Microsoft reaches RTM milestone for Windows 8.1 update

Computerworld - Microsoft has reached a critical milestone for its next update to Windows 8, which is slated to ship early next month, according to reports.

Although the Redmond, Wash. company has not publicly announced that Windows 8.1 Update 1 has reached "released to manufacturing" (RTM), a term Microsoft uses to define code that's completed and ready to ship to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) for installing on new devices, reports on The Verge and ZDNet this week claimed that the developers had given the operating system refresh the green light.

Those reports were at least partly based on one by notorious Russian leaker Wzor, who regularly gets ahold of early builds of Windows, including those destined for OEMs and other Microsoft partners. Wzor claimed that the RTM build had been compiled on Feb. 21, and was signed off Feb. 26.

According to Wzor and others, Microsoft will post Windows 8.1 Update 1 -- not an official title, as Microsoft has yet to disclose one -- on April 1 or April 2 on MSDN (Microsoft Developers Network), a subscription service where developers can obtain copies of Microsoft's software. The public release, said Wzor, is slated for April 7 or April 8.

April 2 is the more likely MSDN release date, as that's the opening day of Build, Microsoft's developer conference, in San Francisco. Likewise, April 8 is the likelier for the public launch, since that's the month's already-scheduled Patch Tuesday, when Microsoft ships its collection of security updates.

Microsoft has already disclosed some of the changes to debut in Windows 8.1 Update 1, including a general focus on making "the UI more familiar and more convenient for users with mouse/keyboard," as Joe Belfiore, the executive in charge of Windows Phone's and Windows 8's user experiences, put it a week ago.

But the company has not confirmed one change that could have the biggest, and longest-lasting, impact: A default switch to the boot-to-desktop option setting on non-touch hardware.

Some analysts have interpreted that as a major retreat from the "make-them-eat-Metro" strategy Microsoft applied to the original Windows 8 and the free follow-up of Windows 8.1, which launched last October. Both required users of the OS to pass through the Start screen and its colorful tile-based "Metro" user interface (UI); Windows 8.1 included the boot-to-desktop setting, but left it switched off.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 will retune the OS's hardware requirements. According to Belfiore, the update will run on devices with as little as 1GB of RAM and 16GB of flash memory storage space, a necessary change if the operating system is to become popular on the lowest-priced tablets or possibly on ultra-cheap notebooks.

Chromebooks, the inexpensive laptops powered by Google's browser-based Chrome OS, typically have as little as 2GB of RAM and sport 16GB of on-board storage. Microsoft has targeted Chromebooks in some of its "Scroogled" anti-Google advertisements, and while the notebook have sold only in small volumes so far, seem to have generated concern in Redmond. Few Chromebooks boast a touch-sensitive screen.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 will reportedly be delivered to users of Windows 8.1 via Windows Update, the consumer-level update service, and WSUS (Windows Server Update Services), the de facto corporate patching and update software, not through the Windows Store, as was Windows 8.1.

If Microsoft does release Windows 8.1 Update 1 on April 8, it will represent an explicit changing of the guard, as that date is when Microsoft will also ship its final public patches for the aged Windows XP, an operating system that the company has gone to great lengths to eradicate, so far with little success.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com. gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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Facebook's Messenger app now supports Windows Phone

IDG News Service - Facebook has made its Messenger app available for Windows Phone 8, a bonus for Microsoft as it seeks to increase the number of applications available for its smartphone OS.

The app lets users see who's online for a private or group chat, and lets them decorate messages with pictures and stickers, according to a blog post made Wednesday. Users can also share their location, and contacts are automatically added to the app.

For now, some features available on the Android and iOS versions -- such as the ability to record messages and send photos privately -- are missing on the Windows Phone app. The pop-up chat heads Facebook has implemented on Android are also missing.

The availability of apps on Windows Phone has been a problem for Microsoft when competing with Apple's iPhones and the Android camp. At an event in conjunction with Mobile World Congress, Joe Belfiore, who runs Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, highlighted recent additions such as Instagram, Vine, Waze and Mint.

The arrival of these apps is more than a coincidence: It's a result of Microsoft working with third party app developers and slowly growing phone sales, according to Paolo Pescatore, director of apps and media at market research company CCS Insight.

"They are very much needed. Microsoft has been trying to bridge the gap with iOS and Android, but frankly the rate of development hasn't been as fast as it should have been," Pescatore said.

The company still needs to convince or help developers of many local video and entertainment apps to create Windows Phone versions, according to Pescatore. For that to happen, Microsoft and its partners need to sell more phones, he said.

