Microsoft

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.

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.

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.

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.

Work continues apace on the next major feature update for Windows 10, due out next May.

Today sees the release of Build 18985 (20H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring, and it introduces Bluetooth improvements and changes to how optional updates are displayed.

There have been suggestions that quality control has been slipping at Microsoft of late, fuelled by the recent spate of problematic updates to the operating system.

We've seen the KB4512941 update causing problems with high CPU usage as well as introducing a weird screenshot bug. After this, KB4515384 was found to cause problems with searching and the Start menu, and then interfering with game audio. Adding to the seemingly never-ending list of problems, KB4515384 has now been found to be responsible for issues with the Action Center and networking.

Following complaints from a number of users about problems with audio in games, Microsoft has acknowledged that the KB4515384 update for Windows 10 version 1903 is to blame.

The company is working on a proper fix, which it says should be released later this month. In the meantime,  however, it has suggested temporary workarounds for anyone irritated by the sound issues.

Next month, Microsoft has a Surface event coming up, and it's looking as though it could be a big one.

At the moment there are no hints about what we can expect to see at the event, but Microsoft has decided to live-stream it for the first time ever. We also know that head of Surface, Panos Panay, will be there, along with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Updates for Windows 10 have proved to be more problematic than usual recently. The KB4512941 update was found to cause high CPU usage, and then some users started to experience weird orange screenshots.

Now the KB4515384​​​​​ cumulative update that was supposed to address the high CPU usage issue is breaking the SearchUI.exe associated with Windows Desktop Search. On top of this, some users are complaining about problems with the Start menu.

Windows 10 users are accustomed to putting up with the occasional bug here and there, and people who installed the KB4512941 update found they were plagued with an issue that gave screenshots an orange hue.

Now Microsoft says that the issue has been addressed. Well... sort of. In fact, the company has shifted the blame to Lenovo, saying that the Eye Care mode feature of Lenovo Vantage is to blame. Here's what you need to know.

Eager Windows 10 users involved in the Insider program have been able to play with Windows 10 20H1 for a little while now. This has given people a chance to try out new features, but two things we haven't known are what this update will be called, and when it will be released.

Now, thanks to an eagle-eyed user, we know both. Unless, of course, Microsoft chooses to change its mind...

Recent Windows 10 Insider builds from the 20H1 branch (set for release next spring) have introduced quite a few welcome new features, and today’s new flight, Build 18980, is no different.

The previous release, Build 18975, came with Cortana and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) improvements, and so does this one.

Microsoft has lost an appeal aimed at preventing companies from scraping public data from LinkedIn profiles.

Back in 2017, Microsoft sought to block hiQ Labs Inc from using bots to gather information from profiles which it then used to help employers predict if or when people will quit their jobs. At the time, a court ruled that Microsoft could not block hiQ Labs from scraping data in this way; now an appeal court has upheld the original decision.

Microsoft is working to bring its Teams software to Linux. The company has said that it is "actively working" on creating a Linux version of the client, although there is no word on quite when it might be released.

There have long been calls for Microsoft to cater for Linux users. The collaborative Teams software is used by many people in mixed platform environments, and the announcement from Teams engineers have been greeted with enthusiasm.

The KB4512941 update for Windows 10 has already proved itself to be problematic, causing issues with high CPU usage. Now another bug has emerged in the update, with users complaining of corrupted screenshots.

The strange problem rears it head no matter how a screenshot is taken, with the resulting images exhibiting an orange tint. Other users complain that their screens are turning red.