Windows 8 is bringing a lot of new changes to the Windows operating system. Beyond a completely new Start/desktop interface, Microsoft has fully integrated Windows and Xbox as shown by the new "Xbox Windows" branded games. These games will live separately from the Games for Windows Live service.

The games that fall under this banner will provide in-game achievements which award Gamerscore to players. This way you can boost your Gamerscore while killing time at work. As of right now, the games that fall under this title give up to 50 Gamerscore and are Microsoft productions: Minesweeper, Solitaire, and Majong.

Minesweeper provides the most chance to increase your Gamerscore with a possible 50 spread out over 4 achievements. You get 5 Gamerscore just for being blown up by your first mine. Solitaire provides up to 40 Gamerscore with 10 being awarded for just flipping over your first card. Majong has 25 Gamerscore with 5 being awarded for changing the game's theme.

The one thing that is probably going to keep me from buying another Android phone for my next phone is the lack of upgrades to Android over the life of my contract. If you live in the United States, and you likely do since you're reading this on a US publication, you know that two-year contracts are the norm for cell phones. Pre-paid and pay-as-you-go products are catching on here, but they are still way behind the big 4: Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.

To encourage customers to buy or renew a two-year contract, the companies offer subsidies on the phones, usually $150 or so, if you sign a two-year contract. In essence, this enables the customer to buy a nicer phone and amortize the cost over two years. The issue then becomes you can't get a new phone for two years unless you want to pay the full price which can be upwards of $400.

This is why Google should require all Android manufacturers to provide Android updates for a minimum of two years. Three years or more would be the most ideal as most phones aren't on the market for more than a year. This way if you purchased a phone right at the end-of-life, you would still be covered with updates until you could purchase another subsidized phone.

Even though Samsung sold close to double the smartphones that Apple did last quarter, with 50 million sold, which is the largest number of units ever shipped by a single vendor in a single quarter, Apple are still absolutely kicking the asses of the competition when it comes to the industry's operating profits.

Apple have much higher gross margins on their iPhone and iPad's, which completely eclipses its rivals in both revenue, and operating profits. Apple only shipped around 6% of the industry's smartphones and tablets in Q2, but they took a surprising 43% of the industry's revenue, according to Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt. Apple also generated an absolutely huge 77% of the industry's operating profits, even in a seasonally weak period for iPhone sales.

So, now we find ourselves in a position of weirdness with competitor Samsung. The Korean-based company outsold Apple's ever-so-popular iPhone two-to-one, and still couldn't touch Apple's insane grab of industry operating profits. But, things can change quickly, and all it takes is a single release from a company (a new, surprising, 'magical' iPhone), or a constant stream of releases (Galaxy phones that continue to sell more and more) to turn things around.

The Verge has been the first out of the gate with exclusive pictures of the retail packaging of Microsoft's upcoming, and already leaked OS, Windows 8. Packaging has been shown off for Windows 8, and Windows 8 Pro, which will be the only boxed versions of the OS to hit retail shelves.

Microsoft have opted to show off their Windows 8-style UI on the boxes, which looks quite delicious, if I may say so myself. Windows 8 sports a brighter styled package in white, with the Professional version shown off in black. Both are looking very nice indeed.

Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT will be available either on new PCs, and tablets from October 26. Upgrade versions will hit stores, or as a download on the same day. What do you think of the newly-styled Windows 8 boxes?

If you were looking forward to booting directly to the desktop in Windows 8, you're going to be sorry, because Microsoft won't be allowing this. This means that users will be totally forced to look at that "Windows 8-style UI", aka Metro, before you can hit that usual desktop screen you're used to.

We don't know if this will effect all users, but right now it looks like it is a possibility. If the move is concrete, we can see just how serious Microsoft are at pushing their new Windows 8-style UI, or Metro, and how its going to effect Microsoft going forward. The Windows 8 Start Screen isn't just a feature that can be ignored, but will be a component of every single system that sports the OS. Maybe it sounds annoying now, but when we're used to it, we could have tiles for temperatures, e-mail, and the like, and we'll totally get over it.

But, Microsoft have also been talking about this type of move since BUILD, with it looking like it's going to be a staple feature of the OS now. The more I think about it, the more it doesn't directly effect me, as I don't fully turn off my PC all that often anyway.

