Microsoft has now come up with a surface tablet to compete with the Apple iPad. The Surface is the known as the ‘iPad killer’ and ‘Microsoft iPad’. Microsoft has stuck to production of software till date but this is one of its latest hardware devices that is expected to take over the Apple iPad. This is a new challenge posed by Microsoft to Apple.

            The Microsoft Surface saw its official release on 19^th June in the city of Los Angeles. It has made a great first impression and seems to be beginning a new start in the competition between the best tablets in the international market. It has 10.6’’ screen and a magnetic cover that can be used as a keyboard and also as a kickstand in order to place the device upright on tables. There has been a paradigm shift in Microsoft’s policy when it decided to do away with the tile-based Metro theme for its Desktop that is almost a trademark with it.

            There are many features that make the Surface more like a laptop than like a tablet- the most prominent one being the built- in keyboard that will be useful for business customers. As Microsoft Surface employs Windows 8 as an operating system, which is also used in its computers and laptops, it will be a lot easier for customers to switch among their devices.

            The tablet was announced by Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, in Los Angeles at a special press conference. It was hailed to be the first of an entirely new family of a number of devices being created and developed by the company. The Surface has a thickness of 9.3mm and weighs 1.5 pounds. It has a kickstand and keyboard for its cover. It is 0.1 mm thinner than the iPad 3, which is the latest iPad from Apple.

Although the index is an important itemized guide of what people are searching for on the internet, it’s arguable that certain languages getting recognition is a direct result of early adopters posting tutorials and filling up discussion boards on current trends. Additionally, popular tech blogs pick up on technological shifts and broadcast related versions of the same themes.

When does the popularity of a software language matter?

1. If you want marketable skills, knowing what employers are looking for is beneficial. As an example, languages such as Java and Objective C are highly coveted in the smart-phone apps businesses.
2. A consistently shrinking language in usage is an indicator not only that employers are apt to pass on those skills but fall in danger of being obsolete.
3. Focusing on languages that are compatible with other developers increases your chances to participate on projects that companies are working on.

Is it possible for anyone to give Microsoft a fair trial? The first half of 2012 is in the history books. Yet the firm still cannot seem to shake the public opinion as The Evil Empire that produces crap code.

I am in a unique position. I joined the orbit of Microsoft in 1973 after the Army decided it didn't need photographers flying around in helicopters in Vietnam anymore. I was sent to Fort Lewis and assigned to 9th Finance because I had a smattering of knowledge about computers. And the Army was going to a computerized payroll system.

Bill and Paul used the University of Washington's VAX PDP computer to create BASIC for the Altair computer. Certainly laughable by today's standards, it is the very roots of the home computer.

Microsoft became successful because it delivered what people wanted.

Once again Java tops C as the number one sought after programming language on the internet.  According TIOBE Programming Community Index for February 2013 and five search engines: Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube and Baidu, Java regained its position after being bumped by C in May 2012.

Despite the recent urging by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of computer users to disable or uninstall Java due to a flaw in Runtime Environment (JRE) 7, Java, has increased its market share of all languages by (+2.03%) in the past six months. The jump in Java’s popularity does not come as a surprise as the Android OS claims massive success in the mobile space.  The top twelve programming languages listed in the index are:

1.  Java
2.  C
3.  Objective-C 
4.  C++
5.  C#
6.  PHP
7.  Python
8.  (Visual) Basic
9.  Perl
10.  Ruby
11. Java Script
12. Visual Basic.NET

Also rising, Python and PHP which are competing to becoming the most popular interpreted language.