The Mobile World Congress event also detailed the company's plans to make Windows Phone a better fit for low-end smartphones and presented new hardware partners, including Foxconn, Karbonn, Lenovo, LG Electronics and ZTE. With Microsoft soon closing its acquisition of Nokia's handset division, Windows Phone is at a critical juncture.

"Microsoft needs to move faster and be more decisive, instead of sitting on its hands all the time. The Windows Phone 8 platform is a good one or two years behind Android and Microsoft needs to close that gap with utmost urgency," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics.

Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2014 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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Mozilla shelves Metro Firefox, cites user apathy toward Windows 8

Computerworld - Mozilla on Friday abruptly canceled the release of its touch-enabled Firefox browser for Windows 8, just four days before it was to ship and after two years of work.

Firefox for Windows 8 Touch, the browser destined for Windows 8's "Metro" user interface (UI) -- the part of the OS that relies on colorful tiles, mobile-style apps and touch -- will not be released March 18 as part of Firefox 28 as originally planned.

And in a strong signal of Microsoft's struggle to convince customers that Windows 8 is the right OS for the times, Mozilla blamed the operating system and its Metro mode.

"We've been watching Metro's adoption," said Johnathan Nightingale, vice president of Firefox, in a Friday blog. "From what we can see, it's pretty flat. On any given day we have, for instance, millions of people testing pre-release versions of Firefox desktop, but we've never seen more than 1,000 active daily users in the Metro environment."

Those anemic numbers haven't been enough to properly test Firefox on Metro, Nightingale continued, which meant that bugs would invariably slip through the cracks. "That's going to mean lots of bugs discovered in the field, requiring a lot of follow-up engineering, design, and QA effort. To ship it without doing that follow-up work is not an option," he said.

And with such low turn-out for the Metro Firefox, what was the point?

"When I talk about the need to pick our battles, this feels like a bad one to pick: significant investment and low impact," said Nightingale.

The cancelation of Firefox on Metro put a match, more or less, to two years of work by Mozilla's engineers and designers, although Nightingale said that the code would be mothballed, available at some later date if Metro suddenly got a growth spurt.

Mozilla began work on the Metro edition in March 2012. It shipped a preview in October 2012, several weeks before Microsoft launched Windows 8. At that time, Mozilla's schedule said the Firefox app might appear as early as January 2013. But the ambitious timetable was revised several times, until release plans finally firmed up and the March 18 date was nailed down.

Ironically, just as Mozilla was set to ship Metro Firefox, Microsoft was preparing a second round of changes that deemphasize the touch UI. Windows 8.1 Update, a follow-on to last year's Windows 8.1, will likely launch April 8. Although Microsoft has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to Metro, the retreat from its original strategy -- to force the UI on users -- may have spooked Mozilla.

Nightingale pointed out that Mozilla had to carefully choose where it commits to compete and where does not. "We still need to focus on the projects with the most impact for our mission; the massive scale of our competitors and of the work to be done requires us to marshal our forces appropriately," Nightingale said.

Of the major browser makers -- Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and Opera Software -- only Opera recorded less revenue than Mozilla in 2012, the last year that figures were available for all five. And Mozilla has dedicated considerable resources to Firefox OS, the browser-based mobile operating system that it hopes will put it at the smartphone table. Mozilla cited Firefox OS development expenses as one reason why it's considering pushing advertisements to new users of Firefox on the desktop and why it's handed its browser identity project to volunteers.

Even so, pulling the plug on Firefox Metro was a stunning turnabout for Mozilla, which two years ago said that it had play to win. "It is extremely important that we deliver an awesome Firefox experience on Metro, one that is tightly integrated with the platform, fast, and feature rich," wrote Brian Bondy, the Mozilla engineer who led the Metro development team, in April 2012, six months before Windows 8's debut. "Windows is by far the platform with the most users and which has the biggest effect on market share."

The fallout from the decision has begun: Also on Friday, Bondy, who worked at Mozilla since 2011, announced he had left the company and was joining Khan Academy, an online education firm.

Nightingale echoed Bondy's 2012 expectations Friday, but in hindsight.

"In late 2012 ... [Windows 8] looked like the next battleground for the Web. Windows is a massive ecosystem and Microsoft pushes its new platforms hard," said Nightingale.

Instead, while Microsoft has claimed it has sold 200 million Windows 8 licenses and even backed off the "let-them-eat-Metro" strategy, users have continued to pan the Metro UI, the quantity and quality of Metro apps, and Microsoft's decision to mash two UIs into one OS.

