest solid-state disks. The new 750GB version of the Momentus XT doubles the size of the flash memory and adds a series of new algorithms to improve boot speed, as well as including another 18 months’ improvements in traditional laptop hard drive technology.

BI (business intelligence) vendor Tableau Software on Wednesday announced the availability of Tableau 7.0, a release that boosts speed and scale as well as providing what the company calls "human-oriented" design and accessibility.

Every enterprise software vendor will tell you how hot and in-demand their products are, but the notion rings fairly true with respect to BI (business intelligence) and advanced analytics. The products just kept selling throughout the global recession, as companies looked to gain insights into their business and subsequently, more efficiency as well as new ideas.

Here at PC World, we think most Android tablets have one thing in common: they're all overpriced. So when a tablet lands on our desk that retails for under $500 and has 3G connectivity, 32GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot, we will sit up and take notice.

Making good on an announcement made earlier this year, Microsoft has installed a version of Apache Hadoop on its Azure cloud service. The company now offers a limited preview version of the open-source data analysis platform, often used for big data-style analysis.

According to a report from Forrester Research, consumer desire to purchase Windows 8 tablets has suffered a massive decrease, slumping from 46 percent in the first quarter of the year to a mediocre 25 percent six months later.

All eyes are on the Amazon Kindle Fire to provide fresh competition for Apple's iPad 2, today's dominant tablet. Not so fast: Beneath the Kindle Fire's slick veneer and unparalleled shopping integration lies a tablet that fails to impress as either a tablet or as an e-reader.