Two employees fired over Windows 8 leaks

When a build of Windows 8 leaks, most enthusiasts are overwhelmed at getting their hands on the build that was supposed to remain inside the walls of Microsoft. But to get that information out, an employee must leak the information, putting their job on the line.
It is being reported over at MDL and across the web that two employees from Microsoft were fired over the leaks. Forum user canouna reported that two employees, one from Russia and the other from Redmond, have both been fired from the company for their participation in the leaks of Windows 8.
Windows 8 has been leaked in three different builds, 7850, 7955 and 7959. If Microsoft did fire two employees over the leaks, it shows that Microsoft is not only serious about protecting its property, but is also using the removal of the employees as a deterrent to prevent future leaks.
But despite all of this, there are rumors that build 7971 is out in the wild. At this time, Neowin cannot confirm the authenticity of these rumors.
Windows 8 is far off from public availability and it is rumored that a public beta may be announced at PDC later this year. It is expected that Microsoft will launch Windows 8 in late 2012 with the latest rumors suggesting that retail availability will happen in early 2013.

Microsoft to show off WP7 "Mango" on May 24

Microsoft is working hard to make WP7 not only a competitive player in the mobile OS world, but a platform that dominates the category. Despite a few hiccups with updates, Microsoft has already updated the platform with NoDo and is looking to continue that trend with Mango.
On May 24, Microsoft will be unveiling Mango (via ZDNet), which is expected to be called WP7.5, in New York and in London.  The event will show off what the next generation of the platform and will certainly bring many new features to the table.
A few of the new features have already slipped out including Bing Audio, Bing Vision, Turn-by-Turn navigation, SMS Dictation and more. The update will expand the capabilities of WP7 and should also attract more users to the platform.
What else Microsoft has on deck for the platform remains to be seen, but the platforms desirability is growing with each update. Despite being late to the market, the new UI helps separate WP7 from the other contenders on the market. Couple this with a growing Marketplace, and you have the foundation for future success.

Microsoft granted new patent for 3D task gallery user interface

Three-dimensional user interfaces are nothing new - to the crowd that dares to try the first experiments of moving away from the traditional flat desktop metaphor. They haven't gone far, unfortunately. One of the more notable experiments from recent years was BumpTop, a project that came out of a graduate of the Computer Science department at the University of Toronto. The original prototype from four years ago showed a desktop very much like a real physical desktop, but with the ability to stack documents as virtual "papers." BumpTop's life came to an end last year following Google's acquisition of the small startup - the results of which are yet to be seen.
Before BumpTop, there was also another attempt at a three-dimensional desktop by another Toronto-based startup, but they took the metaphor to the next level - placing the user into a virtual "home" where their photos, favourite sites, and applications are modeled into virtual photo frames, a virtual control center, and throwable objects. Remember the 3DNA Desktop? It's still available for download, although the application appears to be abandoned. The user is thrown into a virtual spaceship, a loft, an underwater lab, or a villa, and they can interact with anything they see.
Microsoft has had their attempts before at creating user-friendly virtual environments, although both suffered from being too obnoxious - first with the infamous Microsoft Bob, then with Clippy and his virtual assistant friends who tortured Microsoft Office users for years. This latest attempt bears some resemblence to both BumpTop and 3DNA, as seen in a recent patent awarded to Microsoft which was spotted by MIT's Technology Review (via Engadget).
This latest patent, titled "Method and apparatus for providing a three-dimensional task gallery computer interface," offers users a way to group together application windows in a three-dimensional world, instead of the current hide-and-show mechanics behind Windows 7's taskbar and the Command Center in Mac OS X Lion. The researchers behind this patent believe users can take advantage of spatial memory to memorize where they placed a window they were working with, instead of trying to search for where the operating system tucked it away.
Some new hardware will be needed to navigate this interface, such as a 3D mouse. Whatever comes out of this experiment, however, we can be sure it's no Clippy or Bob.

