This information came out when Polygon asked in an interview with Harrison about current Xbox Live Gold subscriptions also working on the upcoming Xbox One which he also confirmed to be the case.

Remember back in early March of this year it was discovered that Microsoft had quietly pulled the popular Family Gold subscription option for their Xbox Live service?

That $99 option was intended to allow up to four family members to share a single Xbox Live Gold subscription. However, it was rife for abuse as any Gamertag could be entered as an authorized account and that account did not necessarily have to be in use under the same roof.

With this development of a subscription working for all accounts on a single console it actually allows the concept of a family subscription to be employed. All the users would be on the same console and under the same roof.

And since it was confirmed that Xbox Live Gold subscriptions would work across Xbox 360 and the upcoming Xbox One that could possibly mean that once a Gamertag is labeled as a gold subscription on an authorized console that status would move with the Gamertag to other consoles.

Is this the concession that everyone is looking for relating to the cost of the annual Xbox Live subscription to access special features and multi-player gaming?

Using the data they get from their PC Gnome, a large anonymous data set which reflects info about the devices running their Soluto performance monitoring software, they can grab some very interesting info about those devices.

Last month they looked at the top 10 laptops based on the number of crashes they experience which was interesting but not very controversial.

This month they are looking at stats for machines running Windows 8 and how often Metro/Modern Apps are used on those machines.

To say the results are a bit controversial is an understatement and they are quite surprising.

Caveat – these stats are only based on machines running Windows 8 that are also running the Soluto monitoring software and not every single Windows 8 device out there.

With that said this analysis, according to Soluto’s report, is based on 10,848 Windows 8 machines and 313,142 Metro app launches across 9,634 unique Metro apps.

Here are some key take away points.

• How many times a day will a Windows 8 user launch a Metro App?
  • Desktop – 1.41 times
  • Laptop – 1.51 times
  • Touch Laptop – 2.22 times
  • Tablet – 2.71 times
• Percentage of users who launch a Metro App less than once per day.
  • Desktop – 60.78%
  • Laptop – 59.88%
  • Touch Laptop – 58.10%
  • Tablet – 44.38%

That is an average of 1.52 Metro App launches per day with 60% of desktop and laptop users launching less than 1 Metro App per day and less than half (44%) of tablet users launching Metro Apps less than once per day.

I have to admit I am blown away by these numbers and surprised at how few people in this data set are using Metro Apps. It is really mind boggling to be honest.  I guess it shows that many users are simply using Windows 8 as a desktop operating system and skipping the Metro/Modern interface completely.  If Microsoft is seeing similar stats from their telemetry on Windows 8 systems maybe it is a pretty good bet that Boot To Desktop will be in the Windows 8.1 release despite it not being confirmed to this point.

Soluto’s report goes on to list the most used Metro Apps in Windows 8 from their data set and the top 10 include:

• Windows Communications Apps (Microsoft)
• Windows Photos (Microsoft)
• Microsoft Reader (Microsoft)
• Microsoft Camera (Microsoft)
• Bing Weather (Microsoft)
• Zune Video (Microsoft)
• Zune Music (Microsoft)
• Netflix (Netflix)
• Bing Maps (Microsoft)
• SkyDrive (Microsoft)

Interesting to see that 9 of the top 10 are Microsoft’s built in Metro/Modern Apps and the only non Microsoft app to climb into the top 10 is the very popular Netflix streaming video app.

The most used app across all form factors of devices is the Yahoo! Mail App which is used an average of 27 times per week by those users who have it installed.

You can read the full report at http://www.soluto.com/reports

No doubt it will be interesting to watch the reaction to this report across the tech blogs today and what kinds of opinions it generates from the Windows 8 pundits.

What do you think – are you surprised by these stats for such low Metro/Modern App usage?

In order to help with that learning curve there are lots of tools available including a wealth of videos, including one of mine that ended up being very popular, on YouTube that show the key elements of navigating around Windows 8.

