This week, Microsoft launched its Office Mobile for iPhone and announced their team up with Best Buy, to open Windows Stores in over 600 locations across the US and Canada. Facebook has decided to follow in the steps of Twitter and introduce hashtags into its status posts. Google will discontinue updates for Chrome Frame as of January 2014. Gizmondo reviewed the Nokia Lumia 925 and thinks it's the Windows Phone 8 device people have been waiting for. Windows Phone Central found the new iOS 7 disturbingly similar in design to Windows Phone 8 and Ed Bott tried to rationalize Microsoft's focus on developing a mobile device friendly Windows 8.1. For links to these stories and more, check out this week's round-up.

This week, Microsoft finally answered the burning questions on gamers' lips concerning the Xbox One and also announced the inclusion of Outlook 2013 RT in their upcoming Windows 8.1 update. Images of the much anticipated Nokia EOS were leaked on the Internet and confirmed some of its rumored specs. Ars Technica reviewed the Nokia Lumia 928 and founds its improvements much to its liking while Bing released a translation app and Adobe Photoshop Express made it to the number two slot on the most popular Windows 8 apps chart. For links to these stories and more, check out this week's round-up.

Did you know that I was also involved in the writing of a Microsoft Office 2013 book? Yes, we did not write any tutorials about the new Microsoft Office suite but it doesn't mean we don't like it and we can't write books about it. This time, I was one of the 7 co-authors (Yes, that many!) of a book that has more than 1200 pages. It is bigger and heavier than the Bible, but boy, it has plenty of useful content.

This week saw the official release of details concerning the upcoming Windows 8.1 update and many of the lead IT sites have debated its improvements and what they will mean for Windows users. Opera previewed its Next 15 browser inspired by its Android version, Razer launched the world's slimmest gaming notebook and Windows Phone Central took a look at the upcoming Nokia EOS 41MP PureView Windows Phone and the features that might make it stand out in the mobile market. For links to these stories and more, check out this week's round-up.

Until last year I was using an Android smartphone. At first, I was happy with Android. But the way Android evolved has taken a toll on me and caused lots of frustration over the years. That's why, as of 2012, I decided to give Windows Phone a try. With a few exceptions, I'm happy with the choice I've made and I think Microsoft is onto something good with this platform. After using and testing Windows Phones for more than a year, I believe this is the best platform for affordable smartphones. Here are 6 reasons why:

Microsoft news this week was full of the much anticipated launch of the Xbox One and many lead IT sites took a stab at analyzing its hardware, features and where it stands when put up against its number one rival, the PlayStation 4. Microsoft also launched a new type of mouse that comes with a Start button and decided to make peace with Google and work together on a new YouTube app for Windows Phone. IBM's Watson might soon replace inferior automated customer service systems and Yahoo Mail provides one of the most popular Windows 8 apps. For links to these stories and more, read this week's episode.

As promised, we have extracted the winners in our "Spread the Word & Win" competition. After sorting out all the emails, eliminating duplicates, etc - we identified 26 eligible candidates. Let’s find out who won the five ESET Smart Security 6 licenses available.

This week, Nokia launched its Lumia 925 in London, Microsoft caved in to demands from Google to include ads in their Windows Phone YouTube app and Internet Explorer 10 tested highest against malware attacks. ZDNet approved of Microsoft's recent response to user criticism of Windows 8 in their construction of the upcoming Windows Blue. SkyDrive improved its users' experience with a new photo timeline. For all this and how you can still play classic DOS games on your computers, read this week's episode.

While reviewing ESET Smart Security 6, we were impressed by its design, usability and performance in securing a Windows computer. Then, we thought: what if we were to reward our readers by organizing a giveaway together with the folks from ESET? We contacted them and they agreed to sponsor us. Today we can reward our readers with one of the best security products on the market. Here’s how you can win a license.

NOTE: Today is the last day to enter this giveaway.

This week in Windows 8 news, SkyDrive reached the 250 million users milestone and the YouTube app for Windows Phone has received a big update. Ars Technica took a look at Microsoft's development of the touch-centric Internet Explorer 10 from their research into iPad users to their "Magic Fingers Robot" tests. Adobe's killing off its Creative Suite retail version in favor of its cloud service and Microsoft and Klout are teaming up to bring expert answers to Bing searches. CIO Kevin Pashuk tested Microsoft's Surface Pro and ditched his iPad as a result. For all this and more, don't hesitate to read this week's episode.

This week, the mouse turned 30, Internet Explorer further won ground after its 10th version became available for Windows 7 and Microsoft tried to show that mobile technology can be useful also in education, in a joint initiative with a Singaporean primary school. Windows 8 app developers are grumbling about the disappearance of ads in their apps, the Skype plugin for Outlook.com is getting launched in the UK and Angry Birds' Windows app is getting a do-over with over 100 new levels. And the best news? It's free! For all this and a chance to learn how to make your own custom characters in Windows, just scroll down for the links!

In recent weeks we encountered major issues with our anti-spam system. It malfunctioned very often and, even though it was blocking lots and lots of spam, it was also blocking most of the legitimate comments people were submitting. Thanks to a couple of readers who shared their issues with us, we decided to remove the old anti-spam module and replace it with a new & imaginative captcha system created by Solve Media. We think it is great but we need you to test it and share what you think.