Oracle preps NetBeans for a mobile Web future

Although originally built to develop enterprise Java apps, the NetBeans IDE (integrated development environment) is increasingly being rigged to help developers use the lighter weight HTML5 and JavaScript Web languages as well.

With the next edition of NetBeans, version 7.4, Oracle has outfitted the IDE with new tools to help build iOS and Android Web applications that use HTML5 and JavaScript, in addition to updating its core feature set for Java Enterprise Edition development as well.

NetBeans IDE is Oracle's no-cost open source IDE for primarily designed for Java, though it includes robust support for the PHP and C/C++ languages as well. It is available for the Windows, Apple Macintosh, Oracle Solaris and Linux platforms.

The new Netbeans 7.4 comes with enhanced support for developing mobile applications.

Oracle started building HTML5 support into NetBeans 7.3, and 7.4 continues this work. This version allows developers to build HTML5 functionality directly in their Java and PHP applications, rather than working on the HTML5 code as a separate part of the project.

NetBeans 7.4 also provides emulators that can show developers what their HTML5 applications would look like and how they would operate in iOS and Android-based browsers.

JavaScript support has been improved quite a bit as well. The editor now recognizes the JavaScript AngularJS, Knockout and ExtJS frameworks. JavaScript code completion has been improved, as has the IDE's understanding of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). 

Web developers can now also use Sassy CSS and LESS preprocessor files in NetBeans, which saves time in building complex CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for applications.

For the Java developers, NetBeans now recognizes the new Profiles and Lamba functionality that is being built into the upcoming release of Java 8. 

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com

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Wall Street Beat: Software vendor results offer glimpses of optimism

Enterprise tech companies including Oracle this week started reporting financial results that cover at least part of the third calendar quarter, and so far, the trends look mildly promising compared to last quarter.

For its fiscal quarter ending Aug. 31, Oracle reported revenue of $8.4 billion, up 2 percent year over year, and net income of $2.2 billion, up 8 percent. Sales of new software licenses and "engineered systems," preconfigured hardware and software bundles like the company's Exadata offering, helped boost results.

One big question for Oracle is whether its cloud-based software will compete successfully against similar offerings from younger rivals such as Workday and Salesforce.com. Another issue is whether Oracle's move into hardware, essentially a bet it made when it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010, will pan out or continue to be a drag on profit.

Overall hardware system revenue decreased 7 percent to $1.23 billion in the quarter, Oracle said. However, engineered systems did well, officials said.

"Engineered systems had its best ever Q1 in terms of unit sales, growing over 60 percent compared with the same quarter last year," said Oracle President Mark Hurd in a press release.

In addition, new software licenses and cloud software subscription revenue was up 5 percent to $1.7 billion.

On the sales side, the company's report was marginally better than the prior two quarters, when revenue was flat year over year.

But on a conference call after the results were announced, Oracle Co-President Safra Catz cautioned that the current quarter would present a "tough" comparison to last year. New software license and cloud-subscription sales will range from a drop of 4 percent to an increase of 6 percent in constant currency, while overall revenue growth would range from 1 percent to 4 percent taking into account currency fluctuations, according to Catz.

CEO Larry Ellison is expected to discuss the company's latest database release, 12c, and upcoming enhancements for in-memory computing in the opening keynote at OracleWorld Sunday.

Oracle shares rose $0.02 Thursday, closing at $33.89, and rose again by $0.16 to close at $34.05 Friday.

Middleware vendor Tibco, meanwhile, reported an uptick in quarterly sales Thursday, after running into headwinds over the last few quarter as the company revamped its sales force to better execute sales strategy in the face of tough competition and a turbulent economy.

Total revenue for the company's third quarter of fiscal 2013 was $270.9 million, compared to $255 million a year earlier and net income was $21.3 million, compared to $26.1 million.

Last quarter, both sales and profit declined year over year.

Despite the tough economic climate over the past year, Tibco CEO Vivek Ranadivé has always maintained that the company can increase revenue and beat the competition, including giants like IBM, as long as its sales force executes on strategy.

"We saw further signs of operational improvement this quarter, as our focus on execution generated renewed growth in our infrastructure business," said Ranadivé, in a press release announcing the results. In a conference call, Ranadivé tried to drive the point home.

"We did not lose a single deal in the entire quarter," Ranadive said, according to a transcript of the call on Seeking Alpha.