Microsoft included a very brief tutorial in the out of box experience when you setup a Windows 8 machine but it is not interactive and if you just happen to not be there it is easy to miss since it is such a short segment of the setup process.

With everyone having different methods with which they like to learn using multiple tools to educate end users about the navigation of Windows 8 can be very helpful.

In order to facilitate the continued education and awareness of end users in using Windows 8 as it was designed Microsoft has published a brochure that you can use to help out your end users.

Windows has been reimagined to be all about you and your style of working. Put what matters most right on your Start screen, and get instant access to your people, apps, sites, and more, so you can spend less time searching and more time doing. No matter what you want to do, you can get it done quickly in Windows 8. Whether you’re collaborating on a large project, preparing for an upcoming conference, or traveling for work, you can use touch, mouse, and keyboard together–seamlessly–to do what you want, the way you want. This brochure will show you how to get around, navigate, manage apps, and personalize in Windows 8.

The 36 page, 6MB download is in PDF format and can be used either electronically or printed out as a reference.

It contains screenshots, keyboard shortcuts and touch navigation instructions to help folks learn the OS on both sides of the touch and keyboard/mouse interface.

Download the Windows 8 End User Training Brochure from Microsoft Download Center

Via The blog of Rob Margel – Windows Help

I think it would be fair to say that the event and information has dominated the tech blogs and many questions have been answered as well as some being left unanswered.

As is my tradition with big stories like this I am going to share a summary of some of the intriguing blog posts I have culled together for your review and summarization.

• Reactions mixed as group of 14 Xbox fans watch console launch at Microsoft Store
• Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Console, Xbox One
• Xbox One Design Started From a “Blank Slate”
• NFL commish says new multi-year partnership with Microsoft will ‘change the game of football’
• Windows’ role at the core of Microsoft’s Xbox One
• Microsoft offers to alert you when the Xbox One becomes available for pre-order
• More Xbox One details emerge: TV integration, Second-hand play, more
• Xbox One and Used Games
• Official word: Xbox One requires Internet connection, but not ‘always on’
• Xbox One Photo Gallery: A Close-Up Look At Microsoft’s Shiny, Shiny Future Of Gaming
• Xbox One: Watch the new Kinect detect a heart rate from across the room
• Hands on: The Xbox One controller’s refined d-pad and 4 independent vibrators
• Xbox One installs discs to the HDD, friends list capped at 1,000
• Xbox One has non-replaceable hard drive, external storage is supported
• Xbox One Anthem video
• Frustrated with the Xbox One? That’s okay, because Microsoft isn’t building its next system for you
• Why Microsoft’s Xbox One Won’t Kick the Cable Guy Out of Your House
• Xbox One: The Most Restrictive Game Console Ever Made

There is no doubt that more information will be forthcoming as we approach the release of Xbox One. For sure in just a couple of weeks at E3 in Los Angeles much more will be revealed about the gaming personality of this next generation console.

What do you think about the dual personality of this device with its multimedia and gaming capabilities being merged into one cohesive system?

Well with all those Windows based devices it can be quite a concert when an alert or notification goes off across all of them.

One way to quiet at least one of those platforms is to use the handy Notifications setting that is available on the Charms Bar on the Surface RT.  Now the Surface RT has great battery life but this will extend that even further because the device will not be using resources to indicate an alert or notification has come across the system.

The key for this is when you are going to set the Surface RT aside for a while simply swipe in from the right side of the screen, select Settings on the Charms Bar and then tap Notifications.

You get three options a this point to hide notifications for either 1, 3 or 8 hours. Just tap the one you want and it is done.

Now you can lay your Surface RT to the side and it will not make any notifications or noises for that period of time and that means at least one of your Windows devices is not part of the notification and alert concert around your house.

