Articles about Microsoft

RCS messaging lands in Your Phone app for Windows 10

RCS messaging

Microsoft has been making great progress with its Your Phone app recently. The app -- which makes it possible to use an Android smartphone in conjunction with Windows 10 -- has now gained support for RCS messaging.

It has been possible to send regular text messages via Your Phone for some time but now, thanks to a new partnership with Samsung, next-generation RCS messaging is available to some users too.

Continue reading

Microsoft is dropping support for Windows 10 version 1809

It is a little over a month since Windows 7 reached end of life, and in the coming months Microsoft will stop supporting the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.

Also known as Windows 10 version 1809, this edition of the operating system was released in November 2018. When May 12 2020 rolls around, Microsoft will no longer release security updates for it -- something the company refers to as the "end of servicing".

Continue reading

Edge users will soon be able to sync their extensions and collections

edge sync extensions collections

Users of the new Microsoft Edge web browser may soon be able to synchronize extensions and collections using the web browser's built-in sync functionality.

Microsoft started the rollout of the feature in the latest Microsoft Edge Canary version, currently at version 82.0.425.0. While it is not available for all Canary users yet, it is expected that the number will increase in the coming weeks and that the options will be pushed to the Beta and Stable channels of Microsoft Edge eventually.

Continue reading

Microsoft claims massive speed boost in preview builds of Edge

Multiple Edge logos

Anyone using the Dev or Canary builds of Microsoft Edge gets to try out all of the latest features and improvements early, and Microsoft says that the latest builds boast huge speed improvements.

The enhanced performance is significant. Microsoft claims improvements of up to 13 percent -- meaning that this is the sort of speed boost that should be noticeable in use, not just measurable in tests.

Continue reading

Microsoft releases Windows Terminal Preview v0.9 and it's feature-complete

Windows Terminal

Microsoft has released Windows Terminal Preview v0.9 with a glut of new features and options. The company says that this update is the last release that will include new features before v1 launches.

In terms of what's new, there's a lot to explore. The latest version of Windows Terminal will now detect any version of PowerShell and automatically create a profile for you, and the wt execution alias now supports command line arguments.

Continue reading

Microsoft pulls Windows 10 KB4524244 update after acknowledging numerous problems

Windows 10 desktop background

Microsoft has removed standalone security update KB4524244 after it was found to be causing problems with various systems. KB4524244 was supposed to fix issues with the UEFI boot manager, but for many people the patch had problems during installation, and for others it led to system freezes.

Acknowledging the latest problematic update for Windows 10, Microsoft has taken the decision to pull KB4524244 and says that it will not be re-offered from Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services or Microsoft Update Catalog.

Continue reading

Best Windows 10 apps this week

Three-hundred-and-seventy-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 released a new build of the upcoming version of Windows 10. It features a heavily updated Calendar application and improved graphics settings to make it easier to control which GPU apps run on.

Continue reading

Windows 10 users are losing user profiles and desktop files thanks to KB4532693 update bug

Windows 10 boxes

It's been while -- at least a few days -- since Microsoft released a problematic update for Windows 10, so we were probably about due another one. And sure enough, this week's KB4532693 update is causing issues for people.

Released two days ago on February's patch Tuesday, the cumulative update KB4532693 is loading the incorrect profile for users, and hiding files stored on the desktop.

Continue reading

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 19564, updates Calendar

Today, Microsoft rolls out the latest Windows 10 Preview build to Insiders on the Fast ring.

Build 19564 includes some graphics settings improvements and updates the Windows Calendar app. In addition, when you install Build 19564.1000, you’ll be offered Build 19564.1005 (KB4541095) as a Cumulative Update via Windows Update. This is designed to help Microsoft test its servicing pipeline.

Continue reading

Add the classic Windows XP Start menu to Windows 10

The Windows 10 Start menu gives you easy access to all of your programs and important settings, and -- for now at least -- optional Live Tiles. The search box makes it easy to find what you’re looking for too... when it works.

But if you hanker for the days when Start menus were simpler, you might want to consider adding a Windows XP style menu to Windows 10.

Continue reading

Microsoft releases patch for serious Internet Explorer vulnerability

Internet Explorer icons

Microsoft has released a series of patches for a zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer that was being actively exploited.

The remote code execution flaw was discovered a few weeks ago, and while 0patch released a micropatch to fix the problem, Microsoft only suggested a workaround which ended up breaking printing for many people. But now patches have been made available for Windows 7, Windows 8.x, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012.

Continue reading

Microsoft drops boneheaded plan to force Bing search on Office 365 users

Is Bing a bad search engine? Actually, no. Believe it or not, Microsoft's search offering is actually quite good. There's just one big problem -- it isn't Google. It is unfortunate for Bing, but there's no reason for anyone to choose the second best search engine. Bottom line, Google is great, Bing is good, and no one wants to use the latter. It is the same with the Chromium-based Edge -- it's not bad, but people want real Google Chrome rather than a bastardization.

And that's why people were upset when Microsoft announced an asinine plan to force Bing on Office 365 ProPlus users through a browser extension. Not only would this anger and annoy end users, but it would lead to huge headaches for IT departments as employees start complaining about Bing showing up over Google. The thing is, even if Bing was better than Google (which it definitely isn't), nobody likes to have things forced upon them. Google, for instance, became dominant organically because people liked its results. If Microsoft thinks it can gain Bing users by forcing it on people, then the company just hasn't been paying attention.

Continue reading

Try out Windows 10X now with Microsoft's new emulator

Windows 10X emulator

Windows 10X is the upcoming operating system from Microsoft, designed for dual-screen devices such as the Surface Duo and Neo. If you thought you would have to wait ages, or spend a fortune on a new device to try it out... think again.

Today, Microsoft releases a Windows 10X emulator, giving anyone who wants a glimpse of the future the chance to take the OS for a test drive. In reality, the Windows 10X emulator is designed with developers in mind, but there's nothing to stop anyone who is curious from trying it out.

Continue reading

PayPal tops the list of most phished brands

Phishing

Predictive email defense company Vade Secure has released a new report ranking the top 25 brands most impersonated in phishing attacks.

The report covering the final quarter of 2019 shows PayPal is the top brand impersonated by cybercriminals for the second quarter in a row, with Facebook taking the number two spot and Microsoft coming in third.

Continue reading

Customize the Windows sound scheme with Stardock's new SoundPackager 10

There are lots of tools available that let you customize Windows in a number of ways. See this Windows 98 themed version of Windows 10 for just one example of what’s possible.

Stardock produces some excellent, very affordable customization applications and today the company announces the next-generation version of its Windows sound scheme manager, SoundPackager 10.

Continue reading

© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.