Microsoft CEO: We're Going After Apple

Get ready, Apple. If Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer is to be believed, the Redmond, Washington-based software giant is coming after you like never before.

In a recent interview with CRN, Microsoft's CEO acknowledged that his company has "ceded some of the boundary between hardware and software innovation" to Cupertino, California's Apple in the past. But he asserted that trend is about to come to a dead end.

"We are trying to make absolutely clear we are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple," Ballmer said. (Source: washingtonpost.com)

Microsoft Touts Windows 8 File Backup System

Ballmer's tough talk is directly tied to the impending release of two new products that could hurt Apple: the Windows 8 operating system, and the Microsoft Surface tablet computer.

Recent tests show that Windows 8 is substantially faster in some key areas than its popular predecessor, Windows 7.

On Tuesday, July 10, 2012, Microsoft unveiled a new Windows 8 feature: significantly upgraded file backup systems that make recovering lost files easier than ever before.

Called File History, the feature requires users to jump through relatively few hoops in order to set it up.

"If you want to take advantage of File History, you have to make only [a] few, simple decisions," noted Bohdan Raciborski, a program manager at Microsoft.

"The rest is taken care of by Windows. The operation of File History is transparent and doesn't affect the user experience, reliability or performance of Windows in any way." (Source: pcworld.com)

Wozniak Wowed by Surface Tablet

As for Microsoft's new Surface, it will use Windows 8 to challenge Apple's dominance of the tablet market. Featuring an innovative pull-out keyboard design, it has even impressed Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

"Steve Jobs came back reincarnated at Microsoft," Wozniak joked in a recent video. "I don't remember this sort of thing happening in a long, long time with Microsoft." (Source: washingtonpost.com)

Both Windows 8 and Surface are expected to launch later this year.