Articles about Microsoft

Windows is a massive failure -- in the mobile world, at least. Microsoft should have been a dominant force in smartphones and tablets, but no, it let Apple and Google eat its lunch with iPhone and Android. While Windows 10 is still a decent enough desktop operating system that keeps chugging along, Windows Phone died a bloody death -- consumers barely paid attention to it. Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile were utter embarrassments for Microsoft.

What can Microsoft do to save its mobile dreams? Turn to Linux, of course. Yes, with the upcoming Surface Duo smartphone (you can read about the dual-screen device here), Microsoft will be using the Linux-based Android operating system. This is a smart business move, but it must be absolute hell for the Microsoft faithful -- if Bill Gates was dead, he would be spinning in his grave.

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At today's Surface event, Microsoft had a surprise for everyone -- its version of "one more thing", if you will. In addition to the Surface Laptop 3, the Surface Pro 7 and the Surface Pro X, the company also revealed the Surface Duo, a foldable Android-based phone with two screens. No, it's not running the new Windows 10X operating system.

If you have concerns about this device being foldable, don't worry, it's not like the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Rather than having a single screen that actually folds, this is a dual-screen clamshell style handset, and it's due for release next year.

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Earlier today at a special hardware event, Microsoft took the wraps off a lot of new Surface devices, including the Surface Laptop 3, and Surface Pro 7 and Pro X slates.

It also revealed the Surface Neo, the first device in a brand-new category of dual-screen computers, and the operating system that will power them -- Windows 10X.

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At a special hardware event today, Microsoft took the wraps off a new generation of Surface products, including the new Surface Laptop 3.

The tech giant also announced the new Surface Pro 7 with USB-C, and the ultra-mobile Surface Pro X.

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After a series of leaks, Microsoft today officially unveiled the latest additions to the Surface lineup. Kicking things off is the Surface Laptop 3, available in 13- and 15-inch models.

Produced in partnership with AMD, the Surface Laptop 3 features a custom Surface Edition Ryzen processor for the 15-inch model. The 13-inch device features a quad-core 10th Gen Intel Core processor. Both retain the 3:2 aspect ratio. Let's dive in and take a look at the full specs.

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The recent news about Windows 10 has been focused primarily on a series of faulty updates that caused a range of problems for users. But now something new has come to light that will take attention away from Microsoft's shoddy quality control -- the fact that it is starting to practically force users into using an online Microsoft account rather than a local, offline one.

The change was noted in the Home edition of Windows 10 version 1903 (Windows 10 May 2019 Update). During the installation of the operating system, users are presented with the option to "Sign in with Microsoft", with no mention of alternatives. So, what's going on?

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Following the leak of marketing material for Microsoft's upcoming Surface devices, another batch of images has leaked. They show off the Surface Pro 7, Surface Laptop 3 and new Surface based on ARM ahead of tomorrow's launch event.

Just as the first set of leaked images came from a well-known name -- Walking Cat -- the same is true of this second leak. This time around it is Evan Blass who gives us a glimpse of Microsoft's latest additions to the Surface range.

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It's only a couple of days until Microsoft's hardware event at which it is going unveil the latest Surface devices. But no reveal would be complete without a leak or two.

True to form, serial Microsoft leaker Walking Cat has shared four marketing images for the latest additions to the Surface range. From the ads, it seems we can expect to see at least a new Surface Laptop, and a Surface Pro tablet later this week.

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Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 version 1903 (Windows 10 May 2019 Update) has been designated "ready for broad deployment". This means that all Windows 10 users can now download the update from Windows Update.

Despite the change in status, there are still a handful of issues with the release, some of which are still being investigated, and others which have only been mitigated against rather than fixed.

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There's no denying that recent updates for Windows 10 have caused more problems than usual. In the last few weeks, updates have led variously to issues with the Start menu, screenshots, high CPU usage and more.

Gamers found that the KB4515384 update for Windows 10 version 1903 was causing problems with in-game audio. The company was fairly swift to suggest some workarounds, but it is only now that a proper fix has been released to address the issue.

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The Windows 10 20H1 update (or Windows 10 May 2020 Update) is due for release in the first half of next year, and one of the biggest new features being touted by Microsoft is the Cloud Download recovery option.

This new recovery method is an alternative to the relatively slow "imageless" recovery in which a new copy of Windows is created from the existing installation. The Cloud Download option can not only be significantly faster, but it is more reliable as there is no chance of it being impeded by a corrupt Windows installation.

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Microsoft has blacklisted the CCleaner utility and links to the software can no longer be posted in its support forums.

An email sent out to community moderators reveals a total of 11 domains which Microsoft censors with its blacklist filter. If an ordinary user attempts to post a link to a banned site, that post will be removed.

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The next major update of Windows 10 isn’t due out until next May, but Microsoft is hard at work, rolling out new builds on a weekly basis.

Build 18990, released to Insiders on the Fast ring today, comes with a number of new features including Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) improvements and updates to the Xbox Game Bar.

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Microsoft has released a pair of emergency patches, one for a remote code execution zero-day in Internet Explorer, and one for a denial of service vulnerability in Windows Defender.

In the case of Internet Explorer, the security flaw -- discovered by Clément Lecigne from Google's Threat Analysis Group -- is being actively exploited. Microsoft describes it as a "scripting engine memory corruption vulnerability", and has assigned it CVE-2019-1367.

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Windows 7 is certainly rather long in the tooth now, but it is still very widely used. As such, despite the general end of support coming in January, Microsoft has committed to keep Windows 7-based voted machine secure.

The company say that it will "provide free security updates for federally certified voting systems running Windows 7 through the 2020 elections, even after Microsoft ends Windows 7 support". Given the problematic nature of recent Windows 10 updates, this may come as little comfort as the Trump 2020 campaign continues.

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