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Windows 10 is a great operating system, offering a solid user interface and advanced security. The default browser, however, is not so great. Don't get me wrong, Microsoft Edge has a lot of potential, but Chrome is arguably the superior browser for now.

Google's browser is not perfect on Windows 10, apparently, as according to Microsoft, it is a battery vampire. In other words, Chrome -- as well as Firefox and Opera -- will drain your battery faster than the default browser. Using Microsoft Edge is like garlic to these vampires, as it can help you reclaim precious battery life.

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Bill Gates is a blogger, did you know that? His blog is called Gates Notes and generally covers areas of interest not only to Bill but also to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which means there’s more coverage of malaria than Microsoft. His latest post that a reader pointed out to me today is about raising chickens, which Bill says he’d do if he was a poor woman in Africa.

I’ll wait while you follow the link to read the post, just don’t forget to come back. And while you are there be sure to watch the video…

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My oldest Internet ID, three letters, is vintage 1996. Yahoo's impending demise, which could be to Verizon, almost certainly will mark the end of our long relationship. We mutually will abandon one another. I'm sorry that it comes to this.

Yahoo sealed its fate when cutting the deal to outsource search to Microsoft during summer 2009. The disaster I predicted then will soon end the iconic brand, what little remains of it. Many people will blame CEO Marissa Mayer, but she was but steward of the sinking ship. Doom was a certainty after Yahoo surrendered crown jewel search. That the company limped along for another 7 years is testimony to the brand and to the services infrastructure built around it.

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As I’ve said numerous times in the past, I actually like Windows 10. It’s still rough around the edges -- and the Anniversary Update, out in July, won’t fully change that -- but what I don’t like is Microsoft’s aggressive, relentless pushing of the OS on to people who not only don’t want it but have expressly rejected it.

It’s scummy behavior, totally unbefitting of a company of Microsoft’s size and reputation. The latest trick, making closing an unwanted upgrade popup the same as agreeing to the upgrade, should have people brandishing pitchforks and flaming torches and marching on Redmond, but it doesn’t. Why? Because Microsoft’s shitty tricks are now what we expect from the company which doesn’t care in the slightest about its customers.

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Answer: Your kids. Chromebook leads laptop and desktop sales through U.S. commercial channels to schools, according to NPD. Education is overwhelmingly the primary market for the computers. The institutions can't buy enough of the thangs, for their utility and low-cost compared to notebooks running either OS X or Windows. That cost is as much about extended webapps and services from Google (or its developer partners), available for free or comparatively next-to-nothing, set against software for the other platforms.

Wrinkle in the Google firmament: iPhone and Chromebook are like water and dirt. The sediment settles unless shaken up. Sure youngsters can do all their Googly things—Docs, Gmail, Maps, Photos, YouTube, etc. -- on iOS but the experience is smoother and more homogenous when mixed Android and Chrome OS. What the kiddies lack, and their educators, is a swath of useful apps like the Apple kids get.

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I’ve been suffering with a shoulder impingement for a while, and seeing an osteopath to try and fix the problem. After today’s session, the osteopath tried to book me in for a new appointment, but the on-screen calendar was obscured by another appointment that had popped up -- this one for a Windows 10 upgrade. An upgrade that -- surprise, surprise -- the osteopath had neither asked for, nor wanted.

Not content with popping up at inconvenient times -- like during a live TV broadcast, for example -- Windows 10 upgrades are now being scheduled for a random date and time. You can cancel them but, like the best crapware, Microsoft has done its best to hide that option.

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Microsoft has made a change to an update for Windows 7 that can prevent certain systems from booting. While you might expect me to say, "good news, the software giant has fixed the problem", in fact what Microsoft has done is switch the update from "optional", to "recommended". So, on some systems, it will now install, and break Windows 7 automatically.

There is good news though, and that’s you can solve the problem and get your computer working again by (can you guess?) upgrading to Windows 10. Hooray!

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Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller has taken to Twitter to set the record straight about the nomenclature of the company's product names. Specifically, he takes umbrage with just sticking an 's' onto the end of product names to pluralize them.

Yep -- iPhones is, apparently, not a word. Someone might need to speak with Tim Cook to get him on the same page though, as he doesn't seem to have seen the memo.