I have yet to of had the pleasure of using Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but I hope to soon when I get my paws on ASUS' Nexus 7. What disappoints me is the news of Samsung's Galaxy Note II might be shipping with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

The news is unconfirmed, but its far from being a rumor, so for now it stays as a normal news post. The news came off the back of Sam Mobile's report that Samsung's Galaxy S III would receive Jelly Bean, and that the initial firmware on the Galaxy S III that had passed testing, this enabled developers to focus on the public release. But, the S III should receive Jelly Bean sometime in Q3, pending final approval and if it's all smooth sailing from here on out.

The Galaxy Note II, according to the report, might only ship with ICS. Current testing software is said to be ICS, which could allow Samsung to fast track the 5.5-inch 'phablet', instead of waiting for more testing with Jelly Bean. If the Note II ships without Jelly Bean, it'll be a saggy point of the phone, I think any flagship smart devices shipped from now on should be driven by Jelly Bean, with devices not pegged to be flagship with ICS, with updates the Jelly Bean in the near future.

When typing this news, I had to type the 'summary', where I fumbled and typed "Half-Life 2", because I'm not used to referencing Half-Life 3, and in my fanboy excitement, mistakes happen. I picked it up, and here we go: some very eagle-eyed developers at ValveTime have seen some discoveries worth posting some news about. It was also worthy of a new creation 'OMGTT', in the title of this news.

The discovery is that Valve are working on a next-gen Source engine, Source 2, the next version of their 10-year-old engine. Valve's Source engine has powered some of the biggest PC games of all time, such as Half-Life 2, Portal and its sequel, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead and its sequel, and more. Evidence of Source 2 comes from Valve's own Source Filmmaker, which is a free movie-making tool that allows users to create videos using the same assets from within the Source engine itself.

A comment was found on one of SFM's python files provides the best evidence of Source 2's existence to date:

Richard Schulze, founder of Best Buy, has offered to buy the retailer for roughly $8.5 billion, according to reports. Schulze resigned as chairman after ex-CEO Brian Dunn was investigated for "personal misconduct" issues, has offered to pay between $24 and $26 per share for Best Buy, which he hopes to make private.

Best Buy has confirmed that they have indeed received the proposal, and says it will be considering it in the near future. As of June, Schulze held over 20% of the company, and plans to put forward $1 billion from that stake into the proposed deal. The remaining $7.5 billion (or so) would come from "premier private-equity firms" who claim to have a "deep experience in retail", as well as debt financing.

While according to Minnesota corporate law, permission from company directors is required in order to form a group for a more complete offer, which is requested in Schulze's offer letter, and has no deadline set. There is reportedly a source close to the matter that says that Schulze entered into the negotiations for the board's permission in the last couple of weeks, but wasn't successful due to the board claiming that it wasn't a good time to go public.

Apple seems to be on an anti-Google rampage with iOS 6. The obvious change is the lack of Google Maps in the upcoming mobile operating system, but now Apple has said that the YouTube app will also be removed. It would seem that the reason for this change is due to the licensing agreement between Apple and Google has run out.

Don't fret, however, as Apple has confirmed that YouTube will work in Safari. They also said that Google is working on a standalone version of the app which will be available through the App Store. It's not clear whether Apple wanted to free the iOS experience of Google or if they got tired of paying Google's licensing fees.

It's likely that this change will be good for consumers. The stock YouTube app hasn't seen any major changes or improvements for years, however, now that Google has its own app, it can change and update it as much as it would like. A YouTube spokesperson said that "we are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users."

There's no denying that piracy is a huge problem for Microsoft. Just two days after Windows 8 was released to OEMs, the operating system showed up on file sharing sites for download. Microsoft has declined to comment on the leak, but there's little reason to think it was someone other than an employee at an OEM.

This isn't the first example of piracy for Microsoft. Almost every previous product they have released has been pirated to some extent. While they won't be able to get the problem completely stamped out with the changes they are making, it should at least close some loopholes and make it harder for pirates to do what they do best.

The changes relate to how OEMs active Windows on pre-built machines. Windows is activated at the factory so that consumers don't have to take any additional steps when they purchase a computer. Prior activation schemes saw OEMs using a single activation key on all machines so that they could use the same image across them all.