In this article I'll outline the steps I had to take to get Team Foundation Server 2010 server (TFS) upgraded to TFS 2012.  This is just one particular example of the various upgrade paths that might exist, but should give everyone a good rundown on how the process typically works.  I won't cover every possible upgrade scenario in this example, but I will briefly list some of them before digging in deeper.

Microsoft Office 2013 has a variety of options when it comes to purchasing or subscribing to it.  These options can seem very confusing to the consumer at first.  Of the various forms of Office 2013 there is the Office 365 suite, the stand alone desktop version, and Office web-based apps.  Here we will examine each and try to make sense of it all.

As we know and have mentioned on our Podcast several times, Surface RT is highly restricted to only one single x86 legacy program and that is the Office software that comes on the tablet.  All other x86 legacy applications can't run on the device, until now.  Thanks to mamaich on the XDA developer forum, the ARM tablet can run classic windows games in fact, at least some.

Summary

We talk about CES 2013 highlights, including the 4K TV from Samsung, the Razer Edge and Nvidia Shield Gaming tablets, is Apple making a low cost iPhone, Amazon AutoRip, billions of Earth size planets in the galaxy and more.

Microsoft has just released their newest Office product, Office 2013.  Usually we think of something newer as being better, but in this case not entirely.  As I did briefly in our last podcast, in this article I’m going over some shortcomings of the new user interface (UI) of Office 2013 in greater detail.  This isn't an overall review on the product, rather just a warning if you are switching to Office 2013.  The warning is related to visual experience that you will get when using Office 2013, particularly that of Lync 2013 and Outlook.

If you want to see all your Windows 8 settings in one "Control Panel" style view, there is a real simple way to achieve this called the GodMode (windows 7 had a similar trick).  Simply right click anywhere on your desktop or in windows explorer, create a new folder.  Give it the following name:

All Settings .{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Now, when you double click that "folder" you are presented with the all settings view.  You can make a shortcut to this folder and pin it to Start or to the Taskbar as desired.

For a limited time, Microsoft is offering the Media Center add-on for Windows 8 Pro as a free option.  At least according to the information on Microsoft's website located here.

They are offering this from October 26th 2012 through January 31st 2013, limited to one key per email address.  You have to activate the product key by January 31st 2013 as well.  The regular pricing on this add-on is $9.99.  It is likely that if you use this link today, that the key won't be emailed until tomorrow.  What isn't clear at this time is that if you must activate before January 31st 2013, what happens if you rebuild and reactivate your system after this point?  I'm sure details on this will follow.

Note that if you try to do the upgrade from the Control Panel in Windows 8 they will charge you the full $9.99 fee, so be sure to use the web link above.

If you are an Enterprise user you can now get your hands on the bits for Office 2013.  MSDN and Technet now have the download links available.  Office 2013 will be available to the general public beginning in early 2013.