As fans of Apple and its products, we love things like this. Sure, these kinds of results should be taken with a grain (or three) of salt, but still, it’s kinda cool to see and makes us love Apple stuff even more.

What are we talking about? Well, this week ZDNet reports that based on a new study from Soluto, which uses “data from its massive online database of PC crashes, hangs, and performance metrics to identify the 10 most reliable Windows PCs you can buy today”, the most reliable Windows PC in the world is a 13″ Retina MacBook Pro running Windows via Boot Camp.

How abou that? According to the study, the MacBook Pro is “at the top of the list” with other hardware like the Acer Aspire E1-571, the Dell XPS 13, the Dell Vostro 3560, the Acer Aspire V3-771 and Apple’s 15-inch Retina-equipped MacBook Pro taking the next spots.

What about other vendors like Toshiba, Lenovo or market leader HP? Yeah, they don’t even crack the top ten. Sad, but true.

So, if you need to run Windows and are looking for the best, most reliable hardware out there to run it on, guess you should get a Mac. We’re not really surprised. We could have told you that.

Even with an event as big as Comic-Con in San Diego going on right now, that doesn’t mean the rest of the non-entertainment world simply grinds to a halt. Case in point is Microsoft’s announcement today that its set to release a revamped version of its Office suite, cleverly dubbed Microsoft Office 13, as soon as next Monday.

According to the report, Microsoft will highlight new features of the suite on July 16th intended to “jazz up” its Office applications in preparation for the launch of Windows 8 in October. Apparently, this is kind of a big deal for Microsoft because, as the report mentions, the Office suite “accounted for $22.2 billion of Microsoft’s nearly $70 billion in fiscal 2011 revenue and $14.1 billion of operating income, by far the most of any unit.”

So yeah, that’s a pretty big and important unit. Microsoft really doesn’t want to screw this up.

If you’re tired of using that old version of Windows like XP or Windows 7, you’re in luck because Microsoft announced on Monday that its next-generation Windows 8 operating system will launch this October. The company confirmed during an event on Monday that the new OS is on track to be released to developers in August with a final release to eager consumers in October.

In addition, Microsoft will also release new devices, including the Surface, to coincide with the OS’ release. The company also promised that users who purchase Windows 7 PCs before the release of the new OS will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro following its release for just $14.99.

Darn nice of them, don’t you think?

Today at an event held in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced a new series of devices designed to take on Apple’s tablet dominance with the iPad. The new tablet, called Surface, is an Xbox-focused slate that merges entertainment, gaming and high-definition output into a 7-inch tablet complete with optional, extremely thin, keyboard cover.

“Surface fulfills the dream of working anywhere,” Microsoft said of the 9.3-millimeter thick tablet, which includes a magnesium case that weighs less than 1.5 pounds. It also features an integrated stand to prop the device up while watching videos or typing on a Bluetooth keyboard and is powered by an Intel Ivy Bridge i5 processor for the Windows 8 Pro version and an Nvidia ARM processor for the Windows RT version.

Both Surface models feature a Gorilla Glass 2 screen and include a magnetic connector to hold a case, like the one with the keyboard. It will ship with several popular Microsoft apps, including Xbox live, and will also include a Netflix app as well. In addition, the Surface has USB 2.0 and HDMI-out as well as rear and front-facing cameras.

Even though people still cling to using older versions of Windows like XP and even, in some cases, Windows 2000 or are just getting used to the idea of Windows 7, Microsoft is moving forward with the next version of its desktop OS known as Windows 8. To help get you used to the idea of a new version of Windows, the company has this week unveiled Windows 8 Release Preview.

This version of Windows 8 is a “near-final” version for users to download and try before the OS is sent to Microsoft’s manufacturing partners. The Preview includes Internet Explorer 10, support for Adobe Flash and new Windows 8 apps for connecting to Hotmail, SkyDrive and Messenger.

“Since our first preview release last September, millions of people now use the pre-release product on a daily basis and millions more have been taking it through its paces, totaling hundreds of millions of hours of testing,” the company said on its official blog. “We genuinely appreciate the effort that so many have put into pre-release testing, and of course, we appreciate the feedback too. Direct feedback and feedback through usage contributed to hundreds of visible changes in the product and tens of thousands of under-the-hood changes.”

Nice to hear Microsoft is responding to user requests and addressing their issues. The real question, though, is if those responses and the rest of the work that went into Windows 8 actually pay off in a usable and stable new OS. I guess we’ll find out soon enough as the OS is officially released in October.

Much like you can pretty much count on things like death and taxes, you can also count on new versions of Microsoft’s Windows OS to come along. You can also count on their being some confusion regarding the different versions of the OS and what the can or can’t do.

Fortunately, it seems Microsoft has learned a lesson from the release of Windows Vista and Windows 7 and has simplified things a bit for their upcoming new OS: Windows 8. This week the company announced there will be three editions of its next-generation Windows 8 operating system: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT.

Microsoft made the announcement on its blog and further promised “all editions of Windows 8 offer a no-compromise experience.” Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro will support PCs and tablets powered by x86 processors, while Windows RT works with ARM-powered devices. Windows 8 is aimed at the average consumer, while Windows 8 Pro is designed for tech enthusiasts, business people and tech professionals. The RT edition is intended for lighter-duty devices.

Going for the Pro edition of Windows 8 gets you premium features such as encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity. “If you are an enthusiast or you want to use your PC in a business environment, you will want Windows 8 Pro.”

Windows RT (the OS formerly known as Windows on ARM) will only be available pre-installed on PCs and tablets powered by ARM processors. It will include touch-optimized desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Microsoft is set to finish Windows 8 this Summer with PCs and tablets powered by the new platform following in October. Windows 8 looks pretty good, and we’ve payed with it a bit, so we’re very interested in seeing the final version when its released.

As we first told you a few weeks ago, Microsoft has today released the first “Consumer Preview” of the latest version of its Windows software. The new software has been dubbed Windows 8 and is, according to Micsosoft, is “Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability.”

According to the company, here’s what you can expect from the Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a prerelease version of Windows 8 that focuses on people and apps and gives you powerful new ways to use social technologies to connect with the people who are important to you. Windows 8 Consumer Preview is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7 and has the security and reliability features you expect from Windows, but we’ve made it even better. It’s fast, and it’s made to work on a variety of form factors—especially the new generation of touch devices.

Well, there you go. You can go to Microsoft’s website and download Windows 8 to try for yourself. Although, unless you have a touch monitor you won’t be able to experience it exactly as it was intended.

Even though we are mostly Mac and Apple users here at The Flickcast, that doesn’t mean we don’t know or care that another, more popular, company exists that provides software to run computers and the like. That company is, of course, Microsoft.

With Windows 7 being our favorite version of the OS so far, Microsoft is going to have to go a long way to convince us that they have something better up their collective virtual sleeve. That something is, at least according to them, Windows 8.

We will all get a chance to see if they are right come February 29 when the company releases what they are calling a ‘Consumer Preview’ of the new version of Windows. The company will reportedly announce such a preview at a special, invitation-only event in Barcelona.

It’s interesting that they aren’t referring to this release as a “Bata.” I guess that has too much of a stigma of unfinished software or something that still needs a lot of work. The truth is Windows 8 probably still does need a lot of work and a big service pack will follow its final release as it does for most Windows versions. Not that Apple and most other software companies are immune to updates, they aren’t of course.

Still, we do like the looks of Windows on the smartphone so if Windows 8 is anything like that, it might be worth checking out later this month. What do you guys think? Are you going to take the plunge and try out the Windows 8 preview?