Wayne Williams

If you were fortunate enough to unwrap a new Windows device this Christmas the chances are it will be running Windows 10.

The new operating system has much to recommend it, as well as a few features that you might not be so keen on (the spying aspect for example). Getting Windows 10 set up exactly how you want it will -- like all versions of Windows -- take a while, but follow this guide and you’ll soon be sorted.

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The Surface Hub looks cool. The giant wall-mounted Surface, aimed at businesses, comes in two sizes -- 55-inch and 84-inch -- and boasts 100 points of multitouch, up to three simultaneous pen inputs, dual 1080p front-facing video cameras and a four-microphone array. And the larger model has a 4k touch-screen display that refreshes every 8.33 milliseconds, which is faster than the human eye can detect.

But here’s the problem. Seven months ago Microsoft said the Surface Hub would be available to order in 24 markets -- including Australia, North America, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the UK -- from July 1, with a shipping date of September 1. But then five months ago, based on "strong demand" it delayed things (with no word of a ship date) and then a month later said orders would start shipping on January 1 2016. But guess what? They won’t.

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A new year means a fresh start, and IT professionals will be looking at how the traditional enterprise can re-evaluate and re-discover itself to take on new relevance.

We’ll see recurring themes -- like cloud, 3D printing, data security, and the Internet of Things -- continuing to remain relevant in 2016. At the same time, these things will continue to blur the lines between enterprises and individual computing, shaping them into intertwined eco-systems. New trends will also emerge and shape the way enterprises operate, how they’re managed and where they’re headed. BetaNews talked with Xchanging’s Global Head of Technology and Innovation, Mani Gopalaratnam, about the trends every IT professional should have on their radar for 2016. Here’s what he had to say:

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If you’re running Windows 10 Home and want to know whether it’s worth moving on to Windows 10 Pro, there’s a straightforward way of switching between the two versions of Microsoft’s latest operating system.

All you need to do is swap your current Windows 10 Home product key for the default Windows 10 Pro one which Microsoft has made available to all users.

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Microsoft pushed out a new Windows 10 Insider Preview PC build to the Fast ring yesterday, and today it follows that up with a new update for Windows 10 Mobile.

Build 10586.36 is, as you can guess from the name, a cumulative update and will be released to Windows Insiders in both the Fast and Slow rings.

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Having rolled out Threshold 2 under the guise of the November Update last month (and then removed and reinstated it shortly afterwards), Microsoft is now on the Redstone branch of Windows 10 development -- the next big update which will be pushed out to all users of its new operating system next year.

Build 11082 is now available for Windows Insiders on the Fast ring and Microsoft’s Gabe Aul introduced the new build saying:

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A week ago Microsoft pushed out a new Windows 10 Mobile build to Lumia 950 and 950 XL users. Build 10586.29 was the first cumulative update and originally made available to Windows Insiders.

However, things didn’t go particularly smoothly with the new version, and a large number of users reported having installation problems.

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Three weeks ago the Raspberry Pi Foundation shocked pretty much everyone with a new version of its popular barebones microcomputer. While previous models were hardly expensive, the new Raspberry Pi Zero was just $5 (plus any extras you required, of course).

Inevitably, demand was huge and the Zero sold out pretty much immediately.

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Windows 10 is still very much a work in progress, as are the apps that come as part of it. The November Update (aka Theshold 2) introduced some cosmetic changes throughout, and there have been other changes made in the many other updates.

The Films & TV app recently gained a new Dark Mode which improves things greatly, but it’s disabled by default. Here’s how to turn it on.

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Ever since Apple allowed adblockers on iOS 9, we’ve seen a steady influx of these types of apps appearing in the App Store. Today, yet another one arrives, but this new release has an interesting pedigree, coming as it does from Mozilla.

Focus by Firefox is a free content blocker for Safari users on iOS 9 that gives users greater control over their privacy by allowing them to block categories of trackers such as those used for ads, analytics and social media.

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It used to be that a new version of Windows would be a major shot in the arm for PC sales, but that’s no longer the case. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tracker, shipments are expected to fall 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, bringing the overall decline for the year down by 10.3 percent.

As a result, IDC has revised its forecast for next year, but it does see things stabilizing by the end of 2016, and even predicts some growth.

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This might come as a surprise to Microsoft, but not everyone wants to upgrade to Windows 10. As the slowing pace of the updates shows, there are plenty of people who are more than happy with Windows 7 or 8.1, and who don’t want to switch to the new OS.

While some people are simply delaying the upgrade, plenty of other users have no interest at all in Windows 10, and are actively taking steps to avoid it. But "no" doesn’t mean "no" to Microsoft. It apparently means "Yes, I want to upgrade"!

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Microsoft is continuing to refine and polish its new mobile operating system, and is working to address feedback and issues reported by Windows Insiders.

The latest Windows 10 Mobile build doesn’t contain any exciting new features but rather is a cumulative update, which explains the new build number -- 10586.29. Microsoft is also planning to make this build available to additional devices early next week.

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Microsoft really, really wants people to upgrade to Windows 10. Even though the new OS is free, users of Windows 7 and 8.1 are proving a bit reluctant to switch, so the software giant has rolled out some new updates for the older operating systems which promise to make the upgrade much smoother for those who do decide to take the plunge.

There are two updates available now, one for Windows 7 and one for Windows 8.1, both of which make improvements to the Windows Update Client.

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NetMarketShare has released its usage share figures for November, and they make for interesting reading. As you would expect, Windows 10 grew its share again, but the growth rate is clearly tailing off, continuing the trend we’ve seen over the past few months.

Windows 7 and 8.x users show no great rush to migrate to the new OS, with only Windows XP shedding users.

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