The Warden

So how many of these users didn’t just sign up for the purposes of getting a good email?

Microsoft just announced that Outlook.com, its well-received update to Hotmail, now has 10 million users. The redesigned Outlook.com user interface is now also starting to appear in other Microsoft products and today, SkyDrive.com, Microsoft’s online storage service, is getting a major design overhaul. The new design features the same Metro/Windows 8 look as Outlook.com, with large fonts, tiles and other new design elements.

Microsoft has really been striving to change its public image, and this is just one more step towards that goal.

With Windows 8’s recent release to manufacturing, we know many people are interested in how customers will discover Do Not Track (DNT) in Internet Explorer 10. DNT will be enabled in the “Express Settings” portion of the Windows 8 set-up experience.  There, customers will also be given a “Customize” option, allowing them to easily switch DNT “off” if they’d like.

(via Peter Bright)

M.G. Siegler probably goes a little far, but it’s a very interesting perspective. Can’t wait for the Gizmodo response.

You remember Gizmodo, right? Last we heard from them, they were being investigated by authorities for their role in buying a missing prototype of the iPhone 4.

After that happened, right or wrong, Apple severed ties with Gizmodo. Gizmodo was blackballed.

And since that happened, the publication has gone out of its way to say negative things about Apple — again, the most successful company in the world — because, well, what choice do they have?

Adam Hartung rightly points out why the new tablet is not, by definition, going to be a game changer. It’s when, as Nir Eyal points out, you create something that people never used before and, afterwards, can’t live without.

The tablet can’t just be better than the tablet. It has to reinvent the tablet market. And adding a sweet case won’t do that.

Game changers meet newly emerging, unmet needs, in new ways.

People are usually happy enough, until they see the new product/solution and realize “hey, this helps me do something I couldn’t do before” or “this helps me solve my problem a lot better.”  Game changers aren’t a simple improvement, they allow customers to do something radically different.  And although at first they may well appear to not work too well, or appear too expensive, they meet needs so uniquely, and better, that they cause people to change their behavior.

Kevin Fogarty has the story, though he’s somewhat cautious about the inside job conclusion:

The suggestion piqued the imaginations of conspiracy theorists, but doesn’t have a shred of evidence to support it.

Because nothing says “winning strategy” like a defensive move. Sharon Waxman and Alexander C. Kaufman:

But an individual with knowledge of the company said that Microsoft would introduce a Microsoft-manufactured tablet at the event, marking a foray into a new hardware category that would put the company in direct competition with giant rival Apple.

In effect, the Xbox is Microsoft’s profitable Trojan Horse. The console’s latest version, the Xbox 360, is the top seller in the U.S. Worldwide, since the 360 debuted in November 2005, customers have snapped up 67 million units, generating $56 billion at retail. Its sales still outgrow those of all other rivals.

Devin Coldewey describes Microsoft’s design problem: while Apple decisively maintains an interface that stays consistent across the operating system, Microsoft often goes back on previous usability decisions.

Microsoft needs to commit the way Apple commits. Sometimes that means leaving things behind, which has never been Windows’ strong suit. If they hope to retain their existing users and maybe even gain a few back from Apple, they need to do more than keep adding lacquer to their existing methods. That doesn’t mean just imitate Apple and make the same mistakes they do, but they need to fight on new grounds and make hard decisions. ARM, Metro, and WP7 were good but difficult decisions because they questioned previous decisions deemed successful — things which for many were useful! But when they let things like this cling like barnacles to their fresh new OS, they’re allowing their legacy to interfere with what needs to be done.

According to Dina Bass, Microsoft will end production of the Zune hardware. It will continue developing the software, however.

Smart move for Microsoft - as Bloomberg’s headline notes, there’s no real demand for yet another player that really doesn’t have any special features.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will stop introducing new versions of the Zune music and video player because of tepid demand, letting the company shift its focus to other devices, according to a person familiar with the decision.

Microsoft will concentrate on putting Zune software onto mobile phones, such as those running its Windows operating system, said the person, who declined to be identified because the decision hasn’t been announced. Zune software lets customers buy songs and movies, as well as pay a monthly fee to stream unlimited music.

According to one analyst, the real thing we should be taking from this is that Google feels threatened.

Charlene Li, founder of technology research and advisory firm Altimeter Group, saw Google’s actions as a misguided response to a real threat from a competitor in its core search business.