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Remember Sierra On-Line? Makers of such addictive but mostly horrible “graphic adventure” games as King’s Quest and Leisure Suit Larry? Well, a new low-cost entry in Xbox LIVE Arcade seeks to marry that kind of old-school gaming with one of my favorite modern media trends, zombies. Sadly, the result is a mixed bag....More

The Xbox Companion app, available now in preview form in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, provides an integration point with Microsoft’s best-selling video game console and entertainment device. Similar to the Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone, this new Metro-style app lets you browse and interact with content in Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE-based online markets....More

Microsoft’s new Video app is a Metro-style front-end to the company’s video marketplace and a simple player for movies and TV shows acquired from that source. Looking to do more with video? You’ll need to look elsewhere: This app preview is about as basic as they come....More

In the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the App Preview version of the Photos app provides a basic but attractive interface for viewing photos found on the PC, or in online services such as SkyDrive, Facebook and Flickr....More

I was looking at Office 15 on a normal desktop computer with a large screen, and two things stand out that weren't obvious on a tablet. The Office 15 applications look an awful lot like the Zune PC software. And they utilize a weird glow effect instead of a shadow when windowed....More

Microsoft is in the process of consolidating all of its somewhat separate online accounts--Windows Live ID, Xbox LIVE, Zune and Zune Pass, and many more--into a single aggregate account it will call Microsoft Your Account. Kudos to my Windows Secrets co-author Rafael Rivera for uncovering this change....More

Microsoft this week published an open letter to customers that describes the steps one can take to secure their Windows Live ID, the online account that back's the software giant's Xbox LIVE and other services. The letter is aimed specifically at Xbox users, but will be of interest to anyone who uses a Windows Live ID....More

Microsoft this week began a new "Must Have Games" campaign that will see the release of a new slate of Xbox LIVE games for Windows Phone that will run through the entire month of February. And there are some great-looking games on the way, though those familiar with mobile gaming will recognize that a few of these were previously available on iOS and Android....More

The best-selling video game of the holiday 2011 season is getting even better this month: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) is being bolstered by its first add-on maps and a new mobile app for both iOS and Android....More

During yesterday's Microsoft keynote at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Tami Reller showed off a version of the hit mobile game "Cut the Rope" that had been ported first to the web and then to Windows 8, which made me wonder if that web version would be made public. Well, it has been made public, and it's available now for free to users of Internet Explorer!...More

When it comes to automatically pushing phone-based pictures to the cloud, no one has Apple beat: With the iPhone 4S and an iCloud feature called Photo Stream, Apple's users have a best of breed solution that just works, and does so automatically. It's not without quirks, however, so if you want to take best advantage of this solution, please read on....More