Mozilla's move will be seen a vote of no confidence in Windows 8, even though some at Microsoft may welcome the news because it leaves Internet Explorer with only Chrome as a Metro rival.

"Shipping a 1.0 version [of Firefox on Windows Touch], given the broader context we see for the Metro platform, would be a mistake," said Nightingale.

Ouch.

Mozilla has shelved Firefox on Metro because few use the touch-based UI in Windows 8.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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Ex-Microsoft employee arrested, accused of stealing Windows RT, product activation secrets

Computerworld - A former Microsoft employee accused Wednesday of leaking Windows RT updates and software that validates product key codes faces federal criminal charges of stealing trade secrets.

Alex Kibkalo, identified on his LinkedIn profile as director of product management at Beverly, Mass.-based 5nine Software, was arrested yesterday, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which first reported on the charges.

While he worked at Microsoft, Kibkalo allegedly leaked pre-release software updates for Windows RT, the tablet-specific operating system, to a French blogger in July and August 2012, months before its official release. The FBI, which was called into the case after a Microsoft investigation, also alleged that Kibkalo provided the same blogger with the Activation Server SDK (software development kit), internal-only code to create the activation systems which validate product keys, Microsoft's primary anti-piracy technology.

Kibkalo, a Russian national and at the time working for Microsoft in its Lebanon office, was apparently angry at a prior poor performance evaluation, and struck back by leaking the software, FBI Special Agent Armando Ramirez wrote the court in a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday.

After allegedly sharing the information with the unidentified French blogger -- who Microsoft had already been monitoring because of leaks published on the blogger's Twitter account and blog -- Kibkalo encouraged the blogger to contact a hacker who could use the Activation Server SDK to write a fake product key activation server.

The blogger subsequently posted screenshots and other information about the unreleased Windows software, and tried to sell Windows Server activation keys on eBay, said Ramirez.

Microsoft first got wind of Kibkalo's alleged theft in September 2012 when a source claimed that the blogger had shared the Activation Server SDK code, asking the source to help verify its legitimacy and assist the blogger to better understand the SDK. The source, also unnamed in the complaint, then contacted Steven Sinofsky, at the time the head of Windows development, but ousted from the company in November 2012.

Microsoft kicked off an internal investigation of the blogger, beginning with the bloggers Hotmail email account. Hotmail was renamed Outlook.com in mid-2013.

"After confirmation that the data was Microsoft's proprietary trade secret, on September 7, 2012, Microsoft's Office of Legal Compliance (OLC) approved content pull of the blogger's Hotmail account," wrote Ramirez.

Email from Kibkalo's own Hotmail account was discovered in the blogger's inbox. Further digging, presumably on Microsoft instant chat service, found messages between Kibkalo and the blogger.

"The sample code in Kibkalo's accounts was the same sample code that the Microsoft source received from the blogger, prompting Microsoft's investigation," Ramirez told the court.

Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Investigations (TWCI), a Microsoft department tasked to protect the company from both outside hackers and internal leakers, interviewed Kibkalo in September 2012, when he allegedly admitted that he "leaked confidential and proprietary Microsoft information, products and product-related information to the blogger," the charge sheet stated.

But Microsoft did not bring charges against Kibkalo then. Instead, the company fired him.

Kibkalo's LinkedIn profile said that he left Microsoft in September 2012. Not surprisingly, the profile does not mention his termination. At some point he relocated to Russia. In August 2013, he took a job with 5nine, which has offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow. 5nine bills itself as "the leading virtualization management and security company, offering the first and only agentless security solution for Microsoft Hyper-V."

Hyper-V is Microsoft's virtualization technology for its Windows Server platform. In instant message chats -- some of which were transcribed and included in Ramirez's filing with the court -- Kibkalo claimed that he had also leaked Windows 7 code before its release and had snuck into Building 9 on Microsoft's Redmond, Wash. campus in an unsuccessful attempt to copy data from a server there.

In an Aug. 3, 2012, instant message conversation, the blogger was alleged to have reacted to Kibkalo's offer to leak the Activation Server SDK with, "That's crossing a line you know pretty illegal. lol."

Kibkalo's alleged reply: "I know :)"

In a separate document filed with the Seattle federal court Wednesday, Kibkalo was ordered detained because he was a flight risk. "Defendant poses a risk of nonappearance due to ties in Russia and lack of ties to this District," the detention order, also filed Wednesday, read. Kibkalo did not oppose the detention.

Kibkalo has been appointed a public defender.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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Dual-boot Android and Windows tablets and PCs face skepticism

IDG News Service - Dual-boot PCs and tablets could potentially give users the best of both worlds with Android and Windows OSes. But they won't catch on as there is little use for such systems, analysts said.