Here is the process in screenshots:

Yahoo board OKs $1.1B purchase of Tumblr (Market Watch): Rumors about this were floating already during last week and this would be huge for Yahoo!  One question I could not get answered clearly when this broke over the weekend was does the Yahoo! boards approval indicate that Tumblr has already said yes?  Also memories of the January 1999 GeoCities acquisition by Yahoo! comes to mind and that purchase was the beginning of the end for GeoCities which had been the home on the web for many.  I am concerned about Tumblr blogs now being required to carry Yahoo! ads but hopefully that will also be a revenue sharing concept for the Tumblr blog owners.

Here’s to eight great years (YouTube Blog): On a quiet Sunday in the tech world, well except for the Yahoo! Tumblr announcement, Google posted their 8th birthday blog post and revealed some boggling numbers on the usage of the popular video site.

• More than 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• More than 1 billion people visit monthly.

What did we do before YouTube anyway?

New Surface Ad (Surface Blog): I think this is the video that many would have preferred to see first when Surface RT was coming out.  It certainly shows more about how the device works instead of people just dancing with it.

Have a safe week out there on the Internet of Things!

Well in conjunction with Rob Boirun of BurnWorld.com we are very pleased to be offering this giveaway for our visitors and listeners.

DrivePop has provided us with three full and unlimited lifetime accounts, normally $75 per year, to offer in this giveaway.

That is unlimited bandwidth, unlimited computers to be backed up, unlimited storage space and access to your backed up data from anywhere you have a web browser.  Did I mention that is a lifetime of access as well?

So if you are interested in entering for this opportunity all you need to do is visit the WindowsObserver and DrivePop Facebook pages and give them a Like to be eligible.

Of course we would also appreciate you mentioning this on your social media accounts to get the word out there.

Good Luck and thanks for entering.

As I was finalizing the show notes for this episode a bunch of news broke about the whole Google vs Microsoft situation with a Cease and Desist Letter from Google to Microsoft about the new Windows Phone YouTube App Microsoft released a couple of weeks ago.  Of course, that meant a shuffle of topics and we dive straight into that discussion at the top of the show.

We did take the time to mention an awesome giveaway for the new DrivePop Cloud Backup Solution being offered by friend of the show Rob Boirun of BurnWorld.com which we mentioned last week.  Thanks to Rob we have three unlimited accounts for the DrivePop service to giveaway.  Just head over to the WindowsObserver Facebook page as well as the DrivePop one and like them.  We will draw the three winners from those pages and announce them in two weeks on 30 May 2013.  Good Luck!

We continue with our news review by discussing the firmware updates released this week for Surface RT and Surface Pro which were among the Patch Tuesday security updates and the big update coming to Windows Phone 8 this summer.

Other items on our list include the end of Xbox points as a currency, using File History on Windows 8, the new BBC iPlayer for Windows Phone and the Lumia 925 announcement this week.

We talk about the confirmed Windows 8.1 update, the SkyDrive photo interface update, a great deal on the Dell XPS 10 Windows RT device, free touch or type covers for those in the UK who are buying Surface RT or Pro and the new Amazon Cloud Player for Windows desktop.

Then we bring things to a close as we talk about the big carriers joining forces against texting and driving, the US Navy’s X-47B making its first carrier launch, and the Instagram for Windows Phone Twitter account that really wasn’t official after all.

Finally, I attempt my show closing in Klingon but can thankfully point you towards the new Bing Translator update that helps you understand what I tried to say in Klingon.

Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

• Download Episode 90
• Subscribe in iTunes
• Subscribe in Zune
• Subscribe to Observed Tech PODCAST RSS Feed
• Subscribe to Observed Tech PODCAST by Email

Date Produced: 16 May 2013

Length: 41:28

Format: MP3, 128KBPS

Size: 40.2MB

This PODCAST is a proud member of the TechPodcast Network.

All of this episodes show links are available at our WiKi – Show Links: Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 90

If for some reason you have a computer system that may not have Internet connectivity then Microsoft has made all of these monthly updates available in a handy ISO image that you can burn to a DVD-ROM and manually install the updates on those disconnected systems.

