Brandon Dimmel

A new report suggests Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer will introduce major restructuring plans as early as this week. It's expected the reorganization scheme will involve giving some of the company's core units more independence. The ... report, which comes from The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD technology blog, says Ballmer could unveil the restructuring plans in a meeting with company leaders this Thursday, July 11, 2013. Rumors of an impending Microsoft restructuring have been buzzing for some time. It's likely this upcoming announcement is designed to give investors a boost ... (view more)

One of Microsoft's leading executives has been acquired by a social media game company. Don Mattrick, who until recently headed Microsoft's Xbox division, will receive a $5 million signing bonus and stock awards totaling $40 million from Zynga. The ... 49-year-old Mattrick has been a major presence in the video game industry for many years now. He started his own game company at the age of 17 and subsequently sold the firm to Electronic Arts, where he worked until 2007. Xbox One Mired in Controversy Mattrick then made the jump to Microsoft, where he became a Senior Vice President and oversaw the ... (view more)

Wavosaur 1.0.9 Wavosaur is a fantastic (and free!) sound editor for the Windows operating system. This tool helps you edit audio files, produce music loops, and record new sounds. It supports a wide variety of plugins and real-time effect ... processing. http://www.wavosaur.com Foxmail 7.1 If you're looking for a new email program with a fresh, clean, easy-to-use interface, then check out the newest version of Foxmail. This program is faster and more stable than ever before and now features a unique 'Conversation View'. http://foxmail.com This freeware software program is brought to you by ... (view more)

The Windows chief Microsoft fired just a month after the launch of Windows 8 is getting a big stock payout from the Redmond, Washington-based firm. The only condition: he can't say bad things about his former company. Steven Sinofsky was President ... of Microsoft's Windows division from 2009 until late last year. Prior to that time he had contributed to the development of several other Microsoft products, including the Office software suite. Sinofsky was also partly responsible for Microsoft's Surface tablet computer, the SkyDrive cloud storage service, and Outlook.com. He originally joined the ... (view more)

Another Patch Tuesday, another 'critical' update for Internet Explorer. This month's Patch Tuesday provides fixes for a total of seven security issues, the most important of which involves Microsoft's popular web browser. Microsoft says its Patch ... Tuesday fixes affect most versions of the Windows operating system, the .NET Framework, Silverlight, the Office software suite, Visual Studio, and Internet Explorer (IE). Each of these security bulletins is marked 'critical,' which is Microsoft's highest security rating. A seventh bulletin has been marked 'important' and is associated with Microsoft' ... (view more)

Simple Custom Search 2.0 Which search engine is the most effective? It really doesn't matter if you use Simple Custom Search, which allows you to execute a search using all of the major search engines with just a single click. This program is both ... small and easy to use. http://blogspot.ca Classic Shell 3.6.8 Classic Shell brings some of the most popular (but long dead) Windows features back to Microsoft's Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems. Those features include the Start button, customizable Start menu, and status bars. http://www.classicshell.net This freeware software program is ... (view more)

HWiNFO 4.19 HWiNFO is a handy and highly professional hardware information and diagnostic tool. It provides you with comprehensive hardware information, monitors your system's overall health, and provides you with reports in a wide range of formats. ... http://www.hwinfo.com LibreOffice Productivity Suite 4.0.4 If you're looking for an alternative to the expensive Office software suite from Microsoft, then check out LibreOffice, a comprehensive and completely free productivity suite. Like Office it comes with professional business programs, including word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation ... (view more)

Microsoft officially unveiled its first major update to Windows 8, Windows 8.1, at the recent Build 2013 developer conference in San Francisco, California. Leading the presentation was company chief executive officer Steve Ballmer , who also ... discussed Internet Explorer 11 and new Windows 8.1-based hardware. Although there was much for Ballmer to talk about, the focus was clearly Windows 8.1 , otherwise known as 'Windows Blue.' The first big update to the Windows 8 platform will bring back the Start button and also offers users the option of booting directly to the desktop. Microsoft Sets Out ... (view more)

Claws Mail 3.9.2 Looking for an alternative to Microsoft Outlook or Internet-based email services like Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, etc? Then check out Claws Mail, a completely free and easy-to-use email client and news reader. Features include RSS ... aggregator and calendar. http://www.claws-mail.org FeedDemon 4.5 Want access to the best news services on the web? Then check out FeedDemon, one of the most popular RSS readers for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It features an accessible interface, tagging, and podcast support. http://www.feeddemon.com This freeware software program is ... (view more)

It's expected Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer will introduce a major shakeup at his firm. According to a new report, layoffs of prominent Microsoft officials could be at the heart of that makeover. AllThingsD blogger and Microsoft ... insider Kara Swisher says she's learned Ballmer will officially unveil his plans to restructure Microsoft in a meeting with company executives sometime between now and July 1, 2013. Swisher suggests a key component of that restructuring plan will involve layoffs and that "many top managers" are "worried" this could result in the end of their tenures ... (view more)