Articles about Microsoft

While there's a lot to be said for having certain programs run automatically when you turn on your computer, there is a price to pay. If you have too many apps configured to autorun, you will notice that boot times are increased, and you have to wait longer for your desktop to reach a usable state.

When you install or update software, many will give you a choice of whether to have them run at startup or not, but all too often the choice is made for you. In Windows 10 21H1, Microsoft will start to warn you about new startup entries and give you the chance to take action to avoid system slowdown and slow boot times.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has teamed up with HP to work on a fix for a problem affecting various HP Business Notebooks. The flaw not only causes a reduction in performance and battery life, but can also lead to swollen batteries.

The problem lies with the HP Battery Health Manager, and the update from Microsoft and HP is rolling out to enable a new charging algorithm to help alleviate the issue.

Continue reading →

It is only a matter of weeks since the source code for Windows XP and various other Microsoft products leaked online. While the best part of two decades old, many people were eager to take a look at the code for the operating system, including people looking for code reused in Windows 10 that could be exploited.

Microsoft jumped to action, started an investigation, and took steps to try to stem the spread of the source code. But the company was surprisingly slow at removing the code from its own site after someone uploaded it to GitHub.

Continue reading →

Progress with Microsoft's PowerToys for Windows 10 continues, with the company pushing out version 0.23.2 of the utilities.

While this is -- as we were already expecting -- a release that focuses on improving stability and fixing bugs, Microsoft has also shed some light on the next major versions of PowerToys. But first, there is some slightly bad news.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has released the latest version of its Chromium-based web browser. Edge 86 is packed full of not only the usual raft of bug fixes and performance improvements, but also a host of new features.

This version of the browser sees the arrival of Secure DNS (DNS-over-HTTPS) support, as well as numerous improvements to PDF handling. Support for tables of contents aids document navigation, while pen support for highlighting and enhanced scrolling will be welcomed by many. Other improvements and additions include site testing in Internet Explorer mode.

Continue reading →

The latest Windows 10 build for Insiders in the Dev Channel introduces a couple of new features.

First up in Build 20231 is a new page in the Windows out-of-box experience (OOBE) setup which asks users what they will primarily be using Windows 10 for (Gaming, Schoolwork, Family, Entertainment, Creativity, or Business) to help ensure the OS gets set up correctly.

Continue reading →

Windows 10 is a decent operating system, but it isn’t what you’d call exciting to look at. The recent Start menu update, with a translucent background, and new Fluent Design icons, is definitely a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough.

If there’s one thing that Windows 10 really needs, it’s a visual overhaul, and making good use of Microsoft’s Fluent Design system, with blur effects, transforms a slightly bland looking operating system into something amazing.

Continue reading →

With Windows 10, Microsoft is understandably keen to promote its own products, and this is something that has been noticeable in the Start menu. Search results from Bing have long-featured there, and this is not something everyone is happy with.

For a while it was possible to disable the BingSearchEnabled key in the Registry to turn this off, but this option was removed in Windows 10 version 2004 (or Windows 10 May 2020 Update). So, if you want to disable Bing, there is now a new method you have to use -- and there is the happy side effect that it also disables Start menu ads.

Continue reading →

The development of PowerToys for Windows 10 has been impressive, with Microsoft continuing to add new utilities all the time. Now the company is looking for feedback from users to help decide just what it should focus on next.

Specifically, the development team says that while it currently has ideas for three new PowerToys, it only has time to work on two of them next year. Rather than making the decision itself, power users are being asked to vote, choosing between a Gif/Video screen recorder, the ability to adjust font rendering, and a tool called "Mouse without borders".

Continue reading →

Here on BetaNews, some of our most constantly popular posts relate to Windows 10's 'secret' screen recorder that is part of the Game Bar tool.  Seemingly aware that people are keen to be able to create video of on-screen activity, Microsoft is now working on a dedicated screening recording app.

Currently known as Video GIF Capture, the tool is being created by the PowerToys developers and it promises to give people the ability to record what is happening on their screen and save it as an animated GIF or video file.

Continue reading →

Updates to Windows 10 have become renown for introducing just as many problems as they aim to fix. Recent updates led to problems with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) displaying an "Element not found" error, and there were also various problems with internet connectivity.

To address these issues, Microsoft has now released the "non-security update" KB4577063. The patch also fixes a number of other problems Windows 10 users have been experiencing.

Continue reading →

Thanks to the global pandemic, more and more people are working from home than ever before, and there’s an increased demand for new laptops and tablets. However, with uncertainty surrounding job security not everyone wants to spend top dollar on a new computer.

Today, Microsoft expands its Surface family of devices with a new, much more affordable Surface Laptop Go but hopefully you won't want to use it to install many apps or hold many files.

Continue reading →

It's been around a month since Microsoft last updated PowerToys for Windows 10, so it's nice to be able to report that a new version has finally been pushed out.

PowerToys v0.23.0 is a release that focuses on "stability, localization and quality of life improvements", and there are numerous fixes to the various the utilities that make up the suite. Unfortunately, there are no new tools in this version, but Microsoft has given an update about the upcoming Video Conference utility.

Continue reading →

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel have a new Windows 10 build to try out today.

Build 20226 comes with a number of changes and improvements, the biggest of which is storage health monitoring to protect user data.

Continue reading →

Numerous Microsoft 365 services were knocked offline for several hours, leaving users unable to log into accounts and use various tools. Affected services included Office.com, Outlook.com and Teams, and the problem hit users around the world.

The company scrambled to determine the root cause of the issues, eventually homing in on a "recent change" which needed to be rolled back. This, however, did not ultimately solve the problem, so Microsoft was forced to put other mitigations in place.

Continue reading →