You can grab the 2.8GB  image at the Microsoft Download Center – May 2013 Security Release ISO Image

Now this image only contains the Windows related updates so if these systems have other Microsoft software on them that has been updated you will need to obtain those separately. They are also available at the Microsoft Download Center.

Here are some key links and resources relating to this months updates:

• Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (KB 2829530)
• Security Update for Internet Explorer  (KB 2847204)
• Vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 2829254)
• Vulnerabilities in .NET Framework (KB 2836440)
• Vulnerability in Microsoft Lync  (KB 2834695)
• Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office  (KB 2830397)
• Vulnerability in Microsoft Office (KB 2830399)
• Vulnerability in Microsoft Office (KB 2834692)
• Vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 2813707)
• Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows (KB 2840221)
• Microsoft Customer Protections for May 2013 (MSRC Blog)

—————

Maybe the most desired app for Windows Phone is very close to arriving?

@InstagramWP

No tweets yet but it is already following the Twitter accounts of @Microsoft, @Nokia, @WindowsPhone and @Instagram

Looks like all those third party attempts on the Windows Phone platform are about to become obsolete.

It has been unreal to see the speculation about this one element in the now confirmed Windows 8.1 update to Windows 8 which was formerly known under the codename Windows Blue.

Many thought Microsoft was going to see this as an opportunity to charge users for the point update to its oft maligned Windows 8 OS and of course they then wrote about how that would or would not be a good choice.  Now add to that the discussion that this update is Microsoft fixing all that is wrong with Windows 8 and you just have a lot of hot air and continued speculation.

If you look back at Microsoft’s history with their modern OS updates, i.e. service packs, they often add and remove features from the OS via the service pack as it is being applied to a Windows OS and not once have they charged for those service packs.

Why would this update to Windows 8 be any different?  Is it because so many dislike the OS and want to see features in the OS such as Boot to Desktop and a return of the Start Menu button?

Think back to Windows Vista and its RTM release. It was horrible on the current hardware of the day and was panned for being such a poor performer.  When Microsoft released its first enhancements and performance improvements to that OS via a service pack there was no question of it being something we would pay for yet today we have the opposite conversation occurring relating to Windows 8.

Bottom line is that Tami Reller, Microsoft’s CFO and CMO for Windows, confirmed today at JP Morgan’s Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston that Windows Blue will be known as Windows 8.1 and will be available for free in the Windows Store on both Windows X86/x64 and Windows RT.

Windows 8.1 is expected to be available for a Public Preview program in late June and the release should be around the beginning of the Microsoft BUILD 2013 Conference for developers being held in San Francisco.

HDR is an imaging technique that allows you to really highlight the differences between the dark and light areas of an image. I do this on my camera, a Nikon D5100, by capturing three images at slightly different exposures and then using software to merge those photos together.

The resulting images tend to really pop out and show details that are usually missed in a normal exposure of the same scene.

So here are three HDR images I took yesterday in my wife’s garden and they really do make for a great theme for your computer system.

As always below the thumbnails you will find links to download just the wallpapers themselves as well as a Windows 7 Themepack or Windows 8 DeskThemepack.

Download Garden HDR Images Theme (Wallpaper)

Download Garden HDR Images Theme (Windows 7 Themepack)

Download Garden HDR Images Theme (Windows 8 DeskThemepack)

Note: A Windows 7 Themepack will work on Windows 8 but a Windows 8 DeskThemepack is not backwards compatible with Windows 7.  Of course the wallpapers will work on any computer system.

Enjoy.

Well it is time to put a face to those bugs, as you can see in the above picture, thanks to this Kickstarter project from the folks at the San Francisco based Robot Brigade.

Robot Brigade are an eclectic group of engineers, professionals, and graduate students brought together by a shared interest in engineering and complex problems. Classically trained in everything from computer science to biology to cinematography, we constitute a diverse set of expertise and perspectives that never fail to keep things lively and engaging.