The coming-out party for dual-boot PCs and tablets was at International CES in January, where many such systems were introduced. Asustek announced the Transformer Book Duet TD300, which can switch between Android and Windows with the press of a button. But Asus has postponed plans for such dual-boot systems because of pressure from Google and Microsoft, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

"I don't think it's a huge market anyways, so it's not a horrible tragedy," said Bob O'Donnell, principal analyst at Technalysis Research. "It's not a deal breaker."

The dual-boot PCs and mobile devices are still experimental, and use for such systems has yet to be found, analysts said. Dual-boot systems running Windows and Linux are already being used, and Asus sells the Transformer AiO P1801, an 18.4-in. portable all-in-one that can switch between Windows and Android.

Such systems could be attractive to a few like enthusiasts, hackers or coders who need both OSes on a system to test programs, said O'Donnell.

There is an advantage to dual-boot as it reduces the need for an extra Windows or Android tablet, O'Donnell said. But users are usually dedicated to the OS of their choice, and will seldom use the other option.

Companies have tried to sell dual-boot systems before, but not one has succeeded, said Roger Kay, principal analyst of Endpoint Technologies Associates.

"I don't see why there would be interest in that," Kay said.

Moreover, no company has fully backed the development of such systems, or clearly explained the usage model.

"Somebody has to own it," Kay said.

The major advantage to dual-boot systems is that they run the full library of Windows and Android apps, said Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights and Strategy.

"The lack of Windows 8 apps has been a purchase inhibitor, but dual-boot removes the objection. If not done right, though, it also has the potential to confuse users, who may struggle with different environments, Moorhead said.

Neither Microsoft nor Google like dual-boot because to them, it compromises their experiences and monetization potential, Moorhead said.

"For instance, a dual-boot user may use Google Play Movies versus Xbox Movies, or vice versa," Moorhead said.

Google did not return requests for comment, but Microsoft didn't clearly say if it opposed the development of dual-boot systems.

"Our policies have not changed, Microsoft will continue to invest with OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to promote best-in-class OEM and Microsoft experiences to our joint customers," Microsoft said in an email.

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2014 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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Ex-Microsoft employee arrested, accused of stealing Windows RT, product activation secrets

Computerworld - A former Microsoft employee accused Wednesday of leaking Windows RT updates and software that validates product key codes faces federal criminal charges of stealing trade secrets.

Alex Kibkalo, identified on his LinkedIn profile as director of product management at Beverly, Mass.-based 5nine Software, was arrested yesterday, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which first reported on the charges.

While he worked at Microsoft, Kibkalo allegedly leaked pre-release software updates for Windows RT, the tablet-specific operating system, to a French blogger in July and August 2012, months before its official release. The FBI, which was called into the case after a Microsoft investigation, also alleged that Kibkalo provided the same blogger with the Activation Server SDK (software development kit), internal-only code to create the activation systems which validate product keys, Microsoft's primary anti-piracy technology.

Kibkalo, a Russian national and at the time working for Microsoft in its Lebanon office, was apparently angry at a prior poor performance evaluation, and struck back by leaking the software, FBI Special Agent Armando Ramirez wrote the court in a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday.

After allegedly sharing the information with the unidentified French blogger -- who Microsoft had already been monitoring because of leaks published on the blogger's Twitter account and blog -- Kibkalo encouraged the blogger to contact a hacker who could use the Activation Server SDK to write a fake product key activation server.

The blogger subsequently posted screenshots and other information about the unreleased Windows software, and tried to sell Windows Server activation keys on eBay, said Ramirez.

Microsoft first got wind of Kibkalo's alleged theft in September 2012 when a source claimed that the blogger had shared the Activation Server SDK code, asking the source to help verify its legitimacy and assist the blogger to better understand the SDK. The source, also unnamed in the complaint, then contacted Steven Sinofsky, at the time the head of Windows development, but ousted from the company in November 2012.

Microsoft kicked off an internal investigation of the blogger, beginning with the bloggers Hotmail email account. Hotmail was renamed Outlook.com in mid-2013.

"After confirmation that the data was Microsoft's proprietary trade secret, on September 7, 2012, Microsoft's Office of Legal Compliance (OLC) approved content pull of the blogger's Hotmail account," wrote Ramirez.

Email from Kibkalo's own Hotmail account was discovered in the blogger's inbox. Further digging, presumably on Microsoft instant chat service, found messages between Kibkalo and the blogger.