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Ever since Microsoft made Windows 10 a recommended update there have been numerous reports of the new operating system installing itself without user consent, and without much warning.

Microsoft has always played down this behavior, but an example of how the OS pushes upgrades on unsuspecting users was earlier today shown live on TV during a weather forecast.

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Windows 10 Mobile does not have much of a future. With two very disappointing quarters for Lumia sales, a market share of around one percent, poor vendor support, and no mention of it at Build 2016, this much is clear. You would expect Microsoft to pull the plug any minute now, but the software giant seems to be doing just the opposite.

In an internal email, Terry Myerson is encouraging "certain partners" to continue to pour their resources into the platform. Microsoft's EVP of Windows and Devices Group says that the company is still "committed" to Windows 10 Mobile, claiming that development of its "next generation products" is well underway. It sounds unbelievable, but that is just what you should expect Microsoft to say.

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Once again, as it has done in the past, Google makes the classic monopolist defense for its competitive—or anticompetitive, depending on perspective—behavior with respect to Android. Today, the European Union's Competition Commission formerly charged Alphabet and its major subsidiary, which has 12 weeks to provide satisfactory legal response before the Commission issues corrective sanctions.

Simply stated, the EC finds that the company abused its dominant position, in part by contracts compelling Android licensees to preload Google apps and related services, including search. Microsoft ran into similar bundling headaches starting in the late 1990s with respect to Windows. Responding today, Kent Walker, Google general counsel, claims that licensees and consumers can choose to install third-party apps. Microsoft made like-claims during its antitrust defense here and in Europe; they fell flat.

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I know plenty of people who -- literally -- spend their lives on Facebook, sharing everything they do, and obsessively reading and reacting to every post made by their friends.

But here’s the thing. Despite all of the hours they put into being on the site, they probably only know a fraction of what it has to offer. There are a lot of features tucked away that they -- and you -- might never encounter. Think you know Facebook? Think again...

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Windows Phone sales took a dive in 2015, and it looks like the trend continues in 2016 as well. The platform is losing ground in major markets across the globe, according to a new report by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. And Android is taking advantage of it.

In the three months ending February 2016, Windows Phone saw its market share drop considerably in five major European markets (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain), and US and Australia, with Android adding the percentage points it lost under its belt. Things are looking better in China and Japan, however.

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April 3, 2016 marks the first day that I truly could use Apple's over-sized tablet to replace my laptop. But I had to spend another $84, before California tax, to do it. Gadget reviewers who say that iPad Pro cannot be your computer are wrong. The apps, performance, and utility are there. Anyone creating content should consider this device as compliment to, or replacement for, an existing PC. The problem with 12.9-inch iPad Pro isn't what it can do but how much it costs to assemble what you need. This kit is far from budget-friendly, which also can be said of Microsoft's competing Surface Pro 4.

I started my iPad Pro sojourn on Groundhog Day, planning to use the device as my primary PC for 30 days. The objective: Apple CEO Tim Cook says the big-ass tablet can replace a personal computer, I want to see if he is right. The experiment isn't my first journey like this. I tried something similar during summer 2011 with one of the first Chromebooks. The path was a dead end. But Spring 2012, when new commercial models released, I started down the path again and never looked back. Google's Chromebook Pixel LS was my main computer before adopting the iPad lifestyle.

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Something surely seems missing from this week's Apple Event. A year ago this month, Apple introduced the svelte, 12-inch MacBook. That makes the little laptop ripe for refresh, but it is MIA. Following a media hoopla where the figurative fireworks failed to light, everyone should ask: What is Apple doing? The new 4-inch iPhone is little more than the 5 model introduced in 2012 with fresh internals. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro fits into a crowded category where Apple is mob in the room. Where's the innovation?

After watching the live stream, carefully reviewing what Apple executives said, and looking over device sales trends, I must say this: Either Tim Cook is stupidest tech CEO on the planet, or one of the smartest. The event's big takeaway is this: Apple is trying to corner a faltering computing category on the presumption it's the next big thing. Cook takes great risk in search of greater rewards. If he's right, Apple may come to dominate the next personal computing platform—even as Android armies spread across the planet. Everything hinges on these: Will tablets replace PCs and can Apple become the overwhelming market share leader, regaining dominance held six years ago?

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