Best Windows 10 apps this week
Three-hundred-and-sixty-six 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 the first build from its new development branch this week to the Fast Ring. Fast Ring insiders will always receive the freshest builds from this point on (since Skip Ahead was retired) but features that are introduced are no longer linked to a particular release.
SiriusXM chooses Slack over Microsoft Teams
SiriusXM, the satellite radio juggernaut (and now-owner of Pandora), has millions of daily listeners. These days, the company doesn't only provide its popular satellite radio channels in automobiles, but essentially everywhere thanks to its mobile apps for Android and iPhone. Hell, you can listen to SiriusXM though Alexa and Google Assistant hardware these days too. Evert morning, I listen to Howard Stern on my Nest Mini by simply saying "Hey Google, Play Sirius 100." It is quite remarkable.
Obviously, such a large company has lots of employees working around the world. Enabling all these workers to easily communicate and collaborate is essential. And so, SiriusXM chose Microsoft Teams for this, right? Actually, no. As a huge blow to Microsoft, SiriusXM instead chose Slack.
Latest Chromium Edge Dev build adds Dolby Vision, ARM, and 360-degree video support
Microsoft released a new developer build of the company's upcoming Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser on Tuesday. The new build increases the version of the browser to 80.0.361.5; existing installations may be upgraded, new users can find downloads on the official Microsoft Edge Insiders download page.
The new release is the final Microsoft Edge Dev build of 2019 and Microsoft decided to end the year with a bang. The Chromium-based browser is now also available for ARM devices. Microsoft is making available ARM64 DEV channel builds starting with this release which means that users who run ARM devices like the Surface Pro X, may install the Dev version of the web browser on these devices.
Microsoft now showing non-removable ads in Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps
Adverts in Windows 10 are not a new thing. Microsoft has a history of sneaking them into any spare real estate in its operating system and included apps. In the past we’ve seen them crop up in the Start menu, in the taskbar, in the Action Center, in File Explorer, in the Ink Workspace, on the Lock Screen, in the Share tool, and in the Windows Store. It’s even currently running full screen ads for Windows 10 inside Windows 7 as the aging operating system reaches its end of life.
Microsoft prefers to call the ads it dots around its OS "suggestions" but that doesn’t make them any less annoying for users. And now the company has added a new ad to the Windows Mail and Calendar apps, and made them impossible to remove.
Microsoft releases first Windows 10 build from its new development branch
Now that Microsoft is nearly finished with the next big feature update of Windows 10 (2004), due out next year, Insiders on the Fast ring are starting to receive new builds from the active RS_PRERELEASE development branch.
In a bid to make things less confusing, Microsoft has dropped the Skip Ahead ring, and Fast ring insiders will now receive the freshest builds, with features not linked to a specific Windows 10 release.
Microsoft's new Windows 10 search feature is just a way to force Bing and Edge on to users
Bing is a godawful search engine. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but on the few occasions when I do use it -- when writing about the new Chromium version of Edge for example -- I find the results it returns are rubbish. In a blind usage test I can instantly spot the difference between it and Google just by the quality -- or lack of -- of the results.
In what it describes as a bid to bring "convenient, fast web results directly to the search bar in Windows" Microsoft has baked (yet more) Bing searches into Windows 10, including a brand new visual search.
Microsoft reveals a new Windows logo and scores of redesigned icons
Aesthetics are an important part of app design and branding, and change is not something that is undertaken lightly -- particularly when it comes to big names. Following on from revealing a new-look icon for its Chromium-based Edge browser, Microsoft has now taken the wraps off more than 100 redesigned icons.
This is not a minor undertaking. Here Microsoft is introducing new colors, materials and finishes as the company goes all-in with its Fluent design language.
Microsoft now lets you make calls from your PC
Microsoft has added a much called-for feature to its Your Phone app -- the ability to make phone calls from Windows.
Working with a phone and PC at the same time can be a pain, and this was part of the reason Microsoft developed the Your Phone app. The feature had been available to insiders testing preview version of the software, and now the company is making the feature available to everyone.