"The sample code in Kibkalo's accounts was the same sample code that the Microsoft source received from the blogger, prompting Microsoft's investigation," Ramirez told the court.

Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Investigations (TWCI), a Microsoft department tasked to protect the company from both outside hackers and internal leakers, interviewed Kibkalo in September 2012, when he allegedly admitted that he "leaked confidential and proprietary Microsoft information, products and product-related information to the blogger," the charge sheet stated.

But Microsoft did not bring charges against Kibkalo then. Instead, the company fired him.

Kibkalo's LinkedIn profile said that he left Microsoft in September 2012. Not surprisingly, the profile does not mention his termination. At some point he relocated to Russia. In August 2013, he took a job with 5nine, which has offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow. 5nine bills itself as "the leading virtualization management and security company, offering the first and only agentless security solution for Microsoft Hyper-V."

Hyper-V is Microsoft's virtualization technology for its Windows Server platform. In instant message chats -- some of which were transcribed and included in Ramirez's filing with the court -- Kibkalo claimed that he had also leaked Windows 7 code before its release and had snuck into Building 9 on Microsoft's Redmond, Wash. campus in an unsuccessful attempt to copy data from a server there.

In an Aug. 3, 2012, instant message conversation, the blogger was alleged to have reacted to Kibkalo's offer to leak the Activation Server SDK with, "That's crossing a line you know pretty illegal. lol."

Kibkalo's alleged reply: "I know :)"

In a separate document filed with the Seattle federal court Wednesday, Kibkalo was ordered detained because he was a flight risk. "Defendant poses a risk of nonappearance due to ties in Russia and lack of ties to this District," the detention order, also filed Wednesday, read. Kibkalo did not oppose the detention.

Kibkalo has been appointed a public defender.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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Windows leak site Wzor goes dark a day after feds arrest Microsoft mole

Computerworld - The noted Windows leak site Wzor.net was offline Thursday and its Twitter account had disappeared, a day after an ex-Microsoft employee was charged with stealing trade secrets -- including early builds of Windows 7 and Windows 8 -- and sharing them with others.

It's unknown whether there was a connection between Alex Kibkalo, the former Microsoft architect who was arrested Wednesday, and Wzor.net.

According to checks conducted by Computerworld, Wzor.net was offline and unreachable from the U.S., the U.K. and Romania. Websites that verify whether a specific website is up and running -- including Where's It Up and Is It Down Right Now? -- showed that Wzor.net was offline around the world.

"Wzor.net is down for everyone," the Is It Down Right Now? website reported.

Wzor's Twitter account had also vanished by early Thursday. "Sorry, that page doesn't exist," Twitter reported after attempts to access the account.

Kibkalo, a Russian national who worked in Microsoft's Lebanon office when he allegedly shared pre-release code for Windows RT and the internal-only Activation Server SDK (software development kit) with an unidentified French blogger, was arrested and detained yesterday. Wzor.net was a Russian-language website known for its prodigious publishing of leaked information about Windows pre-release builds.

Last month, Wzor leaked an early version of Windows 8.1 Update, the refresh Microsoft is expected to push to customers on April 8.

In the complaint filed with a Seattle federal court Monday -- but unsealed Wednesday -- authorities said instant message logs showed that Kibkalo claimed to have also leaked early builds of Windows 7 and Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Those versions of Windows were publicly released in 2009 and 2011, respectively.

Kibkalo worked at Microsoft for seven years, from May 2005 until September 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile, which remained available Thursday.

Kibkalo was terminated by Microsoft after an internal investigation, prompted by the discovery of emails from him to the blogger, whose Hotmail account contents had been read by officials in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Investigations (TWCI), a department tasked to protect the company from outside hackers and internal leakers. Kibkalo allegedly used his own Hotmail account to contact the blogger and his SkyDrive account to share code, including the Activation Server SDK.

According to the FBI, Kibkalo also set up a virtual machine on a Redmond, Wash.-based server owned by Microsoft to expedite his code theft and sharing.

During the years 2005-2010, Kibkalo worked for Microsoft's Russian operation before transferring to Lebanon.

Microsoft declined to answer questions about whether the Wzor.net outage was its doing or connected to the Kibkalo case.

As for Kibkalo's arrest and alleged theft, a company spokeswoman said, "We take protection of our intellectual property very seriously, including cooperating with law enforcement agencies who are investigating potential criminal actions by our employees or others."

Wzor.net was offline worldwide on Thursday, a day after a Microsoft mole was arrested for stealing and sharing the company's unreleased code. (Image: Is It Down Right Now?)

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at  @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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