Tibco shares closed up by $0.67 at $25.92 Friday.

Meanwhile, Adobe, whose Photoshop and Illustrator software target creative and marketing professionals, got a boost after announcing this week that it ended its fiscal quarter with an increase of 331,000 subscribers to its Creative Cloud cloud-based software service. It now has 1.3 million Creative Cloud subscribers.

"We exceeded 1 million subscriptions during Q3, demonstrating that the transition to Creative Cloud is happening sooner than expected," said CEO Shantanu Narayen.

Revenue, however, decreased from $1.1 billion to $995 million and net income declined from $201 million to $83 million.

Investors appeared to be cheered by the uptick in cloud users though, pushing up Adobe shares by $4.44 to $52.58 on Wednesday, a day after results were announced. Shares settled down to $52.31 Friday.

Outside of the software world, BlackBerry said Friday it would lay off 4,500 employees, or 40 percent of its staff, and reported a loss of about $1 billion, in a surprise early earnings announcement. The beleaguered smartphone maker's attempts this year to revamp its product line to compete with Apple's iPhone and phones based on Android have failed to lift results. It is exploring a sale of parts or all of the company. Shares declined by $1.82 to close at $8.70 Friday.

Overall, it was a down day on the markets Friday, as the Standard and Poor's 500 index declined by 12.43 points to close at 1709.91, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 185.46 points to close at 15,451.09 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped by 14.66 points to close at 3774.73.

The declines appeared to have more to do with a comment by a Federal Reserve official than any particular company announcement, however.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said on Bloomberg TV that trimming of the Fed's $85 billion monthly bond purchase program might be possible starting next month. The Fed's bond purchases are widely viewed as helping to prop up the stock market in the wake of the recession.

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How to get an extra 10GB of Google Drive space for free

Google gives all comers 15 gigabytes' worth of free storage across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Plus Photos. Not a bad chunk of space just for having a heartbeat.

Of course, more is always better, especially when you don't have to pay for it. And Google is now offering exactly that, though there are a couple small catches.

From now through Sept. 26, you have the opportunity to score an extra 10GB of Google Drive space, no extra charge.

The requirement: Install the new Quickoffice app for Android or iOS--which, incidentally, is also now free. Then sign into your Google account via that app. Presto! You get another 10GB of gratis storage.

What's the catch? First, it won't appear right away; Google says to look for the space increase "in the next few weeks." Second, this isn't a permanent bump, though it is a lengthy one: you get the freebie for the next two years.

Eh, no biggie. That's 2015's problem.

Contributing Editor Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PC hassles at hasslefree@pcworld.com. Sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter (which is included in the Power Tips newsletter) e-mailed to you each week.

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Microsoft to analysts: consumers are the gateway to cloud, enterprise usage

For all of its recent emphasis on its Surface tablet and the Xbox, Microsoft remains focused on the enterprise, and especially on the cloud—but its consumer offerings are a gateway, Microsoft executives said.

Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner opened Microsoft's 2013 financial analyst meeting by disclosing that more than 55 percent of Microsoft's revenue comes from the enterprise, a number that he said Microsoft rarely discloses. Other key executives, such as chief executive Steve Ballmer, are expected later in the meeting's day, which runs until 5 PM PDT.

Wall Street may have hoped that Microsoft would answer some uncomfortable questions, beginning with Microsoft's unexpected shakeup. In July, Ballmer announced a sweeping reorganization that flattened the corporate structure and placed the company's key technologies in the spotlight, rather than making the individual products the focus.

In August, however, Ballmer unexpectedly said that he would retire at the end of 12 months, prompting feverish speculation about who would replace him: including Stephen Elop of Nokia, among others.

Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia helped boost Elop's apparent chances. Unfortunately, Amy Hood, Microsoft's chief financial officer, introduced the conference by saying that the company would be offering no new updates on the succession process.

Kevin Turner, another candidate to succeed Ballmer, first appeared on stage to present Microsoft's business strategy and where the company has succeeded. So far, that appears to be in the cloud.

More than 55 percent of Microsoft's business comes from the enterprise, Turner said, with 20 percent from the consumer market, 19 percent directly from OEMs, and 6 percent from small and medium businesses. Turner said that each field employee generates a total of $2.7 million per employee, a new high.

