Articles about Microsoft

Microsoft has previously said that Windows 10 is the last version of Windows. We've talked about Windows 11 concepts here on BetaNews, but that's all they are -- concepts dreamt up by eager designers.

So what was a Microsoft Certified Partner thinking when it popped a pre-order page for Windows 11 on its site? A major update or a new version of Windows is always going to generate a lot of interest -- and probably a lot of money too, particularly with a $174.99 price tag attached. Having stumbled across a site inviting me to "preorder your Windows 11 before anyone else", I decided to investigate and find out what the company had to say for itself. [UPDATED with comments from both Microsoft and the Microsoft Certified Partner]

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Three-hundred-and-ninety in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store in the past seven days.

The roll-out of the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser is now in full swing. Microsoft started the roll-out to all devices running Windows 10 this week.

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Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows 7 five months ago, giving users a pretty stark choice -- switch to Windows 10, or stick with an aging operating system that the software giant is no longer supporting.

While the more sensible choice would be to upgrade to Windows 10, there are plenty of people who have avoided doing so for various reasons, not least that they just prefer how Windows 7 does things -- no Cortana, no forced Bing integration, no invasive telemetry…

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Windows 10 is undeniably a graphic-based operating system, but there have always been various text-driven command line options too. With Microsoft increasingly embracing Linux, the arrival of Windows Terminal was pleasing if unsurprising.

The utility provides access to the Command Prompt, PowerShell and WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), and although version 1.0 has only just been released, Microsoft has already published it roadmap for Windows Terminal 2.0.

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Who can forget the bad old days when Microsoft decided it knew best and forced Windows 10 upgrades on users without their consent? Windows 7 owners who left their systems alone for any length of time often returned to find they’d been 'upgraded' to Windows 10.

Thankfully those days are behind us, and now when Microsoft rolls out a Windows 10 feature update that’s compatible with your system, you can choose when to install it. Except, that is, when Windows 10 goes rogue and installs the latest update without warning.

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Although Windows 10 doesn’t spy on its users in the way it did when first launched, and people now have much greater control over their privacy settings, the truth is many users would prefer to tighten their control over the operating system further than Microsoft allows.

There are a number of great free third-party tools which let you boost your privacy and make various changes to the software, including removing annoying bundled software. That’s fine right? Not according to a lawsuit in which Microsoft says this is a breach of its license.

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It’s been a couple of weeks since Microsoft began rolling out the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, and it’s fair to say progress has been slow, with more issues coming to light.

Still, it’s full steam ahead on Windows 10 development as the software giant today releases a new build for Insiders on the Fast ring.

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Businesses are increasingly looking to bring about digital transformation through agile system integration utilizing cloud computing and other technologies.

NTT DATA is expanding its alliance with Microsoft to bring together NTT's global IT services with Microsoft's cloud to help digital transformation projects using Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud solution.

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Network threat detection and response company Vectra AI is announcing deep product integration with Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and Microsoft Azure Sentinel to allow enterprises to better protect their networks.

Vectra has also been invited to become a member of The Microsoft Intelligent Security Association, an ecosystem of independent software vendors purpose-built to defend against increasing cyber threats.

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Microsoft is certainly no stranger to using Windows 10 to promote its own software; there have been numerous instances of the company advertising products within the operating system.

Now, if you use the Start menu to search for a web browser such as Firefox or Chrome, you'll see an ad recommending Microsoft Edge. While with previous in-Windows ads there have been simple steps you can take to avoid or disable them, this time around it seems there is nothing you can do about it.

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It is a while since Microsoft adopted the Chromium engine for the new version of Edge, and reception to the browser has been broadly positive.

Until now, Microsoft has given Windows 10 users the choice between whether they what to use the new Chromium-based Edge, or stick with the old legacy version. But now that's changing. The company is pushing out the browser via Windows Update to Windows 10 versions 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, and 2004 -- and it is not possible to keep using old Edge, however much you want to.

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With Windows 10 May 2020 Update now available, many people are rushing to install it. We already know that the update contains various bugs and problems, but even if you've had a problem-free installation, you may be surprised at just how much disk space you've lost.

This is particularly true for anyone with an SSD, which tend to be smaller, but there are steps you can take to claim back this space and free up several gigabytes. Here's what you need to know.

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With the recent launch of WinGet, Microsoft brought a Linux-style package manager to Windows 10, making life easier for system administrators and anyone looking to automate software installation.

But while the Windows Package Manager is undoubtedly useful, it's also a little intimidating for many people. The command line driven tool can appear very off-putting, so why not add a graphical front end to make it more approachable? We show you how to create software installation scripts without having to use the command line.

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Three-hundred-and-eighty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store in the past seven days.

The new feature update for Windows 10, version 2004, is rolling out slowly. You can check out the removed or deprecated features here, and find out what the "your device isn't quite ready" message means exactly.

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The Windows 10 May 2020 Update is currently rolling out to users of compatible systems, although Microsoft is blocking it for some with a 'your device isn’t quite ready' message.

That’s not a problem for Insiders on the Fast ring though who today get another new build to play around with.

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