This is the redesigned File Explorer that Windows 10 should have
Windows 10 is a decent operating system, but it’s not exactly attractive. Microsoft is attempting to spice things up a little with its Fluent Design language, but it’s never going to deliver the "Wow" factor.
File Explorer is one of the blander elements of Windows 10, but a brand new concept shows us what it could look like.
Windows 10 users can now get Fedora Remix for WSL
Indie open-source startup Whitewater Foundry debuted WLinux for WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) four months ago. This new, open source Linux distribution, based on Debian stable, was specially optimized for WSL.
Now the company is back with a 'remix' of the popular Fedora Linux distribution for WSL that can be installed directly from the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft announces seven new low-cost Windows 10 devices for education, and a new Classroom Pen
Chromebooks have found a welcoming home in the education section, muscling in on what has traditionally been Windows territory. Naturally, Microsoft is fighting back, and at this year’s annual BETT conference in London, it announced that 1 million Windows 10 devices are being used by students in K-12 and higher education every month.
The software giant also took the opportunity to introduce a raft of new Windows 10 devices aimed at students, including two brand new 2-in1 devices from Acer and Lenovo that are priced from under $300.
Windows 10 October 2018 Update finally starts its phased rollout -- here's how to block it
The Windows 10 October 2018 update, aka Windows 10 version 1809, aka the botched update that deleted user files, caused default app issues, broke Apple iCloud, Edge, and Windows Store apps, and introduced a bunch of other problems, is finally rolling out to all -- well most -- users.
The update was first released at the start of last October, but then pulled a few days later when the scale of its problems become noticed. It was re-released in November, with a bunch of new problems. Microsoft has been working to fix these, and last month made 1809 available to 'advanced users' -- that is users who know how to manually check for updates.
Get 'Advanced Penetration Testing -- Hacking the World's Most Secure Networks' ($26 value) FREE for a limited time
Typical penetration testing consists of low-level hackers attacking a system with a list of known vulnerabilities, and defenders preventing those hacks using an equally well-known list of defensive scans.
The professional hackers and nation states on the forefront of today's threats operate at a much more complex level -- and this book shows you how to defend your high security network, including:
Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18317, splits up Search and Cortana
New Windows 10 19H1 builds are coming thick and fast at the moment. With some builds the focus is just on fixing problems and making general improvements, but Insider Preview Build 18317 for Windows Insiders on the Fast ring is notable mainly because Search and Cortana are no longer linked.
Yes, that’s right -- instead of being part of the search bar, Cortana’s button now sits to the right of it.
Microsoft ends Windows 7 support one year from today
It took until last month for Windows 10 to finally overtake Windows 7's usage share but the older OS remains hugely popular. Mainstream support for Windows 7 stopped in January 2015, but users have continued to receive security fixes and patches for known issues as part of Microsoft's extended support, which runs for five years. However, that's due to come to an end on January 14 2020, exactly one year from today.
The cessation of support could prove a nightmare for enterprises, as according to a new 'Death of Windows 7' report from content delivery firm, Kollective, as many as 43 percent of enterprises are still running Microsoft’s nine-year-old operating system.
Kodi 18 'Leia' RC5 available to download now
The full release of Kodi 18 is still likely a couple of weeks away, but today the kodi Foundation releases the fifth and (what should be) final release candidate.
RC5 comes with a number of important fixes.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18312
We’re only nine days into 2019, and Microsoft is rolling out the second 19H1 build of the new year to Insiders on the Fast ring.
Build 18312 gives users access to the new 'reserved storage' feature which we covered yesterday. This reserves around 7GB of storage on Windows 10 systems to guarantee day-to-day smooth running, and also to ensure that large updates don't fail on systems with limited free space. To try it out though, you will need to run through this quest which will give you access to it in the next flight. If you run the quest before upgrading to this new build, you will get access to the feature when you do upgrade.
Future versions of Windows 10 will reserve 7GB of storage to prevent big updates failing
Previous feature updates for Windows 10 tended to fail if you didn’t have enough free storage for the task. The onus was on users to free up the required space manually before the update could go ahead, but that’s about to change.
In the next big feature update, version 1903 (codenamed 19H1), due out in the spring, Windows 10 will automatically reserve enough space to ensure the update can complete without problems. This might be 7GB, but it could be more, "based on how you use your device".
Yubico reveals its first Lightning security key for iOS devices
Yubico offers a selection of security keys that can protect your data and which work with a growing number of popular apps and websites. They can replace passwords, or provide easy -- and strong -- two-factor authentication (2FA).
Today at CES, Yubico revealed a private preview of YubiKey for Lightning, bringing the company’s physical token authentication to iPhones for the first time
This redesigned Windows 10 Start menu is a big improvement
The next big feature update for Windows 10 will offer tweaked visuals, but most people probably won’t notice the difference. It’s all about evolution rather than revolution with Microsoft these days.
If you are hoping for a more modern Start menu then you’re going to have to look beyond Redmond for that, and a brand new concept shows us just what the tiled menu could look like.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18309
According to AdDuplex, the problematic October 2018 Update is currently on just 6.6 percent of all Windows 10 PCs. It’s doubled its share since November, but still pales in comparison to the April 2018 Update which is on 83.6 percent of systems.
Despite this, Microsoft is hard at work on the next big feature update, expected this spring, and has just rolled out the first build of 2019 for Insiders on the Fast ring.
Python for Windows 10 now available from the Microsoft Store
Python is a great programming language. It’s powerful, yet easy to learn, and comes preinstalled on most Linux distributions.
It’s more of a pain to get it on Windows though, as Microsoft’s OS doesn’t include a native Python installation. However, Windows 10 users can now download an official Python package from the Microsoft Store.
Windows 10 finally overtakes Windows 7
It’s been a long time coming. While other analyst firms, such as StatCounter, have shown Windows 10 overtaking Windows 7 sometime ago, NetMarketShare has consistently shown the new OS to be lagging way behind the aging fan favorite.
In December though, NetMarketShare finally has Windows 10 taking pole position.
Wayne's Bio
Wayne Williams is BetaNews' managing editor. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for over 20 years now. He’s written for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a fair few of them in his time also. If you like what you read, you can Buy Me a Coffee!
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