Microsoft's Turner also pooh-poohed the negative response from OEM competitors to some of Microsoft's own hardware plays, like the Surface. Turner referred to the consternation in the OEM channel when Microsoft launched Surface, with OEMs complaining about competition from Microsoft itself.  "We don"t want to make all the devices... but we will make some first-party hardware," Turner said.

"As a result of having those consumer services, we're able to deliver world-class business services at scale," Turner said. "When you think about the opportunity between these two worlds, we know the seams of hardware and software integration."

Turner also claimed that those OEMs now would claim that those products had improved dramatically.

Turner also took pains to emphasize how Microsoft was winning in the cloud.

Microsoft has 460 million MSN customers, 8 million Xbox Live customers, and Bing fields 4.6 billion queries per month. More than 400 million people use Outlook.com, Turner said, after Microsoft made it "more vibrant" and refreshed it, he said.

In the enterprise, Microsoft should move from a $1.5 billion annual revenue rate with Office 365 this quarter, and "blow that away" later this year, Turner said. Microsoft's enterprise, public-cloud service in China is the only one of its kind in the world, he said.

In the past year, Microsoft increased deployed users of Office 365 by 350 percent, Turner said.

"Some people have asked, what are you doing with Google in the enterprise?" Turner said. "We're winning them back, one customer at a time," and Microsoft sees that accelerating, he said—helped by the fact that "[Microsoft] doesn't snoop their email or listen in on their Wi-Fi."

"Microsoft has never been considered a critical-enterprise IT provider," Turner added. "Today we are. That is the new Microsoft."

Social media in the enterprise represents a $38 billion opportunity today, Turner said. About 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Yammer, while 90 out of the Fortune 100 companies use Microsoft's enterprise collaboration tool, Lync. Lync is a billion-dollar product; Skype has 320 million users.

Together, Lync, Yammer, Skype, and SharePoint in the enterprise make up a "incredibly compelling story" in the enterprise space, Turner said.

Turner also made a pitch for the upcoming Windows 8.1, and its business features: workplace join, as well as the ability to remotely wipe and clean the device of business data if the employee leaves the company. He also pitched Windows Phone as the smartphone platform of the future.

The Haswell or fourth-generation Core processor from Intel gives Microsoft the capability to have a fanless device on a better platform," Turner said. That will open up new form factors at new price points, he said, and Microsoft is working hard across with partners to make that happen.

Microsoft has also worked to improve its retail store experience, partnering with 200 Best Buy stores to put Microsoft boutiques within each.  "We have to improve the retail buying experience," Turner said, referring to early customer reticence to buy PCs using the OS. "It hasn't been what we liked."

"The one thing we know about Windows Phone: when people use it, they really really like it," Turner said. Turner acknowledged that Windows Phone was a distant third behind Android and iOS, but with year-over-year gains like 900 percent in India, the company holds out hope that it will close the gap. Turner talked up its its Nokia acquisition, but also highlighted partners such as Samsung and several Asian partners.

Finally, Turner said that its Xbox Live service has attracted 43 million users, about 40 percent of whom are female.

A power outage then interrupted the meeting. When it returned, Microsoft executives detailed their commitment to Windows RT versions of the Surface tablet.

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Microsoft commits to 'many more' Windows RT tablets

Don't count Windows RT out yet: Microsoft executives said Thursday that customers should expect "many more Windows RT tablets" in the future.

As part of its 2013 financial analyst meeting Thursday, Microsoft assembled its key leaders to field questions from Wall Street analysts, most dealing with strategies on individual products. Questions about Microsoft's Surface strategy essentially served as a prologue to Microsoft's Surface event next week, where the company is expected to launch the next-generation Surface 2, based on an Intel Haswell processor.

And although Windows RT and the Windows RT-powered Surface have had their detractors—as well as their fans (like the one shown above)—RT-powered tablets will apparently remain in the conversation for some time to come.

Terry Myerson, executive vice president in charge of all of Microsoft's operating systems, said that his job was to exploit commonalities in design, silicon, and interfaces to enable consistent experiences across different platforms.

[Related: Microsoft to analysts: consumers are the gateway to cloud, enterprise usage]

Specifically, Myerson said that he had three key beliefs: one silicon interface for all devices, one API for all devices, and all apps should be available on all devices. Moreover, all devices should be cloud-powered, with core services enabling all devices. And all devices should have the same, tailored experience, Myerson said. A core team will bring those silicon interfaces together, he said. Another team will deliver services, and a satellite team will help out the others.

