Wayne Williams

Virtualization

Get 'Virtualization Essentials, Second Edition' ($21 value) FREE for a limited time

Virtualization Essentials, Second Edition takes a learning-by-doing approach to give you hands-on training and a core understanding of virtualization.

As more and more companies are leveraging virtualization, it's imperative that IT professionals have the skills and knowledge to interface with virtualization-centric infrastructures. Virtualization Essentials, Second Edition provides new and aspiring IT professionals with immersive training in working with virtualization environments. Clear, straightforward discussions simplify complex concepts, and the hands-on tutorial approach helps you quickly get up to speed on the fundamentals.

By Wayne Williams -
Windows 10 S

How to download and install Windows 10 S

Windows 10 S is a special locked down version of Microsoft’s new operating system. It’s aimed primarily at those in education, and can only run apps from the Windows Store, which offers security benefits, including protection from ransomware.

While the OS is predominately to be found on new hardware like the Surface Laptop, Microsoft last week made it available for developers, and from today anyone can officially download and install it. Here’s how.

By Wayne Williams -
Learn Linux ebook

Get 'Learn Linux in 5 Days' for FREE

If you want to learn how to use Linux -- either for fun, or to level up your career -- but are pressed for time, this ebook is for you.

In Learn Linux in 5 Days, you will learn the most important concepts and commands of Linux, and be guided step-by-step through several practical and real-world examples. As new concepts, commands, or jargon are encountered they are explained in plain language, making it easy to understand. The most important material is condensed into five sections, each designed to be consumed in a day.

By Wayne Williams -
minecraft

Minecraft's 'Better Together' Beta lets you play with friends across Windows 10 and Android devices

Minecraft fans can play the Microsoft-owned game on a variety of platforms, including PC, Android, iOS, and console.

It’s great fun as it is, but things are about to get even better, as from today Microsoft releases a beta that will let you play the game with friends across different devices.

By Wayne Williams -
send to pc

Microsoft's 'Continue on PC' for Windows 10 now available for iOS

The big, standout new feature in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16251 is cross-device web-browsing. This lets you start browsing on your phone, and then switch to your PC and continue from where you left off.

The feature was initially only available for Android, but Microsoft promised that it would arrive on iOS "soon." Well, it’s here even sooner than expected and iPhone and iPad users can grab it now.

By Wayne Williams -
Atmos logo

How to enable and use Dolby Atmos surround sound in Windows 10

Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology from Dolby Laboratories. It debuted in 2012, and is designed to "pull you inside the action" with sound that moves around you in a three-dimensional space without being constrained to channels.

Microsoft supports Dolby Access in Windows 10 Creators Update, and enabling it and using it is straightforward, but there are some catches to be aware of.

By Wayne Williams -
Surface Laptop

Windows 10 S now available for developers to download

Microsoft today announced that it’s finally making the Windows 10 Creators Update available to all, and it’s also opening up Windows 10 S to developers.

Windows 10 S is a locked down version of the new operating system that’s designed to only run Windows Store apps. It’s to be found on hardware like the Surface Laptop.

By Wayne Williams -
happy customer

Windows 10 Creators Update finally available to (almost) all

The Windows 10 Creators Update rollout has been glacially slow, and -- at times -- problematic. Shortly after it began, back at the start of April, Microsoft suggested people didn’t manually install it, and three months after its official release only half of Windows 10 users were running it.

Finally, though, with the horrendously named Fall Creators Update due soon, Microsoft has made the decision to finally offer the current feature update to all -- well nearly all.

By Wayne Williams -
Cross device browsing

How to use the new cross-device web-browsing feature in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

New Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16251 is rolling out now and brings with it lots of changes and some great new features, such as the ability to shut down or restart your PC using Cortana voice controls.

The standout feature though is cross-device web-browsing that lets you browse the web on an Android phone and then switch to continue browsing the same site on your Windows 10 PC. Here’s how to use it.

By Wayne Williams -
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Action-packed Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16251 arrives on the Fast ring, with cross-device web-browsing and more

It’s been two weeks since Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 build to Insiders on the Fast ring. Build 16241 came with a sizeable number of improvements and fixes, with a large number of those focused on the Mixed Reality side of things.

Today the software giant pushes out Build 16251, and the main focus here is on cross-device web-browsing -- that is linking your PC and Android phones together (support for iPhone is coming soon) so you can browse the web on your mobile device and then continue browsing the same site on your PC.

By Wayne Williams -

Windows Insiders can now 'skip ahead' to Windows 10 Redstone 4

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (aka Redstone 3) is nearly done. Microsoft is just working to kill all the bugs and stabilize the release now.

It won’t begin the official rollout for a while -- and if the speed of the Creators Update rollout is anything to go by you likely won’t get it for months anyway -- but the software giant is already looking to the future, and Redstone 4. Insiders who want to remain on the cutting edge at all times will be given the chance to 'skip ahead' and start receiving builds from that future branch if they wish.

By Wayne Williams -
MS paint thumb

MS Paint will live on… in the Windows Store

Yesterday, I wrote how Microsoft’s simple graphics program Paint was getting killed off after 32 years’ service, but it seems it’s not dead yet.

Microsoft is going to be retiring it from future versions of Windows 10, but you’ll still be able to get Paint from the Windows Store.

By Wayne Williams -
Paint

It's the end of the line For Windows Paint as Microsoft finally kills off its simple art tool

Among the list of features set to be removed or deprecated in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is Microsoft Paint, a fixture of Windows since the operating system’s first release back in 1985.

Microsoft doesn’t give any explanation as to why it’s being removed. Indeed, in the list of features being dropped it simply says "Microsoft Paint." Everything else in the list, including Outlook Express, has at least a one-line explanation. What a sad, inglorious ending.

By Wayne Williams -
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

All the features Microsoft is removing or deprecating in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Each new big update for Windows 10 introduces a wealth of new features. The forthcoming Fall Creators Update will be no different, delivering lots of improvements as well as new components like OneDrive Files On-Demand, and My People.

But when Microsoft giveth, it also taketh away, dropping various features and functionalities from its new build. In preparation for the release of the Fall Creators Update, Microsoft has released the full list of features that will be removed or deprecated from the new version.

By Wayne Williams -
HP Envy 2

Windows 10 systems running Atom Clover Trail CPUs can't upgrade to the Creators Update, but there is some good news

Earlier in the week, I wrote about how the Windows 10 Creators Update was incompatible with certain PCs already running Windows 10. Devices powered by Intel’s Atom Clover Trail CPU couldn’t install the latest feature update, even though upgrading from Windows 8x to Windows 10, and the Anniversary Update, worked fine.

A post from Acer suggested that it was a temporary glitch and that Microsoft was working to address the incompatibility, providing a glimmer of hope for users of the affected devices, but it turns out that’s not the case.  Atom Clover Trail processors won’t be supported in the Creators Update or any future feature updates.

By Wayne Williams -

© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved.