Wayne Williams

Windows 10 is a very good operating system, but the October 2018 Update has left a bad taste in many users' mouths. It caused a multitude of problems, got pulled, and even after it was made available again, new issues surfaced. The April 2018 Update rolled out to users at lightning speed, but the October 2018 Update has only been installed on about 3 percent of systems to date. Ouch.

Microsoft has said previously that Windows 10 will be the "last version of Windows", but is it time to rethink that idea and give users an operating system that goes up to 11? Take a look and make up your own mind.

Continue reading →

Although the Windows 10 October 2018 Update is still only trickling out to users (AdDupex says as of the end of November under 3 percent of users have it installed), Microsoft is hard at work on the follow up due out next spring.

The latest Windows 10 19H1 Insider preview Build for Insiders in the Fast ring offers a number of new changes including File Explorer and Start menu improvements, and Notepad updates.

Continue reading →

The iPad remains by far and away the most popular tablet, with Apple securing 34.9 percent market share this year, up from 29.9 percent in 2017. The iPad is one of the few tablets to enjoy any kind of growth this year -- the market as a whole was down 13.5 percent during the second quarter of 2018.

Apple’s tablet is therefore the obvious target for any rival companies to aim for, and Microsoft has really gone on the attack with a new holiday ad for Surface Go.

Continue reading →

We are edging ever closer to the full and final release of the next big version of Kodi, codenamed Leia.

The second release candidate drops today, meaning the Kodi Foundation is still on target to release the final build this year.

Continue reading →

NetMarketShare reports on the state of the desktop operating system market on the first day of each month. In October, Windows 10 had edged closer to Windows 7, and I predicted that NetMarketShare would finally see Windows 10 emerge victorious in November.

It didn’t.

Continue reading →

The Windows 10 October 2018 Update might be a mess, but that’s not deterring Microsoft from putting in the hours on the next big feature update -- codenamed 19H1 -- due out next spring.

The latest release to Insiders on the Fast ring is Build 18290, and it comes with a number of improvements and additions.

Continue reading →

The latest feature update for Windows 10 -- the October 2018 Update, aka Windows 10 1809 -- has resulted in chaos for a lot of users. The list of problems with the OS is very long, and diverse.

One of the issues was to do with Apple iCloud, and caused updating and syncing issues with shared albums, as well as preventing new installations. If that’s a problem you’ve experienced, there’s some good news -- it’s now been fixed.

Continue reading →

It’s been two years in development, but the next big release for Kodi is nearly here.

Today the hugely popular home theater software hits a major milestone, with the arrival of the first Release Candidate for Kodi 18 'Leia' -- RC1. This release should be much more stable that the five previous betas, and the Kodi Foundation shares the following stats:

Continue reading →

The latest feature update of Windows 10, the October 2018 Update, or Windows 10 1809 if you prefer, has been something of a disaster for Microsoft, and even more so for some early adopters.

The list of problems users have encountered with it -- so far -- include data loss, file association issues, Apple iCloud not working, mapped drives not reconnecting, Edge problems, and much more. Microsoft pulled the update for a considerable amount of time to fix a bunch of problems, but even more new ones are emerging on a regular basis.

Continue reading →

Black Friday has turned from a single day in which you can pick up bargains in stores and online, into an extended sales extravaganza that runs for weeks. If you know what you want to buy, then you can make some serious savings at this time of year.

Wellbots has just launched its Black Friday sales, and there are some fantastic offers to take advantage of, including some special deals for BetaNews readers. Whether you're after a robot cleaner, and electric unicycle, a waterproof drone, or a mobile battery station, Wellbots has you covered. Here are our top picks.

Continue reading →

The woes inflicted on users by the re-released Windows 10 October 2018 Update continue, with the latest issue concerning Apple iCloud.

The problem affects the latest version of iCloud for Windows (7.7.0.27), and is causing updating and syncing issues with shared albums. In addition, if you try to install iCloud on a system running Windows 10 1809 the installation will fail.

Continue reading →

Windows 10 version 1809 -- aka the October 2018 Update -- was such a mess that Microsoft was forced to pull it and spend weeks trying to fix the numerous problems that early adopters had encountered, which included (but were not limited to) data loss, Windows failing to remember default app choices, driver issues and much more.

On Tuesday, the software giant finally re-released the update, but if you were hoping things would go a lot smoother this time around, you’d be wrong. Windows 10 1809 still has some pretty major issues for users to be aware of.

Continue reading →

The Raspberry Pi was very much inspired by the BBC Micro -- a popular British computer of the 1980s. The BBC Micro was available in Model A and B forms, and shortly after the Raspberry Pi Foundation introduced the original Pi 1 Model B+ in 2014, it followed it up with a cut-down A+ model.

It didn’t offer an A+ version for the Pi 2 or 3 unfortunately, but today, it finally rights that wrong and brings back the popular bare-bones system’s smaller brother.

Continue reading →

Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 19H1 build earlier today, and the standout new feature is a Light theme -- the perfect antidote for those who don’t really like the dark themes that seem to be everywhere nowadays.

As well as the theme itself, the build comes with a new, Light default wallpaper. If you don’t want to install a potentially buggy Insider build (like the original Windows 10 October 2018 Update), and you don’t want to wait until next spring when the 19H1 update is set to arrive, the good news is you can get the wallpaper now -- and in resolutions of up to 4K.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has finally fixed many of the myriad problems with the botched Windows 10 October 2018 Update, but one issue it hasn’t yet addressed, is the one to do with file associations.

With this problem, Windows fails to remember which programs you want to use to open certain files with by default. This was a problem Insiders reported to Microsoft back in May, but which -- like the file deletion issue -- got missed. The company previously announced that it is working on a fix, which it hopes to roll out by the end of the month.

Continue reading →