Articles about Microsoft

If you’re looking for a way to feel particularly old, the news that Windows 95 was released a quarter of a century ago today should do it. You can read my recollections of its launch here.

If that’s not enough nostalgia for you, why not experience Microsoft’s game changing OS for yourself, by running Slack developer Felix Rieseberg’s app version.

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I first started writing about computers for a living in 1993, when I joined a UK magazine called PC Home. Back then we used Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS, and much of our online life was spent on CompuServe, although the World Wide Web (and the "information superhighway") was slowly starting to make its presence felt.

After I’d been in the job for a couple of years, Microsoft announced a new version of its OS: Windows 95. The launch event was held on a 12-acre sports field in Redmond. Over 500 press representatives attended, along with 2,000 computer industry heavyweights. Over 70,000 others watched live worldwide via satellite television feeds. The new OS was hugely different to 3.11 -- being 32-bit for starters, integrating DOS and Windows and boasting a smart new look that included a desktop, taskbar and Start button. And I absolutely hated it.

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We’ve covered Spydish on BetaNews before. The tool is great if you want to boost your privacy and security in Windows 10.

Today Belim, the program’s developer, announces that Spydish has undergone a name change, becoming Privatezilla, and that’s not all. The program is also becoming open source. In order to achieve this, some important changes have been made, which includes replacing certain features.

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Microsoft is due to release the Windows 10 20H2 Update later this year, but if you're eager to try it out right now, you can.

You not need to wait for Windows 10 20H2 Update to be official launched you just need to join the Windows Insider program. Microsoft has made the 20H2 Update available for commercial pre-release validation, and anyone who isn't running Windows 10 Home can try it out.

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If you thought you were going to get through the week without a new Windows 10 Dev Channel release from Microsoft you were very much mistaken.

Build 20197 arrives on what used to be the Fast ring with the headline change being the arrival of Disk Management in Settings.

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Microsoft has pushed out a new cumulative update for Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909 (builds 18362.1049 and 18363.1049). KB4566116 is also the update that sees the company backporting WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to these versions of Windows.

But for many people it is the bug fixes that the update brings that are of more interest -- and this update addresses a large number of problems with Windows 10. Among the issues fixed by KB4566116 are Settings crashing, errors causing hard drives to fill up, and black screens to Windows Virtual Desktop.

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Microsoft has announced that it is going to backport WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux 2) to Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909.

The company says that the move comes in response to user feedback, and it opens up WSL 2 and a world of Linux in Windows to a wider audience. Among the key advantages of the second version of WSL are an integrated full Linux kernel.

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The Windows Defender tool that is built into Windows 10 offers protection against a range of malware, but it is not something that everyone wants running on their computer. In a recent update, Microsoft has removed the option of disabling Defender via the registry.

Previously, it was possible to enable the DisableAntiSpyware key in the registry to switch off Windows Defender -- for whatever reason you may want to. But now the setting is ignored, meaning anyone wanting to avoid Windows Defender will have to find another way to do so.

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Microsoft has released an out of band security update that addresses two separate Windows Remote Access Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities.

KB4578013 fixes the CVE-2020-1530 and CVE-2020-1537 issues relating to Windows Remote Access' handling of memory and file operation respectively. Microsoft had already issued a patch for Windows 10 earlier this month, but the new patch is aimed at people running Windows 8.1, RT 8.1, and Server 2012 R2.

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Microsoft wrapped its annual Microsoft Inspire 2020 partner conference in July. This is one of the first events of the "big tech" conference season and a good precursor to what trends we can expect to see in 2021. For the first time ever, the global event was 100 percent virtual and available to all attendees at no cost. While Microsoft offered less "net-new" vision at this year’s conference, it strongly reinforced the company’s existing reputation as the dominant technology platform for enabling business results for technology intensive companies globally.

Microsoft spends millions on market research and R&D and based on past events we have found that there is a lot to learn at these events that can add value to technology strategies and plans. Here are four key takeaways from Microsoft Inspire 2020 that capture what Microsoft is up to, the direction the company is taking and often a good indicator of the market over the next 12 months.

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Microsoft rolled out an updated Windows 10 Start menu to Windows Insiders a month ago, and that menu is now available to all -- if you follow these instructions. The tweaked design removes the solid color backplates behind the logos and adds a translucent background to tiles.

However, it could be that bigger changes are afoot. In a video showcasing Microsoft’s new icon system the search giant also reveals a stunning new-look Start menu.

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If you're an Edge user who frequently has a large number of tabs open, Microsoft's decision to add the browser tabs to Alt-Tab switching creates something of a navigation nightmare.

When you have not only multiple browser tabs open, but also numerous applications, Alt-Tabbing your way through them can take an age. Thankfully it is possible to hide Edge tabs in Alt-Tab, or limit the number of tabs that are displayed so things don't get too overwhelming.

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With Internet Explorer having shown its age for a very long time, and with Microsoft pushing out the new Chromium-based version of Edge, it is little wonder that the company is ready to kill off its older browsers.

Microsoft has now set out its timetable for sunsetting legacy Edge in Windows 10 and the dropping of support for Internet Explorer. The changes start later this year, and in twelve months' time the process of moving on will be complete -- from Microsoft's point of view, at least.

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By making Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, Microsoft gave people a choice of operating system, but also caused some confusion. Just what is the difference between the two, and is it worth upgrading to Pro if your computer came with the Home edition installed?

Well the answer to the second question is a resounding yes! This is definitely a worthwhile upgrade -- and to show you why, we're going to highlight all of the extra features and options Pro includes. If you decide that you do want to upgrade to Windows 10 Professional, we have a special offer that will save you a lot of money. You can buy a genuine Windows 10 Pro license for just $39.99!

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The August security updates for Windows 10 released by Microsoft last week are causing issues for people running the November 2019 Update (version 1909) and the May 2020 Update (version 2004).

Released last Patch Tuesday, 11 August, the KB4565351 and KB4566782 updates are causing various issues, ranging from failed installations, through error messages and BSoDs to problems with audio. For those experiencing installation issues, the following message has been reported: "There were some problems installing updates, but we'll try again later". Here's what you need to know.

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