Windows RT will also play a role. ARM devices continue to have incredible share in phones, Myerson said, apparent justification to continue building tablets around them.

"Expect to see many more ARM tablets," Myerson said. Windows RT 8.1 also supports the next generation of ARM chips—presumably foreshadowing tablets built around the emerging 64-bit Cortex architectures that ARM is developing, although Myerson didn't confirm this.

Julie Larson-Green, who runs Microsoft's Devices and Studios business, also endorsed Windows RT and its future.

Larson-Green, who will report to Nokia's Stephen Elop when he returns to Microsoft as part of the Nokia acquisition next year, was also asked about how Surface is progressing, providing some insight into how Microsoft will launch the new Surface next week. "What we've learned is that you need to have balance in the market: great hardware, great software, great apps and services to allow you to win," she said.

Larson-Green said that the original Xbox had few games. Within Surface, the team is working on all aspects; software, services, and hardware, to improve it holistically, she said.

Apps are a significant area of focus for the leadership team, Myerson said. "We have a plan, we have a focus... and we think we'll be a leader here as we execute our plan," Myerson said.

Virtually all of the top 50 apps are on Windows Phone, Myerson said. Microsoft has worked to lower its fees for app development and publishing, and introduced competencies to highlight certain developers. "We really are working all angles on this: globally, locally, how the virtuous cycle works on other platforms, how they should work on our platforms," he said.

Satya Nadella, executive vice president of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise business, added that there's no application that gets built today without a cloud element—a key advantage for Microsoft and its Azure technology.

Myerson also pointed out that Microsoft should benefit, engineering-wise, from the Nokia acquisition. "There are times you get to the hardware-software boundary, and sometimes that boundary gets in the way of collaboration," Myerson said.

"Sometimes that seam has slowed progress or hindered what could get done," Myerson added. "Removing that seam will enable new things. Not just first-party devices from Microsoft....I see even more compelling software and services from our platform and more epic hardware from Nokia."

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Ballmer strongly hints at Office for iPad and Android tablets

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer insinuated that the company is working on a version of Office for the iPad and for Android tablets when he addressed Wall Street analysts on Thursday.

Speaking about "upside opportunities" that exist for Microsoft, Ballmer talked about porting products to non-Windows platforms. "We don't have our heads in the sand," he said during the company's meeting with financial analysts, which was held in a Bellevue, Washington convention center and webcast live.

In this context Microsoft is "working on everything that you think we should be working on," Ballmer said.

Windows is the preferred platform for Microsoft applications and remains supremely important, but executives have less "religion" than people think and keep their "eyes wide open" with regards to the opportunities for generating additional revenue by porting products like Office to other platforms, he said.

To be sure, Ballmer didn't refer specifically to Office for iOS and Android, but it seemed clear that this is what he had in mind, since this issue has been a constant source of criticism for the company, which is leaving a lot of money on the table by not offering full, native versions of Office for the Apple and Google mobile OSes.

Earlier, during a panel discussion, Qi Lu, executive vice president of Microsoft's Applications and Services Group, had danced around a question about this issue, giving a quasi-professorial explanation for how Microsoft decides when and where to port software, but ultimately refraining from giving any concrete answer.

Many believe Microsoft has been reticent to offer Office for iPad in particular out of fear that doing so will hurt the value of Windows 8, which is optimized for tablets, and of the new Surface RT tablets, and instead help iOS and Apple. Neither the new Microsoft OS nor its new tablets have fared as well as expected.

Ballmer's comments were the most surprising in the four-hour meeting, in which he and his lieutenants spent most of the time making a case for why Microsoft, despite its challenges, is in good shape to recover from past mistakes and take advantage of market opportunities in the coming years.

Yes, they acknowledged, Microsoft is in a weak position in the smartphone and tablet OS markets, and Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and the Surface tablets haven't fixed that problem. But, they said, the company will try again with Windows 8.1, due in mid-October, with the still-pending acquisition of the Nokia smartphone business and with an upcoming second generation of the Surface devices.

They went over the company's strategy to transform itself from a provider of packaged, on-premises software to a provider of devices and cloud services. They said this process is underway and will be helped by the recently announced reorganization designed to make the company work in a more cohesive way, a restructuring that is being implemented.

