Articles about Microsoft

Three-hundred-and-eighty-three 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.

Microsoft plans to release the next feature update for Windows 10 in May 2020. Check out Mark's post if you want to know what is new and changed in that version. Wayne's review of a new privacy app for Windows 10 is another good read this week.

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Microsoft released a new application for Windows devices this week called Bing Wallpaper. Windows users may install the application to automatically download Bing wallpapers and have them set as the system's background image.

The application has not been released as a Microsoft Store app but as a desktop program. Users should not confuse it with the open source program Bing Wallpaper which Mike reviewed in 2017 here on BetaNews.

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If you were hoping that a spate of problematic updates for Windows 10 might have caused Microsoft to up its game and improve quality control, think again; the KB4549951 update is just the latest to cause issues for users.

And this time around, the problems are pretty serious. In addition to BSoD crashes and connectivity issues, users are also reporting that their settings are being removed and files deleted.

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Cortana hasn’t been the essential addition to Windows 10 that Microsoft was hoping for. While the digital service has its fans, for many it’s simply a button on the taskbar that they ignore.

Microsoft has been working to change that by creating a new Cortana experience with a chat-based UI. While the digital assistant was originally baked into Windows 10, it’s now available as an app you can download from the Microsoft Store, meaning it can be updated more frequently.

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Microsoft is busy readying the Windows 10 May 2020 Update (20H1) for release next month, but it’s still hard at work producing builds for future Windows 10 versions.

Today the software giant rolls out Build 19613 to Windows Insiders on the Fast ring. This doesn’t come with any major new features, but it does introduce a number of fixes and improvements.

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The need to protect remote working is exercising many organizations at the moment. Abnormal Security is launching a new Microsoft Teams Protection product to help guard the platform against social engineering attacks.

It automatically detects suspicious messages sent within a customer's Microsoft Teams environment, lowering the risk of phishing attacks infiltrating internal Teams communication channels.

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Windows 10 isn’t a bad operating system by any means, but that’s not to say it couldn’t be better.

Each major update of the OS resets your privacy settings to default, and it comes with various apps you likely don’t want or use. There are plenty of free third-party programs available you can call upon to tweak Windows 10’s settings, but they can be complicated or confusing to use.

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New research from vulnerability management specialist Kenna Security seeks to quantify the comparative risk of using assets based on Microsoft, Apple, Linux, or Unix platforms, as well as network devices.

The study finds that asset mix plays a key role in determining the number of security vulnerabilities an organization has to contend with every month along with its ability to minimize cyber risk.

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Today is the day that Office 365 is rebadged Microsoft 365, complete with several new features as Microsoft moves to give its favored subscription model a wider appeal.

Existing Office 365 subscribers need do nothing -- as of today, your plan seamlessly switches to the equivalent Microsoft 365 plan. But the rebadged service also launches with several new features designed to tempt more subscribers. But if you remain unconvinced by the subscription model, we’ve got two great deals for Office 2019 and Windows 10, offering licenses that won’t expire.

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While the exact release date of the Windows 10 May 2020 Update is not yet known, we do know that Microsoft has finalized the build and it will be unleashed next month.

You can get it via Windows Update right now if you're a Windows Insider, but there's also another option. If you want to perform a clean install of the very latest version of Windows 10, you can download an ISO for the Windows 10 May 2020 Update (or Windows 10 version 2004, or even Windows 10 20H1, as you may know it). Here's how to grab it right now.

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Nowadays, smartphones are getting ridiculously expensive, with some flagships far exceeding $1,000. Worst of all, these pricey phones are still quite delicate -- if you drop it, there is a good chance the screen will shatter or it will become damaged in a different way.

Today, Samsung launches a new Android 10 smartphone that isn't just rugged, but affordable too. You see, the "Galaxy XCover Pro," as it is called, is priced at less than $500. It is IP68 rated and MIL-STD 810G certified, making it ideal for frontline workers that do physical jobs. These are people like construction workers or even medical professionals helping to fight COVID-19. It even has Microsoft Teams integration, including a dedicated button for the Walkie Talkie feature. Plus, Samsung promises three years of security updates too, providing peace of mind.

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With the coronavirus pandemic gripping the attention of the world, there are endless sources of information to help you keep up to date with the latest developments regarding the disease. Now Microsoft has added a COVID-19 tracker, news and resources directly in Windows 10.

Thanks to integration into the operating system, the latest factual information about the coronavirus -- including maps to track the spread -- is just a couple of clicks away.

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Windows 10 has had more than its share of issues over the years, with buggy updates causing a wide variety of problems for users. The May 2020 Update is nearly ready for release, and will no doubt bring with it another set of woes for many when it does arrive.

With Windows 7 no longer supported, Windows 10 is really the only game in town for those who want to use Microsoft’s OS. But perhaps we should be consigning it to the past and looking to the future with the gorgeous, and much more modern, Windows 20.

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Microsoft has published a whitepaper about privacy in its Edge browser. The paper goes someway to answer the questions user may have about the data Edge is collecting about users.

The company says that the whitepaper is an exercise in transparency which "explains how Microsoft Edge features and services work and how each may affect your privacy". Microsoft insists that it practices data collection minimization, and it uses the whitepaper to come clean about just what data the browser is gathering.

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It's one of the most basic components of Windows, but also one of the most loved and most useful. Notepad has been with us for decades, and now it has found a new home in the Microsoft Store.

This is not the first time the app has appeared in the Microsoft Store. Originally announced in August last year, Notepad appeared for a while before vanishing. Now it's back, and it's better than ever with a host of new features.

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