Microsoft

With a little inspiration and a bit of willpower, you can stay fit over the holidays. The days between Thanksgiving and New Year's are filled with tempting treats and many distractions, so create a Pinterest board to remind you of your fitness goals. Filling an inspirational board with time-saving workouts and ways you plan to stay in shape until January will certainly help you stay on track over the holidays. To give you a little added incentive, we're giving away $1,500 and a new Windows Phone 8.

See the instructions below on how to create your Pinterest board. Be sure to share your tips and tricks for staying fit for the holidays. Our editors will then select their favorite board and give out $1,500 to make your holiday wishes come true.

How to enter:

1. Create a Pinterest board titled "Windows Phone Staying Fit for Holidays."
2. Pin at least five (5) ways you will stay fit over the holidays and build out a board on Pinterest using the hashtag #fitforholidays on all pins.
3. Submit your name, email, and include a link to your "Windows Staying Fit for Holidays" board to the contest page here.

Official Rules

Whether you want to get a head start on planning the season's gatherings or just want to feast your eyes on some holiday inspiration, what better way to start than with your very own virtual holiday pinboard? Just in time, we're hosting a Pinterest contest — and with a little luck, you might even find yourself celebrating with $1,500 and a new Windows Phone 8!

See the instructions below on how to build out a Pinterest board and show us what dishes you'd love put on the table at your next Wintertime fête. Our editors will then select their favorite board and give out a $1,500 gift card (and a new Windows Phone 8 along with it) to make your party a reality.

How to enter:

1. Follow YumSugar on Pinterest.
2. Build a Pinterest board titled "Windows Phone Holiday Recipes."
3. Build out a board on Pinterest with at least five inspirational holiday recipes.
4. Hashtag each of your pins with #YumHolidayRecipes.
5. Submit your name and email, and include a link to your "Windows Phone Holiday Recipes" board to the contest page here.

Be sure to enter by Nov. 21. We're excited to see what inspires your project! Check out the official rules.

If you don't have a Pinterest account yet, get an invitation here.

Four months after announcing its foray into tablets with the Surface, Microsoft's new gadget and Windows 8 operating system are finally ready for consumer purchase tonight at midnight. The redesigned Windows computing OS builds upon its current Windows 7 mobile products with a tile layout and applications-dominant interface. Here, how to bring Windows 8 and any one of 1,000 Windows 8-ready devices home this weekend.

Windows 8

• Microsoft Store — Beginning Friday, Oct. 26, at 12:01 a.m. local time, purchase Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro ($40 for download or $70 for shipment) on the Microsoft online store.
• In stores — In addition to brick-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy and Staples, find Windows 8 on Amazon.
• On new devices — Microsoft has partnered with tech powerhouses (ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung) to make over 1,000 tablets, laptops, and desktop computers preinstalled with Windows 8 ready to purchase immediately.

Surface Tablet

• Online — Order the Surface now ($499 for 32GB, $599 for 32GB with black Touch Cover, and $699 for 64GB with black Touch Cover) on the Microsoft site, which currently has a one- to three-week shipping estimate. Upgrade to a Touch Cover in red, white, cyan, or magenta for an additional $120 or a Type Cover for $130.
• In stores — Line up early at a Microsoft Store near you on Friday and receive a year's Xbox Music Pass (worth $100) with purchase of the Surface.

Do you plan to purchase any of Microsoft's new Windows 8 products?

Looking for a technology refresh? Mark your calendar for October 26, 2012, when Microsoft's new Windows 8 platform arrives to consumers. Announced today during the company's annual sales meeting, expect to see Windows 8 as a $40 upgrade and in new PCs.

What does this mean for gadget fiends? With Microsoft getting more serious about mobile products, we hope this means we can expect to see the new Windows 8-powered Surface tablet available in the Fall, along with a bevy of holiday-ready Windows 8 smartphones.

The mother of all cooking holidays is fast approaching, but you don't have to let it stress you out. Thanks to technology, you can keep your kitchen in order and clutter-free. Take it from the Food Network's Iron Chef America star, Alex Guarnaschelli — she's partnered up with Microsoft to mix food and tech to help you move gracefully from Thanksgiving to Christmas and beyond, without burning your nerves.

• Ditch the Paper: I used to have a million scraps of paper for grocery lists and recipe ideas, but now I organize it all on my phone instead. There are a lot of apps out there for this, but I really like OneNote, available on Windows Phone 7 phones. OneNote also has an audio-notes feature that I can imagine my mom using to record some notes for me on our family recipes.
• Simplify Cooking: Cookies are always a holiday staple and can be made in advance to save time on the big day. I can make my favorite cookie recipes from memory — the ones my mom and I bake every year — but when I’m looking for something new, there are search tools that make recipe hunts a lot easier. For example, Bing has a recipe search tool that includes pictures and can narrow down results by cooking method and occasion.
• Keep It Clean: I always feel better when my counters are clean — and I’ve found the same is true for my PC. I like to keep recipes and notes off of my desktop and online. SkyDrive is an easy tool to use to store files for free, and I can access my SkyDrive from my PC or phone, and send photos or meal ideas to my family and friends.
• Get Out: As much as I enjoy creating a fulfilling meal for my family, sometimes you just have to let someone else do the work. One of my favorite Windows phone features is Local Scout — anywhere I go I can scroll to Bing on my phone, press the Scout button, and see what restaurants and bars are close by, including reviews.

Hear about the gadgets Alex hopes to find under the tree this year after the break.

Microsoft and Southwest Airlines are teaming up to bring the traditional holiday portrait session directly to you in a place they know you'll end up this season — the airport. Beginning Dec. 13, Picture Perfect Holiday photo kiosks will be available at Southwest gates throughout 21 airports nationwide.

In the program's second year of operation, travelers can opt to take a photo with Santa himself or in front of a holiday-themed backdrop. Once the portrait session is complete, the on-site Windows spokesperson demonstrates how to edit the photo using Windows Live editing tools. Print a free copy of the edited photo right at the airport or visit the Picture Perfect Holiday website later to retrieve an easy-to-share digital copy.

If an airport isn't in your traveling future, the photo booths can also be found at select malls in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago starting Nov. 18.