Ballmer did specifically list four areas in which Microsoft must deliver in the coming years in order to succeed: Office 365 and the Azure cloud platform; Windows PCs; smartphones and tablets; and innovation in "high value" opportunities.

Office 365, the cloud suite of productivity, messaging and collaboration applications, is doing very well and is on a US$1.5 billion annual revenue run rate, officials said. It will be a vehicle for Microsoft to continue delivering other applications via the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, Ballmer said.

Despite the cratering of the worldwide PC business, Microsoft must stick with it, because the PC will continue to be the device of choice for people when they need to be productive, as opposed to tablets, which are more content-consumption devices, according to Ballmer. He said he's confident Windows 8.1, due in mid-October, will offer "distinct improvements" over Windows 8.

CFO Amy Hood gave a peek at how Microsoft plans to do its financial reporting starting this quarter to match its corporate reorganization. As part of the restructuring, Microsoft dissolved its five business units -- the Business Division, which housed Office; Server & Tools, which included SQL Server and System Center; the Windows Division; Online Services, which included Bing; and Entertainment and Devices, whose main product was the Xbox console.

It has replaced them with four engineering groups organized by function, around operating systems, applications, cloud computing and devices, and by centralized groups for marketing, business development, strategy and research, finance, human resources, legal and operations.

Hood said the company will now report its financial performance according to five segments under two main categories:

The first category is Devices and Consumer and includes three segments:

-- hardware, which includes the Surface tablets and Xbox;

-- licensing, which includes Windows OEM sales, Windows Phone, Office for consumers and IP licensing;

-- "other," which includes Bing, MSN, Office 365 Home Premium, and video games

The second category is Commercial and includes two segments:

-- licensing, which includes Windows for the enterprise, server products, Office for businesses, Dynamics and unified communications products like Lync

-- "other," which includes enterprise services, Office 365 for businesses and Azure

Hood said Microsoft will provide more detailed explanations later about this new financial reporting structure. In the wake of the reorganization announcement, some people have expressed concern that it will be harder for outsiders to evaluate how certain key products are performing. However, Hood said she and Microsoft are committed to making the company's financial performance clear to analysts, investors and the public in general.

Meanwhile, COO Kevin Turner said the company has a "balanced and diverse business" in terms of the customer segments it serves, the products it offers and the split in revenue between the U.S. and abroad.

Some critics maintain that Microsoft's product line is too diverse and that far from unifying the company, it would be wiser to make certain units more autonomous.

Microsoft officials didn't provide any information about the ongoing process to pick a replacement for Ballmer, who recently announced his intention to retire at some point in the next 12 months. Speculation about who may get picked has become a Silicon Valley pastime, and there are questions as to whether the replacement will get leeway in rethinking some of Ballmer's decisions, especially regarding the reorganization.

Of course, it wouldn't have been a Microsoft event if participants hadn't taken a few shots at Google. Turner said Office 365 has been taking business from Google Apps in part because customers have become distrustful of the way Gmail scans the text of email messages to serve ads and of Google's WiFi snooping scandal. (Google in turn routinely also reports on customers Google Apps has snatched from Microsoft.)

For his part, Ballmer said that Google's business practices "are worthy of discussion with competition authorities" and increasingly so, especially around the way the company bundles some of its products.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.

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Hulu says 'ello to a ton of new BBC shows

Anglophiles of the streaming world, unite! On Wednesday, Hulu announced a huge content acquisition deal with BBC Worldwide North America to bring tons of British shows to your TVs, mobile devices, and desktops.

There's so much content, in fact, that Hulu is rolling it out in four stages for its $8-a-month Hulu Plus subscribers. The first batch is available now, and includes 170-plus episodes of various Doctor Who series and spin-offs. Also ready to watch are the likes of Primeval, Robin Hood, and Red Dwarf, as well as a favorite of mine, Life on Mars, which has until now been unavailable to stream from any U.S. service.

Is Sam Tyler dead, in a coma, or did he travel back in time? Subscribe to Hulu Plus to find out.

On September 24, Hulu will add 'dramas and masterpiece classics' such as Luther, the Benedict Cumberbatch/Martin Freeman Sherlock, Upstairs, Downstairs, State of Play, Wallander, and more.

October 1 is comedies, with such classics as Absolutely Fabulous, Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder, A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and Fawlty Towers.

