Articles about Microsoft

While Windows 10 version 21H1 -- which is due for release soon -- may not bring much to the table in terms of new features, it's still an important release because of the number of problems it addresses.

If you have been following the development of Windows 10 21H1 here on BetaNews, you'll know that it is currently undergoing beta testing. There are already a decent number of bug fixes in the new release, but Microsoft has just pushed out a new cumulative update to beta testers that patches even more problems. Included among these are issues with Explorer using large amounts of memory, crashing, and reducing performance.           

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Microsoft rolls out new Windows 10 builds to Insiders in the Dev Channel on a weekly basis. Some weeks there isn’t much in the way of new features or functionality, and other weeks we get a build packed with updates.

Build 21337 is one of those which has a lot to offer, such as major changes to Virtual Desktops, an Auto HDR preview for gaming, tweaks to File Explorer’s layout, and more.

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Microsoft Active Directory (AD) is used by 90 percent of enterprises as the primary source of trust for identity and access, but it's also exploited in many cyberattacks.

Since AD is rarely safeguarded effectively, attackers have come to depend on weak configurations to identify attack paths, access privileged credentials and get a foothold in target networks.

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If you've installed Windows 10 updates this month, you may well have started to experience problems with printing, as well as seeing blue screens with an APC_INDEX_MISMATCH error. After acknowledging the problem, Microsoft initially offered a workaround, but now the company has released a proper fix for the issue.

The fix takes the form of an out-of-band update for Windows 10 as Microsoft rushed to patch the bug introduced by the March 2021 cumulative updates. In all, there are four patches to install, each for different builds of Windows -- KB5001565, KB5001566, KB5001567 and KB5001568.

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This Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released cumulative updates for Windows 10 and there were numerous complaints about problems with printing after installing them.

Users with various brands of printer found that printing failed as they experienced APC_INDEX_MISMATCH errors and blue screens. A few days ago, Microsoft confirmed that it was aware of the issue and was investigating; now the company has come up with a workaround.

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For years, Microsoft has used KB identifiers (or knowledge base identifiers that take the form KBXXXXXXX) to refer to updates for Windows. As well as being a handy means of identifying a particular update, it also provides an easy way to cross reference the same updates across various pieces of documentation.

But last month Microsoft announced that it is changing the system. The company is not getting rid of KB identifiers, but it is changing the way they are used in release notes and support documentation. In many instances, the KB identifier will be hidden in the source code of web pages -- something even Microsoft concedes is "not ideal".

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Microsoft has continued its trend of releasing problematic updates for Windows 10. Just a few days ago, the KB4601319 update was found to break File History backups in Windows 10, and this month's Patch Tuesday cumulative updates have also been causing issues.

As we have reported, there have been numerous complaints from people who have installed the KB5000802 and KB5000808 updates for Windows 10. Now Microsoft has confirmed that there are indeed problems with printing after installing these updates, specifically BSoDs and a APC_INDEX_MISMATCH error.

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If you’ve been following Windows 10’s development you’ll likely know that Microsoft’s newest operating system is set to get a makeover later this year.

We’ve already started seeing some elements of the tweaked UI, but the finished release -- currently codenamed Sun Valley -- will take things further, with improvements to the design of the Start menu, File Explorer and Action Center, bringing with it rounded corners and new colors.

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With the release of Windows 10 Creators Update over 3 years ago, Microsoft was betting that 3D was the future. We're not talking Windows with a 3D interface or anything like that, but the company seemingly noted the increasing popularity of 3D printers and decided to jump on the bandwagon.

This saw the arrival of Paint3D in Windows 10 as well as a 3D viewer tool, but now Microsoft appears to have changed its mind about the third dimension. We recently wrote about the disappearance of the 3D Objects folder, and now Windows 10 users will no longer see other 3D-related components after a clean installation.

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For Insiders on the Dev Channel, Wednesday is the day when they are most likely to see a new Windows 10 build arrive.

Today’s new flight, Build 21332, introduces a number of changes and improvements but also takes away one big new feature -- the 'News and interests' experience on the Windows taskbar. Don’t panic through, this is only a temporary move.

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Yesterday was the second Tuesday of the month, and for users of Windows this means one thing -- Patch Tuesday. Sticking to its regular schedule, Microsoft released updates for Windows 10, specifically the KB5000802 and KB5000808 cumulative updates.

These updates fix literally dozens of issues, including actively exploited 0-days. But while the number of problems addressed is impressively large, there are also -- predictably, perhaps -- already reports of new problems being caused by the updates.

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The original Microsoft Edge browser wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t finished. Microsoft hasn’t always made the best decisions when it comes to Windows 10 (who can forget the dark days when the software giant 'upgraded' Windows 7 machines to the new OS without user consent), but adopting the Chromium engine for a brand new version of Edge was one of its smartest moves.

The new Chromium browser is a huge improvement, which is just as well as from today Microsoft is stopping supporting its predecessor, now referred to as Edge Legacy.

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Microsoft famously lost out on the mobile market when consumers largely rejected its Windows phones and embraced Apple and Google's offerings instead. This is a shame, as smartphones running Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile were actually quite good -- they just lacked apps and third-party developer support. And so, Microsoft abandoned its mobile plans, ultimately embracing the Linux-based Android for the Surface Duo.

Following smartphones, the next big thing was voice assistants, and sadly, Microsoft lost there too, getting beat out by Amazon and Google. This is also unfortunate, as Microsoft's assistant, Cortana, was pretty great. Once again, however, consumers rejected it. And so, like Windows 10 Mobile, Cortana has been largely canceled, as the company slowly phases it/her out.

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I know it has its fans, but I’ve always found Microsoft’s search engine to be a bit, well, rubbish. Partly my views on it have been formed by years of using Google. I get the results I expect to see when I type something into that, but I don’t when I use Bing.

The UK’s Prince Philip has been in hospital recently -- which isn’t a huge surprise as he is 99 years old. He underwent a heart procedure on a pre-existing condition and is currently recuperating at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London. Doctors there say he’s doing well. Bing, on the other hand, has declared him dead.

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Microsoft has revealed a new deployment service for driver and firmware updates which will make it easier for administrators to keep enterprise systems up to date.

The company says that the new system will make it possible to see drivers hosted on Windows Update that match devices, as well as giving admins control over the selection and deployment of updates.

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