We apply complex engineering solutions to fun products that everyone can enjoy. We love all things robot-related! In our experience, we have seen a lot of kits that make engineering fun for artists, but very few kits that introduce art to engineers. As a group, we want to bridge the gap between art and engineering by creating art hacked from electronics.

The project just went live and has already received backing from 21 people and they have already surpassed the first one thousand dollars of the $15,000 they are looking to raise for this project.

They have a great range of benefits for their contributors and you can receive a D. Bug kit for as little as $35 and all three kits when you pledge $120 or more to the project. Each kit, as you can see below, comes with a display case and decals to make for an awesome addition to your physical desktop/workspace.

• Watch Dog is high maintenance, and if you don’t feed him regularly with function calls he will reset your device. The kit includes an instruction manual, electronic components, decals, and a specimen jar. ($35 pledge)
• Grand Cappy likes to burst old electrolytic capacitors, destroying your computer. The kit includes an instruction manual, electronic components, decals, and a specimen jar. ($50 pledge)
• Memory Hog devours RAM, starving the other programs as your computer slows to a crawl under his massive appetite. The kit includes an instruction manual, electronic components, decals, and a specimen jar. ($65 pledge)

Now you will have a target for your affections when you run into those bugs in your code.

Check out the project at Kickstarter and be sure to watch the video.

As I was doing some catching up today here are three stories that caught my eye.

Staying Centered – This post appeared on The Official Microsoft blog on Friday and was written by Frank X. Shaw the Vice President of Corporate Communications at Microsoft.  His post addressed the reaction to recent confirmations by Microsoft about some changes that are coming in the Windows 8 Blue aka Windows 8.1 update expected this summer/fall.  Many analysts took Microsoft’s decision to listen to customer feedback and to make Windows 8 more functional for users as an admission that Windows 8 is a failure like the New Coke was.  Frank addresses that and points towards other sites that are calling for Microsoft to stay the course with Windows 8.

Browser extension hijacks Facebook profiles – Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center is warning users of a malicious extension in Chrome and Firefox that is hijacking Facebook profiles.  They have identified it as Febipos.A and it will attempt several different actions if a user is logged in while browsing Facebook. Check out the entire post for complete details on the threat.

Astronauts Complete Spacewalk to Repair Ammonia Leak – When you are orbiting a couple of hundred miles above the Earth the only resources you have on hand are those that are on the International Space Station. However, just like with Apollo 13, there are also a lot of smart people on the ground to provide backup and between those folks and the astronauts on ISS they apparently solved an ammonia coolant leak that cropped up last week.  The solution included an unscheduled spacewalk by two of the ISS crew members and their work to swap out a cooling pump to stop the leak.  It is absolutely brilliant how they just focus and solve issues in NASA.

Ok now get out there and start this week up – stay safe!

They include two updates labeled critical and eight considered important and the impacted software includes:

Windows

• Windows XP with SP3
• Windows XP Professional with SP2
• Windows Vista with SP2 (x86 and x64)
• Windows 7 with SP1 (x86 and x64)
• Windows 8 (x86 and x64)
• Windows RT

Internet Explorer

• IE6
• IE7
• IE8
• IE9
• IE10

Windows Server

• Windows Server 2003 with SP2 (x86, x64 and Itanium)
• Windows Server 2008 with SP2 (x86, X64 and Itanium)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 (x64 and Itanium)
• Windows Server 2012

Office

• Office 2003 with SP3
• Office 2007 with SP3
• Office 2010 with SP1 (x86 and X64)
• Word Viewer
• Visio 2003 with SP3
• Visio 2007 with SP3
• Visio 2010 with SP1 (x86 and x64)
• Communicator 2007 R2
• Lync 2010 (x86 and x64)
• Lync 2010 Attendee (admin and user level installs)
• Lync Server 2013

Windows Essentials

• Windows Essentials 2011 and 2012

Microsoft will host a webcast to address these updates on May 15, 2013, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada).

