Microsoft

LinkedIn wants to make its platform more convenient for its Windows 10 users.

The Microsoft-owned professional network on Monday launched a new app for users of the operating system. The goal: Let its millions of Windows users experience some of the same features found on LinkedIn’s mobile app and desktop site. This includes receiving messages and invites from other members in real time.

Using the app also will provide a more fluid way to stay up-to-date compared with using LinkedIn on a browser, said Chris Pruett, a senior director of engineering who redesigned LinkedIn’s desktop site that debuted in January and its upgraded mobile app. About 40 percent of LinkedIn’s traffic, from its roughly 500 million members, comes from desktop computers as people scour for jobs, make connections or search for news, while the remaining 60 percent use mobile devices.

“I see the Windows 10 app as another chapter in our evolving story,” Pruett said. “It’s all about staying connected.”

The latest move for LinkedIn arrives a year after Microsoft bought the company for $26.2 billion. Since then, LinkedIn has been trying to keep members engaged by through the upgrades and through new features including messaging; Open Candidates, through which members can discreetly notify recruiters they’re job hunting; and Salary, which assists those wanting to earn more money.

Users can tap into the LinkedIn app for Windows 10 by going to the Start menu and taskbar. There’s also a Live Tile feature so messages and updates can pop up on members’ screens, said Hermes Alvarez, a product manager. 

So instead of Windows members switching back and forth between LinkedIn’s mobile and desktop versions, now there’s a desktop app to handle everything, said Hermes, who compares LinkedIn’s new app to Slack, the popular messaging and collaboration service for professionals.

LinkedIn’s new app for Windows 10 is available for users in the US on Monday and its global users by the end of July.

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Microsoft

Microsoft could be about to unleash a branded tablet, taking the fight for slate supremacy directly to Apple.

The Redmond-based software monger has scheduled an event for Monday, at which it will be making a ‘major’ announcement that the company says “you will not want to miss”.

According to The Wrap, which cites an individual with knowledge of the company, Microsoft will use the event to launch an own-brand tablet.

There’s no hint as to what such a gadget would look like (the image above is just Windows 8 stuck on an HP TouchPad), but the report claims that Microsoft will manufacture the new toy itself.

I’d rather see Nokia building Microsoft’s flagship tablet, having allied with Microsoft closely over Windows Phone and proving it has the hardware chops to make a desirable bit of kit.

As for the operating system, if the tablet proves real then Windows 8 RT (the version built for tablets) would be all but guaranteed.

Personally I think a Microsoft-branded tablet would be a smart move. It’s fair to say that Microsoft isn’t exactly regarded as the coolest of brands (thanks Clippy), but a tablet bearing the Microsoft logo and running Windows 8 would at least be easy to explain to shoppers.

Less tech-savvy buyers would likely find a branded slate easier to wrap their heads around than, say, an Asus device that’s running Microsoft’s operating system. One potential obstacle for anyone looking to buy an Android tablet is the sheer number of devices out there.

Microsoft could be getting protective over its new operating system, with recent reports suggesting that the company has blocked HTC from the first round of Windows 8 devices, deeming the Taiwanese phone flogger too inexperienced.

Would you use a tablet running Windows 8? Is making a tablet the best way for Microsoft to battle Apple? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.

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