Windows

Parallels is upgrading its Mac app today with three new Toolbox Packs that include various collections of features for specific needs. Each Toolbox Pack is available for Parallels on both macOS and Windows, and Toolbox Packs can be bought individually or as a bundle so customers have more choice.

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Two bits of news on Texture, the digital magazine service Apple bought in March: Texture apparently had a Windows app (not just iOS and Android apps), and that app is getting killed next month. The Verge reports that customers were notified over email and within the Windows app. Texture has also shared the news on its website:

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HomePod isn’t the only thing that needs a little more time from Apple before it ships. Earlier this year Apple and Microsoft announced plans to bring iTunes (and therefore Apple Music) to the Windows Store by the end of the year. Now ZDNet reports that the promised deadline will indeed be missed.

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A survey of U.S. computer owners found that 21% of Windows laptop users planned a future switch to Mac, while just 2% of Mac owners intended to switch to Windows …

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Huawei is in the middle of launching its latest Windows 10 notebook, the new Matebook range – and is making some interesting comparisons with the 12-inch MacBook.

On one slide, the company claims that the Matebook X is ‘thinner but even more powerful’ than Apple’s MacBook – a comparison which may or may not be accurate …

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Last week Microsoft revealed a new version of its operating system called Windows 10 S that only runs software from the Windows Store — which means apps like Apple’s iTunes and Google’s Chrome won’t work. Today at Microsoft’s Build conference for developers, however, the company announced that Apple is working on bringing iTunes to the Windows Store after all.

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Microsoft held a media event in New York City today focused on a new version of Windows, a new laptop line, and how it all relates to education. Windows 10 S is a streamlined version of Microsoft’s operating system geared for students and educators. The Microsoft Surface Laptop is a new line of MacBook Air-like notebooks with up to 14.5-hour battery life.

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A new open source project called PieMessage enables cross-platform iMessage support, allowing Android users to communicate using Apple’s iPhone messaging platform.

In the video below, we get a short look at the PieMessage app in action with a still unreleased prototype version of the app.

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The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team has today issued a new note in which it revealed that Apple has no further plans to provide security updates for QuickTime for Windows. The note follows an earlier report from Trend Micro and comes as two new vulnerabilities have been discovered that could affect QuickTime for Windows users.

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Over the last few days I’ve been finding myself using a keyboard designed for Windows users on my Mac. The reason behind such a change was that my MacBook Pro’s keyboard was causing wrist pain. The shallow key travel of the MacBook’s keyboard is partly to blame.

I just so happened to have an AmazonBasics wired keyboard available thanks to my recent Hackintosh build, so I decided to use it with my Mac. Immediately, I could sense relief in my wrists, but because this was a keyboard designed for Windows and not for Mac, the switch presented a whole new problem.
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Microsoft is currently running a new series of ads featuring ‘The Bug Chicks’, with each ad directly targeting a weakness in Apple’s Mac operating system. Kristie and Jess, curiously labelled as ‘real people paid for real opinions’, walk through several ways that Windows 10 helps them teach kids about bugs and the microscopic world.

The ad series focuses on several different competitive advantages Windows currently holds over OS X, such as touchscreen-equipped laptops for sketching and drawing, Cortana as a personal voice search assistant and face recognition for hands-free account login. Some of the things Microsoft highlights, like the absence of Siri on OS X are expected to be addressed by Apple later in the year, of course. Watch all four videos after the jump:

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This comparison of the differences between Microsoft Office on Mac, Windows, and iOS devices was put together by Kurt Schmucker who (disclaimer) works for Parallels — the company that makes slick virtual machine apps for running Windows and other operating systems on Mac — but he also happens to know a thing or two about the subject after his previous role as Senior Mac Evangelist at Microsoft and on the Office team. So what exactly is missing on Mac and iOS devices compared to Windows when it comes to the Office suite?
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Last July, sales of iOS devices caught up with sales of Windows devices, making it a tight race as to who would ship the most units as 2015 wrapped up. Now, Asymco has shared a chart depicting the extraordinary growth of iPhone shipments and showing that in 2015, iPhone shipments overtook Windows shipments as a whole.

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Later today Apple is set to pull the plug on Beats Music and completely stop the service. The reason? After buying the subscription music service in a $3 billion deal that also included Beats headphones and speakers last year, Apple Music has now fully launched and replaces Beats Music. Any remaining subscribers will need to transfer from Beats Music to Apple Music immediately to avoid losing saved music libraries and playlists. The good news is Apple Music now has almost all of Beats Music’s features with only a few exceptions…
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In 1995, two years before his return to the company, Steve Jobs gave a characteristically blunt answer when asked why Apple found itself struggling in the early to mid 1990s. The issue, he said, was that Apple had gotten greedy.

What ruined Apple wasn’t growth … They got very greedy. Instead of following the original trajectory of the original vision, which was to make the thing an appliance and get this out there to as many people as possible, they went for profits. They made outlandish profits for about four years… What that cost them was their future. What they should have been doing is making rational profits and going for market share.

Much has changed since then, of course. Apple has a substantial market share in both the personal computer and mobile markets, demonstrating that the two goals – growth and profitability – are not mutually exclusive. This is not an ‘Apple is doomed’ piece, nor anything like it. But I do wonder whether the company is once more putting short-term profits ahead of long-term brand loyalty … ? 
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