Best Windows 10 apps this week
Three-hundred-and-sixty-five 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 two new Windows 10 version 2004 builds this week: build 19037 made PowerShell ISE a feature on demand, and build 19041.1 for the Fast and Slow rings made polishing fixes to the next feature update. Microsoft enabled the new Quick Search feature globally on Windows 10 as well. Previously, Quick Search was only available to devices set to EN-US.
Microsoft's Xbox Series X has a terrible name, but it looks incredibly cool
Microsoft has never been very good at naming things. Windows 10, for instance, isn't even the tenth version of Windows. The company plans to eventually release an operating system called Windows 10X -- since X is the Roman numeral for ten, is it technically "Windows 10 10" then? Sigh. The original Xbox was followed by the Xbox 360, which was then followed by Xbox One. In other words, the third Xbox is named "One" -- what kind of craziness is that? The company confused things even further by releasing Xbox One variants dubbed "S" and "X."
And now, Microsoft has unveiled its next generation Xbox, and following tradition, it has a terrible name! What has the company named it? Xbox Series X. Yup, that's the real name. Its name is way too close to "Xbox One X," and shows Microsoft is apparently devoid of any creativity in the branding department. Name aside, however, it does look really cool -- it is a vertical tower that can be positioned horizontally if you prefer. Thankfully, it appears to have an optical drive, so physical games disks will live on for at least one more generation of game console.
Zorin OS 15.1 Linux distro is ready to replace Microsoft's dying Windows 7 on your PC
Windows 7's death is imminent -- support for the popular operating system ends next month on January 14, making it extremely dangerous to use from a security standpoint after that date. This is very unfortunate for the millions of computer users that don't want to switch to the much-maligned Windows 10. Thankfully, in 2019, you don't have to run Windows anymore -- Linux is a totally legitimate option for both business and home use these days. Hell, even the Windows-maker sees the writing on the wall -- the company recently released its wildly popular Office 365 program, Microsoft Teams, for Linux.
If you are ready to ditch the soon-to-be-unsupported Windows 7 for a more secure Linux-based operating system, you have plenty of great options. One of the best choices, however, is Zorin OS -- a Linux distribution that specifically targets people switching from Windows. Today, the latest version of that operating system, Zorin OS 15.1, is released to the world.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 (2004) Build 19041.1 to the Fast and Slow rings
Microsoft is putting the finishing touches to the next big feature update for Windows 10, with the focus now firmly on identifying and fixing problems.
Build 19041.1 is rolling out to Insiders on the Fast and Slow rings and includes a number of changes and improvements.
Windows 10's new Quick Searches feature now available globally
Last Month, Microsoft introduced a new feature to Windows 10 that makes it quicker and easier to get answers and results from the web.
The Quick Searches feature, which is found in Search Home, was originally only available to EN-US users, but has now been expanded to a number of other territories and languages.
Microsoft is about to start aggressively advertising Windows 10 to Windows 7 stragglers
Windows 7 may be an aging operating system, but there are still plenty of individuals and organizations using it. With the end of support date of January 14 fast-approaching, Microsoft is getting twitchy and is eager for everyone to upgrade to Windows 10.
Having already started to notify Windows 7 hangers on that support is due to come to an end, the company is now ready to get a little more aggressive. If you haven't moved on from Windows 7, soon you will see full-screen notifications warning you that "your Windows 7 PC is out of support".
Linux users get an early Christmas gift -- Microsoft Teams
Modern Linux users have it pretty good. In 2019, there are many major players supporting desktop operating systems running the open source kernel. Years ago, it felt like Linux on the desktop was a second class citizen -- switching from Windows was not as easy as it is today. These days, it is totally possible to forgo Microsoft's desktop operating system and still have a high quality computing experience with top-notch software, including video editing and PC gaming.
To show just how far we've come, Microsoft today brings an essential Office 365 program to Linux. No, it isn't Word, Excel, or PowerPoint -- that would be a true miracle. Actually, it is one of the newer Office applications that is seeing a surge in popularity -- Microsoft Teams. This is a top-notch communication and collaboration service. Depending on who you believe, Teams actually has more users than Slack -- a very impressive feat. Now, Microsoft Teams joins Slack on the Linux desktop!
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