Articles about Microsoft

Although the Windows 10 October 2018 Update is still only trickling out to users (AdDupex says as of the end of November under 3 percent of users have it installed), Microsoft is hard at work on the follow up due out next spring.

The latest Windows 10 19H1 Insider preview Build for Insiders in the Fast ring offers a number of new changes including File Explorer and Start menu improvements, and Notepad updates.

Continue reading →

The news that Microsoft is going to create a Chromium-based version of its Edge browser has been met with a mixed reaction, but there is some good news for users. The company has confirmed that the adoption of Chromium means that Edge will support Chrome extensions.

Microsoft Edge has been much maligned for its lack of features when compared to Firefox, Chrome and Opera, and the number of extensions currently supported by the browser is laughably small. For this reason, the confirmation that Chrome extensions will be supported will be warmly welcomed by users.

Continue reading →

Facial recognition is becoming more widely used in both general computing and in the wider world. Smartphones and computers can be unlocked with your face, but the technology is also used for security and policing purposes.

While most uses are legitimate and helpful, there is scope for abuse. Microsoft thinks it is time for regulation to help avoid this. The company is calling on government around the world to introduce new laws, but also on the technology industry to introduce safeguards to protect against abuse and bias.

Continue reading →

After the rumors, confirmation came from Microsoft that it plans to move its Edge browser from the EdgeHTML engine to Chromium. Reaction from users has been largely positive, but it's not the same story across the technology industry as a whole.

While Google is understandably happy about the change, the CEO of Mozilla, Chris Beard, says it is bad for competition and will help to make Google even more powerful.

Continue reading →

Just a couple of days ago, news crept out about Microsoft's project Anaheim -- a Chromium-based web browser said to be a replacement for Microsoft Edge. This understandably generated a great deal of interest... So much, in fact, that Microsoft has been compelled to speak out and confirm what its plans are.

Microsoft says that it is not building a replacement for Edge, but confirms that it will be embracing Chromium in the development of the browser. It is part of the company's increasing involvement in the open source community, and is driven by a desire to improve web compatibility and reduce fragmentation

Continue reading →

Microsoft has already had a stab at a cut-down version of its famous operating system in the form of Windows RT and Windows 10 S... and it seems that the company is looking to have a third try. References have been spotted in the code of Windows 10 to "PRODUCT_LITE" -- apparently a reference to a new version of its OS called either Windows Lite, or just Lite.

While Microsoft has not confirmed anything or made any official announcements, there are numerous references to Lite in recent Insider builds of Windows, as well as in the SDK for the OS. With help from well-placed insiders, it has been possible to piece together some information about Windows Lite.

Continue reading →

If Microsoft isn't careful, it is going to start getting through web browsers faster than Google gets through messaging tools. Having moved on from Internet Explorer to Edge, the company is now said to be looking to transition to a Chromium-based browser for Windows 10.

It's fair to say that Edge hasn't won itself too many fans since it first appeared three years ago, so the suggestion that Microsoft may ditch EdgeHTML in favour of a browser based on Chromium is likely to be widely welcomed. Said to be codenamed Anaheim, the news Microsoft has a new rendering engine on the horizon will go down well with those who have been disappointed by Edge.

Continue reading →

The iPad remains by far and away the most popular tablet, with Apple securing 34.9 percent market share this year, up from 29.9 percent in 2017. The iPad is one of the few tablets to enjoy any kind of growth this year -- the market as a whole was down 13.5 percent during the second quarter of 2018.

Apple’s tablet is therefore the obvious target for any rival companies to aim for, and Microsoft has really gone on the attack with a new holiday ad for Surface Go.

Continue reading →

We're all pretty used to subtitles for movies and TV shows -- even if we don't need them, they can prove useful -- and Microsoft has now added this feature to Skype.

Ostensibly an accessibility feature (and launched on United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities), the new option means that Skype will be able to use voice recognition to show you the text of what is being said in a voice call. Microsoft will also bring the same feature to PowerPoint next year.

Continue reading →

There are many annoyances associated with owning a computer -- spam emails, phishing attacks, viruses and online advertising to name but a few -- but technical support scams are among the most worrying. They take advantage of people's ignorance and/or better natures, posing as tech support operatives from big companies over the phone.

Being one of the best-known technology companies in the world, it's little surprise that a huge number of these tech support scams purport to be Microsoft calling to offer help with computer problems. Such scams are responsible for conning people out of large amounts of money, but progress has been made in India where -- following reports from Microsoft -- arrests have been made at a number of call centers.

Continue reading →

The US Army has revealed that Microsoft has won a contract worth $480 million to supply prototype augmented reality equipment. The deal could see the Army purchasing 100,000 HoloLens headsets from the company.

Microsoft says the deal is an extension of its existing relationship with the Department of Defense. The company has previously faced criticism from its employees for bidding for military contracts, but it responded by saying it believed that those defending the US should have access to the best technology. Winning this latest contract -- the aim of which is to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy" -- is likely to face similar criticism.

Continue reading →

The Windows 10 October 2018 Update might be a mess, but that’s not deterring Microsoft from putting in the hours on the next big feature update -- codenamed 19H1 -- due out next spring.

The latest release to Insiders on the Fast ring is Build 18290, and it comes with a number of improvements and additions.

Continue reading →

Windows 10 is terrible these days for many reasons. It started out pretty great, but the quality of the operating system has been rapidly declining with every passing update. The only thing seemingly worse than Windows 10 is the horrible Microsoft Store -- an embarrassing collection of low-quality apps with a handful of decent ones sprinkled in.

Earlier this year, Apple brought its popular iTunes to the Microsoft store, and today, another music app shows up there -- Tidal. Yes, rapper Jay-Z's struggling streaming music service now has an app for Windows 10 in the Microsoft Store. Does anyone really care, though?

Continue reading →

The latest feature update for Windows 10 -- the October 2018 Update, aka Windows 10 1809 -- has resulted in chaos for a lot of users. The list of problems with the OS is very long, and diverse.

One of the issues was to do with Apple iCloud, and caused updating and syncing issues with shared albums, as well as preventing new installations. If that’s a problem you’ve experienced, there’s some good news -- it’s now been fixed.

Continue reading →

Microsoft is rolling out new features to the mobile version of OneDrive. The company has also announced that it is introducing a new Block Download feature in "late November" that can be used to stop people from making copies of a file or its contents.

Android and iOS users can look forward to improvement to the MyAnalytics component, but the big OneDrive news is that the Camera Upload feature has now left beta and is available to everyone -- if they are using Android, that is.

Continue reading →