Windows Phone marketplace is down

For users of Windows Phone, it has been a bumpy ride of updates, delays, and now the Marketplace is down. Users from across the globe have been reporting issues with the service and are saying that they can not install applications or update existing applications. It should be noted that some users are saying they can browse the service but the issue remains with downloading or updating applications.
It is being reported that the service has been down for several hours according to WMpoweruser and that users are being prompted with “Can’t get this information at the moment.  Check again in a little while.” when attempting to install a new application.
At this time, Microsoft has not commented on the matter but Neowin has reached out for a comment on the situation.
This bit of news is another blow to Microsoft's image on the mobile platform, they first faced woes with NoDO and now are having to deal with a a marketplace that is currently offline. If you are a WP7 user, let us know if you are having any issues in the comments.


[Update] Microsoft has provided Neowin with the following comment:

“We have received reports that customers are having problems accessing Windows Phone Marketplace.  We are investigating these reports and will provide an update when we have more to share” – Microsoft Spokesperson

We will continue to update this story as Microsoft works to root cause the issue and provide an update on the status of the service. Microsoft has also made a small post on their Windows Phone Blog that states they are aware of the issue and are investigating the cause

Age of Empires Online beta open to everyone until Saturday

Microsoft's first major PC exclusive game in several years, Age of Empires Online, is currently in closed beta testing but from now until Saturday you can get immediate access to the beta test for the upcoming free-to-play RTS game. The Games For Windows Marketplace web site is letting anyone with a Games For Windows Live account download the beta from now until around 2 pm Eastern time on Saturday.
Microsoft first announced its plans for Age of Empires Online back in August 2010. The game is a new version of the hugely popular Age of Empires RTS series that was first created and developed by Ensemble Studios which Microsoft decided to shut down in March 2009. Originally the game was being developed by Robot Entertainment, a new game studio formed by a number of former Ensemble Studios team members in Dallas. However, Microsoft announced earlier this year that Robot Entertainment was out and Age of Empires Online' development was being continued by Seattle-area developer Gas Powered Games, makers of games like the first two Dungeon Siege games and the Supreme Commander RTS series.
Microsoft has been pushing its Games For Windows Live service to PC game developers and for the last few years. However, the company has not published a major PC game on its own since the PC port of Gears of War back in December 2007. Later this month, that long gap is finally broken with the release of the PC port of Fable III. Age of Empires Online, which will allow anyone to play the game for free but will also add support for paid content "Booster Packs" will officially launch later this year.

Microsoft begins pushing out certificate update to WP7

Microsoft has begun pushing out the first update since NoDo to help thwart fake certificates that are currently circulating the web. The notifications are currently being pushed out OTA, but the update requires you to update using the Zune client.
The update which is described as being a critical fix, according to WMpoweruser, corrects an issue related to fraudulent third party digital certificates. Microsoft is issuing the patch in the name of security to help protect end users from fake certificates. Microsoft pushed out the update with little noise and the update will change the OS build to 7392.
Microsoft is working hard to promote WP7 as it represents the future for the company's mobile offerings. With a thin margin for error because of previous update woes, many are watching Microsoft's next moves carefully to see if they can finally amend the issues of the past.
Going forward, Microsoft will update WP7 with 'Mango' or as it is now being called WP7.5, to bring more features to the platform. With Nokia coming on to help create hardware for WP7, the future is bright for the platform, that is, as long as it keeps the updates rolling out in a timely fashion.

Windows 8 Enterprise M3 6.2.7959 has leaked

It was just last week that build 7955 leaked to the Internet, but now, according to BetaArchive, build 7959 has been leaked. This build represents the first M3 build to be leaked but is said to be quite buggy. It should be noted that this is a server build, unlike the previous leak, 7955, which was of the Ultimate variety. This build weighs in at 2.87GB and is said to be an X64 build.

Previously, Neowin has covered information that leaked out from previous Windows 8 leaks which can be viewed here. As this is a later build, it is expected that users will be able to unlock features that have previously not been seen. 

Windows 8 is far off from public availability and it is rumored that a public beta may be announced at PDC later this year. It is expected that Microsoft will launch Windows 8 in late 2012 with the latest rumors suggesting that retail availability will happen in early 2013.