Articles about Microsoft

We’ve had teases and leaks already, but today at a special 'What's Next for Windows' event Microsoft officially confirmed the successor to Windows 10, and as expected it’s Windows 11.

The new operating system is based on the now cancelled Windows 10x design, but it’s much more than that. As you’ve have seen from the leaked screenshots, it has a centered taskbar and Start menu, rounded corners across the design, no live tiles, and web widgets for creators.

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Today is a huge day for Microsoft as it takes the wraps off what it’s referring to as the next generation of Windows. We know -- thanks to various leaks -- that this will be Windows 11, but so far Microsoft hasn’t officially confirmed the name, or any other details for that matter.

If you want to be among the first to know exactly what Microsoft has planned, you can tune into its livestream at 11am ET (that’s 8am PT/ 4pm BST).

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Ahead of today's announcement about Windows 11, Microsoft has issued a fix for yet another problem with Windows 10.

Earlier in the week, the company released a preview of the KB5003690 update, which primarily boosts game performance and fixes blurry text in Windows 10. But it transpires that this same update -- which is due to roll out to everyone next month -- also addresses an audio bug introduced by the KB5000842 update.

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Tomorrow is the day we learn more about Windows 11. Microsoft's big event is going to be packed with information about the upcoming version of the operating system, but the leaks that have already made their way to the internet mean there's already a lot that we know.

There is undeniably a lot to look forward to, although many have already decried Windows 11 as being little more than a new theme pack for Windows 10. One thing we know Windows 11 includes is WDDM 3.0 (Windows Display Driver Model) and this means WSL GUI, or WSLg for short -- or, to put it another way, graphical Linux apps in Windows.

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Windows 11 is going to be unveiled tomorrow, but in the meantime, Microsoft has not forgotten about Windows 10. It's now a few months since the company released Windows 10 version 21H1, but it has been a staggered rollout.

Now Microsoft is stepping things up a gear and is starting to push the update to more devices. 21H1 is being rolled out to more users as an automatic update, after a period of machine learning training in which potential issues were identified.

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In a couple of days’ time, Microsoft is set to take the wraps off the next version of Windows. We already know a fair bit about this, thanks to a number of leaks, including a full ISO of Windows 11 which the software giant is currently scrambling to remove from the web.

The new operating system is based partially on Windows 10X, the scrapped lightweight operating system that was designed as a rival to Google’s Chrome OS. While that creation may never properly see the light of day in its original form, we can today get an idea of what Chrome OS would look like if Microsoft had developed it instead of Google.

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If you think it feels like a long time since PowerToys received any significant updates, you're not wrong -- it has indeed been a while. But that's about to change as Microsoft is preparing to add a new utility to the collection.

Briefly known as Espresso (in a nod to the 'caffeinate' command in macOS), the new tool is called Awake. Coming to PowerToys v0.39, this is a keep-awake utility that can be used to stop Windows from going to sleep.

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The operating system Microsoft will reveal this week being called anything other than Windows 11 is about as likely as Apple allowing Android to run on iPhones. We've had the rumors, we've had the leaks, we've had legal action confirming the name, and now we've got further confirmation.

In a support document seemingly published to GitHub by accident, Microsoft confirmed the Windows 11 name. This should quash the rumors about the leaked build of the operating system not being genuine, and the belief that Windows 11 could not possibly exist because of Microsoft's previous proclamation that Windows 10 was the "last version of Windows".

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Just a few days ago -- before it has even been officially announced -- Windows 11 leaked online and remains available to download from numerous sites. The Windows 11 ISO torrent spread like wildfire, and now Microsoft is fighting back.

The company has issued a slew of DMCA takedown notices to various sites it says are distributing "a leaked copy of the unreleased Windows 11". Unsurprisingly, an article entitled "How to Download and Install Windows 11 Right Now" caught the eyes of Microsoft lawyers.

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Windows Insiders are among the first to get fixes for various issues with Windows 10 as Microsoft releases KB5003690 to address, among other things, problems with blurry text.

The KB5003690 update (Windows 10 build 19043.1081) is now available for anyone signed up for the Beta or Release Preview channels running Windows 10 21H1. Other fixes in this significant update include addressing poor game performance after installing KB5000842 or later.

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There have been many reasons to move away from the now-ancient Windows 7 for some time, and now there is another one. Microsoft will no longer offer driver updates via Windows Update for this version of the operating system.

The change comes a year and a half after support for Windows 7 came to an end, and also the expiry of the SHA-1 Trusted Root Certificate Authority for Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 last month. It is a slightly different story for anyone signed up for an Extended Security Update (ESU) program, however.

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It is now less than a week until Microsoft officially tells us about Windows 11. The announcement is scheduled for June 24 and this is when the company will reveal all. The operating system may have already leaked, but there are still many questions we need answers to.

While this week's leak gave us a chance to see many of the new features that Microsoft has introduced as well as the new look, there are two key questions that people are asking. Firstly, when will Windows 11 be released? Secondly, will Windows 11 be a free upgrade?

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Most people are familiar with the idea of using Windows Update to... well... keep Windows up-to-date. But there is also Microsoft Update which is used to keep other Microsoft software updated, and it can now be used to update PowerShell.

The announcement from Microsoft that PowerShell updates will be delivered through Microsoft Update will be welcome by anyone who dislikes the process of checking and updating the software via GitHub.

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Ahead of next month's Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has released a preview of the KB5003698 update for Windows 10. The patch takes the operating system up to build 18363.1645, and although it is a non-security update it still addresses numerous issues that users have been experiencing.

Key among the improvements is a fix for the blurry text issue introduced by the KB5001391 update earlier this month. Other changes include addressing a problem with AppLocker, VPN issues, and fixing a problem that caused playback issues with FLAC files after editing metadata.

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Yesterday, Microsoft’s successor to Windows 10 got leaked onto the web, revealing that it would indeed be called Windows 11, and showing off a new look that owes a lot to the cancelled Windows 10X.

The look of the new OS, with its centered taskbar and Start menu, is clearly going to be a bit divisive, but one thing most of us can agree on is the default wallpapers look great. And you can give your Windows 10 system a Windows 11 makeover by installing them now.

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