Finally, October 8 will bring what Hulu is calling 'factual and natural history' with Top Gear and David Attenborough's The Blue Planet, The Life of Mammals, and The Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth.

Hulu also notes that additional series will roll out through 2013, adding up to more than 2000 episodes from BBC Worldwide. And cheapskate (non-subscribing) Hulu.com viewers will have access to a rotating selection of free shows.

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BlackBerry messaging service rolls out to Android and iPhone this weekend

Amid rumors of layoffs and a possible sale of the company, BlackBerry announced some good news Wednesday: its growing BBM instant messaging service will be available for Android and iPhone devices in the next several days.

BBM is one of the high points of the failing BlackBerry legacy business, with recent growth in BBM users mainly in Europe and Asia. Until now, BBM has only been available for BlackBerry devices.

BBM has 60 million monthly active customers who send and receive more than 10 billion messages a day, BlackBerry said. Messages are quickly read in seconds, which BlackBerry said is an indication of how engaged BBM users are.

BBM will be a free download in the Google Play store for Android on Saturday and in the Apple App Store for iPhone on Sunday, BlackBerry said.

"With more than a billion Android, iOS and BlackBerry smartphones in the market, and no dominant mobile messaging platform, this is absolutely the right time to bring BBM to Android and iPhone customers," Andrew Bocking, executive vice president for BBM at BlackBerry, said in a statement.

In addition to BBM text chat, users can share files such as photos and voice notes. BBM lets a user know that a message has been delivered and read and shows when a friend is responding.

Up to 30 friends can join in group chats and share photos and schedules. A function called Broadcast Message allows users to send out a message to all their BBM contacts at the same time.

BBM relies on a unique PIN to authorize a user, which BlackBerry maintains is more secure than giving out a phone number or email address to a new contact.

The Android download will be available at 7 a.m. ET on Sept. 21 for Android 4 and later. For iPhones running iOS 6 and iOS 7, BBM will be available in the App Store at 12:01 a.m. local time on Sept. 22.

Later in 2013, BlackBerry is expected to unveil BBM Channels to allow for conversations between users and communities. The conversations can be organized around common interests, brands, celebrities and more. BBM video and BBM voice calling are also planned for Android and iPhone in a future version, but BlackBerry didn't disclose when.

BBM isn't yet available for Windows Phone smartphones, and BlackBerry didn't indicate when, or whether, that would occur. Windows Phone recently overtook BlackBerry as the third-largest smartphone brand shipping globally.

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Grand Theft Auto V records a whopping $800M in first-day sales

It's a heist neither Trevor, Franklin, nor Michael could possibly pull off: stealing $800 million, the first-day take of Take-Two's smash hit, Grand Theft Auto V.

And it's not over yet. Take-Two said that while the sell-through totals set a new record for first-day sales both within the franchise and developer Rockstar Games' history, that did not take into account sales in Japan and Brazil, which haven't formally launched yet. It's also likely to be the largest first-day sales total in gaming history.

The game launched only on the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 game consoles. A petition to launch the game for the PC has reached over 440,000 signatures. Versions for the upcoming PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles are also expected, although neither the PC, PS4, nor Xbox One editions have been announced.

"All of us at Take-Two are thrilled with the initial response to Grand Theft Auto V," Strauss Zelnick, chairman and chief executive of Take-Two, said in a statement.  "Once again, the team at Rockstar Games have outdone themselves, setting the entertainment industry's new standard for creativity, innovation and excellence."

More than 8,300 stores across the United States opened their doors at midnight to accomodate the launch, the company said.

It's likely that the $800 million figure will stand as the highest ever for a first-day sales total for a video game. Last year, Yahoo rounded up the largest first-day openings in video-game history: 2012's Call of Duty: Black Ops II made $500 million in its first 24 hours, 2011's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 recorded $400 milion in the first day, and 2010'sCall of Duty: Black Ops rang up $360 million in its first 24 hours as well. All went on to record more eye-popping sales totals throughout the days to follow.

While GTA5 achieved the highest score ever on Metacritic, some reviewers have criticized the way in which the main characters are portrayed, as essentially amoral thugs who embody rampant mosogny and violence. Others have argued that that is exactly the point of the GTA series itself.

"We are incredibly proud of Rockstar Games' creative achievement and could not be more pleased with the success of this launch," Zelnick said.