Register now for the May Security Bulletin Webcast

I am pleased to introduce you to a new player in the home PC backup to the cloud world called Drive Pop which comes our way from friend of the show Rob Boirun of BurnWorld.com.  It offers some great options for some very, very competitive rates so I hope you check it out.

We then continue with the show talking about the World Wide Web marking 20 years of being around, a big registrar getting hacked and losing user data so we also talk about some suggestions for creating solid passwords.

There are then news items on PhoneSats in orbit, Google+ Hangouts getting new features, Star Trek Apps for both Windows Phone and Windows 8 released nearly simultaneously, other new WP apps for Tumblr, MetroTube, more hero apps for the Microsoft mobile platform and assurances from Joe Belfiore that WP 7.X users will also see updates to these big name official apps. Continuing on the Windows Phone news there is the release of WP 7.8 for Nokia Lumia 900 owners that is hitting the OTA airwaves this week.

Of course, we have some Twitter related news as we do nearly every week, Microsoft talking Windows 8 sales at six months as well as confirming Windows Blue aka Windows 8.1 coming out this summer for preview and how busy they are issuing take down notices to Facebook trademark infringing apps in its Windows Store.

When any news about Windows 8 comes out you can expect the Acer President, who has been very vocal about Windows 8 itself, to speak up about his views and he does so on the Windows 8.1 update.

We close things up talking about an IE8 vulnerability, the inadvertently revealed 8 inch Windows 8 tablet,  the recently announced Acer Aspire R7 with its unique design and new features in the Windows 8 mail app relating to the updates at Outlook.com.

Enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

• Download Episode 89
• Subscribe in iTunes
• Subscribe in Zune
• Subscribe to Observed Tech PODCAST RSS Feed
• Subscribe to Observed Tech PODCAST by Email

Date Produced: 09 May 2013

Length: 40:02

Format: MP3, 128KBPS

Size: 38.9MB

This PODCAST is a proud member of the TechPodcast Network.

All of this episodes show links are available at our WiKi – Show Links: Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 89

According to the Microsoft Security Response Team a Fix-It solution is now available for IE8 that can be applied by all customers running IE8.

This Fix-It solution is a one step click and install that makes a small change when your system runs IE8 and starts a file called mshtml.dll. This in turn prevents an IE8 system from being vulnerable to this exploit.

You can grab the Fix-It at Microsoft “Fix it” available to mitigate Internet Explorer 8 vulnerability and it can be uninstalled from the same page.

Just look for these links on that page:

A full fix is currently being tested and will be released as soon as it is completely validated to address the vulnerability.

Of course, an upgrade to IE9 and IE10 eliminates the need for the Fix-It solution or the update when it is released as they and IE6/IE7 are not exposed to this issue.

The latest version of IE for your OS is at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/download-ie

Today I am pleased to announce that we’re making the ability to back up full-res photos and videos available everywhere. (We just started to light this up, so be patient if you don’t see it right away. The change could take a few days to roll out around the globe.)

The guest post has screenshots to show you what to expect in the new menus with this update.   Aaron also confirms that the highest resolution uploads still require a Wi-Fi connection in order to prevent a negative impact on your data plan.

Personally, I wish this was also a choice because many of us do have unlimited data plans and would like the high-res images stored in our SkyDrive accounts when we are out and away from Wi-Fi.

Read more at Full-res photo and video backup now available worldwide for Windows Phone 8

Well he got to continue that this morning by announcing two official app updates for YouTube and Foursquare via his Twitter account at @joebelfiore.

Both of these apps have actually been on the platform already but these updates bring them both up to speed with new functionality that is available in the latest updates to the Windows Phone OS.

The world of YouTube, designed for Windows Phone 8 (Windows Phone Blog)

New features:

• Pin videos, playlists, channels, and even search queries to Start as Live Tiles for fast access. The tile flips to show either the latest video from your subscriptions or the most popular one.
• A new and innovative playlist design gives you easy access to videos using a touch-friendly filmstrip.
• Just want to listen to a video? It now plays in the background even when the screen is locked.
• You can share videos to popular social networks, and via email and text.

