Microsoft technology in 2014
Ballmer’s retirement whilst significant, forms only a fraction of the ever-changing world of Microsoft. We have seen email stalwart Hotmail phased out in favour of the new Outlook platform, Surface struggling to carve out a place for itself in the tablet market and a slew of product releases and upgrades including; Windows Server 2012 R2, Office 2013 and Windows 8.1 amongst others.
A look ahead.
It does not stop there; a quick look at Microsoft’s product roadmap for 2014 has some exciting highlights:
- Office 2013 SP1 – released October 11, 2012, the productivity suite is due an upgrade with rumours suggesting touch-based functionality and improved integration with Windows 8.1.
- SQL Server 2014 – the relational database management product is currently available as public preview, with general availability expected in the first quarter of 2014.
- Windows 8.1 – this will be the fourth edition rolled out for Windows 8 and is expected to deliver support for larger screens, with rumours of voice assistant technology to surpass Apple’s ‘Siri’ counterpart.
- Windows ‘Threshold’ – this rumour has been circulation since early 2013, code name ‘Threshold’ is meant to be a unified operating system for Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox One.
No look to the future is complete without a look to the past. Microsoft has been developing market leading technology for the better part of 30 years, there are countless technology products with numerous updates. In this infographic designed by Firebrand Training, let’s quickly recap this history in whistle-stop tour brining us to the present day.