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Microsoft makes Windows 8.1 more DIY-friendly with full versions

Microsoft continued apologizing for its past behavior by announcing that retail copies of Windows 8.1 will be available in standalone, full versions of the software, rather than as upgrades from previous versions of Windows.

Unfortunately, pricing for the new Windows 8.1 editions will match that of Windows 8: $120 for Windows 8.1 by itself, and $200 for the Pro edition. If you already have Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 and wish to upgrade to the Pro version, you can still do so for $100. There's also a $10 upgrade for Pro users who want to add Media Center functionality.

But with Windows 8.1, Microsoft will make two important changes. First, users have the option of buying either an upgrade code for digital download or a retail DVD. That allows traditionalists the option of a physical disc in case of a hard disk crash. But the standalone option also should offer customers the alternative of building a new, low-cost PC upon which they can run Windows 8.1.

Read our Windows 8.1 RTM review

"This shift allows more flexibility for customers in specific technical scenarios and is in response to feedback we've received," Windows blogger Brandon LeBlanc wrote in a Tuesday blog post. "It will be easier for those consumers who want to build PCs from scratch, run Windows 8.1 in Virtual Machine (VM) environments, or run Windows 8.1 on a second hard drive partition."

Users who already own Windows 8 will receive Windows 8.1 as a free upgrade from the Windows Store. Users who install "fresh" copies of the Windows 8.1 OS shouldn't have to worry about reinstalling any apps or settings. Users who have already downloaded the Windows 8.1 preview onto their Windows 8 machines will have to reinstall their applications, however.

LeBlanc also promised "new retail offers" as October 18 approaches. That's the date when Microsoft will launch Windows 8.1 in retail.

After introducing the Metro motif into Windows 8, Microsoft has spent the succeeding months walking back certain design elements: allowing users to boot directly into the familiar Windows desktop, redesigning how applications are listed under the Start page, and numerous other changes that make Windows 8.1 a sort of "do over" for the company. As LeBlanc had noted, users had complained that Microsoft hadn't offered a standalone version of Windows 8.

Microsoft said that the new standalone version of Windows 8.1 will work with Windows 7 PCs, although users will have to reinstall their desktop apps. Users can try and install Windows 8.1 over an existing Windows XP or Vista installation, but Microsoft recommended that they use the installation disc and be prepared to reinstall files, settings, and apps from one system to another.

Microsoft's change in policy will also be welcomed by the DIY or homebrew community, which has, at least anecdotally, shrunk somewhat as PC prices have come down and users have turned to self-contained notebooks rather than easily upgradable desktops. In May, research firm IDC said that it expects tablets to outsell desktops and tablets combined by 2015. IDC said that it expects desktop PC sales to decline from 134 million to 123 million PCs from now through 2015, as well.

"If you count all use models, net out 'professional DIY' (mom-and-pop and local PC stores building computers), and include the home DIY 'upgrade' market, I would estimate the global market for DIY is approximately $9 billion," Ted Pollak, an analyst with Jon Peddie Research, wrote in an email. "Add another billion if you want to include the "professional DIY" market."

(With Windows 8, Microsoft sold somewhat ambiguous "System Builder" versions that essentially allowed users to build their own PCs around Windows 8. On the surface, however, the software was geared more toward small businesses.)

Microsoft also said separately that it would grant access to Windows 8.1 Enterprise to TechNet and MSDN subscribers, beginning Tuesday.

"[T]he primary objective in making Windows 8.1 RTM bits available on TechNet and MSDN is so developers and businesses can continue testing the latest version of the operating system as our engineering teams refine and update the product and tools in preparation for Windows 8.1 general availability," wrote Erwin Visser, general manager of Windows Commercial. "And once GA bits are available, you will be ready to conduct final testing and begin your deployment of Windows 8.1. Testing your operating system for compatibility with existing applications and better understanding what needs to be done to migrate your business—especially for those organizations still on Windows XP—is paramount."

The key date for businesses is April 18. 2014 when Microsoft ceases supporting Windows XP. While Microsoft hopes that enterprises will transition off of Windows XP onto Windows 8, some are proposing alternative strategies: the city of Munich, Germany, is handing out copies of Ubuntu Linux, for example.

This story was updated at 3:26 PM PT with additional details from analyst Ted Pollak.

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