Updates are also on the way for Windows Phone 7.5 in the next few weeks.

Download YouTube App for Windows Phone (WP8)

—————

Foursquare updated for Windows Phone 8—now includes speech, Live Tiles, and more

New features:

• Pin people and venues to your Start Screen.
• Get notifications on your lock screen.
• Check-in and share using NFC.
• You can also use your voice to search, find, check-in and more.
• As you use the app, Foursquare fine tunes its recommendations for things to do and try in your vicinity.

Download Foursquare App for Windows Phone (WP8)

In a Q&A with Tami Reller, the Chief Marketing and Financial Officer for the Windows division at Microsoft, Windows Blogger Brandon LeBlanc posted about these things and a few other items.

Between that interview and the stories from other tech sites, which are listed below, here are the main points:

• 100 million Windows 8 licenses sold since release of Windows 8 just over six months ago. (Windows Blog)
• PC market is not dead but evolving into a more mobile market.  (Windows Blog)
• Windows Blue will be available later this year and is based on customer feedback received since the launch of Windows 8.  (Windows Blog)
• Windows Store has grown by a factor of six since it became available which surpasses what the iOS store had in its first full year.  (Windows Blog)
• 250 million app downloads from the Windows 8 Store.  (Windows Blog)
• More than 250 million users on SkyDrive, 400 million active Outlook.com accounts and 700 million active Microsoft Accounts.  (Windows Blog)
• No mention of how many apps are actually in the store.  Independent site, MetroStore Scanner, shows just under 68,000 apps (Time)
• Expect a bump in touch device sales this Summer as Back To School season begins (cNet)
• Windows 8 licenses sold are different than usage share (cNet)
• 739 updates for Windows 8 and Windows RT since release (cNet)
• Windows Blue pricing, packaging and other product details in next couple of weeks (ZDNet)
• Windows 8 sales are tracking right alongside those of Windows 7 (The Next Web)
• Compared to Windows 7 average sales of 20 million licenses per month Windows 8 is at 16.7 million (Windows IT Pro)
• Windows 8 is a long term play and still unfolding (Windows IT Pro)
• Number of sales would have been higher if Microsoft and its partners had been able to get more touch screen devices into the market earlier (GeekWire)

Windows 8 License Sales and Windows Blue stories across the tech web:

• Windows 8 at 6 months: Q&A with Tami Reller (Windows Blog)
• Microsoft: 100 Million Windows 8 Licenses Sold, Windows Blue This Year (Time.com)
• Microsoft sells more than 100M Windows 8 licenses in 6 months (cNet)
• What Microsoft is now saying (and not) about Windows Blue (ZDNet)
• Six months in, Windows 8 is selling at the same rate that Windows 7 did (The Next Web)
• Windows 8 hits 100M milestone, but usage remains low: Where’s the disconnect? (ZDNet)
• Microsoft Has Sold Over 100 Million Windows 8 Licenses in First 6 Months (Windows IT Pro)
• Windows 8 hits 100M licenses: ‘Very good, but not good enough,’ says Microsoft exec (GeekWire)
• Microsoft tops 100 million Windows 8 licenses sold, promises Windows Blue update in 2013 (Engadget)
• Microsoft Confirms Windows Blue Update Coming; Says Windows 8 Passes 100 Million Licenses Sold (All Things D)

As I wrap this up I just wanted to comment on something I saw for the first time as I reviewed the above stories.  In the Time post by Harry McCracken he gives a Post PC Definition that I think should be adopted as a the norm across the tech world:

Disclaimer: by “post-PC era,” I don’t mean an era in which the PC doesn’t matter. I just mean that it’s no longer a given that the dominant form of PC will look like the desktops and laptops we’ve known and will run an operating system from Microsoft. I continue to maintain that anything that you do personal computing on, including tablets and phones, is a PC.

Proverbial nail on the head.