Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18941, but warns the installation may fail or cause your PC to get stuck in a boot loop
Windows Insiders like to be on the cutting edge, trying out new Windows 10 features well before regular users do. For that reason, most Insiders opt to be in the Fast ring, rather than the Slow or Release Preview rings.
It does mean they are more at risk from potential problems of course, but that’s often a risk worth taking. Often, but not always.
Avast bundles buggy preview web browser with CCleaner, leading to predictable nightmarish results
Ever since Avast took over Piriform in 2017, fans of the popular system cleaning tool CCleaner have had to put up with problem after problem, beginning -- yes beginning! -- with malware, bundled software, and pop-up ads. As if that wasn’t bad enough, CCleaner began snooping on users and Avast, for good measure, also made it impossible to quit the software.
Things have quietened down recently, but with the latest version of CCleaner it seems as if Avast is up to its old tricks again, this time bundling an unwanted, buggy web browser and changing file extensions.
This beautiful Android R design could make me switch from iOS
I’ve switched between owning an iPhone and various Android handsets over the years, but for me iOS remains easily the best mobile operating system (and iPhone XS the best smartphone). It would take something very special to tempt me back to Android.
Something like this stylish vision of Android 11.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H2 Build 18362.10005 to the Slow ring
Windows Insiders on the Fast ring have been receiving weekly Windows 10 builds from the 20H1 branch -- the feature update due out a year from now.
There is another update coming later this year though, and Insiders on the Slow ring are receiving these 19H2 builds as cumulative updates.
Ekster Parliament 3.0 voice-activated smart wallet [Review]
There are three things you likely never leave home without -- your wallet, phone, and keys -- and it could be devastating if you lost any of them, or had them stolen.
Ekster 3.0 launched a couple of days ago and is the world’s first voice-activated smart wallet, with worldwide traceability, quick card access, and RFID protection. You can use your phone to track down the wallet should you lose it, and use the wallet to find your phone if that goes missing. (It can’t help with your keys though, so take good care of those).
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18936 with passwordless sign-ins
Even though the next major feature update for Windows 10 isn’t due for a year, Microsoft is rolling out weekly new builds for it.
Windows 10 20H1 Build 18936 offers a number of new features, including the ability to go passwordless on your device, and create calendar events directly from the taskbar.
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Windows 1.11 and Windows Throwback now available to download
Last week Windows’ social accounts caused some excitement and confusion by announcing the arrival of Windows 1.0.
I correctly guessed that it was part of a Stranger Things tie-in because the newly launched season 3 of Netflix’s supernatural drama is set in 1985, the same year that Microsoft launched Windows 1.0. A new Windows 1.11 app briefly appeared over the weekend before being withdrawn, and it’s now back up and available for anyone to download. And that's not all.
Hands on with Windows 1.11, the Stranger Things tie-in you didn't know you needed (minor spoilers)
This week Microsoft has been teasing users across the web with a series of Windows 1.0 announcements. That operating system originally came out in 1985, and the latest season of Netflix’s Stranger Things is set in the same year, so there was never any doubt that the teasers and the show were linked in some way. But how?
On Friday Microsoft revealed we’d know the answer on Monday, but we now know exactly what’s coming -- Windows 1.11.
Microsoft's Windows 1.0/Stranger Things tie-in just got stranger
Microsoft has been running an amusing series of tweets on its Windows social accounts. It announced Windows 1.0 back on July 1, and then followed up it across the week with additional Windows 1.0 images and videos.
While some people, and some news sites, were seemingly confused by the move, it was clear from the start for a lot of us that it was a Stranger Things 3 tie in, seeing as the new season is set in 1985, the same year that Windows 1.0 arrived. But although each new tweet has made the link clearer, today’s one also includes an intriguing twist.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18932 with notification improvements
When it’s not crowing about the cutting edge abilities of Windows 1.0, Microsoft is busy working on the next big feature update for Windows 10, due out next year.
Today it rolls out Build 18932 which introduces some eye control improvements, and refined notification settings, among other changes.
Microsoft announces Windows 1.0
The new season of Stranger Things starts on Netflix this Thursday -- July 4th -- and is being described by reviewers as a return to form, great news for anyone who felt a bit let down by season 2.
The new season is set in 1985, a year which gave us the Live Aid concerts, New Coke, Calvin and Hobbes, Back to the Future, and the first version of Microsoft Windows.
Windows XP pops Cherry at Glasto
When you’re performing live at one of the biggest music festivals in the world, it’s probably not advisable to trust your background visuals to an old laptop running Windows XP.
This is a lesson that Neneh Cherry learned to her cost at this weekend’s Glastonbury when the laptop generating images on the rear video screen decided to reboot unexpectedly during a performance of her hit 7 Seconds.
The separation of storage and compute [Q&A]
Business intelligence and analytic projects have traditionally been based on the concept of the enterprise data warehouse, which saw compute and storage combined in a monolithic platform to achieve the performance required for high-performance analytics. More recently, the trend has been toward data lakes, but this was similarly based on the approach of putting all data in a single environment -- initially Hadoop -- for storage and analysis.
We spoke with Justin Borgman, CEO for Starburst Data, on why he believes the separation of storage and compute in the data processing and analytics sector is a trend that will continue to gain momentum.
Only a tiny fraction of Windows 10 users are running the May 2019 Update
The latest Windows 10 feature release, the May 2019 Update, is slowly making its way to users, but after the mess that was the October 2018 Update, Microsoft is keeping a close eye on proceedings.
As a result, it means the rollout is happening at an incredibly glacial pace. In fact, it's occurring at roughly the same rate as its predecessor, which isn't good news.